Discursive Practices in the Portrayal of Political Speeches in English Newspapers
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DISCURSIVE PRACTICES IN THE PORTRAYAL OF POLITICAL SPEECHES IN ENGLISH NEWSPAPERS By Ayyaz Qadeer NATIONALUNIVERSITY OF MODERN LANGUAGES ISLAMABAD July 2015 Discursive Practices in the Portrayal of Political Speeches in English Newspapers By Ayyaz Qadeer M.A., AIOU, Islamabad, 2009 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY English/Linguistics To FACULTY OF ENGLISH STUDIES NATIONALUNIVERSITY OF MODERN LANGUAGES, ISLAMABAD July 2015 Ayyaz Qadeer NATIONALUNIVERSITY OF MODERN LANGUAGES FACULTY OF ENGLISH STUDIES THESIS AND DEFENSE APPROVAL FORM The undersigned certify that they have read the following thesis, examined the defence, are satisfied with the overall exam performance, and recommend the thesis to the Faculty of English Studies for acceptance: Thesis Title:Discursive Practices in the Portrayal of Political Speeches in English Newspapers Submitted By: _AYYAZ QADEER__ Registration #: 495-MPhil/Ling/Jan 10 ______Doctor of Philosophy__________ Degree Name in Full ______English_____________________ Name of Discipline Prof. Dr. Wasima Shehzad___ ___ Name of Research Supervisor Signature of Research Supervisor Prof. Dr. Muhammad Safeer Awan______ Name of Dean (FES) Signature of Dean (FES) Maj. Gen Zia Uddin Najam HI (M) (Retd)__ Name of Rector Signature of Rector _______________________ Date ii CANDIDATE DECLARATION FORM I Ayyaz Qadeer Son of Mian Abdul Qadeer Registration # 495-MPhil/Ling/Jan 10 Discipline English Candidate of Doctor of Philosophy at the National University of Modern Languages do hereby declare that the thesis entitled DISCURSIVE PRACTICES IN THE PORTRAYAL OF POLITICAL SPEECHES IN ENGLISH NEWSPAPERS submitted by me in partial fulfillment of PhD 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 cancelled and the degree revoked. ______________________________ ______________ Signature of Candidate Date _Ayyaz Qadeer Name of Candidate iii ABSTRACT Thesis Title: Discursive Practices in the Portrayal of Political Speeches in English Newspapers CDA is used in social research for the purpose of depicting the discourse surrounded by complex socio-political issues, and it aims to investigate social inequality as how inequality is expressed and signaled, and how it is constituted and legitimized through discourse. CDA analysts consider Media as an important discursive space. With reference to Pakistan, the role of media in developing public perception regarding the political parties is important. As such, the media has attained a powerful position from where it establishes certain practices and is capable of moulding public opinion in the process of political representation. The speeches of prominent leaders of leading political parties were selected to be reflected through leading newspapers of Pakistan. Three newspapers namely The News, Dawn and The Express Tribune were selected for representation. This study critically analyses news reports of the selected political speeches of prominent political leaders of Pakistan. Following an eclectic approach, the study uses the relevant features from the established CDA models for data analysis. The theoretical framework surrounds the concept of power of discourse in shaping the realities. This study has revealed some significant tendencies and patterns in the media discourse related to political speeches in the context of Pakistan. For instance, the order of the contents of speeches is normally not followed in the reporting of the speeches. A significant difference in the selection of lexical choices is identified in the representation of different political leaders. Different newspapers adopt their preferred setting of arguments in the speech representation of various leaders. The study concludes that exclusion is a very significant feature of the Pakistani newspapers’ reporting style. Moreover, quotations are used as a strong tool in changing or creating perception in political reports. All in all, diversity in the reporting of same contents confirms that practices of newspapers generate different perceptions about various political leaders and /or parties. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapters Pages THESIS AND DEFENCE APPROVAL FORM ii CANDIDATE DECLARATION FORM iii ABSTRACT iv TABLE OF CONTENTS v DEDICATION xi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xii 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1. Background 1 1.2. Statement of the Problem 2 1.3. Objectives 3 1.4. Research Questions 3 1.5. Significance of the Study 4 1.6. Discursive Practices in Media Discourse 4 1.7. Research Design 7 1.8. Organization of the Thesis 9 1.9. Concluding Remarks 10 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 11 2.1. Introduction 11 2.1.1. Power in Language 12 2.1.1.1. Foucault's Concept of Power 13 2.2. Discourse 13 2.2.1. Discourse and Discursivity 15 2.2.2. Discourse as a Social Practice 16 2.2.2.1. Exploitation through Discourse 17 v 2.2.2.2. Humans as Object of Manipulation 18 2.2.3. Discourse and Ideology 19 2.2.4. Public Discourse 20 2.2.4.1. Power in Public Discourse 21 2.3. Political Discourse 22 2.3.1. Politics and Politicians 23 2.3.2. Bourdieu’s Political Discourse 24 2.3.3. Techniques in Political Speeches 24 2.3.3.1 Features of Some Techniques 25 2.3.4. Political Process 26 2.4. Media Discourse 26 2.4.1. Role of Media in Today’s Word 27 2.4.1.1. Discourse theory and the media 28 2.4.2. Media and Social Construction 30 2.4.2.1. Dependence on Media Constructed versions of Reality 30 2.4.2.2. Social Representation 32 2.4.3. Role of Media Power and Influence 33 2.4.4. Bias Is Embedded in Media 35 2.4.5. Media and Political Discourse 37 2.4.5.1. Politics and Sub-politics 37 2.4.5.2. Politicians and Media 40 2.4.5.3. Media Influences Political Perception 41 2.4.5.4. Media an Arena for Political Struggle 42 2.4.5.5. The politics of media 43 2.4.6. Genres in Media 43 2.4.7. Normative Expression from Media 45 2.4.8. The Order of Mediatized Political Discourse 45 2.4.8.1. Voices 46 2.4.8.2. Individual and Collective Voices 46 2.4.9. Selectivity in Media 46 2.4.10. Subjectivity in Media 47 vi 2.4.11. Power and News Media 48 2.4.11.1. Individual Liberty 49 2.4.11.2. Access 50 2.4.11.3. Knowledge and Attitudes 51 2.4.11.4. Hegemony and Ideology 52 2.4.11.5. Economy of the media 53 2.4.11.6. Practices of media text production and consumption 53 2.4.12. The Study of Newspapers in Broader Perspective 55 2.4.13. News as Discourse 56 2.4.13.1. News Headlines 56 2.4.13.1.1. Cultural References in Headlines 58 2.4.14. The Reader 59 2.5. Pakistani Print Media Scenario 60 2.5.1. Historical Perspective 60 2.5.2. Censorship in the Media 60 2.5.3. Urdu and English Press Scenario 61 2.6. Concluding Remarks 62 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 63 3.1. Social Construction 64 3.1.1. Ideal Subject Position in Media Discourse 65 3.2. Theoretical Framework 66 3.2.1. The Issues of Power and CDA 66 3.2.2. Eclectic Approach and Its Rationale 67 3.2.3. Fairclough’s Three Dimensional Model 67 3.2.4. van Dijk’s Socio-cognitive Model 68 3.3. Description of CDA Method Used 69 3.3.1. CDA Model for Data Analysis 70 3.3.1.1. Context 71 3.3.1.2. Syntactic structures 71 vii 3.3.1.3. Cohesion 73 3.3.1.4. Lexical Features 74 3.3.1.5. Interactional Control 75 3.3.1.6. Macro Structure 76 3.3.1.7. Local Meanings 77 3.3.1.8. Summary 78 3.4. Data 79 3.4.1. Population and Sampling 79 3.4.1.1. Sampling regarding Political Parties 79 3.4.1.2. Sampling regarding Speeches 81 3.4.1.3. Sampling regarding Newspapers 82 3.5. Concluding Remarks 83 4. ANALYSIS OF THE SPEECHES OF PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUE (N) 84 4.1. Nawaz Sharif to UN on September 24, 2014 84 4.1.1. Context 84 4.1.2. Coverage in The News 85 4.1.3. Coverage in Dawn 91 4.1.4. Coverage in The Express Tribune 98 4.1.5 Summary 103 4.2. Nawaz Sharif at Havaliyan 105 4.2.1. Context 105 4.2.2. Coverage in The News 105 4.2.3. Coverage in Dawn 111 4.2.4. Coverage in The Express Tribune 116 4.2.5. Summary 120 4.3. Nawaz Sharif to Nation on 24th of December 121 4.3.1. Context 121 4.3.2. Coverage in The News 122 4.3.3. Coverage in Dawn 128 4.3.4. Coverage in The Express Tribune 133 viii 4.3.5. Summary 139 4.4. Concluding Remarks 140 5. ANALYSIS OF THE SPEECHES OF PAKISTAN TEHREEK-E-INSAF 142 5.1. Analysis of the Speech (Imran Khan, June 7, 2014) 143 5.1.1. Context 143 5.1.2. Coverage in The News 143 5.1.3. Coverage in Dawn 148 5.1.4. Coverage in The Express Tribune 153 5.1.5. Summary 158 5.2. Analysis of the Speech (Imran Khan, September 28, 2014) 159 5.2.1. Context 159 5.2.2. Coverage in The News 160 5.2.3. Coverage in Dawn 168 5.2.4.