DYNAMICS OF STRUCTURE AND PRAGMATICS OF ACCEPTANCE SPEECHES AT THE “OSCAR” CEREMONY

Abstract

The research focuses on structural and pragmatic aspects of the acceptance speeches at the Oscar ceremony. The carried out research rests upon the aim to verify or refute our working hypothesis that the speeches in question, being part of the institutional discourse, are thematically homogeneous and during a short period of time are not subject for significant structural and thematic deviations. The empirical material was grouped into three chronological layers: the first, the most chronologically distant and covering 1960—1970 time span. The second layer covers the decade dating 1988—1998s. The last, the most recent layer includes speeches, delivered in the 21st century. For the investigation we picked 30 speeches (10 for each layer, equally representing men’s and women’s speeches). We hold that the speeches in question, being part of institutional discourse, are thematically heterogeneous and during a short period of time are the subject for significant structural and thematic deviations, becoming more personal, more intimate and informal. The said refutes the aforementioned working hypothesis.