Specificity of rhythm characteristics in the presidential discourse of B. Obama and D. Trump

The relevance of this work is due to the insufficient development of the issue of the role of rhythm in political discourse in general and, in particular, in presidential discourse. The role of rhythm in the implementation of the persuasive and manipulative functions of the texts of the speeches of political leaders has not been studied. The novelty of the work lies in the fact that, despite the study of rhythm as an integral part of various types of prose texts, the role of rhythm in the presidential discourse, in the texts of public speeches of politicians has not been previously considered. This study is based on the original speeches of the 44th and 45th Presidents of the United States of America, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, respectively, at the sessions of the United Nations General Assembly, published on the official website of the Organization. The methodological basis of the research is represented by the scientific-theoretical method, the method of measurement and comparison, the method of textual analysis. In this study, to analyze the rhythm of prose, the ProseRhythmDetector tool was used, which allows for automated analysis of some rhythmic means: anaphora, epiphora, diacope, symploce, anadiplosis, episeuxis, polysyndeton, and epanalepsis. The tool also searches for phonostylistic means including assonance and alliteration. This tool works with texts in four languages: Russian, English, French and Spanish. The choice of rhythmic means is explained by the frequency of their use to create rhythm in prose texts. These tools allow to determine the individual style of the speaker, his idiolect.