BEYOND RHETORIC IN AIDS DISCOURSE: A THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF SELECTED SPEECHES ON AFRICA

Abstract

HIV/AIDS discourse mostly reveals people's perceptions, attitudes and behaviour, as well as required actions towards the disease. As the scourge rages in the world especially on the African continent, concerted efforts at combating the pandemic gather momentum both within and outside Africa. In all these efforts, the use of language is very paramount and of significant effect. Thus, at various fora, public figures and other stakeholders have devoted time to making speeches and giving talks focusing on the need for passionate strategies to combat the menace and make the African continent safe again. This paper focuses on the on-going HIV/AIDS discourse with particular interest in analysing the use of rhetoric in enlisting appropriate actions that will put an end to the nightmare. Therefore, three related speeches, one from Thabo Mbeki (Former President, Republic of South Africa), Dr Luis Sambo (Former WHO Regional Director for Africa), and Matthew T. Harrington (US Ambassador to the Kingdom of Lesotho), were selected for analysis using rhetoric as the analytical tool