The power of language

Abstract

One of the most overlooked areas of study in the post-Arab Spring narrative is the symbiotic relationship between language and politics. Framed by the micro and macro-level approaches to discourse, the paper’s scope is twofold. First, it identifies and discusses how language elements underpin the performative role of language (Austin 1975 [1962]) and considers Searle’s (1969) work on speech-acts and rhetoric through irony and metaphor. Second, it discusses how the study of language, through power and ideology, provides a candid and deeper understanding of Tunisian politics; an ‘internal’ perspective on how participants in these discourses perceive the Tunisian people, society, culture, and politics, reflecting on a decade since the revolution. The paper hinges on various textual genres, such as televised interviews, debates, and rap songs, sampling some emerging new sociopolitical spaces wherein, through discursive themes, participants address Tunisia’s political and economic grievances since the revolution.