Latest Behind the Headlines Examines Perils of Political Speech
2 March 2021 - In the Trinity Long Room Hub’s latest Behind the Headlines, a panel of five distinguished speakers, including Ambassador to the US, Daniel Mulhall, discussed political language and speech and how oratory can persuade, for both good and bad.
Addressing the online audience, Professor Eve Patten, Director of the Trinity Long Room Hub noted the recent events of January 6th 2021 at Capitol Hill as the impetus to draw on the expertise of the Arts and Humanities and go ‘Behind the Headlines’ to examine what is the current state of play when it comes to the “relationship between speech and action.”
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Trinity Long Room Hub Arts & Humanities Research Institute presents Behind the Headlines: History, Hope, and the Political Speechâ on Monday, March 1.
What makes a political speech? From Aristotle to Hannah Arendt, philosophers have seen the arts of rhetoric and oratory as essential to the proper functioning of the public sphere.Â
Some speeches, like Martin Luther Kingâs 1963 dream vision or Greta Thunbergâs 2019 âHow dare you?â address have defined a generation. Others have embedded lasting images, metaphors, and poetic borrowings â âthe iron curtainâ, ârivers of bloodâ, âwhen hope and history rhymeâ â in the public imagination.
In Ireland, powerful speeches have patterned our history, from Robert Emmetâs 1803 declamation from the dock to Mary Robinsonâs 1990 presidential acceptance speech, that heralded the women of Ireland for rocking the system instead of rocking the cradle.