Power abuse in political discourse : a critical discourse analysis of Trump’s discourse

Abstract EN

This study examines the notion of power abuse in discourse.

It presents the linguistic forms used in various expressions where power abuse is evident.

It aims to investigate Trump’s representation of social groups which may involve positive presentation in one context and negative representation in another, thus, providing a detailed account of the way such representation is legitimised.

For instance, the analysis reveals how Islam and /or Muslims are named, and how the naming is legitimised and relate to the dichotomies of US and THEM.

Accordingly, naming strategies and other linguistic strategies of power abuse are examined to unveil the double-edged ideologies implied within them as we search for ‘inconsistencies in discourse’ (Wodak and Meyer, 2009).To account for the cognitive aspect of power abuse and exercise in discourse, the researcher draws upon van Dijk’s (2011) theory of epistemic discourse analysis, theory of discourse and manipulation (Van Dijk,2006) and van Lewueen’s (2007) frameworks of social actor’s representation and of legitimation strategies are drawn upon to demystify the manipulative strategies employed in the discourse examined.