Discursive Construction of Ideological Shifts in Pakistan: A CDA of Right Wing to Left Wing Political Narratives

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to critically analyze the ideological changes in Pakistani political narratives, with an emphasis on the speeches of Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif, which shifted from right-wing to left-wing rhetoric.  It looks into how political figures use language to create and modify ideas for their own and their parties' benefit. A subfield of critical discourse analysis (CDA), Political Discourse Analysis (PDA) examines how language is employed in political situations as an instrument of persuasion and power.  To accommodate shifting political environments, Pakistani political leaders have regularly modified their ideological stances.  This study examines how political ideologies are constructed and transformed discursively, with a particular focus on how Nawaz Sharif's story changed over time and diverged from Imran Khan's. Van Dijk's (1997) socio-cognitive model of CDA is used in the study to reveal hidden ideologies in political discourse.  A qualitative-quantitative mixed-method approach was employed, with a focus on a few of Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan's speeches that were conveniently sampled from official internet sources and YouTube. The results show that Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan regularly manipulates public opinion by using repetition, positive self-representation, and negative other-representation.  Particularly during times of political weakness, there was a discernible ideological movement from right-wing conservatism to more left-leaning populist discourse.

Keywords: Ideological changes, Pakistani political narratives, Right-wing to Left-wing, Political Discourse Analysis, Manipulation