Implicit Ideologies in Selected Political Speeches: A Socio-cognitive Approach

Othman, Arazoo Rashid (2023) Implicit Ideologies in Selected Political Speeches: A Socio-cognitive Approach. Doctoral thesis, Koya University.

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Abstract

This dissertation investigates the implicit ideologies in political speeches from a socio-cognitive perspective. Implicit ideologies are the underlying ideologically based attitudes of group members that are not voiced because they are deemed improper or otherwise detrimental (against the aims) in the communication environment. The Discourse–Cognition–Society triangle exemplifies a socio-cognitive approach to discourse. While the discourse component examines the linguistic structures of text and speech; the cognitive component is concerned with the mind, memory, and cognitive processes and representations involved in the creation and interpretation of discourse; still the social component is concerned with how discourse patterns are perceived and explained in terms of socially shared ideas, as well as how these ideologies impact the mental models of individual language users. Despite the existence of numerous analyses and academic studies in the domain of ideologies, there are still several issues of direct significance to the field that remain unanswered, including: how are political ideologies formed, represented, interpreted in terms of cognitive mechanism? What are the discursive strategies most frequently used in the selected politicians’ speeches at the Micro-level? How are positive self-representation and negative-other representation uncovered in the selected politicians’ speeches at the Macro-level? And to what extent are those politicians different in using discursive devices at the Micro-level to show positive self-representation and negative other-representation at the Macro-level? In accordance with the questions proposed, it is hypothesized that explicit and implicit ideologies are conveyed differently in political speeches; that politicians communicate implicit ideologies using a variety of discursive methods to depict the ingroup favourably and the outgroup negatively; that social and cognitive structures influence ideologies; and that implicit ideologies would be conveyed in terms of cognitive process. To verify the hypotheses and analyze the selected data, a broad-based model is adopted based on van Dijk’s (2005) socio-cognitive approach twenty sample texts are selected. In addition, a qualitative method is employed in this study. The conclusions validate van Dijk's (2005) model for use in analyzing political speeches. Ideologies are influenced by both social as well as cognitive processes. Politicians use discursive devices in a unique manner pertaining to a socio-cognitive viewpoint to embody their ideologies implicitly in their speeches and that each speaker employs distinct discursive methods to show positive self-representation and negative other-representation. Both positive self-representation and negative other-representation are ideological goals whose fundamental purpose is to control the thoughts of its audience by highlighting the contrast between positive self-representation and negative other-representation. Some politicians demonstrate positive self-representation more than negative other-representation in their speeches to affect the audience, while others demonstrate negative other-representation more than positive self-representation. This means that they concentrate on the positive qualities of the ingroup more than they do on demonstrating the negative qualities of the outgroup to express their ideologies.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Additional Information:	This dissertation investigates the implicit ideologies in political speeches from a socio-cognitive perspective. Implicit ideologies are the underlying ideologically based attitudes of group members that are not voiced because they are deemed improper or otherwise detrimental (against the aims) in the communication environment. The Discourse–Cognition–Society triangle exemplifies a socio-cognitive approach to discourse. While the discourse component examines the linguistic structures of text and speech; the cognitive component is concerned with the mind, memory, and cognitive processes and representations involved in the creation and interpretation of discourse; still the social component is concerned with how discourse patterns are perceived and explained in terms of socially shared ideas, as well as how these ideologies impact the mental models of individual language users. Despite the existence of numerous analyses and academic studies in the domain of ideologies, there are still several issues of direct significance to the field that remain unanswered, including: how are political ideologies formed, represented, interpreted in terms of cognitive mechanism? What are the discursive strategies most frequently used in the selected politicians’ speeches at the Micro-level? How are positive self-representation and negative-other representation uncovered in the selected politicians’ speeches at the Macro-level? And to what extent are those politicians different in using discursive devices at the Micro-level to show positive self-representation and negative other-representation at the Macro-level? In accordance with the questions proposed, it is hypothesized that explicit and implicit ideologies are conveyed differently in political speeches; that politicians communicate implicit ideologies using a variety of discursive methods to depict the ingroup favourably and the outgroup negatively; that social and cognitive structures influence ideologies; and that implicit ideologies would be conveyed in terms of cognitive process. To verify the hypotheses and analyze the selected data, a broad-based model is adopted based on van Dijk’s (2005) socio-cognitive approach twenty sample texts are selected. In addition, a qualitative method is employed in this study. The conclusions validate van Dijk's (2005) model for use in analyzing political speeches. Ideologies are influenced by both social as well as cognitive processes. Politicians use discursive devices in a unique manner pertaining to a socio-cognitive viewpoint to embody their ideologies implicitly in their speeches and that each speaker employs distinct discursive methods to show positive self-representation and negative other-representation. Both positive self-representation and negative other-representation are ideological goals whose fundamental purpose is to control the thoughts of its audience by highlighting the contrast between positive self-representation and negative other-representation. Some politicians demonstrate positive self-representation more than negative other-representation in their speeches to affect the audience, while others demonstrate negative other-representation more than positive self-representation. This means that they concentrate on the positive qualities of the ingroup more than they do on demonstrating the negative qualities of the outgroup to express their ideologies.
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > Department of English Language > Ph.D. Thesis
Depositing User:	Mr. Rebwar Mohammed Jarjis
Date Deposited:	02 Nov 2023 07:00
Last Modified:	02 Nov 2023 07:00
URI:	http://eprints.koyauniversity.org/id/eprint/425

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