Discursive strategies in political speech: The words of Dr. Bingu Wa Mutharika

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Abstract

This study investigates the use of specific discursive strategies in United Nations General Assembly addresses given by Malawian president Bingu wa Mutharika over a period of four years during his presidency (2004-2007). The discursive mechanisms explored include shift of focus through pronoun choice, the strengthening of rhetoric through lexicon and pronoun pairings, and altering the structural organization of the addresses over time to convey the ongoing tale of the political and economic situation in Malawi. Comparative analysis of these features drawn from four General Assembly addresses suggests that Mutharika alters the type and number of such components in his speech in response to political and economic events in Malawi that proceed or fall concurrent with the occasions on which he is speaking. The speeches chosen for analysis are drawn from live webcast recordings of United Nations General Assembly annual sessions in September of each year from 2004 through 2007.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationIssues in Political Discourse Analysis
PublisherNova Science Publishers, Inc.
Pages207-222
Number of pages16
ISBN (Print)9781613240090
StatePublished - Mar 2011
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • African linguistics
  • Critical discourse analysis
  • Malawi
  • Mutharika
  • Political discourse
  • Pronoun

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Social Sciences
  • General Arts and Humanities

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