Language And The (Re)Production Of Dominance: Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-Pf) Advertisements For The July 2013 Elections

ABSTRACT

Language is a political tool used to legitimise, delegitimise, produce and (re)produce

dominance. In Zimbabwe, ZANU-PF advertisements for the July 2013 elections were an

attempt to deploy language to (re)produce dominance. The advertisements were produced

in the context of a power-sharing government comprising ZANU-PF and the MDCs. Adopting

sign theory, the article uses legitimation analysis to explore the ways in which ZANU-PF

used language to retain dominance. Research revealed that ZANU-PF legitimated its

dominance on the basis of performance, for example, implementing the multiple currencies

system after the Zimbabwe dollar’s collapse and delivering a constitution that guarantees

the values espoused by the liberation struggle. Mugabe’s incomparable “wisdom and

deftness” in handling matters of state, ZANU-PF’s care for ordinary urban ratepayers and

economic indigenisation were used to justify the party’s dominance. It also legitimised its rule

by portraying the MDC-T as an uncaring, dishonest and sell-out party, thus delegitimising it

while skilfully concealing its own blame in the collapse of the economy post-2000.

Keywords: anti-imperialism; election advertisements; election discourse; legitimation;

MDC-T; ZANU-PF; Zimbabwe