The emergence of a leader? : the political discourse of Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the initial stage of Russian invasion in Ukraine

Abstract

The dissertation aims to examine the speeches of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the initial phase of the Russian invasion in Ukraine in 2022. The focus is placed on the way a political leader shapes wartime discourse and what are the components of such a narrative. Additionally, the study checks if President Zelenskyy can be regarded as a charismatic rhetoric leader. The initial stage of the invasion constitutes the first ten days of the war before he started speaking to foreign audiences. Therefore, the first 18 speeches of The President addressed to his fellow Ukrainians were analysed. The official English translation of the utterances was sourced from the website of The President of Ukraine. The research methods to scrutinise the discourse were critical discourse analysis and content analysis. Codes for analysis were created after a review of existing literature about political discourse, political discourse during wartime, power of language, rhetoric, charisma, and charismatic rhetoric leadership. For more insightful research the two case studies of the wartime leaders were presented: the President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Prime Minister of Great Britain Winston Churchill. The results of the analysis of Zelenskyy’s discourse indicate that he is also an example of a charismatic rhetoric leader. His discourse from the beginning of the invasion aimed to inform Ukrainians about the recent developments and encourage them to withstand the Russian aggression, condemn the atrocity of the invader, acknowledge the efforts made by the foreign partners and concurrently call for more support to Ukraine. He praised the bravery of the Ukrainian soldiers and the whole nation, stating that they fight for Europe and the rest of the liberated world. Meanwhile, after signing the application for EU accession, Ukrainians have finally a chance to be united with the rest of the Europeans, Russians isolate themselves further by invading the sovereign and independent country. Zelenskyy makes references to history, socio-cultural dimensions, tradition, and moral values. He frequently highlights the imminent, prospective victory of Ukraine, which is united as never before. As a leader, President Zelenskyy portrays himself as an honest, direct and firm head of state, who identifies strongly with his compatriots and works around the clock to protect the country, equally as they do.