Critical discourse anaoysis of political speeches
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Date
2014
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University of Management and Technology Lahore
Abstract
The study explores the domains of Pakistani political discourse by critically analysing the rhetorical devices of repetition, modality, positive self-presentation, negative other-presentation, ethnicity and figurative speech including metaphor, simile and personification. Also, the study examines the linguistic implications of these rhetorical devices in pre and post-election speeches of Pakistani politicians.
A sample of 15 prominent politicains was chosen to collect the data. Both narrative and numerical data sets were analysed to address the underlying research questions. Fairclough’s three dimensional model based on critical discourse analysis (CDA) was applied to analyse discursive practices. Frequency of discourse practices was measured to figure out how many times they occur in the data. Moreover, frequency count provided a further insight about the permanence of discourse practices in political discourse. Tabular and graphic representation of the data demonstrated rhetorical devices in pre and post election speeches of the subjects. The analysis revealed that repetition was the most frequently used device, whereas the strategies of ethnicity and figurative speech were among the least exploited devices. It seems that the use of the rhetorical devices was more or less context dependent. The findings uncover that the subjects exploited persuasive devices to foster consent, demonstrate ideologies and assert power. Notwithstanding its limitations; the study contributed in the filed of political discourse analysis and suggested directions for future research also.
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M.Phil Thesis, English Language and Literature