Discourse structure of shinzo abe’s resignation speech

Critical discourse analysis

Abstract

This preliminary research aims to describe the discourse structure that overshadows the text of Shinzo Abe's resignation speech on August 28, 2020, taken from the official website of the Government Office of the Prime Minister of Japan. The research approaches are descriptive qualitative methodological, and theoretical from Teun van Dijk's critical discourse analysis. It divides into three dimensions: the text dimension, the social cognition dimension, and the social context dimension. However, this research will focus on the text dimension of Shinzo Abe's resignation speech. Then, the data analysis process includes text structure analysis consisting of three levels: macrostructure, superstructure, and microstructure. The results show that schematically, the text structure has been organized sequentially from opening, content, and closing. However, what can be underlined from the superstructure of Shinzo Abe's resignation speech is that the opening and closing paragraphs contain Shinzo Abe's gratitude to the Japanese people. Thematically, the text structure consists of two themes: coronavirus countermeasures and concerns over Shinzo Abe's health. From these two themes, through the strategies of setting, detail, intention, and presumption, the text of Shinzo Abe's resignation speech contains explicit meaning that Shinzo Abe describes the steps taken by the Japanese government to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Shinzo Abe also describes the health condition of his illness chronologically because it is feared that he will not be able to complete his duties and obligations as prime minister, thus destabilizing all aspects of Japanese life due to his health. Therefore, Shinzo Abe resigned as prime minister before his term ended.