The Ideological Republic of Iran : Tracing ideology in three public speeches

This thesis examines the construction of ideology in three public speeches held by the Secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani. Shamkhani’s position makes him one of the most powerful public officials in Iran, with vast influence over domestic and international security matters, including over Iran’s nuclear negotiations. This thesis presents theories on discourse analysis as ideology analysis, which enables identification of linguistical ideologization. With this theory as backdrop, three speeches with varying content and context are analysed in order to determine whether or not Shamkhani is constructing ideology in them. Political officials are arguably expected to ideologize speeches to a certain extent. Even though Shamkhani enjoys a similar seniority as many politicians, Shamkhani’s position remains formally apolitical, which makes it is interesting to analysis his speeches. Linguistic analyses of public speeches in Iran are rarely deployed when attempting to understand the Islamic Republic but given the attention Iranian officials themselves ascribe their language, a discourse analysis of what they say might disclose otherwise hidden qualities in their communications. Through the speeches’ diverse content in written, orally formal and orally colloquial Farsi, it was possible not only to establish that Shamkhani uses discourse to construct ideology but also to what extent this is done, depending on modes of communication.