Strategic Use of Illocutionary Force and Power in President Prabowo Subianto’s Address at the 80th United Nations General Assembly
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24071/joll.v26i2.509Keywords:
illocutionary acts, illocutionary force, Presidential address, political dicourse, United Nations General AssemblyAbstract
This study examines illocutionary acts in President Prabowo Subianto’s address at the 80th United Nations General Assembly. It aims to identify the types of illocutionary acts employed and to analyze how illocutionary force is used strategically, through ethos, pathos, and logos, to convey political and diplomatic messages and to reflect and negotiate Indonesia’s power relations and political position. Using a descriptive qualitative approach with a content analysis design, the study draws on Austin’s and Searle’s Speech Act Theory and Braet’s rhetorical appeals. The address was transcribed manually from the official United Nations YouTube recording, and 119 utterances were coded for illocutionary type and dominant rhetorical orientation. The findings show that all five types of illocutionary acts are present, with assertives dominating (47.90%), followed by directives (34.45%), expressives (9.24%), commissives (5.04%), and declaratives (3.36%). Pathos is the most frequent rhetorical orientation (47.90%), followed by ethos (30.25%) and logos (21.85%). Assertives build Indonesia’s credibility through its history and contributions, directives frame action as collective responsibility through the inclusive “we,” and commissives and declaratives express commitments and official positions. Emotional appeal is conveyed mainly through assertives and directives rather than expressives. These patterns suggest that illocutionary force is the linguistic means through which political power, understood as credibility, collective agency, and institutional standing, is expressed and negotiated in diplomatic discourse. The study contributes to political pragmatics by integrating speech act and rhetorical analysis.
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