Legitimation Strategies in Political Rhetoric: Examples From Presidential Speeches on Covid-19
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1205.09Keywords:
Covid-19, Political discourse, legitimation, critical discourse analysis, presidential speechesAbstract
Heads of states are currently focusing on containing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic-commonly called Covid-19, and grappling with a series of strategies for addressing the pandemic. Political discourse concerning Covid-19 can be examined to better understand the ideology of the speaker and its impact on the audience. In this paper, we use Van Leeuwen’s (2007) and Van Leeuwen and Wodak’s (1999) legitimation strategies that social actors use to justify courses of action/political decisions in a critical discourse analysis approach. Drawing on presidential speeches specifically made by Donald Trump (USA) and Xi Jinping (China), this paper elucidates how legitimation strategies are linguistically constituted and fashioned to justify the leaders’ particular policy decisions and actions for controlling and containing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, thus achieving their political goals.
References
Aberi, G. (2016). Intertextuality in Kenyan Policy Discourse on the Rights of Women. [Unpublished PhD dissertation]., Victoria University of Wellington.
Bakhtin, M. (1981). The dialogic imagination. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Bhatia, A. (2006). Critical Discourse analysis of political press conferences. Discourse and Society, 17 (2), 173-203.
Cap, P. (2008). Towards the proximization model of the analysis of legitimization in political discourse. Journal of Pragmatics 40(1), 17-41.
DeJaeghere, J., Jenny P & Elaine U.(2013). Gender justice and education: linking theory, policy and practice. International Journal of Educational Development 33(6), 539-545.
Erlanger, S.(2020). Global Backlash Builds Against China Over Coronavirus. The New York Times. Retrieved May 3,2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/03/world/europe/backlash-china-coronavirus.html
Evaldsson, A. C. (2005). Staging insults and mobilizing categorization in a multi-ethnic peer group. Discourse & Society 16(6), 763-786.
Fairclough, I. (2008). Legitimation and Strategic Maneuvering in the Political Field. Argumentation 22(3), 399-417.
Fairclough, I, & Norman F. (2012). Political Discourse Analysis: A Method for Advanced Students. London: Routledge.
Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and social change. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing discourse: textual analysis for social research. London: Routledge.
Fowler, R. (1986). Linguistic Criticism. London: Oxford University Press.
Fowler, R. (1991). Language in the news: Discourse and ideology in the press. London: Routledge.
Franco, L., & Benedetta B. (2015). (De) Legitimization Strategies in the ‘Austere Prose’ of Palmiro Togliatti. Quaderni di Linguistica e Studi Orientali 1(1), 139-158.
Jonsen, K., & Karen A.J. (2009). Using triangulation to validate themes in qualitative studies. Qualitative Research in Organizations 4(2), 123-150.
Koussouhon, L. A., & Ashani M. D. (2015). Political and Ideological Commitments: A Systemic Functional Linguistic and Critical Discourse Analysis of President Buhari’s Inaugural Speech. International Journal of Linguistics and Communication 3(2), 24-34.
Leff M. C., & Gerald P. M. (1974). Lincoln at Cooper Union: A rhetorical Analysis of the text. Quarterly Journal of Speech 60(3), 346-358.
Martín R. L., & T. A. van Dijk. (1997). ‘There was a Problem, and it was Solved!’: Legitimating the Expulsion of ‘Illegal’ Immigrants in Spanish Parliamentary Discourse. Discourse & Society 8(4): 523-566.
Meyer, M. (2001). Between Theory, Method, and Politics: Positioning of the Approaches to CDA. In Wodak, R., & Meyer M(Eds.), Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis(pp.14-31). London: Sage Publications.
Niquet,V. (2020). Decoding Xi Jinping’s Speech at the World Health Assembly. The Diplomat. Retrieved May 19, 2020, from https://thediplomat.com/2020/05/decoding-xi-jinpings-speech-at-the-world-health-assembly.
Oddo, J. (2011). War legitimation discourse: Representing 'Us' and 'Them' in four US presidential addresses. Discourse Society 22(3), 287-314.
Olga, L. (2013). Discursive legitimation strategies in the media. Case study of the UK retail planning policy. [Unpublished Master dissertation]. Aalto University.
Reisigl, M.& Ruth, W. (2001). Discourse and discrimination: rhetorics of racism and antisemitism. London/New York: Routledge.
Reyes, A.(2011). Strategies of legitimization in political discourse: From words to actions. Discourse & Society 22(6), 781-807.
Rivers D. J., & Andrew, S. R. (2020). Authority (de) legitimation in the border wall Twitter discourse of President Trump. Journal of Language and Politics.19 (5), 831-856.
Said, H. (2017). Legitimation strategies in Egyptian political discourse: The case of presidential speeches. [Unpublished master’s thesis]. The American University in Cairo.
Salayo, J. D. (2020). Women’s right, a call for life: A critical discourse analysis of press. Donald Trump’s speech for The 2020 March for Life. Journal of English Education and Linguistics Studies 7(1), 115-135.
Stevens, M, & Thomas K. (2020). Biden Says Trump ‘Surrendered’ to Coronavirus in Blistering Speech. Retrieved June30, 2020 from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/us/politics/biden-speech-trump-coronavirus.html.
The State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China. (2020). Fighting COVID-19: China in Action. China:The State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China.
Trajkova, Z., & Silvana N. (2019). Strategies of Legitimisation and Delegitimisation in Selected American Presidential Speeches. Respectus philologicus 35(40), 11–29.
Trump, D. (2020). Trump’s Oval Office address on the coronavirus. CNN. Retrieved March 11, 2020, from https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/11/politics/read-trump-coronavirus address/index.html.
Trump, D. (2020). Remarks by President Trump on Actions Against China. The White House: National Security and Defence. Retrieved May 30, 2020, from https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-actions-china/.
Vaara, E., Janne T., & Juha L. (2006). Pulp and paper fiction: On the discursive legitimation of global industrial restructuring. Organization Studies 27(6), 789-813.
Van Dijk, Teun.A. (2008). Discourse and Power in Macmillan International Higher Education. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.
Van L. T. (1996). The grammar of legitimation. London: School of Printing.
Van L. T., & Ruth W. (1999). Legitimizing immigration control: a discourse-historical analysis. Discourse Studies 1(1), 83-118.
Van L, T. (2008). Discourse and practice: new tools for critical discourse analysis. New York: Oxford University Press.
Wodak, R. (2001). The discourse-historical approach. In Wodak R., & Meyer M(Eds.), Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis (pp63-94). London: Sage Publications.
Wodak, R. (2011). The discourse of politics in action: politics as usual. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Xi, Jinping. (2020). Working Together to Defeat the COVID-19 Outbreak: Remarks by H.E. Xi Jinping President of the People's Republic of China At the Extraordinary G20 Leaders' Summit. Xinhua News agency. Retrieved March 26, 2020, from http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-03/26/c_138920685.htm.
Xi, Jinping. (2020). Fighting COVID-19 Through Solidarity and Cooperation. Building a Global Community of Health for All. China Daily. Retrieved May 18, 2020, from https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202005/18/WS5ec273d1a310a8b2411568f1.html.
