Dominance and Resistance in Political Discourse: An Analysis of the Rhetoric of the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from CDA Perspective

Abstract

The aim of this research is to explore the resistance of the western hegemony in the rhetoric of the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from the perspective of critical discourse analysis. To achieve the said aim, the researchers used Van Dijk’s model as the theoretical underpinning of this research study in order to explore the phenomena of domination, imperialism, power abuse, resistance of power and injustice both in social as well as in political context imbibed in Ahmadinejad’s speeches. The results of the study reveal that the discourse producer, Ahmadinejad, has utilized positive self-representation and negative other-representation and in doing so, has represented the in-group members (Muslim world) in a positive way while the out-group members (the Western powers) in a negative tone. In addition, by using a number of other discursive strategies, including authority, generalization, evidentiality, euphemism, disclaimer, hyperbole, vagueness, presupposition, irony, polarization and victimization, Ahmadinejad has proven the Muslim world as the innocent party, whereas, the western powers have been represented as being involved in the war on terror. The main ideology behind the discourse of Ahmadinejad is the resistance of the hegemony and power of several international powerful groups in order to bring the injustice done by them in places such as the Middle East and other Muslim countries. The researchers suggest that rhetoric of resistance in politics can be significantly helpful in terms of international political diplomacies and policies for the nations of the world. in politics can be highly important for the countries of the world in terms of international political policies and diplomacy.

     Keywords: CDA, dominance, power abuse, resistance, discursive devices