Political Apologia: Image Repair Strategies in Nasser’s Resignation Speech (1967) and Morsi’s Final Speech (2013)

This paper investigates the linguistic devices and rhetorical strategies employed by President Gamal Abdel Nasser in his Resignation Speech (June 9^th, 1967), which was delivered following the June 5^th military defeat, and President Mohammed Morsi in his June 26^th, 2013 Final Speech, which was delivered three days before the June 30^th mass protests. The analysis of data is based on Benoit’s Image Repair Theory (1995, 2000). The study attempts to demonstrate how language can be manipulated by political figures in repairing the speaker’s damaged public image, constructing a positive self-image, and winning the support and sympathy of the audience. The analysis reveals that Nasser primarily employs four strategies: bolstering, minimization, and compensation. His apologetic discourse lacks overt mortification, though. Morsi, on the other hand, relies on evasion of responsibility and reduction of offensiveness through: defeasibility, bolstering, attacking accusers, and compensation. Unlike President Nasser, President Morsi resorts to the strategy of corrective action.