Saying the unsaid from the said: a critical discourse analysis of president Buhari’s five minutes broadcast after his 105 days medical vacation in London
List of Authors
  • Bello, Yekeen , Fakunle, Oiza Rabiat , Oyeniyi, Adeniyi-Egbeola Folakemi

Keyword
  • Saying the unsaid, The said, Critical discourse analysis, Five minutes broadcast, Cohesion and coherence

Abstract
  • The paper explores President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria use of language in political setting. As a President, his choice of words and the language use speak a lot. Being a formal Military leader, his broadcast was more ‘khakitocratic’ (military) than democratic. His speech lasted five minutes but assessed using critical discourse analysis (CDA). The paper discusses context and culture in discursive interactions. Political language democratically, is important to national unity as it can illicit positive or otherwise reactions from electorates. Analysis for the study was based on Fairclough’s three dimensional conceptualisation of discourse with the aid of tabular illustrations. Findings reveal assumptions that unsaid words have implicit meanings than the said, being that words are neutral and, of course, the unsaid ideological politics of meanings could establish ‘khakitocratic’ language through discourse. The study concludes that people need ontological and epistemological inferences to develop societal consciousness about socio-political engagements to enhance understanding of undefined expressions.

Reference
  • 1. Alvermann, M, Comneyras, M.P; Young, J.P.; Randall, S. and Hison, D. (1997). Interrupted gendered discursive practices in classroom talk about texts. Journal of Literacy Research,29,1, 73-104.
    2. Allen, T.T. (2021). Teaching the Communicative Use of English in Swales joined Episodes in ESP. London: Pergamonn Press.
    3. Bakhtin, M. (1991).The Dialogical Imagination; Austin: University of Texas Press.
    4. Burr, V. (1995). An Introduction to Social Construction. London: Sage Publications.
    5. Davies, B. and Harre, R. (1990).Positioning: the Social Construction of Selves. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour. 20, 43-63.
    6. Dijk, T.A. (2003). Text and Context: Exploration in the Semantics and Pragmatics of Discourse. London: Longman.
    7. Fairclough, N.I. (1970). Discourse and Social Change. Oxford; Polity Press, Westport. C.T. Praeger.
    8. Gergen, J.K. (1989). Social psychology and the wrong revolution. European Journal of Social Psychology, 19, 463-484.
    9. Geuss, R. (1981). The Idea of a Critical Theory: Habermas and the Frankfurt School. New York, Cambridge UP.
    10. Harre, R. and Moghaddam, F. (2003). Introduction: The Self and others in traditional psychology in positioning theory. In R. Harre and F. Moghaddam (Eds.).The self and others. Positioning individuals and groups in personal, political and cultural concepts,1– 12.
    11. Irvine, M. (1994).The Making of Textual Culture. Cambridge: CUP.
    12. James, E.P. (1986). Intersexuality and the discourse community. Rhetoric Review, 5, 1. 34-47
    13. Locke, Terry (2004).Critical Discourse Analysis. London: Continuum.
    14. Luke, Allan (1997). Theory and Practice in Critical Science Discourse. In L. Saha (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Sociology of Education, New York: Pergamum: 50-56. (Retrieved from http:/lagos.Gisi.ulca.edu/faculty/kellner/ed270/hike SAHA6.html.).
    15. Metapedia January (2010).Overview of the Concept of Intertextuality. Retrieved from http//www.metapedia.com Wikipedia php link intertextuality.
    16. Meyer, M. (2001).Between theory, method and politics; positioning of the approaches to CDA. In R. Wodak and M. Meyer (eds.), Method of Critical Discourse Analysis, London: Sage.
    17. Olaoye, A.A. (2007).Linguistics in Language Education. Lagos: Ogunleye Commercial Printing Press
    18. Olaoye, A.A. (2008). Aspects of Applied Linguistics. Abuja: Ogunleye Publishing and Printing Press.
    19. Potter, J. (2003). Discourse analysis as a way of analysing nationally occurring talk. In D. Silverman (Ed.), Qualitative research: theory, method and practice. London: Sage, 200–218.
    20. Slocum–Bradley, N. (2009). The positioning diamond: a trans-disciplinary framework for discourse analysis. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour. 40 1, 79-107.
    21. Taylor, S. (2001). Locating and conducting discourse analysis research. In M, Wetherell; S. Taylor and S.J. Yates (Eds.).Discourse As A Data, A Guide For Analysis, London: Sage Publications 5-48.
    22. Tirade, F. and Galvez, A. (2007). Positioning theory and discourse analysis: some tools for social interaction analysis. Forum Qualitative Social Research. 8,2, 31.
    23. Van Dijk, T.A. (2001).Critical discourse analysis and conversation. Discourse and Society.10, 4, 450–459.
    24. Verdouk, P. (2010). Stylists. Oxford: CUP.
    25. Willig, C. (2008). Introducing Qualitative Research in Psychology. Berkshire: McGraw-Hil