A Critical Discourse Analysis of Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s Inauguration Speech of December 19th, 2019

Abstract

On December 19, 2019. Algeria's president Abdelmadjid Tebboune delivered his first presidential speech in an inauguration ceremony at the Congress Palace of Algiers, which ensued a semi radical change that had reshaped the country's political atmosphere. Hence, the present study will be oriented to give a critical discourse analysis (CDA) to Tebboune’s speech based on Norman Fairclough’s 1989 and 1995 model of CDA. The purpose of this study is set to reveal elements of discursive power and ideologies enclosed in Tebboune’s speech through investigating his different linguistic choices, rhetorical and stylistic strategies, intertextuality, as well any socio-cultural or historical condition that regulated and molded the content and the structure of his speech. Furthermore, we will point out his political stands and intention towards both the 2019 pre-election events and Algeria’s protest known as El hirak. Going through our data analysis process, we found that Tebboune had a preference for legal actions in contrast to the act of revolution which indicates a populism kind of ideology. He also expressed self-forced appeasement towards the protest which he deliberately understated at the beginning as a first step to create a free-critic environment for his forthcoming presidential term. There were also unconscious or perhaps coded intertexture parody, in many points shared between Tebboune’s speech and his predecessor Abdelaziz Bouteflika's speech of April 15th, 2011. Additionally, The general picture that Tebboune wanted to show is a desire to make change through developing two key factors which are economy and law. Although our study is rather new in terms of data, its significance will be shown in our unique readjustment of Fairclough’s model. And of equally important, it will provide new insight into the relation of discourse and power all in the context of Algeria's recent political situation, which in itself represents a social phenomenon that CDA studies are typically concerned with.