Proximization of Threat in the Construction of GERD: A Critical Discourse Study

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Damanhour University

Abstract

Critical Discourse Studies (CDS) is one of the developing areas of studies in Discourse Analysis. In these kinds of studies, the interaction between linguistics and various social sciences is very obvious. CDS include a large number of interdisciplinary and numerous methodologies, one of which is Proximization Theory (PT) (Cap, 2014:16). Proximization is a strategy through which the speaker presents a certain event as negatively and directly affecting the addressee(s). The present study analyses some of the speeches and statements of the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shokry, concerning the threats of the construction of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on both Egypt and Sudan. The analysis will be done using PT, and a frequency count will be provided concerning the three kinds of proximization strategies: spatial, temporal and axiological.