A PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS OF ZOHRAN MAMDANI'S VICTORY SPEECH: A SPEECH ACT THEORY APPROACH

Abstract

This paper analyses Zohran Mamdani's speech on his election victory using speech act theory, which focuses on the functions of political language as action rather than just a form of communication. The study aligns itself to the work of Austin (1962) and Searle (1969) applying the locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary perspective and the classification of speech acts used in the locutionary according to Searle (1969) assertives, directives, commissives, expressives and declarations, respectively, the study has two objectives; firstly, to determine and categorise the speech acts used in the Mamdani address, and secondly, to analyse how these acts pragmatically enlist audiences and build political meaning. A qualitative discourse-analytic approach was used to transcribe and analyse the speech line by line to discover the pragmatic force of the utterances. These results demonstrate that Mamdani incorporates several speech acts in a stratified manner in his speech. Assertives are claims of ideological truth, and they include claims such as 'housing is a human right' and 'hope is alive'. Orders get the listeners into action and participation. Commissives are promises that would bind the speaker to rent freezes, free buses, and free childcare. The expressives are a sign of appreciation and accessibility that confirms marginalised groups and builds solidarity. Pragmatically, such acts create a sense of hope, build trust, and make passive listeners active participants in a movement. The placement of the speech of Mamdani into the context of a more general tradition of political discourse analysis extends the already existing literature with its emphasis on the role of expressives and directives at the grassroots level of mobilisation, and also innovative ways in which political meaning is generated by means of commitments expressed in a concrete, politically oriented commissive. Finally, the study ratifies the victory speech not only as a celebratory but also as a performative leadership gesture, a gesture of unity, and a gesture of change, with the power to transform political reality and empower the community.