Critical Discourse Studies on Language and Identity of Social Actors Represented in UK Prime Minister Elizabeth Truss’ Speech of Announcing Resignation

Abstract

The study aims to reveal the social actors, the discourse strategies, and the representation of the actors that UK Prime Minister, Elizabeth Truss, brought up in her resignation speech. Besides, the study also sees how she uses language to construct the identities
of the social actors in the speech. The method used in the study is qualitative descriptive since the data are the language used in the speech, and they will be presented descriptively in analysis. The grand theory of this research is Theo van Leeuwen’s representation of social actors (2008), and it is also supported by MAK Halliday’s SFL theory (2004). The grand theory provides a set of analysis to reveal how the social actors are represented in the discourse; The set consists of two strategies, exclusion and inclusion. Exclusion means eliminating the social actors through some linguistic mechanisms while inclusion means putting the actors in the center of attention
and being presented in the discourse clearly. The results show that both strategies are used by Elizabeth Truss in her speech, but the most strategy used is inclusion. In addition, as for labeling the social actor's identity in her speech, she tries to do it proportionally; however, she also tries to post herself in a superior position to her political opponents and subordinates, and post herself in an inferior position to those she respects. In conclusion, from the study conducted it can be stated that through the resignation speech, Lizz Truss still tried to maintain her authority as prime minister by trying to be respectful and admitting her weaknesses while on duty, and also by constructing a proportional identity in the speech, she also tried to spread new optimism to the public in welcoming the new leadership that will replace her. Finally, the study can bring impacts on providing valuable insights of understanding political discourse, identifying the patterns of communication, and also evaluating the prime minister's legacy.