Ideological Representation Through Political Communication: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Molana Fazal ur Rehman Speech

Abstract

Molana Fazal ur Rehman played an important role in changing the regime by leading a group of political parties and delivering public speeches in gatherings and protests. This study aims to investigate how he disseminated his agenda through political communication and made the people believe in his ideology. The study is qualitative and the data contains an English translation of Molana’s speech (Dunya News. (2023, May 15) delivered before the change of Imran Khan’s government through a vote of no confidence. The data was analyzed by applying a self-made model drawn from the theoretical framework of Van Dijk (1999). He shows how the super elite controls the minds of people through discourse. The data was analyzed at two levels: i) Textual Analysis that explains lexical patterns of language, i.e., creativity, reference, intertextuality, and ii) pragmatic use of language, i.e., historical and contextual meanings; and persuasive strategies that helped him achieve his target. The study reveals that Molana effectively used linguistic items and discursive strategies to manipulate the audience. His authoritative tone and selection of Urdu language were equipped with powerful syntax. Moreover, he presented himself as the right choice for the future of the Public. The study concludes that political leaders strategically design their public speeches effectively and present the content in front of the audience by following the linguistic features. This study will provide a road map for young researchers to conduct similar analyses of other speeches of the same patterns.