Tribalism in the Cameroonian Political Discourse

https://doi.org/10.26907/2658-3321.2023.6.2.246-256

Abstract

This article is devoted to the study of tribalism, which manifests itself in the speech of political actors. Typical communicative acts are considered here, which are realized in the speeches of Cameroonian politicians, who use the strategy of discrediting the opponent to represent group isolation, which is characterized by internal clan isolation and exclusivity.

To carry out linguistic analysis, linguo-cognitive and semantic research methods were used, with the help of which the ways that ideology and tribal power are constantly used both in everyday conversational discourse and in political communication, as well as in the media, were identified. This gives the possibility to consider the communicative portrait of the Cameroonian politician. The study founds that speakers often do not realize that the words they use really influence and affect the thoughts, actions, morale and emotional state and feelings of the listener, and hence his behavior. It was investigated and observed how the principle of cooperation is implemented, how often it is ignored, whether politicians neglect the rules and ethics of maintaining good social relations, which is manifested in the language of an ethno-cultural community. The study establishes that tribalism manifests itself in verbal aggression, has devastating consequences as well as being part of the impact at the linguistic level on individuals and on the nation as a whole. It is concluded that much depends on the difficult language situation that has developed in Cameroon, when some leaders speak English, others speak French, and there are no politicians who speak their native language at all.