Autobiographical recalls in Obama’s political speech: an over-personalization or a social resource to enhance reconciliation?

Our study explores a facet of the general issue of how Barak Obama uses autobiographical narratives to enhance reconciliation processes (Hammack, 2010). We reviewed Obama’s fifteen relevant political speeches, addressing both national and international audiences, delivered either before or after assuming his role as US President. This allowed us to highlight how he constantly used autobiographical memories as a key rhetorical strategy during his political speech. We decided therefore to observe, through in-depth multimodal grids (Poggi, 2007), both the verbal and the body communication he used when recalling autobiographical memories referred to intergroup violence. This second set of analyses showed a fine choice of words apt to describe frankly but without any aggressive nuance the long-term effects of structural or direct violence on his life and on the life of his family, exposed to a number of negative historical events (colonial domination, WW2, social and economic difficulties linked to the unconventional conditions characterizing his multicultural origin). An impressive competence in emotions’ communication emerged too, since his intentional social signals mirrored coherently his unintended expressive reactions to the emotional aspects of these memories, re-enacted when remembering. Therefore, when he publicly recalled difficulties, shortcomings or even humiliations characterizing his personal and family life, an impression of intimacy (Thompson, 2005), frankness and authenticity was conveyed. At the same time, his emotions’ regulation (Frijda, 1986) and his preference for the intermediate layer of family memories (Halbwachs, 1950) suggested an intent of avoiding any over-personalization (McAllister, 2007), focusing instead on the aim of intergroup reconciliation.