Cold War Effects Over Words and Meanings - Communism in U.S. Foreign Policy during the 1970s

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the changes that affected the undestanding and use of the word communism in the U.S. foreign policy of the 1970s, both in the intention of the speakers who used them, and in the general understanding inside their historical context. The study will deal with public speeches of presidents Nixon and Carter and with the intentional and unintentional meaning they gave to them. After a brief overview of the time under analysis, considerations will be made about the frequency, the characteristics and the sintactical role of those keywords that are relevant to our study. A parallel analysis will be led to search whether the change in the use of the word ment also a shift in the meaning of other terms, like socialism. A further analysis could be led, both extending the period under analysis, so to have a wider overview of the evolution of the use of the term during another administration, or focusing on a different word, in order to have a broader picture of the Cold War from the rhetorical point of view.