ANALYSIS OF SPEECH ACTS AND THEIR POWER DYNAMICS IN PRESIDENT MNANGAGWA’S UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY SPEECHES
Keywords:
3-Ds Model, CDA, Illocutionary Acts, Locutionary Acts, Perlocutionary Acts, Power Dynamics, Speech ActsAbstract
This study explores the intersection of language, power, and ideology in the political speeches of Zimbabwean President Dr. Emmerson Mnangagwa, specifically those delivered at the 78th and 79th sessions of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Drawing upon Austin’s Speech Act Theory and Fairclough’s Three-Dimensional (3-Ds) Model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the research identifies and categorizes locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts within these speeches, treating them not as isolated linguistic functions but as actions strategically shaped by underlying structures of power. In this context, power operates as a super meta structure, an overarching force that governs the production, distribution, and interpretation of speech acts within political discourse. While Speech Act Theory accounts for how language performs actions, Fairclough’s model situates these acts within the ideological, institutional, and socio-historical systems that sustain authority and dominance. This dual analytical lens reveals how President Dr. Mnangagwa's speech acts are embedded within and responsive to postcolonial power relations and national identity negotiations. The study addresses a key gap in existing literature by integrating micro-level pragmatics with macro-level critical discourse, offering a deeper understanding of how political leaders from the Global South utilize international platforms to construct narratives of sovereignty, resistance, and global alignment. In doing so, the research contributes to political linguistics and CDA by demonstrating that speech acts in such contexts are not merely communicative events, but deliberate mechanisms for enacting and reinforcing power, ideologies, and hegemonic struggle in international platform.
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