Language, Leadership, and Ideology: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Imran Khan’s Interview

Abstract

The current study aims to critically analyze the discourse of former Prime minister Imran Khan using one of his interviews. This interview was conducted by an American Television Network ‘HBO or Home Box Office’ and was aired on 21st June 2021. The data sample for this research has been collected from the official YouTube channel of Prime Minister Imran Khan in the form of video recording. This study holds qualitative analysis of Mr. Imran Khan’s spoken political discourse with an intention to explore different persuasive strategies such as; word choice, vocabulary, tone, use of personal pronouns, language structure etc. used to convince and persuade people in believing whatever he says. For this purpose, Fairclough three dimensional model of critical discourse analysis is applied. This interview holds much importance as it was conducted at a very crucial point of Mr. Khan’s tenure. During this interview important issues like Pakistan’s role in America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, climate change, rising sex crimes, poverty in Pakistan, relationship between India-Pakistan and COVID-19 etc. were discussed. Mr. Khan plainly stated that his major goals for Pakistan were to reduce poverty and decree of law. This study highlights all these important themes and how they were conveyed using various persuasive techniques. Mr. Khan made a clever use of his discourse. He used easy and common language to create a relation and sense of familiarity with the masses. Key factors of his discourse, like; repetition of words, ideologically contested words, formal and informal language etc. are also examined in this paper. Moreover, it also investigates the impact of Mr. Khan’s words on the masses. Conclusions of the study have been provided at the end of the paper.