Manipulative Strategies in Political Discourse: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Mahamudu Bawumia’s Speech in Ghana
https://doi.org/10.24833/2687-0126-2024-6-4-10-33
Abstract
The exploration of the discourse-power interplay has been the motivation behind Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) research orientation. CDA analysts have and continue to display vivid interest in the discourse of the dominant groups, particularly politicians, with the objective of describing and elucidating how existing social structures – power abuse, dominance, and inequality – are enacted, reproduced and sustained. While there is a vibrant literature on political speeches, not much work has been done on discursive manipulation as a form of social power abuse and dominance in political discourse from the Ghanaian perspective. This study therefore presents a critical analysis of a political speech by Mohammadu Bawumia, presidential candidate for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), with the aim of investigating how the Vice-President discursively represents himself, the government, and the past government as a strategy for accomplishing his manipulative goal. Drawing on van Dijk’s ideological square framework for analysis, the result shows the use of the macro-strategy of positive representation of the in-group (government) and negative representation of the out-group (opposition or former government), which manifests at all levels of discourse through the use of other minor discursive strategies: positive self-presentation, authority, number game rhetoric, active/passive structures, implication, and presupposition. Key findings include the strategic use of statistics to enhance credibility, the deployment of passive constructions to conceal government failures, and the use of metaphors to dissociate Bawumia from the government’s shortcomings. The outcome of the study implies that political speeches are imbued with covert ideologies, asymmetrical power relations, power abuse, dominance, inequality, and deception, which can only be exposed and resisted through the application of CDA tools. The study therefore recommends advocacy by policymakers and other civil society groups to awaken the consciousness of readers and listeners of political speeches to scrutinize political utterances, given their opaque nature and partisan or ideological functions.
About the Author
A. Abdullai
University of Media, Arts and Communication (UniMAC)
Ghana
Ghana
Abubakar Abdullai - Assistant Lecturer at the Department of English, University of Media, Arts and Communication (UniMAC), PhD candidate at the University of Education, Winneba.
Accra
References
1. Abdullai, A. (2013). Polarization in Ghanaian political discourse: A critical discourse analysis of the ‘2008’presidential election campaign speeches. University of Cape Coast, Ghana.
2. Addae, A., Danquah, G. K., Hamidu, A., & Adjei-Yeboah, K. (2023). Ideological discursive structures in political speeches: A critical discourse analysis of selected speeches of Mr. John Dramani Mahama. World Journal of Advance Research and Reviews, 20(03), 1314-1333. doi:10.30574/wjarr.2023.20.3.2499
3. Addy, J., & Ofori, E.A. (2020). A critical discourse analysis of the campaign speech of Ghanaian opposition leader. Theories and Practice in Language Studies, 10(10), 1279-1287. doi:10.17507/tpls.1010.14
4. Adegoju, A. (2014). Person deixis as discourse practice in Nigeria’s June 12 conflict rhetoric. Ghana Journal of Linguistics, 3(1), 45-64. doi:10.4314/gil.v3i1.2
5. Allami, H., & Barzegar, N. (2020). Representation of ordinary people in political discourse: An aggregate critical discourse analysis. International Journal of Society, Culture and Language (IJSCL), 8(2), 90-104.
6. Allen, W. (2007). Australian political discourse: Pronominal choice in campaign speeches. In M.L. Mushin (Ed.), Annual Meeting of the Australian Linguistic Society, Brisbane, Australia, 7-9 July, 2006. St Lucia, Australia: School of English, Media & Art History, University of Queensland.
7. Anderson, J. (2014). A stylistic analysis of some selected political speeches by John Evans Atta Mills. [Master’s Thesis, University of Ghana]. Ghana, Legon.
8. Antwi, E. (2022). Codeswitching in political campaign speeches: The case of Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo-Addo [Master’s Thesis, University of Cape Coast, Ghana].
9. Arthur, A. (2024, February 7). Bawumia’s national address on his vision for Ghana [Full speech]. Citi Newsroom. https://citinewsroom.com/2024/02/bawumias-national-address-on-hisvision-for-ghana-full-speech/
10. Beard, A. (2000). The Language of Politics. Routledge.
11. Blas Arroyo, J.L. (2000). Mire usted Sr. González … Personal deixis in Spanish political-electoral debate. Journal of Pragmatics, 32(1), 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00040-5
12. Boyd, M.S., & Llamas, L.F. (2018). Critical discourse analysis and politics. In J. Flowerdew & J.E. Richardson (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Critical Discourse Studies.
13. Cabrejas-Peñuelas, A.B., & Díez-Prados, M. (2014). Positive self-evaluation versus negative other-evaluation in the political genre of pre-election debates. Discourse & Society, 25(2), 159-185. Sage Publications, Ltd. doi:10.1177/0957926513515601
14. Cap, P. (2014). Contemporary critical discourse studies: Introduction. In C. Hart & P. Cap (Eds.), Contemporary Critical Discourse Studies (pp. 1-15).
15. Chilton, P. A., & Schäffner, C. (2002). Politics as text and talk: Analytic approaches to Political discourse. Amsterdam: John Benjamin Publishing Company.
16. Chilton, P.A. (2005). Missing links in mainstream critical discourse analysis: models, blends and the critical instinct. In R. Wodak & P.A. Chilton (Eds.), A new agenda in critical discourse analysis: theory, methodology and interdisciplinarity (pp.1-27). Amsterdam: John Benjamin Publishing Co. doi:10.1075/dapsac.13.05chi
17. Culpeper, J. (1996). Towards an anatomy of impoliteness. Journal of Pragmatics, 25(3), 349-367. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(95)00014-3
18. Danquah, G.K. (2020). A critical discourse analysis of three speeches of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo [Master’s Thesis, University of Education, Ghana]. Ghana, Winneba.
19. Emeka-Nwobia, N.U. (2016). Political manipulation in Nigerian presidential discourses, British Journal of English Linguistics, 4(4), 2-23.
20. Fairclough, I., & Fairclough, N. (2012). Political Discourse Analysis: A Method for Advanced Students. London: Routledge.
21. Fairclough, N. (1989). Language and power. London: Longman.
22. Fairclough, N. (2001). Language and power (2nd ed.). New York: Longman.
23. Fairclough, N. (2003). Analyzing discourse: Textual analysis for social research. New York: Routledge.
24. Fairclough, N. (2013). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.
25. GhanaWeb. (2022). How 2022 proved Vice President Bawumia’s economic theories right. https://bawumia.com/article/how-2022-proved-vice-president-bawumias-economic-theories-right/#:~:text=When%20in%20doubt.,exchange%20rate%20will%20expose%20you.
26. Kpeglo, S.C., & Gidi, B. (2022). Ideological positioning in presidential inaugural addresses: A comparative critical discourse analysis of president Agyekum Kuffour and President John Evans Atta Mills. Integrated Journal for Research in Arts and Humanities, 2(5), 92-103. doi:10.55544/ijrah.2.5.15
27. Logogye, C. (2021). Ideology and Political Discourse:a Critical Discourse Analysis of President Nana Akuffo Addo’s 2018 State of the Union Address. European Journal of Literature Language and Linguistics Studies, 5(3). doi:10.46827/ejlll.v5i3.286
28. Michael, A. (2013). Discourse analysis of the language of presidential campaign in Ghana: Evidence from the 2008 general elections [Master’s Thesis, University of Ghana].
29. Mooney, A., & Evans, B. (2015). Language, Society and Power: An Introduction (4th ed.). London and New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315733524
30. Nazish, M., Faraz, A.B., & Illahi, B.C. (2014). Critical analysis of political discourse: A study of Benazir Bhutto’s last speech. Balochistan Journal of Linguistics, 2, 72-87.
31. Oso, I.O. (2019). Politics is ‘wordfare’: A pragmatic analysis of exchanges during Nigeria’s 2019 presidential election campaign. Journal of English and Communication in Africa, 2(1&2), 169-191.
32. Putri, N.A., & Kurniawan, E. (2015). Person deixis in USA presidential campaign speeches. English Review: Journal of English Education, 3(2), 190-200.
33. Qaiwer, S.N. (2020). Power Abuse in Political Discourse: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Trump’s Discourse. Journal of Arts, Literature, Humanities and Social Sciences, 52(93). doi:10.33193/jalhss.52.2020.93
34. Richardson, J.E. (2007). Analyzing newspapers: An approach from critical discourse analysis. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
35. Sharndama, E.C. (2016). Discursive strategies in political speech: A critical discourse analysis of selected inaugural speeches of the 2015 Nigeria’s gubernatorial inaugurals. European Journal of English Language, Linguistics and Literature, 3(2), 15-28.
36. Shyam, R.O. (2022). Critical discourse analysis of political speeches delivered during Presidential Elections in the USA [Master’s Thesis, Tribhuvan University, Nepal].
37. Tagoe, M. (2009). Handbook for writing research proposal. Accra: Ghana Universities Press.
38. Vadai, K. (2017). Critical discourse analysis for language education: Unveiling power, ideology and manipulation in political discourse. Working Papers in Language Pedagogy, 11, 96-138. doi:10.61425/wplp.2017.11.96.138
39. Van Dijk, T.A. (1997). What is political discourse analysis? In J. Blommaert & C. Bucaen (Eds.), Political linguistics (pp. 11-52). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
40. Van Dijk, T.A. (1998). Ideology: A multidisciplinary approach. London: SAGE Publications.
41. Van Dijk, T.A. (2001). Critical discourse analysis. In: D. Schifrin, D. Tannen & H.E. Hamilton (Eds.), A handbook of discourse analysis. London: WILLEY Blackwell.
42. Van Dijk, T.A. (2003). Discourse, power and access. In C.R. Caldas-Coulthard & M. Coulthard (Eds.), Texts and practices: Readings in critical discourse analysis. London: Routledge.
43. Van Dijk, T.A. (2004). Politics, ideology and discourse. In R. Wodak (Ed.), Language and Politics: Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics (pp. 728-740).
44. Van Dijk, T.A. (2006a). Politics, ideology and discourse. Barcelona: Elsevier Ltd.
45. Van Dijk, T.A. (2006b). Discourse and manipulation. Discourse and Society, 17(3), 359–383. doi:10.1177/0957926506060250
46. Van Dijk, T.A. (2009). Critical discourse studies: A sociocognitive approach. In R. Wodak & M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods for Critical Discourse Analysis. London: Sage.
47. Van Dijk, T.A. (2015). Critical discourse analysis. In D. Schifrin, D. Tannen & H.E. Hamilton (Eds.), A handbook of discourse analysis (2nd ed.). London: WILLEY Blackwell.
48. Van Dijk, T.A. (2016). Critical discourse studies: A sociocognitive approach. In R. Wodak & M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of critical discourse studies(3rd ed.). London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
49. Van Leeuwen, T. (2008). Discourse and practice: New tools for critical discourse analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
50. Van Leeuwen, T. (2009). Critical discourse analysis. In J. Renkema (Ed.), Discourse, of course: An overview of research in discourse studies. Amsterdam: John Bery Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1075/z.148
51. Wieczorek, A.E. (2013). Clusivity: A new approach to association and dissociation in political discourse. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
52. Wilson, J. (2001). Political discourse. In D. Schifrin, D. Tannen & H.E. Hamilton (Eds.), A handbook of discourse analysis. London: WILLEY Blackwell.
53. Wilson, J. (2015). Political discourse. In D. Schifrin, D. Tannen & H.E. Hamilton (Eds.), A handbook of discourse analysis (2nd ed.). London: WILLEY Blackwell.
54. Wirth-Koliba, V. (2016). The diverse and dynamic world of us and them in political discourse. Critical approaches to discourse analysis across discipline, 8(1), 23-37.
55. Wodak, R. (2007). Language and ideology: Language in ideology. Journal of Language and Politics, 6(1), 1-5. Lancaster, UK: John Benjamin Publishing Company.
56. Wodak, R. (2015). Critical Discourse Analysis: Discourse-Historical Approach. In K. Tracey & T. Sandel (Eds.), The International Encyclopedia of Language and Social Interaction (1st ed.). John Wiley & Sons Inc. doi:10.1002/9781118611463/wbielsi116
57. Wodak, R., & Meyer, M. (2001). Methods of critical discourse analysis (2nd ed.) London: SAGE Publications.
58. Wodak, R., & Meyer, M. (2009). Critical discourse analysis: History, agenda, theory and methodology. Methods of critical discourse analysis (2nd ed.). London: SAGE Publications.
Review
For citations:
Abdullai A. Manipulative Strategies in Political Discourse: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Mahamudu Bawumia’s Speech in Ghana. Professional Discourse & Communication. 2024;6(4):10-33. https://doi.org/10.24833/2687-0126-2024-6-4-10-33
Email this article 