CDA of Political Discourse on Social Mediasubmitted by Me in Partial Fulfillment of Ph.D
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CDA OF POLITICAL DISCOURSE ON SOCIAL MEDIA By Farhat Sajjad NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MODERN LANGUAGES ISLAMABAD November’ 2016 CDAof Political Discourse on Social Media By Farhat Sajjad M.A English Language, Literature & Applied Linguistics, NUML, H/9 Islamabad. 2008 MSc Applied Psychology Punjab University. 2003 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY English Linguistics To FACULTY OF LANGUAGES NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MODERN LANGUAGES, ISLAMABAD Farhat Sajjad, 2016 ii NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MODERN LANGUAGES FACULTY OF LANGUAGES THESIS AND DEFENSE APPROVAL FORM The undersigned certify that they have read the following thesis, examined the defense, are satisfied with the overall exam performance, and recommend the thesis to the Faculty of Languages for acceptance: Thesis Title: CDA of Political Discourse onSocial Media Submitted By:Farhat Sajjad Registration#:561-MPhil/Ling/Jan11 Doctor of Philosophy Degree name in full English Linguistics Name of Discipline Dr. Mian Khurram Shahzad Azam ______________________________ Name of Research Supervisor Signature of Research Supervisor Dr. Muhammad Safeer Awan ______________________________ Signature of Dean Name of Dean FoL Maj.Gen ® Zia Uddin Najam, HI(M) ____________________________ Signature of Rector Name of Rector _______________________ Date iii CANDIDATE DECLARATION FORM I, Farhat Sajjad Daughter of Sajjad Hussain Shah Registration # 561-mphil/ling/jan11 Discipline: English Linguistics Candidate of Doctor of Philosophy at the National University of Modern Languages does hereby declare that the thesis CDA of Political Discourse on Social Mediasubmitted by me in partial fulfillment of Ph.D. degree, is my original work, and has not been submitted or published earlier. I also solemnly declare that it shall not, in future, be submitted by me for obtaining any other degree from this or any other university or institution. I also understand that if evidence of plagiarism is found in my thesis/dissertation at any stage, even after the award of a degree, the work may be canceled and the degree revoked. ___________________ Signature of Candidate ____________ Date Farhat Sajjad Name of Candidate iv ABSTRACT Title of Thesis: CDA of Political Discourse on Social Media This study aims for a comprehensive analysis of political text and context to highlight the mechanism of political identity (re)construction and (re)presentation. Interactive digital media is used to share information, experiences, opinions, ideas, beliefs, ideologies.Social media platforms, such as Twitter (microblogging), are used by political actors for self- legitimization and for representation of political identities. It is acknowledged in this study that political identity is not a static construct rather it is a fluid entity as it is demonstrated in different forms by the political actors. A comprehensive theoretical framework that includes of political discourse analysis, socio-cognitive model of van Dijk,(van Dijk, 1989; 2006), social identity theory (Tajfel, 1979), clusivity theory (Wieczorek, 2009; 2013) and social media theory (Zappavigna, 2012) is used for this study. The data is in the form of tweets, which are downloaded from the functional verified Twitter accounts of Pakistani political parties. The Findings of this study suggest that political actors manipulate contemporary means of digital communication (interactive digital media), that is Twitter, for positive-representation of in-group members and negative-representation of others. These contemporary means of communication offer new platforms for political communication but shift in the paradigm of political campaigns and political communication (from conventional media to contemporary interactive digital media) does not demonstrate a change in the themes of political discourse practices as legitimizations of identities and ideologies remained central to discourse practices. v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ................................................................................................................. PAGE THESIS AND DEFENSE APPROVAL FORM ............................................................. ii CANDIDATE DECLARATION FORM ....................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................. v LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................... ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................ xi DEDICATION.................................................................................................................. xii 1 INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………..........2 1.1 Background of the Research .......................................................................................... 2 1.1.1Political Discourse ................................................................................................. 2 1.1.2 Awami National Party (ANP) ............................................................................... 3 1.1.3 Muthidda Qoumi Movement (MQM) ................................................................... 4 1.1.4 PML- N (Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz) ........................................................ 5 1.1.5 PPP-P (Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarian) ................................................. 6 1.1.6 PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) ............................................................................. 7 1.2 Research Objectives ....................................................................................................... 8 1.3 Research Questions ........................................................................................................ 8 1.4Research Significance ..................................................................................................... 9 1.5Problem Statement .......................................................................................................... 9 1.6 Focus of Research .......................................................................................................... 9 1.7 Delimitations ................................................................................................................ 10 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................ 11 2.1 Digital Media and Social Media .................................................................................. 11 2.2 SNSs and Political Discourse....................................................................................... 13 2.3 Role of Social Media in US Presidential Elections 2008 and 2012 ............................. 16 2.4 Arab Spring and Social Media ..................................................................................... 18 vi 2.5 Social Media and the Processes of Democratization ................................................... 21 2.6 Political Discourse Analysis ........................................................................................ 25 2.6.1 The Domain of Politics ....................................................................................... 27 2.6.1.1 Societal Domain or Field ................................................................................. 27 2.6.1.2 Political Systems .............................................................................................. 27 2.6.1.3 Political Values ................................................................................................ 27 2.6.1.4 Political Ideologies........................................................................................... 28 2.6.1.5 Political Groups ............................................................................................... 28 2.6.1.6 Political Actors................................................................................................. 28 2.6.1.7 Political Relations ............................................................................................ 28 2.6.1.8 Political Process ............................................................................................... 29 2.6.1.9 Political Discourse ........................................................................................... 29 2.6.1.10 Political Cognition ......................................................................................... 29 2.6.2 Topics .................................................................................................................. 30 2.7 Critical Discourse Analysis.................................................................................... 31 2.7.1 Socio-Cognitive Model of CDA by van Dijk ..................................................... 35 2.7.1.1 The Discourse-Society-Cognition Triangle ..................................................... 36 2.7.2 Discourse-Historical Approach of Wodak .......................................................... 39 2.7.3 Fairclough’s Approach of CDA .......................................................................... 41 2.7.4 Kress’s Theory ...................................................................................................