A Socio-Cognitive Phonological Analysis of Islamophobic Ideological Representation in Two Presidential Speeches

Ali, Asst. Prof. Dr. Zainab Abbodi

doi:10.25130/Lang.10.2.P1.22

A Socio-Cognitive Phonological Analysis of Islamophobic Ideological Representation in Two Presidential Speeches

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Asst. Prof. Dr. Zainab Abbodi Ali

Physiotherapy Department, Health and Medical College, Southern Technical University in Basrah, Basrah, Iraq

https://doi.org/10.25130/Lang.10.2.P1.22

Abstract

The present study contrasts the different types of informational tones utilized in the speeches of Bush and Trump concerning Islamophobia, aiming to illustrate the discursive strategies linked to us/them ideology. This study primarily employs a qualitative methodology, wherein the chosen excerpts are critically assessed through the lens of the ideological square from Van Dijk’s (2006) framework and the informational tones outlined in Brazil’s (1997) discourse intonation model. The main findings indicate that Bush's rhetoric significantly emphasizes positive self-representation, while Trump's discourse tends to focus more on negative portrayals of ‘THEM’ (others) in contrast to the positive representations of 'US' (self). Furthermore, both speakers employed the proclaiming (fall) tone and a non-dominant role in their speeches to convey anti-Muslim sentiments, reflecting Islamophobia and depicting Americans as in-group victims while negatively characterizing terrorists, particularly Muslims, as out-group aggressors.

Keywords

Critical discourse analysis, George Bush vs. Donald J. Trump, Ideological square of Van Dijk&rsquo

s framework, Brazil&rsquo

s model of discourse intonation, Islamophobia, us/ them ideology