A Critical Discourse Analysis of Former President Nelson Mandela's Two State of the Nation Addresses (1994 and 1999)

Abstract

This study examined how the former South African president, Nelson Mandela, used language to present his political ideologies and the persuasion techniques he used to convince his audience of the state's achievements and challenges when delivering two State of the Nation addresses (1994 and 1999). The study was qualitative in nature and followed a case study design. Two speeches presented by former President Mandela provided the data for the study. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. The results showed that former President Mandela used the restoration of human dignity for all South Africans, freedom of the individual, taking care of the poor, caring for vulnerable groups, overcoming fear, unity, and a better life for all as his ideologies.

Keywords:

• critical discourse analysis
• political discourse analysis
• persuasion
• State of the Nation Address
• ideology