Thabo Mbeki : State of the Nation Addresses - an analysis of his rhetorical technique

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dc.contributor.advisorSalazar, Philippe-Josephen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorRahman, Zarinaen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-10-31T17:59:09Z
dc.date.available2014-10-31T17:59:09Z
dc.date.issued2009en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references (leaves 87-95).en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThe dissertation analyses the rhetorical style of Thabo Mbeki with the aim of evaluating whether his oratory was effective enough to convince his audience to support him. It does this by analysing four of the eleven annual addresses that he delivered at the occasion of the Opening of Parliament during his period in office. Mbeki held the position of President of South Africa from June 1999 to September 2008. The speeches that were chosen for analysis from this period are 1999, 2003, 2006 and 2008. The motivation for these choices is related to critical periods during the Mbeki presidency. Before analysing the speeches, the paper examines the context in detail by briefly outlining Mbeki's political and personal background in order to understand his identity in relation to his rhetoric. The current form of annual address at the opening of Parliament is placed in its historical context It also places the type of speech in context in terms of parliamentary rules and the South African Constitution and does a brief comparison with similar addresses in the United States of America and Britain. A key aspect of the dissertation is to attempt to identify how he possibly failed to gain the support his audience by missing the opportunities that his annual address to Parliament presented. In order to identity the disjuncture between the style and content of the oration and the audience. the dissertation examines the understanding of audience and speculates about the real and perceived audiences in the case of Mbeki's annual addresses. The annual address to Parliament provided Mbeki with an opportunity to speak to the nation. directly through the various forms of media as well as through the members of Parliament that were present at the addresses. The dissertation concludes that, on the basis of the in-depth rhetorical analyses of the speeches and the perception of the audience. Mbeki's form of oration resulted in him appearing distant and aloof to his audience. Mbeki used Eurocentric language and metaphors that the audience was not able to identify with thereby failing to unite the audience in support for him. He failed to use presidential rhetoric to his advantage in his speeches in Parliament but further failed to bolster the rhetorical presidency by not establishing his ethos with the people whose support he depended on in order to secure his position in office. By maintaining a strong adherence to the British notion of a president-in-parliament, he remained aloof and wasted the opportunity that the office of the President provided. While his policies may have been sound. he was not able to convince his audience of this causing him ultimately to fail.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationRahman, Z. (2009). <i>Thabo Mbeki : State of the Nation Addresses - an analysis of his rhetorical technique</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9001en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationRahman, Zarina. <i>"Thabo Mbeki : State of the Nation Addresses - an analysis of his rhetorical technique."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9001en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationRahman, Z. 2009. Thabo Mbeki : State of the Nation Addresses - an analysis of his rhetorical technique. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Rahman, Zarina AB - The dissertation analyses the rhetorical style of Thabo Mbeki with the aim of evaluating whether his oratory was effective enough to convince his audience to support him. It does this by analysing four of the eleven annual addresses that he delivered at the occasion of the Opening of Parliament during his period in office. Mbeki held the position of President of South Africa from June 1999 to September 2008. The speeches that were chosen for analysis from this period are 1999, 2003, 2006 and 2008. The motivation for these choices is related to critical periods during the Mbeki presidency. Before analysing the speeches, the paper examines the context in detail by briefly outlining Mbeki's political and personal background in order to understand his identity in relation to his rhetoric. The current form of annual address at the opening of Parliament is placed in its historical context It also places the type of speech in context in terms of parliamentary rules and the South African Constitution and does a brief comparison with similar addresses in the United States of America and Britain. A key aspect of the dissertation is to attempt to identify how he possibly failed to gain the support his audience by missing the opportunities that his annual address to Parliament presented. In order to identity the disjuncture between the style and content of the oration and the audience. the dissertation examines the understanding of audience and speculates about the real and perceived audiences in the case of Mbeki's annual addresses. The annual address to Parliament provided Mbeki with an opportunity to speak to the nation. directly through the various forms of media as well as through the members of Parliament that were present at the addresses. The dissertation concludes that, on the basis of the in-depth rhetorical analyses of the speeches and the perception of the audience. Mbeki's form of oration resulted in him appearing distant and aloof to his audience. Mbeki used Eurocentric language and metaphors that the audience was not able to identify with thereby failing to unite the audience in support for him. He failed to use presidential rhetoric to his advantage in his speeches in Parliament but further failed to bolster the rhetorical presidency by not establishing his ethos with the people whose support he depended on in order to secure his position in office. By maintaining a strong adherence to the British notion of a president-in-parliament, he remained aloof and wasted the opportunity that the office of the President provided. While his policies may have been sound. he was not able to convince his audience of this causing him ultimately to fail. DA - 2009 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2009 T1 - Thabo Mbeki : State of the Nation Addresses - an analysis of his rhetorical technique TI - Thabo Mbeki : State of the Nation Addresses - an analysis of his rhetorical technique UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9001 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/9001
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationRahman Z. Thabo Mbeki : State of the Nation Addresses - an analysis of his rhetorical technique. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies, 2009 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9001en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Political Studiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherPolitical Communicationen_ZA
dc.titleThabo Mbeki : State of the Nation Addresses - an analysis of his rhetorical techniqueen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMAen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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