AFRICAN POLITICAL RHETORIC: AN ANALYSIS OF PERSUASIVE STRATEGIES IN THE DISCOURSE OF PRESIDENT GAAFAR M. NIMEIRI OF THE SUDAN, 1970-1980

ABDEL RAHIM NUR ELDIN HAMID, Purdue University

Abstract

This dissertation was the analysis of the political rhetoric of President Nimeiri of the Sudan 1970-1980. Persuasive strategies were defined in a sampling of discourse to persuade. Political rhetoric was defined as the strategic management discourse to create and sustain political order. An analysis of African political rhetoric, such as in this study, must be grounded in an appropriate theoretical position. Accordingly, this dissertation was placed into a known theory of "situational communication" as expressed in the works of Bitzer, Black, Campbell, Jamieson, Scott, Simons and White, among many. The situational view of communication appeared advantageous. It allowed the researcher to account for the utilization of strategies in respect to situational constraints. It allowed the researcher to trace the articulation, maturation and decay in the use of the persuasive strategies under scrutiny. The purpose of this dissertation was to identify the persuasive strategies employed by President Nimeiri. Thirteen presidential speeches were carefully selected and analyzed. Two methods were employed in the identification of the strategies: (1) content analysis and (2) a qualitative assessment. Content analysis enabled the researcher to account for the degree of emphasis given to each strategy by its frequency distribution and percentage of occurrence. A more qualitative assessment was useful in that it assisted the researcher in explicating the utilization of strategies in relation to the exigential flow of events. The study showed that the discourse of President Nimeiri was characterized by eight strategies: revolutionization, legitimation, delegitimation, mobilization, unification, theocratization, dedication, and Afro-Arabization. In addition, the study indicated that the rhetoric of President Nimeiri was intrinsically characterized by: the radicalization of language, language intensity, coercion and verbosity. This study revealed that the situational constituents had a great bearing in shaping the articulation, maturation and decay in use of the persuasive strategies under investigation.

Degree

Ph.D.

Subject Area

Communication

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