A Portrayal of Philippine National Identity via Presidential Inaugural Addresses: A Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract

This qualitative research inquiry employing critical discourse analysis sought to unveil the discursive strategies, linguistic realizations, major thematic contents, and political ideologies from the eight presidential inaugural addresses of the Philippine Fifth Republic. Using Wodak’s Discourse-Historical Approach, the study revealed that the discursive macro-strategies of construction, perpetuation, justification, transformation, and demontage, along with specific micro-strategies for each, were analyzed through a variety of linguistic realizations for the discursive construction of the Philippine national identity. The facets of identity discursively constructed in the addresses are the stability of Philippine Autonomy; the fallibility of Philippine integrity; the pursuit for Philippine moral imperative and national advancement; the Philippine historical uprising; the Philippine people power revolution; the political stance of the Philippines; the growth endeavor of the Philippines; and the global connections of the Philippines. Facets of Philippine national identity were also discursively influenced by five emergent political ideologies of liberal democracy, social democracy, patriotism, pacifism, and globalism. Implications for educational practice may be integrated into multiple academic domains such as the humanities, social sciences, politics and governance, and language and communication. KEYWORDS: Applied linguistics, education, critical discourse analysis, discourse-historical approach, discursive strategies, linguistic realizations, thematic contents, political ideologies, Philippines