Linguistic Creativity, Secondary Orality, and Political Discourse: The Modern Greek Myth of the "Eloquent Orator"

The use of tropes is one of the most striking features of Greek political discourse. Such creative linguistic resources are not used merely to "decorate" political speeches and render them more appealing to the audience, but, most importantly, to criticize the opponent(s) and project certain aspects of political identity. While such resources are employed in the recitation of politicians' written texts and indicate the "conversationalization" of political communication, they also seem to be important criteria for the evaluation of Greek politicians. Given that oral practices are more highly valued than literal ones in Greek culture, while at the same time school education has accorded "literary" value to linguistic creativity, Greek citizens tend to focus on creative features in assessing the political skills of public orators, thus contributing to the modern Greek myth of the "eloquent orator" as the most competent politician.