The language of identity in Malaysian politics: Towards a theory of Malaysian political discourse (original) (raw)

The use of language in political discourse is generally understood to perform the function of controlling and managing a group of people. But the language of politics can be understood to have more important purpose-even if it often operates below the level of conscious thoughts-that is, as a tool for the exercise of power. How does language fulfil this function? To understand, one has to look at the properties of language; words, phrases, sentences, meanings. In the end, political discourse creates a group with shared identity that in turn influence political beliefs and actions. To exercise their political power, politicians and leaders create a sense of shared identity through the channels and platforms made available to them. In studying the language used by politicians, Chilton (2004) proposes a set of 12 aspects of linguistic realizations in political discourse that can help to unravel the effect political language has on the creation of a political identity. This paper attempts to hold up these 12 aspects against seven collected speeches from the six Prime Ministers of Malaysia to see whether they can lead to conceptualizing a framework that can explain Malaysian political discourse. This framework could be utilized towards a study of political texts in a uniquely Malaysian context.

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