Political Discourse Summary

SUMMARY In this study, the researcher has presented political campaign speeches that encode power and dominance with ideological undertone. The work also reveals some hidden meanings and messages that are embedded in the linguistic expressions used. The linguistic and extra-linguistic variables of the communicative event including the socio-cultural, socio-political and socio-linguistic indices of the environment which influence the structure and the functions of the political messages were also considered. The researcher has demonstrated that discourse has structure, meaning and action. In Fairclough‟s opinion, discourse reflects an action. Secondly, there is a dialectical relationship between discourse and social structures, in which social

Within the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis, language plays a vital role in manifesting, creating and sustaining power relations and ideological structures of society. These power relations are reproduced, enacted and legitimized by the application of certain linguistic devices. Such linguistic devices, as text production strategy, could be seen in the use of strong and mild imperatives, enactment of lexical items with negative expressive value, use of declaratives and figurative expressions among others. The study reveals amazingly discourse structures that have implications for power and ideology in order to uncover hidden meanings and messages that are embedded in the linguistic expressions used. It is obvious, that politics is a game that can be successfully played through skilful manipulation of language to project ideological positions that do not always square up with the realities of the day. In a final note, it is important to remark that politicians take advantage by developing their fear about certain minorities and proclaiming derogatory remarks as well as the bread mentality of the poor masses to manipulate their thinking and decision on who to vote for, especially in elections. It is important also to note that Critical Discourse Analysis is an important analytical tool for the study of campaign speeches in America. Its provisions as a theoretical framework contain necessary features for demystifying ideological positions that are embedded in linguistic strategies with hidden intentions. It should also be stated that this study does not contain the final word in the study of the language of political campaigns in America. Presidential speeches can be studied using the same theoretical approach. It is hoped that further researches in the field will help to produce results that will be more rewarding. The study, therefore, concluded