L'art du débat Cours

Whether speakers are addressing audiences or arguing with other people, their main goal is to convince or persuade. Interacting with the public is an essential part of any politician's job, whether they are in office or campaigning. Political speeches must be convincing.

Politicians will debate with fellow politicians and citizens and deliver speeches quite regularly. Some of them, like Churchill, Kennedy or Obama, are remembered for their ability to engage and convince people.

Churchill, who was awarded the Nobel Prize of Literature in 1953, was a skillful speaker with a unique way with words. In his enthusing 1940 speech, in which he summoned a whole nation to trust and to stand behind him and fight the Germans with his now celebrated statement: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat." What better way to win people over than to show empathy instead of making empty promises no one is likely to believe? Indeed, Churchill didn't mince his words to cover up what awaited Britain and its people. He explained what this war had been waged for and what it would be like for everyone on the battlefield or at home. He used simple but catchy words to depict truthfully people's daily real-life experiences and predicaments in the dark hours to come. Churchill decided against lying to reassure people, proving he understood and felt for them, whilst reminding them that everyone's full commitment to victory was required, cost what may.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy ran for presidency as Democratic candidate in 1960. In his acceptance speech, later entitled "New Frontier", he revisited the national myth of the Frontier, a metaphorical boundary that was to be crossed or removed for the American people to move forward and grow as a nation. He promised Americans he would allow them to improve and get many steps closer to who they want to be as individuals and citizens. The limit that hindered and divided American people back in the 1960s was racial segregation, which he promised he would go out of his way to terminate.

There are subjects that are best dealt with resorting to humour and (self-)mockery to engage people and inspire them to take action.

Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie decided to approach feminism from that angle to explain why "we should all be feminists" in her 2012 TEDx talk. The following extract from her speech exemplifies Adichie's efficient use of derision and self-irony through a series of short anecdotes.

In 1963, Martin Luther King, the pacifist leader of the Civil rights movement, delivered an iconic speech called "I have a dream." Through the description of an idyllic America of equal opportunities for everyone, regardless of skin colour, King demands the end of racial segregation. His plea relies on well-chosen biblical references and the utopian New Jerusalem held so dear by the Founding Fathers. King refers Americans back to the very foundations of their nation to show Americans that racism and segregation go against their ancestors' ideals, on which their nation was founded.

In her Tilbury speech to the English people, Elizabeth I demonstrates that, despite being a female, she is as mighty as a king might be.

In 1588, England defeated Spain in a war opposing the two countries over religious rivalry. Indeed, the Catholic Spanish monarch interpreted Queen Elizabeth I's Act of Supremacy, through which she dismissed papal authority, as a provocation and a threat to his territories in the Netherlands, where Protestantism was gaining momentum. That's why Spain waged war on England in 1585.

Tudor England was ruled by a powerful woman whose main weakness lied in her gender. Although considered by her people as the rightful heir to the throne, Elizabeth was not taken as seriously as if she had been a king. Indeed, women were regarded as weaker than men because their bodies were not sealed, unlike men's, and were therefore more vulnerable to sin. 

In her speech, she uses just the right amount of so-called female empathy and male bravery, claiming not to "desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people" and pledging "to live and die amongst you all; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust." Most importantly, she is well aware of not being welcome at the helm of an army of men on the battlefield:

Laughter and humour in Shakespeare often result from the puns and witticisms used by characters who are debating or quarrelling. Language and rhetoric also serve as efficient weapons when more critical issues, like virtue or justice, are at stake. 

Shakespeare often contrasted conventional with non-conventional couples in many of his comedies, often in order to explore the flip side of love. Much Ado about Nothing is one of Shakespeare's most famous and popular plays, at the crossroads of a comedy and a problem play. Indeed, although humorous and light-hearted, the play addresses very serious subjects; love, matrimony, trust and women's virtue. It centres on two couples, Hero and Claudio, who are engaged to be married, and Beatrice and Benedick, who have sworn to remain single to avoid love's quandaries. However, they are in love with each other, and express their feelings fighting each other, as in the following scene.

Language and rhetoric serve other, less light-hearted purposes, as in Measure for Measure. This problem play can be viewed as a theatrical implementation of Machiavelli's political theory. It is set in Vienna, where uncontrolled promiscuity has led to decadence and corruption. The Duke has decided to restore order by sentencing any person having intercourse outside wedlock to death. To avoid being hated by his own people, he commissions a deputy named Angelo to do it. The first character to fall under this new legislation is Claudio, who impregnated Mariana. His sister Isabella, who has vowed to become a nun, begs Angelo to agree on a lighter sentence. Angelo sees it as an opportunity to persuade her to have sex with him. 

The Merchant of Venice is another play by Shakespeare that addresses the thorny issue of defining and enforcing justice. Shylock, its protagonist, is a Jewish pawnbroker who lends money to those in need of it, but able to give it back. When one of his borrowers tells him that he won't give him back his due because he is a Jew, Shylock decides to ask for a pound of the man's own flesh. He explains his reason to his friend Salarino in a soliloquy about equity in Act III, scene 1.

Shakespeare's most iconic heroines are what we would call power women today. Their influence and authority don't lie in politics or violence, but in their ability to use language to make a significant impact and often change the course of action. Among these skilled female speakers are Kate, Lady Macbeth and Queen Anne.

Committed photographers such as Barbara Kruger use photography in order to denunciate a situation.

Kruger is an American photographer at war with the tyranny of the consumer society. Her conceptual photomontages that combine pictures and words are designed to get people to think and question their daily, almost automated, habits. Kruger's art pieces can be viewed as parodied adverts that subvert the codes of advertising against the values promoted by the consumer society. Her catchy slogans in red punch the viewer into consciousness, as in the following selection.

Some street artists appropriate public buildings in order to launch debates and discussions about political or controversial subjects. Their aim is to engage as many people as possible and get them to interact about these subjects. 

The Guerrilla Girls use their art pieces in order to denounce sexism and consumerism. The Guerrilla Girls are a collective of American activist artists whose body of work aims to raise awareness about the lack of visibility and recognition of female artists in museums. These feminist artists like to play around stereotypes, as when they appear in public wearing apes' masks to ridicule machismo. They point out that art by women is underrated and underpaid through very provocative pictures targeting patriarchy. Their weapons of choice are irony and sarcasm.

Anonymous street artist Banksy is known and yet unknown by everyone around the world. His humorous and irreverent wall paintings, which always appear overnight on selected buildings in big cities, can be interpreted as visual comments on the latest political crisis, economic disaster or social scandal. Whether he intends to give hope or denounce something, Banksy has a unique way of showing the public what they would rather not see or talk about – poverty, homosexuality, violence against children and discriminations among many other controversial subjects. His symbol is the rat, which represents transgression, because it is disliked and feared by most people. Just like the issues he forces people to face, the rat is unwanted and best got rid of. It is little wonder that Banksy chose street art as his medium, because it is transgressive. Here is one of his most famous murals.

Some film directors appropriate public spaces such as billboards to launch debates and discussions about political or controversial subjects.

It is the case with Three billboards by Martin McDonagh.