THE USE OF DIPLOMATIC LANGUAGE IN POLITICAL DISCOURSE: AN ANALYSIS OF PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS'S SPEECH IN LIGHT OF POLITENESS THEORY

In this study which aims to reveal how the Diplomatic Languages were used in the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in his speech to the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly to achieve his political aims. In order to do so, the study employs discourse analysis and benefits from the politeness theory as an analytical tool. The results show that in political discourse Face-Threatening Acts do not necessarily serve an escalatory strategy. Rather, they may be functions within diplomatic discourse so they convey political messages even without breaching the international law. Additionally, the study reveals that positive politeness strategy was employed more repeatedly than negative politeness strategy to reduce the severity of Face-Threatening Acts and to correspond with the character of the discourse presented before a global organization. This study shed the light on the apparent contradiction between sharp censure and Diplomatic Language which enables Mahmoud Abbas in his speech to fuse political confrontation with a balanced Diplomatic Language. By broaden the use of politeness theory to international political discourse, rather than restricting its uses to interactive discourse or everyday media, it reassessing the relationship between diplomacy and intimidation.