Cogent Arts & Humanities (Dec 2023)
Construction of roles, obligations and values in politicians’ discourses on anti-corruption
Abstract
Corruption is a very significant and formidable obstacle to the development of Vietnam, a single-party nation. It impacts almost all social, political, educational, economic and cultural aspects of the whole nation. However, while this issue has increasingly attracted the attention of both international and domestic circles, there is a desperate limitation in scholarly work addressing corruption in Vietnam. Recent studies have focused on education, economics, or laws, with very few analyzing the linguistic phenomenon in the construction of this discourse. To fill this gap, this article explores the semiotic performances through which anti-corruption discourses have been constructed in Vietnam. This article delves into the correlation between language and power, and how power is conditioned by the social, political, and cultural particularities. Drawing on a combination of Critical Discourse Analysis approaches and utilizing Systemic Functional Grammar and Appraisal Theory as analytical tools, this analysis examines two articles on anti-corruption written by senior politicians, due to the paucity of corruption-related publications within a five-year span from mainstream CPV-controlled media. The findings reveal that in this political system, the discourse on anti-corruption functions as a rhetoric of glory and determination. Politicians strategically used language to emphasize the achievements in combating corruption, aiming to gain support for anti-corruption initiatives and legitimize their political actions. This study can significantly contribute to advancing the understanding of the underlying power structures and ideologies in corruption discourse in Vietnam. It also offers implications for further research on the aspects overlooked or minimized in the high-ranking politicians’ discourse.
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