Cover not available

Article published In: Journal of Language and Politics
Vol. 12:4 (2013) ► pp.485–507

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

How Does A Prime Minister Speak?

Kevin Rudd’s discourse, habitus, and negotiation of the journalistic and political fields

 | University of Kent
Published online: 31 January 2014
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.12.4.01cra
This paper investigates how political subjectivity is framed and expressed through language use in television political interviews. The paper argues that Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and field provide a useful framework for analyses of political subjectivity in news media interviews, but it also argues that the more sociological emphasis of Bourdieu’s theory cannot sufficiently account for the constitutive importance of discourse in the agency of the habitus and the boundaries and authority of different fields. As such, the analysis also draws on critical discourse analysis to demonstrate how Prime Ministerial discourse involves negotiations of different constitutive features of an individual subjectivity, and also negotiations between a particular habitus and the exigencies of the journalistic and political fields. Through an analysis of interviews of former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on influential Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) programmes, Insiders and the 7.30 Report, it is argued that the Prime Minister attempts to exercise political authority through an ensemble of discourses, initiating different relations with the interviewers, political colleagues and opponents, leading public figures in other fields, and the Australian public.
References (62)
References
Alexander, Jeffrey. (1995). Fin de Siècle Social Theory: Relativism, Reduction, and the Problem of Reason. London: Verso.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ankersmit, Frank. 2003. “Democracy’s Inner Voice: Political Style as Unintended Consequence of Political Action.” In Media and the Restyling of Politics, ed. by John Corner, and Dick Pels, 19–40. London: Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barnett, Clive. (2003). Culture and Democracy: Media, Space and Representation. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bennett, W. Lance, and Robert M. Entman (eds). (2001). Mediated Politics: Communication in the Future of Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Benson, Rodney. 1999. “Field Theory in Comparative Context: A New Paradigm for Media Studies.” Theory and Society 28 (3): 463–498. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1006982529917. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Benson, Rodney, and Eric Neveu. 2005. “Introduction: Field Theory as a Work in Progress.” In Bourdieu and the Journalistic Field, ed. by Rodney Benson, and Erik Neveu, 1–25. Malden, MA: Polity.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blondel, Jean et al.. (2010). Political Leadership, Parties and Citizens: The personalisataion of Leadership. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bourdieu, Pierre. (1977). Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511812507. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1991). Language and Symbolic Power. Oxford: Polity.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1998). On Television. New York: New Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2002. “Habitus.” In Habitus: A Sense of Place, ed. by Jean Hillier, and Emma Rooksby, 27–36. Ashgate: Aldershot.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2005. “The Political Field, the Social Science Field, and the Journalistic Field.” In Bourdieu and the Journalistic Field, ed. by Rodney Benson, and Erik Neveu, 29–47. Malden, MA: Polity.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Charteris-Black, Jonathan. (2005). Politicians and Rhetoric: The Persuasive Power of Metaphor. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chilton, Paul. (2004). Analysing Political Discourse: Theory and Practice. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chouliaraki, Lilie, and Norman Fairclough. (1999). Discourse in Late Modernity: Rethinking Critical Discourse Analysis. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Clayman, Steven. 2004. “Arenas of Interaction in the Mediated Public Sphere.” Poetics 321: 29–49. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Clayman, Steven, and John Heritage. (2002). The News Interview: Journalists and Public Figures on the Air. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Corner, John. 2003. “Mediated Persona and Political Culture.” In Media and the Restyling of Politics, ed. by John Corner, and Dick Pels, 67–84. London: Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Corner, John, and Dick Pels (eds). (2003). Media and the Restyling of Politics. London: Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Crabb, Annabel. 2009. “Is Kevin the new Barry McKenzie?” smh.co.au. June 13, Accessed February 5, 2010, http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/is-kevin-the-new-barry-mckenzie-20090612-c61u.html.
Craig, Geoffrey. (2004). The Media, Politics and Public Life. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2008. “Kevin Rudd and the Framing of Politics and Political Leadership in News Media Interviews.” Communication, Politics & Culture 41 (2): 84–99.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010a. Dialogue and Dissemination in News Media Interviews. Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism 11 (1): 75–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1464884909349582. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010b. “Media Interviews and Debates.” Australian Cultural History 28 (1): 39–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07288430903164751. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Crossley, Nick. 2001. “The Phenomenological Habitus and its Construction.” Theory and Society 30 (1): 81–120. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Darras, Eric. 2005. “Media Consecration of the Political Order.” In Bourdieu and the Journalistic Field, ed. by Rodney Benson, and Erik Neveu, 156–173. Malden, MA: Polity.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Davis, Aeron, and Emily Seymour. 2010. “Generating Forms of Media Capital Inside and Outside a Field: The Strange Case of David Cameron in the UK Political Field.” Media, Culture & Society 32 (5): 739–759. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0163443710373951. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ekström, Mats. 2001. “Politicians Interviewed on Television News.” Discourse and Society 12 (5): 563–584. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fairclough, Norman. (1995). Media Discourse. London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fetzer, Anita. 2006. “‘Minister, We Will See How the Public Judges You.’ Media References in Political Interviews.” Journal of Pragmatics 381: 180–195. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Frow, John. (1995). Cultural Studies & Cultural Value. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goffman, Erving. (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Anchor Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hackman, Michael Z., and Craig E. Johnson. (2000). Leadership: A Communication Perspective. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hartley, John. (1992). The Politics of Pictures: The Creation of the Public in the Age of Popular Media. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hesmondhalgh, David. 2006. “Bourdieu, the Media and Cultural Production.” Media, Culture & Society 28 (2): 211–231. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Holmes, Janet. 2005. “Leadership Talk: How Do Leaders ‘Do Mentoring’, and Is Gender Relevant?” Journal of Pragmatics 371: 1779–1800. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2005.02.013. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Horton, Donald, and Richard Wohl. 1993. “Mass Communication and Para-social Interaction.” In Communication Studies: An Introductory Reader, 4th edn, ed. by John Corner, and Jeremy Hawthorn, 156–164. London: Arnold.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hutchby, Ian. 2005. “News Talk: Interaction in the Broadcast News Interview.” In Journalism: Critical Issues, ed. by Stuart Allan, 210–223. Maidenhead: Open University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kenny, Mark. 2009. “Kevin Rudd Discovers a New Language – Strine.” Couriermail.com.au. June 9, Accessed February 5, 2010, www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25614313–23272,00.html.
Marshall, P. David. (1997). Celebrity and Power: Fame in Contemporary Culture. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Miller, Barbara. 2009. “Ruddisms and Shaky Language Under Scrutiny.” The World Today. June 11, Accessed February 5, 2010, http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2008/s2595423.htm.
Montgomery, Martin. 2008. “The Discourse of the Broadcast News Interview: A Typology.” Journalism Studies 9 (2): 260–277. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14616700701848303. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Noble, Greg, and Megan Watkins. 2003. “So, How Did Bourdieu Learn to Play Tennis? Habitus, Consciousness and Habituation.” Cultural Studies 17 (3/4): 520–538. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0950238032000083926. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Northhouse, Peter G. 2001. Leadership Theory and Practice, 2nd edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pels, Dick. 2003. “Aesthetic Representation and Political Style: Re-balancing Identity and Difference in Media Democracy.” In Media and the Restyling of Politics, ed. by John Corner, and Dick Pels, 41–66. London: Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Probyn, Elspeth. 2004. “Shame in the Habitus.” The Editorial Board of the Sociological Review 521: 224–248.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reisigl, Martin. 2008. “Rhetoric of Political Speeches.” In Handbook of Communication in the Public Sphere, ed. by Ruth Wodak, and Veronika Koller, 243–269. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reisigl, Martin, and Ruth Wodak. 2001. “Discourse and Discrimination: Rhetorics of Racism and Antisemitism.” London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schudson, Michael. 2005. “Autonomy from What?” In Bourdieu and the Journalistic Field, ed. by Rodney Benson, and Erik Neveu, 214–223. Malden, MA: Polity.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Street, John. 2003. “The Celebrity Politician: Political Style and Popular Culture.” In Media and the Restyling of Politics, ed. by John Corner, and Dick Pels, 85–98. London: Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Thompson, John. 1991. “Editor’s Introduction.” In Language and Symbolic Power, ed. by Pierre Bourdieu, 1–31. Oxford: Polity.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1995). The Media and Modernity: A Social Theory of the Media. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2000). Political Scandal: Power and Visibility in the Media Age. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Toohey Brian. 2009. “How Many Kevin Rudds Are Out There?” Canberratimes.com.au. 15 June, Accessed February 5, 2010, http://www.canberratimes.com.au/blogs/brian-toohey/how-many-kevin-rudds-are-out-there/1540745.aspx?storypage=1#.
Washbourne, Neil. (2010). Mediating Politics: Newspapers, Radio, Television and the Internet. Maidenhead: Open University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Webb, Jen, Tony Schirato, and Geoff Danaher. (2002). Understanding Bourdieu. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wodak, Ruth. (2011). The Discourse of Politics in Action: Politics as Usual. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wodak, Ruth, and Veronika Koller (eds). (2008). Handbook of Communication in the Public Sphere. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wodak, Ruth, Winston Kwon, and Ian Clarke. 2011. “‘Getting People on Board’: Discursive Leadership for Consensus Building in Team Meetings.” Discourse & Society 22 (5): 592–644. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wren, J. Thomas. (2007). Inventing Leadership: The Challenge of Democracy. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (6)

Cited by six other publications

Savski, Kristof
2018. The roles of field and capital in negotiating language policy in the Slovene parliament. Journal of Language and Politics 17:1 ► pp. 24 ff. DOI logo
Coleman, Stephen & Julie Firmstone
2017. The Performances of Mainstream Politicians: Politics as Usual?. In The Mediated Politics of Europe, ► pp. 259 ff. DOI logo
Mayaffre, Damon & Ronny Scholz
2017. Constructing ‘the French people’ – On Sarkozy’s populism. Journal of Language and Politics 16:5 ► pp. 683 ff. DOI logo
Collado-Campaña, Francisco, José Francisco Jiménez-Díaz & Francisco Entrena-Durán
2016. El liderazgo político en las democracias representativas: propuesta de análisis desde el constructivismo estructuralista. Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales 61:228 ► pp. 57 ff. DOI logo
Donnelly, Susie
2016. Sins of the father: unravelling moral authority in the Irish Catholic Church. Irish Journal of Sociology 24:3 ► pp. 315 ff. DOI logo
Willig, Ida
2016. Field Theory and Media Production: A Bridge-Building Strategy. In Advancing Media Production Research, ► pp. 53 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 13 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue