Constructing a Common Creed: A Stylistic Analysis of Pronoun Deixis, Syntactic Parallelism, and Historical Allusion in Obama's 2011 Westminster Hall Address

Publication Details

Publication Date

10/10/2026

Volume / Issue

Vol 1, Issue 5 (2026)

Article No.

026

Journal

British Journal of Contemporary Research

DOI

https://doi.org/10.67693/BJCR-RJZ87U4M

Received

12 Sep 2026

Views

28

Downloads

15

Abstract

This article performs a stylistic analysis of Barack Obama's 2011 speech to the UK Parliament at Westminster Hall to investigate how syntactic parallelism, pronoun deixis and historical allusion are employed in building the US-UK relation as more than a government/diplomacy between two nation states. The paper proposes that these three stylistic features should be viewed not as ornamentations of rhetoric, but as co-functioning devices through which shared identity, moral legitimacy, and historical continuity are linguistically constructed. Drawing on methods of close reading which blend stylistics and the study of political discourse, this essay analyzes, the dominant anaphora and tricolon, Obama's choices in terms of the reference of his pronouns (who he addresses and where 'we' extends), and the function of those historical allusions which serve his strategic interests in construction. This article argues that there is clear syntactic precedent for a "we" that dissolves boundaries between speakers and listeners. It continues that there is a concomitant stylistic tendency to reframe the motivations behind the alliance away from self-interest and towards shared virtue. In addition, the stylistic choices with which Obama constructs the special relationship seem deeply indebted to the tradition that binds Locke, Blackstone, Churchill and to this present day relationship. I will show how, stylistically, the "special relationship" emerges from the present-present-now relationship among Britain and America through the deployment of these three inter locking devices of stylistic choice.

License

This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License . Free to read, share, and adapt with attribution.