EXPLORING POLITICAL NARRATIVES: A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TONY BLAIR AND BENAZIR BHUTTO

Abstract

This study, titled Exploring Political Narratives: A Multi-Dimensional Comparative Study of Tony Blair and Benazir Bhutto, examines the political rhetoric of two prominent leaders from diverse cultural and political backgrounds. Through a multi-dimensional analysis based on Biber’s (1988) framework, the research seeks to identify significant linguistic variations in the speeches of Tony Blair and Benazir Bhutto, focusing on their rhetorical approaches and communicative strategies. Political narratives are crucial in influencing public opinion, shaping ideologies, and consolidating power, and this study aims to uncover the unique ways these leaders used language to achieve these goals. A mixed-methods research design, integrating both quantitative and qualitative approaches, allows for a comprehensive analysis of linguistic features across Biber’s five dimensions, including dimensions such as "involved vs. informational production" and "narrative vs. non-narrative concerns." Quantitative analysis is conducted using the Multidimensional Analysis Tagger (MAT), which categorizes linguistic features across dimensions, highlighting statistical trends in Blair’s and Bhutto’s language use. Qualitative analysis further contextualizes these findings by exploring the communicative intentions and rhetorical styles within each leader’s political and cultural framework. A random sample of three speeches from each leader is selected to ensure representativeness, providing a manageable yet insightful comparison of linguistic patterns. The findings are expected to contribute to political discourse analysis, comparative linguistics, and cultural studies, offering insights into how Blair and Bhutto’s political identities, leadership styles, and cultural contexts informed their narrative strategies. This research also adds methodological value by applying multi-dimensional analysis to political discourse, setting a foundation for future studies on the rhetoric of leaders across various contexts and time periods.