International Journal of Language & Linguistics

Representation of the Syrian Crisis in the American Political Speeches: A Critical Discourse Analysis
Prof. Dr. Abbas Deygan. Darweesh, Lect. Hussein Dhahi Muzhir

Abstract
This paper deals with Critical Discourse Analysis of the Syrian crisis in the American political speeches and its representation in these speeches. It tackles the role of political speeches in reflecting ideological manipulation at different levels such as political, social, and so on. It derives its results from a discourse analytic study of three American speeches delivered by Barak Obama, J. Kerry and Hillary Clinton. It has been found out that The American politician’s speeches have not been neutral; rather, they have been manipulatively employed to express negative ideology towards the political crisis in Syria. Besides, different strategies have been used to show negative other-representation and positive self-representation. The most important linguistic and discourse strategies utilized in these speeches are: negative lexicalization, polarization, argumentative move, compassion and implication.

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