Mohammed Ademilokun; Moji Olateju
Volume 4, 1 (Special Issue on African Cultures and Languages) , March 2016, , Pages 1-19
Abstract
This paper presented a multimodal discourse analysis of some visual images in the political rally discourse of 2011 electioneering campaigns in Southwestern Nigeria. The data comprised purposively selected political visual artefacts from political rallies across the six Southwestern States in Nigeria ...
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This paper presented a multimodal discourse analysis of some visual images in the political rally discourse of 2011 electioneering campaigns in Southwestern Nigeria. The data comprised purposively selected political visual artefacts from political rallies across the six Southwestern States in Nigeria (Osun, Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti, Ogun, and Lagos). The data were analyzed using Halliday’s (1985) systemic metafunctional principles and Barthes’ (1977) concepts of anchorage and relay. The study noted that, vests are the commonest type of semiotic artifact while caps, Ankara, and surrogate languages complement the use of vests for visual signification and meaning potentials in the discourse environment. The study also noted that, various political party colors reflect in almost all the visual images and they are suggestive of the ideology or level of commitment and political leanings of discourse participants. The study concluded that, semiotic resources or artefacts are an important aspect of political rallies because of the inherent political, cultural, and social communication that are revealed through them.
Mohammed Ayodeji Ademilokun
Volume 3, Issue 1 , March 2015, , Pages 120-132
Abstract
This paper discussed the discursive strategies in selected political rally campaigns of the 2011 elections in Southwestern Nigeria with a view to revealing the dynamics of political persuasion and mobilization in contemporary natural political communication in Nigeria. The data for the study were obtained ...
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This paper discussed the discursive strategies in selected political rally campaigns of the 2011 elections in Southwestern Nigeria with a view to revealing the dynamics of political persuasion and mobilization in contemporary natural political communication in Nigeria. The data for the study were obtained from two political rallies in each of the six Southwestern states in Nigeria, making a total of twelve. The political rallies were purposively selected as the focus was on one rally of each of the two strongest parties in each of the six Southwestern Nigerian states. The data gathered were analyzed using the analytical tools of Systemic Functional Linguistics. The data analysis revealed that the discourse participants deployed discourse strategies such as allusion, propagandistic language, code-switching and code-mixing, requesting, flattery, praise, and provocative language. The study concluded that while the discourse continues to be an effective platform for political struggles and power play, it also highlights the cultural, linguistic, and social factors which had a bearing on the language use of political actors in Southwestern Nigeria.