The notions of ethos and pathos in Hezbollah’s secretary-general speeches delivered through videoconference technique

This paper examines the rhetorical notions of ethos and pathos in the speeches of Hezbollah's Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrullah after the July War of 2006. The result of this Israeli war on Lebanon and Hezbollah obliged Nasrullah to deliver his speeches through videoconference technique for security purposes. In the analysis, the paper focuses on how Nasrullah maintains his charisma and interactivity with the addressees while he delivers his speeches through videoconference. Thus, the paper sheds light on the observed procedures taken by his organisation to keep the notions of ethos and pathos in his speeches. The utilised approach in this paper stems from old rhetoric under the umbrella of discourse studies discipline. However, the samples chosen in this paper are two speeches delivered by Nasrullah after the end of the July War of 2006 and have contents related to the conflict with Israel. The result of this paper illuminates to how the communication technology can bridge the distance and allows a leader to face the security challenges and maintains the flow of his speeches in order to achieve the objectives of his organisation. It also shows how Hezbollah managed to maintain the public discourse of its leader and his interactivity with his audience.