Abstract

The political speech is a bridge between politicians and the public, with most politicians seek to gain the public’s support and persuade them with their policies. In the modern era, the political speech becomes a crucial tool of Presidents’ communication with the public, particularly during domestic or international strife. Previous literature highlighted the political speeches of foreign Presidents in the U.S., Indonesia, and UK, with few studies analyzed the Arab political speeches. This study fills the gap by presenting a critique of the speeches given by three Egyptian Presidents during periods of crisis. Crisis in that context refer to "events of profound significance and disruption" (Hicks, 2005, p1). The current study analyzes the following speeches: Hosni Mubarak's "25th Revolution,"(2011) Mohamed Morsi's "One Year Accountability"(2013), and Abdel Fattah El Sisi's "Sinai attacks" (2015). The three speeches were downloaded from YouTube, and then transcribed into Arabic texts. Two approaches of critical discourse analysis (CDA) are used, along with positioning theory, to reveal discourse strategies in the three presidential speeches. The two approaches of CDA are: Fairclough approach (1989) and Discourse- Historical approach (Resigl & Wodak, 2009). The Findings show that the three Egyptian Presidents use similar discourse strategies during the times of crises despite the differences in the socio-political contexts. Inclusiveness, conspiracy rhetoric and the involvement of foreign elements, memorizing Presidents’ achievements, and emotional approach were among the most common strategies used by the three Egyptian Presidents in the selected speeches.

Department

Journalism & Mass Communication Department

Degree Name

MA in Journalism & Mass Communication

Graduation Date

6-1-2015

Submission Date

October 2015

First Advisor

Pechaud, Sheila

Committee Member 1

Close, Ronnie

Committee Member 2

Plumlee, Marilyn

Extent

102 p.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Rights

The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy. The author has granted the American University in Cairo or its agents a non-exclusive license to archive this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study, and to make it accessible, in whole or in part, in all forms of media, now or hereafter known.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval

Not necessary for this item

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