The Use of Pronouns in Diplomatic Discourse: An Appraisal of Speeches of some Cameroonian Diplomats

Abstract

This paper is aimed at investigating the use of pronouns, specifically the use of personal pronouns in diplomatic discourse made by some Cameroonian diplomats. Diplomacy is a tool for international communication and negotiations, and researchers have shown significant interest in it. The main emphasis here is the use of first personal pronouns ‘I’ and ‘we’ as persuasive methods of communicating to their audience, and diplomatic ideas through the tactical use of the inclusion and exclusion of their audience. There is the use of ‘self’ and ‘group’ participation in their productions. Using personal pronouns, the diplomats’ intentions are identified and also help in the construction of their image. The speeches were selected from the official website of Cameroonian Ministry of External Relation. Critical Discourse Analysis was adopted in order to investigate in what context the personal pronouns (I and we) were used in speeches of two Cameroonian ministers of external relations: Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo and Lejuene Mbella Mbella. The findings show that the occurrences of personal pronouns ‘I’ and ‘we’ in the speeches of both speakers differ slightly, particularly in specific contexts of use. They tend to use more of the ‘we’ pronoun than the ‘I’ in their production. This implies that these pronouns are used differently to achieve different results. They are used to reveal the diplomat’s attitude, motivation, social status and trustworthiness as well as paint a positive image of his country.