Abstract
This essay examines some of the rhetorical choices of General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev which dramatize Soviet calls for nuclear weapons de-escalation. Two Burkean dramas are identified. In the first, nuclear weapons must be disarmed so that the world may survive, and in the second, nuclear technology is presented as a roadblock to socialism. Another version of the second drama envisions imminent Soviet economic collapse due to the expense of the arms race. The essay concludes by speculating that Gorbachev’s peace efforts are sincere, because they are motivated by twin crises of a failing economy and a threatened world community.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 321-334 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Western Journal of Speech Communication |
Volume | 52 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1988 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Language and Linguistics
- Communication