Ethos and political legitimization in presidential speeches of Argentinean president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner

Focusing on an analysis of political speech that recaptures the rhetorical concept of ethos and using qualitative methodology, this article proposes to characterize the images of self that Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner developed in her speeches ascending to power as a means to legitimize political leadership. We have called this expert-pedagogical ethos and, upon reexamining previous analyses of Nestor Kirchner's presidential speeches, militant ethos. The first category represents a professorial scenario where the Argentine president positions herself as a professor lecturing her students, presented through the use of procedures characteristic of explanatory discourse. Militant ethos corresponds to a violation of certain typical conventions of presidential speech allowing her to identify herself with the persona and government of Nestor Kirchner. The expertpedagogical ethos itself assists her in developing her own identity.