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Words that do things: Rhetorical Strategies and speech-acts pragmatics in Arafat (1974) and Mandela (1964)

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  • Bahjat Ahmed Arafat

    (Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA)) Malaysia)

Abstract

This paper investigates how rhetorical devices and speech-act pragmatics combine to produce political effects in two emblematic freedom-fighter speeches: Yasser Arafat’s 13 November 1974 address to the United Nations General Assembly and Nelson Mandela’s 20 April 1964 Statement from the Dock (Rivonia Trial). Using a mixed-methods protocol that pairs fine-grained close reading with a reproducible sentence-level annotation scheme, we coded rhetorical devices (metaphor, anaphora, antithesis, narrative, ethos, etc.), primary illocutionary force (Searle’s taxonomy), perlocutionary intent, and a binary felicity indicator for each sentence (Arafat N ≈ 123; Mandela N = 62). Quantitative analyses include device–act contingency tables, χ² tests with Cramér’s V (χ² = 42.8, df = 16, p

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Handle: RePEc:alk:jpds00:v:4:y:2025:i:3:id:11098
DOI: 10.32996/jpda.2025.4.3.2
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