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Understanding Discursive Hegemony in Turkish Politics: Discursive Strategies As Instruments of Hegemonic Projects

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Understanding Discursive Hegemony in Turkish Politics: Discursive Strategies As Instruments of Hegemonic Projects UNDERSTANDING DISCURSIVE HEGEMONY IN TURKISH POLITICS: DISCURSIVE STRATEGIES AS INSTRUMENTS OF HEGEMONIC PROJECTS A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY AT LANCASTER UNIVERSITY BY CAN KÜÇÜKALİ, M.A., B.A. LANCASTER, MAY 2014 STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted for a degree or diploma at any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made. Date: 21. 5. 2014 Signed: C. Küçükali Understanding Discursive Hegemony in Turkish Politics: Discursive Strategies as Instruments of Hegemonic Projects by Can Küçükali, M.A., B.A. Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics Lancaster University, May 2014 Abstract: This research on the use of discursive strategies in Turkish politics is a result of an interest in the ways language is employed in politics. Although the political science literature about Turkey concentrates on the power struggles between political actors on the policy level, the use of language as a strategic tool to establish a discursive hegemony as an indispensable part of wider political hegemony is neglected. Especially since the AKP has come to power as a single party government in 2002, the increasing executive capacity of the party makes it crucial to deal with the discursive practices both to identify and evaluate the party as well as its policy-making preferences. Hence, this research approaches Turkish politics from an interdisciplinary discourse- analytical perspective in order to deepen our understanding of political power and discourse, with the help of a critical realist approach. Thus, this study re-conceptualizes discursive strategies as hegemonic projects and analyzes them with the help of the DHA (discourse-historical approach) in order to see the ways in which the ruling AKP tries to establish and maintain its political hegemony on the discursive level. In order to achieve these aims, thirteen governmental texts from three sub-genres of election rally speeches, party-group speeches and ministerial speeches are analyzed with the methodological tools provided by the DHA. After the analysis, the findings are interpreted to evaluate the current policy making process and AKP’s role of realizing the particular policy preferences. Keywords: Justice and Development Party, rhetorical figures, Critical Discourse Analysis, discursive strategies, hegemony Acknowledgements: I am grateful to Ruth Wodak who supervised this thesis and helped me in every aspect during this process. It has been an honour to be her Ph.D. student. I am very pleased that I was able to reflect my vision and ideas to the research and this is because she provided me with such necessary flexibility. I also would like to thank Tim Jacoby and Bülent Diken who read the earlier drafts of the chapters and also commented on them. Their invaluable expertise on the subject contributed to my understanding and helped me develop my analysis. I also thank Gerard Hearne and Pamela Olmos Lopez for editing the thesis, revising the language, and making the thesis ready for submission. Lastly, I would like to thank my family and friends who supported me with their positive feedbacks. Especially the thought-provoking political discussions with my father have always been a substantial part of my intellectual development. I am also very grateful for their support and encouragement. Can Küçükali Lancaster University May 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Guiding research interests, aims and questions ................................................................4 1.2. Outline of the thesis ......................................................................................................................17 2. POLITICAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT 2.1. Short political history of the CHP ...........................................................................................21 2.2. Short political history of the AKP ...........................................................................................35 2.3. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................46 3. LITERATURE REVIEW 3.1. Literature on critical approaches to political discourse ..............................................48 3.2. Understanding neo-liberalism and locating it in the research ..................................53 3.3. Discourse-oriented studies on politics in Turkey ...........................................................58 3.4. Politically-oriented studies on the AKP ...............................................................................62 4. THEORY AND APPROACH: 4.1. Conceptualizing democratic politics in terms of conflict .............................................72 4.2. Deliberative democracy and agonistic pluralism: premises and criticisms ........76 4.3. Critical realist theory of hegemony and critical discourse analysis .......................88 5. METHODOLOGY AND DATA 5.1. Categorization of political speeches .....................................................................................94 5.2. Discourse-historical approach and its implementation ..............................................97 5.3. Data, selection criteria and research questions ...........................................................116 5.4. Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................118 6. THE ANALYSIS OF AN ELECTION RALLY SPEECH 6.1. Text ...................................................................................................................................................120 6.2. Analysis ......................................................................................................................................... 135 6.3. Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................147 7. THE ANALYSIS OF A PARTY GROUP SPEECH 7.1. Text ...................................................................................................................................................149 7.2. Analysis ......................................................................................................................................... 155 7.3. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 166 8. THE ANALYSES OF ELEVEN TEXTS FROM MINISTERIAL SPEECHES 8.1. Texts and analyses .....................................................................................................................169 8.2. Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................191 9. EVALUATING THE POLITICS OF THE AKP IN LIGHT OF THE ANALYSIS 9.1. Evaluation of the research aims, questions and methodology ...............................192 9.2. Results revisited on the discursive level ..........................................................................196 9.3. Links between the results and the wider socio-political context .........................206 9.4. Concluding remarks ..................................................................................................................214 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................218 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................229 LIST OF TABLES: 2.1. A comparison of three political parties according to main policy issues…. 41 5.1. Sub-genres of political speeches according to their function and content…96 5.2. Discursive strategies, their objectives and devices………………..………101 5.3. Sub-genres and the number of speeches to be analyzed………………......117 LIST OF DIAGRAMS: 2.1. The parties associated with the National View………………………….....37 6.1. Operationalization of topos of numbers in the discourse of political and economic succes................................................................................................ 138 6.2. Topos of numbers in the field of university education discourse………... 138 6.3. Topos of numbers in the merging of hospitals discourse………………... 139 6.4. Overall structure of successful policymaking discourse………….……... 140 6.5. Syllogistic structure of the human-donkey analogy…………….……….. 142 6.6. Legitimation of police violence in discourse……………………………. .143 6.7. In- and extended out-groups in the speech of Erdoğan……………….......144 6.8. The use of tu quoquo (appeal to hypocrisy) in Erdoğan’s discourse....…...145 7.1. Argument about democracy standards…………………….…………….. 157 7.2. Argument about the economic crisis in Europe…………………………...158 7.3. Topos of history as a form of argumentum ad hominem………...………..161 7.4. Argumentum ad exemplum in the discourse topic Uludere strike…….......162 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION It has been more than a decade since the AKP (Justice and Development Party) came to power as a single political party in 2002 in Turkey. Irrespective of who criticizes or appreciates its policy preferences and implementations, many would agree that, going beyond its institutional existence,
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