A critical discourse analysis of selected political interviews in Nigerian news media

Abstract

Several studies have been carried out on political discourse using different linguistic approaches of Pragmatics, Critical Discourse Analysis, Stylistics as well as implicature. However, little attention has been given to the blend of Critical Discourse Analysis and rhetoric as a means to unravel different ideological stances in political discourse. Thus, this paper investigated how ideological beliefs of individuals or groups were conveyed through linguistic expressions to manipulate those of others in political interviews of Nigerian politicians. A total of two (2) interviews conducted by Channels Television were randomly selected. The data for the study were video files downloaded from the official YouTube page of the Channel Tv station and were transcribed so as to draw out relevant extracts. van Dijk’s 2006 socio cognitive aspects of Critical Discourse Analysis and rhetoric were used as its theoretical framework. Findings revealed that ideology is an individual’s perception or experience of the world. It also revealed that the interviewees in the selected interviews deployed language as a strategy of domination and supremacy by exploiting lexical items and strong imperatives which allow them to impose their views on others. Commonly, it was found that they created asymmetrical power relations of privileged ‘we’, ‘us’ and less privileged ‘they’, ‘them’ through positive self-presentation of us and negative other presentation of them. It was also revealed that certain rhetorical and ideological strategies such as actor description, polarisation, burden, categorisation, comparison, consensus, populism, vagueness and appeal to emotions among others present in the selected political interviews are implicitly used to project different ideological positions of the politicians.