A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Complaints In Troubles-Talk Of Pakistani Politicians' Electoral Campaign Speeches

Abstract

This research analyzed the role of complaints in Pakistani political campaign speeches while examining how complaints link to voter sentiment activation and political opponent discrediting and socio-political ideology strengthening. Qualitative discourse analytic approach is used in this study. Electoral campaign speeches of five prominent Pakistani politicians were drawn through purposive sampling. The research analyzed political complaints in Pakistani politicians' electoral campaign speeches using Labov’s (1972) narrative model along with Bhatia’s (1993) genre analysis and Trosborg’s (1995) framework of complaint strategies to evaluate their macro-structural elements and pragmatic functions and rhetorical devices. The analysis examined electoral speeches presented by leading Pakistani politicians by means of transcription followed by an investigation of recurring themes along with linguistic mechanisms and ideological constructs. The analysis showed complaints function as effective persuasion devices because they use story-based arguments about unfair treatment and being mistreated and opposing authority. The majority of complaints use two key tactics that combine blame attribution with expressions of annoyance to both shift responsibility and make the public more discontented (80 instances and 98 instances respectively). Complaints utilize repetition and hyperbole and emotional appeals and metaphors to improve both populist narratives and nationalistic rhetoric and religious identification. Fairclough’s (1995) discourse theory regarding power received verification through this study which shows complaints function as tools for enhancing polarization and defining public perception and maintaining political control. The analysis provides a new field for political discussion studies and electoral communication to study language relationships with the ideology and power dynamics in political discourse. The framework presented here should be used to expand research in the future into complaint patterns in different political settings in different cultural domains.