Eu tenho um sonho: os atos de fala como constituidores do ethos de Martin Luther King

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the theory of speech acts proposed by J.L. Austin in the constitution of the ethos designed by Martin Luther King in his famous speech, delivered on August 28, 1963. Developed a panorama of the Speech Acts, so to undertake a classification of the acts and their intention to achieve the co - enunciator. The speech acts found in the corpus were categorized into illocutionary acts as its impact on building the image assumes that the speaker (ethos). From the description of the actions found in the discourse, it is understood as the enunciator demonstrates the desired image. According to the definition of ethos by Dominique Maingueneau, from which the author argues that speakers reveal more qualities by way of expressing and intonation by building in their utterances than what they say about themselves, it was possible to conclude that the pacifist and gregarious ethos of Martin Luther King's call legitimizes what makes the black population of the U.S. at the time, to fight for their rights as citizens in a fair and ethical manner.