Discourse and striving for power: an analysis of Barisan Nasional's 2004 Malaysian general election manifesto

Abstract

This study analyses the political party of Barisan Nasional's victory in the llth Malaysian general election 2004, looking at the way it manipulated and utilized language or discourse in order to retain and gain political power. Using a critical discourse analysis framework, this article holds that discourse is able to portray social practices, such as the striving for political power. This study also holds that political-power striving is a part of the organization's discourse management. The discourse chosen for this study is the Barisan Nasional's 2004 general election manifesto. The finding shows that the striving for political power by Barisan Nasional is manifested through textual features and discursive properties of discourse. The discursive properties are shown by certain processes in the production, distribution, consumption, force of utterances, and semiotic aspect of the discourse. The textual aspects of the discourse, on the other hand, are shown by certain features of grammar, vocabulary, and the generic structure tenet of the discourse.