Cover not available
Article published In:
Babel
Vol. 70:6 (2024) ► pp.825–851

Pronoun shifts in political discourse

The English translations of the Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s statements on the international stage

 | Mahidol University
 | University of Leeds
This article examines the English translations of former Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s statements on the international stage and the shifts in the first-person pronoun. Looking at interpersonal positioning through a systemic functional linguistic lens, we found that the translations underline the explicitness of agency, highlighting the variation of stylistic choices and interplay with source-text politics. The shifts come with a modified degree of willingness, a more active agency, an increase in the modality of inclination, and more force in attitude. These interpersonal overtones largely contribute to recasting the image of the Thai government to ensure its legitimacy, promote national unity, and appeal to the international community. These crafted translated texts seem to hone the leader’s public persona in front of global audiences by continuing to enhance the country’s reputation, thereby maintaining the speaker’s dignity and prestige–an essential for the national leader’s image.
Keywords: political discourse, pronoun, prime minister, SFL, translation, Thai politics
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Function of pronoun we
    • 2.1Potential shift of modality
    • 2.2Relations between agency, engagement, and graduation
  • 3.Research design
  • 4.Pronoun shifts and their relation to the interpersonal positioning
    • 4.1Shift in modality to show willingness
    • 4.2Shift in agency to show more active role
    • 4.3Shift in engagement to show devotion
    • 4.4Shift in graduation to show stronger evaluation
  • 5.Concluding discussion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 2 April 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00388.pha
References (65)
References
Adolphsen, Manuel. 2014. Communication Strategies of Governments and NGOs: Engineering Global Discourse at High-Level International Summits. Wiesbaden: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Alderman, Petra, and Kristin Anabel Eggeling. 2023. “Vision Documents, Nation Branding and the Legitimation of Non-democratic Regimes.” Geopolitics. Ahead-of-print. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Aroonmanakun, Wirote. 2000. “Zero Pronoun Resolution in Thai: A Centering Approach”. In International Conference on Human and Machine Processing of Language and Speech. Bangkok: National Electronic and Computer Technology Center.Google Scholar
Chen, Shukun, Winfred Wenhui Xuan, and Hailing Yu. 2022. “Applying Systemic Functional Linguistics in Translation Studies: A Research Synthesis.” Babel: International Journal of Translation 68 (4): 517–545. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chilton, Paul, and Christina Schäffner. 2002. “Introduction: Themes and Principles in the Analysis of Political Discourse”. In Politics as Text and Talk: Analytic Approaches to Political Discourse, edited by Paul Chilton and Christina Schäffner, 1–41. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Carreon, Jonathan Rante, and Chavalin Svetanant. 2017. “What Lies Underneath a Political Speech?: Critical Discourse Analysis of Thai PM’s Political Speeches Aired on the TV Programme Returning Happiness to the People.” Open Linguistics 3 (1): 638–655. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Desatova, Petra. 2018. “Thailand 4.0 and the Internal Focus of Nation Branding.” Asian Studies Review 42 (4): 682–700. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Desatova, Petra, and Saowanee T. Alexande. 2021. “Election Commissions and Non-democratic Outcomes: Thailand’s Contentious 2019 Election.” Politics 43 (4): 505–519. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dinnie, Keith. 2016. Nation Branding: Concepts, Issues, Practice. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Doungphummes, Nuntiya, Narongdej Phanthaphoommee, and Mark Vicars. 2023. “Disrupting the Simulacrum of Normalcy.” In Global LGBTQ Activism: Social Media, Digital Technologies, and Protest Mechanisms, edited by Paromita Pain, 125–233. New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dubbati, Barkuzar, and Haneen Abudayeh. 2018. “The Translator as an Activist: Reframing Conflict in the Arabic Translation of Sacco’s Footnotes in Gaza.” The Translator 24 (2): 147–165. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fu, Rongbo. 2016. “Comparing Modal Patterns in Chinese-English Interpreted and Translated Discourses in Diplomatic Setting.” Babel: International Journal of Translation 62 (1): 104–121. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Galloway, Alison. 2005. “Non-Probability Sampling.” In The Encyclopedia of Social Measurement, edited by Kimberly Kempf-Leonard, 859–864. Amsterdam: Elsevier. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gadavanij, Savitri. 2020. “Contentious Polities and Political Polarization in Thailand: Post-Thaksin Reflections.” Discourse & Society 31 (1): 44–63. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gao, Fei. 2021. “Making Sense of Nationalism Manifested in Interpreted Texts at ‘Summer Davos’ in China.” Critical Discourse Studies 18 (6): 688–704. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gao, Fei, and Jeremy Munday. 2023. “Interpreter Ideology: ‘Editing’ Discourse in Simultaneous Interpreting.” Interpreting 25 (1): 1–26. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gu, Chonglong. 2019. “Mediating ‘Face’ in Triadic Political Communication: A CDA Analysis of Press Conference Interpreters’ Discursive (Re)construction of Chinese Government’s Image (1998–2017).” Critical Discourse Studies 16 (2): 201–221. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gu, Chonglong, and Rebecca Tipton. 2020. “(Re-)voicing Beijing’s Discourse through Self-Referentiality: A Corpus-based CDA Analysis of Government Interpreters’ Discursive Mediation at China’s Political Press Conferences (1998–2017).” Perspectives 28 (3): 406–423. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Halliday, Michael Alexander Kirkwood and Christian M. I. M. and Michael Alexander Kirkwood Halliday. 2014. Halliday’s Introduction to Functional Grammar. (4th ed.). London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hongjanya, Krit. 2019. “Nation Branding Based on Semiotic Analysis: A Case Study of Thailand Brand.” Ph.D., diss., National Institute of Development Administration, Thailand. NIDA Wisdom Repository. [URL]
Hongladarom, Soraj. 2021. “The Thailand National AI Ethics Guideline: An Analysis.” Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society 19 (4): 480–491. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hu, Kaibao, and Xiaoqian Li. 2022. “The Image of the Chinese Government in the English Translations of Report on the Work of the Government: A Corpus-Based Study.” Asia Pacific Translation and Intercultural Studies 9 (1): 6–25. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Huang, Xiaocong. 2013. “Transitivity in English-Chinese Literary Translation.” Babel: International Journal of Translation 59 (1): 93–109. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Human Rights Watch. 2023. “Thailand: Event of 2022.” Human Rights Watch. Accessed 13 October 2023. [URL]
Íñigo-Mora, Isabel. 2004. “On the Use of the Personal Pronoun We in Communities.” Journal of Language and Politics 3 (1): 27–52. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jindapitak, Naratip. 2019. “English as an ASEAN Lingua Franca and the Role of Nativeness in English Education in Thailand: Moving toward the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).” English Today 35 (2): 36–41. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kullavanijaya, Pranee. 2000. “Power and Intimacy: A Contradiction in a Thai Personal Pronoun. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications 291: 80–86. [URL]
Kim, Mira, and Zhi Huang. 2012. “Theme Choices in Translation and Target Readers’ Reactions to Different Theme Choices.” T&I Review 21: 79–112.Google Scholar
Kim, Mira, and Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen. 2015. “Ways to Move forward in Translation Studies: A Textual Perspective.” Target 27 (3): 335–350. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kuo, Sai-Hua. 2002. “From Solidarity to Antagonism: The Uses of the Second-Person Singular Pronoun in Chinese Political Discourse.” Text & Talk 22 (1): 29–55. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lee, Changsoo. 2016. “A Corpus-based Investigation of Theme Choice in English Translations of Korean Online Tourist Texts–with Focus on Interactional Themes.” Perspectives 24 (2): 294–318. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Li, Xin, and Ranran Zhang. 2021. “The Diplomatic Interpreter’s Negotiation of Power and Solidarity through Engagement Choices: A Case Study of the Chinese Foreign Minister’s 2018 Press Conference.” Discourse, Context & Media 391, 100459. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Martin, James Robert, and Peter R. White. 2005. The Language of Evaluation: Appraisal in English. London: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Martin, James Robert, and David Rose. 2007. Working with Discourse: Meaning beyond the Clause, 2nd ed.. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
McCargo, Duncan, and Saowanee T. Alexander. 2019. “Thailand’s 2019 Elections: A State of Democratic Dictatorship?” Asia Policy 14 (4): 89–106. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McCargo, Duncan, and Petra Desatova. 2016. “Thailand: Electoral Intimidation.” In Electing Peace: Violence Prevention and Impact at the Polls, edited by Jonas Claes, 63–96. Washington, D.C.: United Institute of Peace Press.Google Scholar
Munday, Jeremy. 2007. “Translation and Ideology: A Textual Approach.” The Translator 13 (2): 195–217. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2012a. Evaluation in Translation: Critical Points of Translator Decision-Making. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2012b. “New Directions in Discourse Analysis for Translation: A Study of Decision-Making in Crowdsourced Subtitles of Obama’s 2012 State of the Union Speech. Language and Intercultural Communication 12 (4): 321–334. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2017. “Engagement and Graduation Resources as Markers of Translator/Interpreter Positioning.” In Discourse Analysis in Translation Studies, edited by Jeremy Munday and Meifang Zhang, 83–98. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nanni, Alexander. 2021. “Educational Entrepreneurship in an Intensive English Program in Thailand: A Case Study.” SAGE Open 11 (1). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Olohan, Maeve, and Mona Baker. 2000. “Reporting That in Translated English; Evidence for Subconscious Processes of Explicitation?” Across Languages and Cultures 1 (2): 141–158. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Partridge, Brian. 2000. Making Sense of Discourse Analysis. Queensland: AEE Publishing.Google Scholar
Patpong, Patpong. 2006. “A Systemic Functional Interpretation of Thai Grammar: An Exploration of Thai Narrative Discourse.” Ph.D., diss., Macquarie University, Australia.
Phanthaphoommee, Narongdej. 2021. “The Generic Structure of the Thai Prime Minister’s Weekly Address.” Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics 11 (1): 114–123. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2022a. “Towards the Study of Political Text and Translation in Thailand: A Case Study of Thai Translations of Biden’s Inaugural Address.” rEFLections 29 (1): 1–19. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2022b. “Translation of Pronouns and Deictic Positioning in the Thai Prime Minister’s Weekly Addresses.” KEMANUSIAAN: The Asian Journal of Humanities 29 (2): 27–47. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2023. “Saving Face of the ‘Saviour’: The Translations of the Thai Prime Minister’s 2015 Press Interview and the 2020 National Address.” GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies 23 (1): 328–345. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Romagnuolo, Anna. 2009. “Political Discourse in Translation: A Corpus-Basd Perspective on Presidential Inaugurals.” Translation and Interpreting Studies 4 (1): 1–30. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sarkar, Anoop. 1998. “The Conflict between Future Tense and Modality: The Case of Will in English.” University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics 5 (2): 91–117.Google Scholar
Schäffner, Christina. 2012. “Unknown Agents in Translated Political Discourse.” Target 24 (1): 103–125. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sopranzetti, Claudio. 2016. “Thailand’s Relapse: The Implications of the May 2014 Coup.” The Journal of Asian Studies 75 (2): 299–316. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sukgasi, Benjarat. 2020. “English-Thai Interpreters’ Use of Direct Style Interpreting: The Effect of Gender-specific Pronouns and Formality-Marking Particles in Thai.” Intercultural Communication Review 181: 61–77. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Techawongstien, Koraya, and Narongdej Phanthaphoommee. 2022. “Unintentional Containment of the Contaminated: The Role of Translation and Interpreting during the COVID-19 Crisis in Thailand.” The Journal of Internationalization and Localization 9 (2): 180–205. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Thompson, Geoff. 2014. Introducing Functional Grammar, 3rd ed.. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Uckaradejdumrong, Pichai. 2016. “A Systemic Functional Approach to Analyzing Thai Pronouns.” SAGE Open 6 (3). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
van Dijk, Teun A. 1998. Ideology: A Multidisciplinary Approach. London: SAGE.Google Scholar
Windsor, Leah, Nia Dowell, Alistair Windsor, and John Kaltner. 2018. “Leader Language and Political Survival Strategies.” International Interactions 44 (2): 321–336. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yu, Hailing, and Canzhong Wu. 2020. “Functions of the Pronoun ‘We’ in the English Translations of Chinese Government Reports.” In Advances in Discourse Analysis of Translation and Interpreting: Linking Linguistic Approaches with Sociocultural Interpretation, edited by Binhua Wang and Jeremy Munday, 85–105. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zhan, Cheng. 2012. “Mediation through Personal Pronoun Shifts in Dialogue Interpreting of Political Meetings.” Interpreting 14 (2): 192–216. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zhang, Meifang. 2009. “Social Context and Translation of Public Notices.” Babel: International Journal of Translation 55 (2): 142–152. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zhang, Xiaomin, Haidee Kotze, and Jing Fang. 2020. “Explicitation in Children’s Literature Translated from English to Chinese: A Corpus-Based Study of Personal Pronouns.” Perspectives 28 (5): 717–736. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zeng, Weizin, and Dechao Li. 2023. “Presenting China’s image through the translation of comments: a case study of the WeChat subscription account of Reference News.” Perspectives 31 (2): 313–330. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zufferey, Sandrine, and Bruno Cartoni. 2014. “A Multifactorial Analysis of Explicitation in Translation.” Target 26 (3): 361–384. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Kred, Aya & Ghaleb Rabab'ah
2024.  Ideology in the lexical choices of Mahir Nassim's translation of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain . Cogent Arts & Humanities 11:1 DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 4 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.