Deictic Strategies and Identity Construction in Political Discourse: A Case Study of Pakistani Leadership Transitions

Abstract

This study examines the shifting identities constructed by Pervaiz Musharraf in two public addresses: one as a military leader and the other as President of Pakistan. The speeches are processed via AntConc using purposive sampling. Social Identity Theory guides analysis of how first-person deixis includes/excludes audiences. The analysis focuses on the nominative and possessive cases of first-person deixis to trace identity construction. Deixis frequency and collocation patterns are compared across speeches. Findings show Musharraf used exclusive deixis in military and inclusive in political roles. The statistical deviation in of collocation of deixis in military address is contrasting with presidential address where collocation has higher frequency. The study contributes to understanding linguistic identity construction in political discourse.