In this paper I investigate the unique ‘production format’ (Goffman 1981) of professional speechwriting; while the behind-the-scenes nature of this high-end language work (Thurlow 2020a) demands a marked erasure of authorship (see Mapes 2023, in press), this can simultaneously be used as a resource for claiming professional virtue and ingroup status. To demonstrate the largely reflexive (e.g. Giddens 1991) and affective (e.g. Weatherell 2013) underpinnings of this sort of discursive negotiation, I draw on my ethnographic fieldwork in the US American speechwriting community, including a 3-day professional speechwriting course; ‘language biography’ interviews (cf. Preston 2004); and a video-recorded virtual meeting. Following important scholarship in professional/workplace discourse, these data not only document the interesting ways in which speechwriters exercise their agency (e.g. White 2018), but also complicated entanglements with the ‘semiotic ideologies’ (Keane 2018) of contemporary life. Ultimately, certain kinds of words and work have value in the (linguistic) marketplace—and according to speechwriters, theirs certainly do.

中文翻译：

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有道德的不法之徒：专业演讲撰稿人话语中的情感价值主张

在本文中，我研究了专业演讲写作的独特“生产格式”（Goffman 1981）；虽然这部高端语言作品的幕后性质（Thurlow 2020a）要求明显消除作者身份（参见 Mapes 2023，已出版），但这可以同时用作声称职业美德和群体地位的资源。为了展示这种话语谈判的基本反射性（例如 Giddens 1991）和情感性（例如 Weatherell 2013）基础，我利用了我在美国演讲写作社区的民族志实地考察，包括为期 3 天的专业演讲写作课程；“语言传记”访谈（参见 Preston 2004）；以及视频录制的虚拟会议。遵循专业/工作场所话语的重要奖学金，这些数据不仅记录了演讲撰稿人行使代理权的有趣方式（例如White 2018），而且还记录了与当代生活的“符号意识形态”（Keane 2018）的复杂纠葛。最终，某些类型的词语和作品在（语言）市场上有价值——根据演讲撰稿人的说法，他们的词语和作品当然有价值。