Identity and National Belonging in Ansaruallah’s Political Rhetoric: A Transitivity Analysis

Gibreel Sadeq Alaghbary

doi:10.5539/ijel.v7n4p247

Abstract

The present study concerns the application of the transitivity model as an analytical tool in the investigation of ideology in political rhetoric. Specifically, the paper examines the issues of national belonging and the construction of identity in Ansaruallah’s proposals to the National Dialog Conference in 2013. The data for the study is constituted, for considerations of thematic relevance, by the Sa’ada Issue part of the proposals. The objective of the analysis is to find out in what terms Ansarullah’s identity is constructed, how the nation is promoted as a value in Ansaruallah’s political rhetoric, and how important national belonging is in Ansaruallah’s construction of their social identity. In order to address these concerns, the paper analyzes the nominal and verbal constructions in the proposals using the linguistic framework of the transitivity model (Simpson, 1988). Findings from the analysis reveal that Ansaruallah construct themselves as an oppressed group whose members are bound by religion and oppression, rather than by a nationalist bond. Indeed, Ansaruallah distance themselves from Yemen, fellow Yemenis, the national government and from national institutions, and instead express emotional attachment to Sa’ada, which is construed as the homeland, and solidarity with Ansaruallah militants and Sa’ada residents, who are construed as the co-nationals of the homeland.

Highlights

Once confined to the northern peripheral highlands, the Houthis control much of Yemen’s north today
Findings from the analysis reveal that Ansaruallah construct themselves as an oppressed group whose members are bound by religion and oppression, rather than by a nationalist bond
Ansaruallah distance themselves from Yemen, fellow Yemenis, the national government and from national institutions, and instead express emotional attachment to Sa’ada, which is construed as the homeland, and solidarity with Ansaruallah militants and Sa’ada residents, who are construed as the co-nationals of the homeland

Summary

Introduction

Once confined to the northern peripheral highlands, the Houthis (or Ansaruallah as they prefer to be addressed) control much of Yemen’s north today. Once an outlawed rebel group, Ansaruallah are more or less the de facto governing authority in Yemen (or at least in north Yemen) today. It all started in 1986 when a group of religious scholars in the northwest Yemeni province of Sa’ada established a Zaydi revivalist movement known “Ittihad al-Shabab” (Union of the Youth).

Objectives

Methods

Conclusion