The Ideology of Tolerance in King Abdullah’s Speeches: A Critical Discourse Analysis Study

Abstract

This paper elucidates the ideology of tolerance underlying speeches delivered by HM King Abdullah II. Three speeches were analysed according to Fairclough’s framework (1989). The analysis has revealed the underlying ideological outlook emphasised and constructed in King Abdullah’s speeches to consolidate the value of tolerance, such as eliminating all types of ethnic, religious, and social intolerance; spreading mutual respect, compassion, and peace; and supporting equality and anti-terrorism. Semantic features encompassing presupposition, metaphor, modality, lexical choices, and repetition have been employed to clarify His Majesty’s ideology of tolerance and rebut the claims of extremism, advocating a peaceful and prosperous world for humanity and creating a positive mental image of Islam. The findings show that tolerance discourse is a discourse of power that plays as a persuasive communication of ideological propositions. The findings could benefit researchers, linguists, and students who are interested in interpreting texts of various genres.