The Political Rhetoric Of Bishop Kleopas Dumeni In The Pre-Independence Era In Namibia

Abstract

This dissertation is a rhetorical study of the speeches of Bishop Kleopas Dumeni of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia. The main purpose of the study was to analyse

Bishop Dumeni’s selected speeches based on the five canons of Aristotle, namely,

invention, arrangement, style, delivery and memory, and his three modes of persuasion

of logos, pathos and ethos. This study examined the English and Oshiwambo speeches

which Bishop Dumeni delivered at meetings locally and internationally from 1979 to

1988. The study also examined the responses of interviewed and audiovisual taped

audiences to the speeches of Bishop Dumeni and translation techniques used by Bishop

Dumeni to get the message across to his target audiences, since some of the speeches

were translated from English into Oshiwambo or vice versa.

Twenty sampled speeches were analysed to obtain information on the use of the five

Aristotelian canons and his three modes of persuasion within the framework of the

Aristotelian theory. This theory was supplemented by other theories such as Critical

Discourse Analysis (CDA), semiotic theory and Nida’s theory. The CDA deals with an

oppositional study of structures and strategies of the discourse and their cognitive and

social conditions as well as the discourses of resistance against such domination. The

semiotic theory was used to interpret the non-verbal behaviour and Nida’s theory was

used to examine the translation techniques used by Bishop Dumeni.

In addition, interviews were conducted with thirty respondents drawn from three groups:

the supporters of colonial authorities, ordinary people and pastors to obtain further

information on the responses of the audiences to the speeches of Bishop Dumeni.

The study revealed that Bishop Dumeni effectively used the five Aristotelian canons.

Invention was used to formulate arguments and opinions on the speeches. Arrangement

was used to organise the speeches in a particular manner to make them appealing to the

audiences. Style was intended to maximise the correctness, clarity, appropriateness and

ornament of the messages to achieve the greatest level of acceptance by the audiences.

The canon of delivery helped the speaker to present the speeches in a way that was most

effective for the audiences. Memory was employed to help the audiences retain the

messages in their minds.

This study further revealed that Bishop Dumeni successfully used the three modes of

persuasion, i.e., ethos, pathos and logos, to persuade the audiences to support the

liberation of Namibia.

The study also revealed that Bishop Dumeni used a combination of epideictic

(ceremonial) rhetoric, to either praise his supporters or blame the colonial authorities;

deliberative rhetoric, to exhort or persuade the audiences to promote good and avoid the

harmful; and, to a lesser extent, forensic rhetoric, with specific reference to the verdict of

the International Court of Justice on the Namibian question. The researcher also found

that Bishop Dumeni mostly used the formal equivalence type of translation with some

elements of dynamic equivalence type of translation, and free translation, which affected

the intelligibility of the speeches. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher

made recommendations directed at training institutions in Namibia for further research

to improve the standard of speech writing and delivery. This study is a great contribution

to the study of rhetoric in Namibia, which is in its infancy stage.