Volume 12, Issue 4 (2021)
LRR 2021, 12(4): 405-437 |
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Shabani M, Habibzadeh S M. Critical Discourse Analysis of Speeches of Previous Presidents of Islamic Republic of Iran at the United Nations General Assembly. LRR 2021; 12 (4) :405-437
URL: http://lrr.modares.ac.ir/article-14-34850-en.html
URL: http://lrr.modares.ac.ir/article-14-34850-en.html
1- Associate Professor Professor, General Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran , mshabani225@gmail.com
2- M.A, General Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran
2- M.A, General Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran
Abstract: (4121 Views)
Speeches of the presidents at the United Nations General Assembly is of great importance with respect to ideology. The present study aims to compare the ideology in speeches of Iranian presidents in recent years including Mohammad Khatami, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hasan Ruhani. The data of this descriptive research are gathered out of texts of the speeches in 2001, 2005, 2007, 2013, and 2018. Then, the data were analyzed within the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis proposed by Fairclough. This framework includes three stages namely Description, Interpretation and Explanation. At the first stage, the linguistic strategies utilized in the speeches are explored. In Interpretation stage, Situational, Intertextual and Pragmatic contexts are analyzed. In Explanation stage, the first two stages are expanded into the society level. The results of the study show that there are some similarities and discrepancies among the speeches. The similarity lies in the ideology of defending rights of Iran and oppressed nations. Mohammad Khatami attempted to integrate all countries to work in same direction in order to settle the disagreements. Meanwhile, due to Situational contexts and political, financial and regional conditions, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hasan Ruhani made their effort to mobilize nations to stay against oppressing nations.
1. Introduction
Critical discourse analysis is a common field among many disciplines, including linguistics, literature, political science, etc., which examines the linguistic patterns in the text and measures the relationship between language, society, and culture. This field could be applied to analyze texts with a wide range of topics. Fairclough (1995, p. 132) considers critical discourse analysis to be the study of ambiguous relationships between a) speech methods, events, and texts, and b) broad social and cultural structures. The ideological relations in the text are one of the most important issues related to critical discourse analysis. Fairclough's emphasis on the hidden ideology of texts in Language and Power (2001) shows the importance of this issue in discourse studies. The speech of the presidents of the countries in the United Nations is a rich source of ideological information and policies of the countries due to the use of different strategies.
The issue of this research is also how ideology is represented in their speeches. The purpose of this study is to investigate the similarities and differences in the representation of ideology and language strategies used in the speeches of Mohammad Khatami, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Rouhani.
1. What are the similarities and differences between the representation of ideology in the speeches of Mohammad Khatami, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Rouhani?
2. What linguistic strategies have been utilized to represent ideological differences?
2. Literature Review
One of the most important and fundamental works published in the field of critical discourse analysis is the book Language and Power by Fairclough (2001). In this book, he examines the three stages of description, interpretation and explanation. These three stages are also described in Fairclough (2006). Another book published by Fairclough (1995) is Media Discourse, which examines the mass media from various linguistic and social dimensions. Morover, several scientific articles have been published in the field of critical discourse analysis of the speeches of political officials in the world. Alami et al (2017), Carreon and Svetanant (2017), Afkhami et al (2018) and Ziyaie et al (2013) are amongst the most significant ones.
3. Methodology
This research is qualitative and the method of data analysis is descriptive-analytical. The data of the present article are collected from the text of the speeches of the Presidents of Iran in the past years in the UN meetings. Out of a total of 15 speeches delivered at the United Nations, two speeches from each president were randomly selected. Then, the collected data were described and analyzed in order to examine the ideological relations and hidden power and angles in the framework of Fairclough (2006) critical discourse analysis.
Lectures are examined at three levels of description, interpretation, and explanation, according to Fairclough's (ibid) approach. Examining each of these three levels includes vocabulary and grammar. At the descriptive level, the data have been studied in terms of formal and visual characteristics, at the level of interpretation in terms of two levels, high and low, and at the level of discourse explanation according to social conditions.
4. Results
Using data analysis, it was shown that the speeches of the United Nations Mohammad Khatami, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Rouhani have similarities and differences in terms of different aspects of discourse and power relations. This set of data presented in different sections of the research proves the first hypothesis of the present article. The speeches have similarities in terms of trying to defend the rights of Iran and the oppressed countries, and all three presidents have tried to defend the rights of the Iranian people and the oppressed countries, but there are differences between them in terms of representing ideology using different linguistic forms. And this proves the second hypothesis of the research. The final results of the present study show that Mohammad Khatami is trying to integrate and show solidarity with all countries in the world in terms of political behavior, while Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Rouhani are trying to mobilize countries against world oppressors such as the United States, Britain and others. It seems that this difference was due to various reasons such as the context of the situation and the political, economic and regional conditions during the presidency of each of the presidents of Iran.
1. Introduction
Critical discourse analysis is a common field among many disciplines, including linguistics, literature, political science, etc., which examines the linguistic patterns in the text and measures the relationship between language, society, and culture. This field could be applied to analyze texts with a wide range of topics. Fairclough (1995, p. 132) considers critical discourse analysis to be the study of ambiguous relationships between a) speech methods, events, and texts, and b) broad social and cultural structures. The ideological relations in the text are one of the most important issues related to critical discourse analysis. Fairclough's emphasis on the hidden ideology of texts in Language and Power (2001) shows the importance of this issue in discourse studies. The speech of the presidents of the countries in the United Nations is a rich source of ideological information and policies of the countries due to the use of different strategies.
The issue of this research is also how ideology is represented in their speeches. The purpose of this study is to investigate the similarities and differences in the representation of ideology and language strategies used in the speeches of Mohammad Khatami, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Rouhani.
1. What are the similarities and differences between the representation of ideology in the speeches of Mohammad Khatami, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Rouhani?
2. What linguistic strategies have been utilized to represent ideological differences?
2. Literature Review
One of the most important and fundamental works published in the field of critical discourse analysis is the book Language and Power by Fairclough (2001). In this book, he examines the three stages of description, interpretation and explanation. These three stages are also described in Fairclough (2006). Another book published by Fairclough (1995) is Media Discourse, which examines the mass media from various linguistic and social dimensions. Morover, several scientific articles have been published in the field of critical discourse analysis of the speeches of political officials in the world. Alami et al (2017), Carreon and Svetanant (2017), Afkhami et al (2018) and Ziyaie et al (2013) are amongst the most significant ones.
3. Methodology
This research is qualitative and the method of data analysis is descriptive-analytical. The data of the present article are collected from the text of the speeches of the Presidents of Iran in the past years in the UN meetings. Out of a total of 15 speeches delivered at the United Nations, two speeches from each president were randomly selected. Then, the collected data were described and analyzed in order to examine the ideological relations and hidden power and angles in the framework of Fairclough (2006) critical discourse analysis.
Lectures are examined at three levels of description, interpretation, and explanation, according to Fairclough's (ibid) approach. Examining each of these three levels includes vocabulary and grammar. At the descriptive level, the data have been studied in terms of formal and visual characteristics, at the level of interpretation in terms of two levels, high and low, and at the level of discourse explanation according to social conditions.
4. Results
Using data analysis, it was shown that the speeches of the United Nations Mohammad Khatami, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Rouhani have similarities and differences in terms of different aspects of discourse and power relations. This set of data presented in different sections of the research proves the first hypothesis of the present article. The speeches have similarities in terms of trying to defend the rights of Iran and the oppressed countries, and all three presidents have tried to defend the rights of the Iranian people and the oppressed countries, but there are differences between them in terms of representing ideology using different linguistic forms. And this proves the second hypothesis of the research. The final results of the present study show that Mohammad Khatami is trying to integrate and show solidarity with all countries in the world in terms of political behavior, while Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Rouhani are trying to mobilize countries against world oppressors such as the United States, Britain and others. It seems that this difference was due to various reasons such as the context of the situation and the political, economic and regional conditions during the presidency of each of the presidents of Iran.
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