President Vladimir Putin’s speech at the Victoria Day parade in the light of some Ciceronian rhetorical principles

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine the manner in which three of the principles of Ciceronian rhetoric and oratory are used in the speech of President V. Putin on the occasion of the Victory Day parade. The first of them, regarding the auditor’s information, is partially respected by the Russian president, in that he presents too little data intended to provide a somewhat concrete picture of how Western countries have reported, over time, to Russia’s defense requirements. Next, we bring enough examples to demonstrate the orator’s preference for the principle that consists in convincing the audience by appealing to arguments of an affective nature. The third, convincing the public through ethical arguments, strictly depends on the achievement of the previous ones. The degree of respect for each one emerges from the specific quotes in the content. The natural conclusion of the approach is that the Russian president prefers only one of them, failing, in our opinion, to effectively capitalize on the other two, a fact that has (or should have) repercussions on the persuasion of the audience.