DISCORSI POLITICI E NARRAZIONE: GLI SPEECHWRITER ALLA RICERCA DI UN METODO

While the use of storytelling in political communication has been widely studied, much less attention has been paid to its use in the more specific field of political public speaking (public addresses, keynote speeches, etc.). Both within scholars and within insiders – leaders’ ghostwriters – the emergence of a clear idea on how to combine eloquence and narration has been late and recent. The article is aimed to highlight the trajectory along which a method to write powerful speeches counting on story has grown, becoming a pivotal asset in contemporary political oratory. Drawing on the reflections of US speechwriters, the article identifies a preliminary age (Kennedy, Nixon, Reagan), where storytelling is used without elaborating on it as a rhetorical technique. The article shows then how Obama’s speechwriters are instead totally aware and able to explain their use of story. The piece argues that Obama’s storytelling became the basis for a well-defined oratorial technique – actually, an authentic rhetorical school – through the teachings of Marshall Ganz, a leadership and collective action scholar. To conclude, emphasis is put on the fact that, while Ganz’s “public narrative” method is hegemonizing liberal oratory, conservative politicians can’t count yet in their public speaking on an equally well-structured model.