Pragmatic Analysis of Political Hate Speeches from Nigerian Newspapers and Social Media Platforms

Abstract

This paper investigated the interplay between language and political hate speeches through speech acts and ideological analysis of hate speeches in Nigerian newspapers and social media platforms. Defining hate speeches is difficult as any hurtful speech as mostly termed hate speech by Nigerian politicians thereby making the concept more complicated and cumbersome. This study addresses the gap in critical research on identification and interpretation of hate speech from the context of usage, determine the speech acts deployed by the hate speakers to pass their messages. Utilizing a qualitative research methodology, the study employs political hate speeches from Punch, Vanguard, Business Day and Nairaland as the population. Purposive sampling technique was used to draw a working population of five political hate speeches. Data were analyzed using one theory: Mey’s Pragmatic Acts,and Descriptive grammar by Ndimele (2008). It was discovered from the data analyzed that there are certain elements that constitute hate speeches and implications of context in hate speech analysis. Ultimately, this study underscores the role of speech act and ideological innuences of political hate speeches in truncating a Nigeria latent democracy that is rooted in aesthetics, values and national unity.