Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE ARB2018

 
TITLE Approaches to the Study of Political Discourse in the Middle East

 
UM LEVEL 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 5

 
ECTS CREDITS 4

 
DEPARTMENT Middle Eastern and Asian Languages and Cultures

 
DESCRIPTION This study-unit is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of Discourse Analysis, including its main theories, ideas, notions, terms and practices. It covers how to use Discourse Analysis as a qualitative method in the service of analysing qualitative data, that is, discourse in Arabic, and approaches to discuss Discourse Analysis as a paradigm.

This study-unit offers a balanced discourse-analytic view between political discourse and revolutionary discourse; in other terms between the dichotomised discourse of the ‘ruler’ and the ‘ruled’. With regard to the ‘ruler’, this study-unit outlines the characteristics of pan-Arab Nationalist, Islamist, and Salafi-jihadi discourses; regarding the ‘ruled’, students will be exposed to the discourses—which include keywords, songs, and slogans—emerging from the recent Arab Spring protests in the North African and Middle Eastern region, including Tunisia, Egypt, and Syria.

Students cover various approaches to Discourse Analysis as well as main principles and key literature, illustrate analytic tools through the use of examples, and engage in hands-on analysis of Arabic sources. During the study-unit, students engage in evalutions of discourse-analytic approaches, and are given the opportunity to develop some initial practical skills in applying Discourse Analysis to current political and revolutionary discourse in Arabic.

Upon successful completion of this study-unit, students will develop a critical understanding of range of approaches and the confidence to select them appropriately. Additionally, students will gain a foundation to develop their discourse-analytic skills independently in the future.

Study-Unit Aims:

- To investigate a wide range of critical approaches to Discourse Analysis;
- To critically evaluate different discourse-analytic approaches and their place in contemporary research related to the Arab world;
- To illustrate discourse theories by worked examples;
- To deconstruct famous political speeches and revolutionary discourse in the context of the ‘ruler’ and the ‘ruled’ dichotomy;
- To apply discourse-analytic approaches to other contemporary political speeches in Arabic.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- Identify different theories and approaches to Discourse Analysis;
- Discuss the function of different discourse structures;
- Describe the main characteristics of pan-Arab nationalist, Islamist, and Salafi-jihadi discourses;
- Outline linguistic and para-linguistic strategies used in contemporary Arabic political discourse to persuade or dissuade the audience;
- Summarize the revolutionary discourse of the 2011 Arab Uprisings.

2. Skills:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- Analyse instances of spoken political discourse in Arabic using appropriate discourse-analytical tools;
- Evaluate discourse within the framework of its authentic socio-political context;
- Compare and contrast pan-Arab nationalist, Islamist, and Salafi-jihadi discourse with revolutionary discourse;
- Compose a scientific text which combines the theoretical and practical aspects of Discourse Analysis.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

Main Texts:

- Dijk, Teun Van. “Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis.” Discourse and Society 4, no. 2 (April 1993): 243–89.
- Dijk, Teun Van. Ideology and Discourse: A Multidisciplinary Approach. London: Sage, 1998.
- Dijk, Teun Van. “Politics, Ideology, and Discourse.” In Encyclopaedia of Language and Linguistics. Edited by Ruth Wodak. Volume on Politics and Language. Oxford: Elsevier, 2005: 728–40.
- Dijk, Teun Van. “Discourse and Manipulation.” Discourse and Society 17, no. 3 (2006): 359–83.
- Dijk, Teun Van. Discourse and Power. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.
- Sharabi, Hisham. Neopatriarchy: A Theory of Distorted Change in Arab Society. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
- Shils, Edward Albert. Tradition. London: Faber and Faber, 1981.
- Stock, Kristina. Sprache als ein Instrument der Macht: Strategien der arabischen politischen Rhetorik im 20. Jahrhundert. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag, 1999.
- Tannen Deborah, Deborah Schiffrin, and Heidi E. Hamilton, eds. Handbook of Discourse Analysis. Edited Oxford: Blackwell, 2001.

Supplementary Readings:

- Ayalon, Ami. Language and Change in the Arab Middle East: The Evolution of Modern Political Discourse. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987.
- Bengio, Ofra. Saddam’s Word: Political Discourse in Iraq. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
- Gatt, Kurstin. Decoding DᾹʿISH: An Analysis of Poetic Exemplars and Discursive Strategies of Domination in the Jihadist Milieu. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag, 2020.
- Gatt, Kurstin. “The Political Potential of Ya Hef in Contemporary Syrian Politics.” In Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication 15, no. 4 (2022): 440–54.
- Gatt, Kurstin. “Popularising the Political: Jihadi Chants as a Medium for Motivation and Mobilization.” In Popular Culture in Modern Arabic Art, Music and Literature. Edited by Lale -Behzadi, Peter Konerding and Felix Wiedemann. Bamberg: Bamberg University Press, 2021.
- Hegghammer, Thomas, ed. Jihadi Culture: The Art and Social Practices of Militant Islamists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017.
- Kendall, Elisabeth, and Ahmad Khan, eds. Reclaiming Islamic Tradition: Modern Interpretations of the Classical Heritage. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2016.
- Mazraani, Nathalie. Aspects of Language Variation in Arabic Political Speech-Making. Surrey: Curzon Press, 1997.
- Mehrez, Samia, editor. Translating Egypt’s Revolution: The Language of Tahrir. A Tahrir studies Edition. Cairo: American University of Cairo Press, 2012.
- Pannewick, Friederike, ed. Martyrdom in Literature: Visions of Death and Meaningful Suffering in Europe and the Middle East from Antiquity to Modernity. Vol. 17. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag, 2004.
- Al-Sowaidi, Belqes, Felix Banda, and Arwa Mansour. “Doing Politics in the Recent Arab Uprisings: Towards a Political Discourse Analysis of the Arab Spring Slogans.” Journal of Asian and African Studies 52, no. 5 (2017): 621–45.
- Suleiman, Yasir. The Arabic Language and National Identity: A Study in Ideology. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2003.
- Wedeen, Lisa. Ambiguities of Domination: Politics, Rhetoric, and Symbols in Contemporary Syria. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999.

 
ADDITIONAL NOTES Pre-requisite study-unit: ARB1002

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Classwork SEM1 Yes 30%
Assignment SEM1 Yes 70%

 
LECTURER/S Nadia Lanzon

 

 
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It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

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