Strategies of Re-Elaboration of the Past and the Authenticity of Speech Acts of Political Atonement

Abstract

This paper analyses the question of authenticity in speech acts of political atonement from a critical discourse analysis perspective. The objective is to study how strategies of re-elaboration of the past employed in atonement discourses may contribute to assess the authenticity of speech acts of political atonement. The paper tackles the following research question: how do strategies of re-elaboration of the past influence the authenticity of a speech act of political atonement? The paper analyses a 2015 statement by Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. The paper argues that former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe’s 2015 speech act of political atonement endorsed a strategy of cancellation. The paper claims that supporting such a strategy prevented Abe’s 2015 speech act of political atonement from being considered a genuine speech of political atonement.