OTHERNESS VS. UBUNTU: A POSITIVE DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF SPEECHES OF NELSON MANDELA

Abstract

Keeping in view that discourse is a tool to construct, reconstruct, challenge and deconstruct the ideologies, and is, thus, capable of bringing socio-political changes, the present study, qualitative and descriptive in nature, intends to conduct Positive Discourse Analysis on the inauguration speeches of Nelson Mandela, the first Black president of South Africa. Taking Van Dijk’s Ideological Square as a point of departure, we have explored that Mandela used different strategies i.e. inclusive use of pronouns, positive portrayal of opponents and skillful choice of positive lexical items to challenge the Western ideology of Otherness in the country to incorporate the African philosophy of Ubuntu in his discourse to persuade his multiple layered audience to work in collaboration to attain the goal of social cohesion. The study concludes that Mandela used discourse strategically to bridge the chasm between different races of South Africa and successfully preached the lofty principles of Ubuntu, thus, emerged on the local as well as the global socio-political scene as an icon of humanity, justice and peace. Key Words: Otherness, Ubuntu, White Supremacy, Apartheid, Positive Discourse Analysis, Ideological Square.