A Critical Linguistic Study of Mohamed Morsi's Discourse on "Legitimacy" The Dialectic of Ideology and Pragmatism

Abstract

Mohamed Morsi's speeches address the most important political issues in Egypt during the revolution. This volume increased after the outbreak of the January 25 events and the Brotherhood's seizure of power and state resources. However, the complexity of the situation following the overthrow of Mubarak's regime, including the deteriorating economic situation, the entrenched presence of the deep state in institutions, and the Brotherhood's handling of many outstanding issues, including the drafting of the constitution, the nature of its implementation of domestic and foreign policy, and the Brotherhood's relationship with secular and non-secular parties present in the political arena, raised a notable question that has long dogged the Brotherhood: Is the Brotherhood leaning toward the Muslim Brotherhood's adoption of the constitution and the implementation of Islamic law, or is it pursuing objective policies based on popular legitimacy and, consequently, seeking to draft a legitimate constitution? In this research paper, the book seeks to determine whether the policies adopted regarding "legitimacy" by Mohamed Morsi are based on an ideological Brotherhood reading of political Islam, or whether they are practical, pragmatic policies based on the supreme interests of the nation. This is done in light of the critical linguistic analysis method of Halliday-Theon Van Dijk in analyzing the sermon delivered by Mohamed Morsi approximately a year after assuming the presidency, looking closely at the events and positions presented and from the perspective of the dialectic of the sermon text and its meta-linguistic foundations in order to reveal its mysteries and codes more objectively. The study results indicate that Mohamed Morsi, in this sermon, in which the word “legitimacy” was repeated 45 times, focused on defining the concept of “legitimacy,” which he and the Muslim Brotherhood were accused of violating. He also sought to present a civil, democratic concept of legitimacy, while engaging in a dialectic with the political concepts and practices that took place throughout his rule on the ground. These practices are stipulated by legitimacy and the constitution, such as: peaceful demonstrations, the transfer of power, respect for the blood of Egyptians, independence and the prevention of subordination, freedom and social justice, as well as practices that legitimacy rejects, such as rioting and chaos, exploiting the anger of youth, injustice and corruption, and the obstruction of corrupt individuals represented by the deep state and the remnants of the former regime. This is in light of the employment of cognitive schemes that dominate his political mentality and the employment of linguistic approaches at both levels: the horizontal level, represented by types of export and focalization, and the vertical level, represented by effectiveness, types of direction, linguistic substitutions, and lexical selections.