A stylistic analysis of state funeral speeches a case study of Nelson Mandela’s burial ceremony

Since language is used as a tool for social interaction, it’s stylistically use in a single speech situation by different speakers needs to be justified. The study was a descriptive stylistic analysis of the state funeral speeches: using Nelson Mandela burial ceremony as a case study. The study was guided by two objectives namely; to make comparative analysis of the eulogists’ transitivity processes used by the heads of the state in eulogy as a single justification and to search for linguistic and extra linguistic evidences among speeches made by the three heads of the state. The study was delimitated to experiential metafunctions of the language and to Aristotelians’ stylistic analysis of the great eulogy. Critical literature analysis in both fictions and nonfictions stylistically works were done to develop the literature gap. Halliday (1985) transitivity theory guided this study. The data were collected using content analysis. The data were also coded, computed and quantified using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and were finally analyzed, presented and discussed. The findings revealed that while in a single eulogy situation of different eulogists, the material, mental and relational processes were the dominant transitivity stylistic features derived from their speeches, the linguistic and non- linguistic evidences were made from the content created upon the deceased and eulogists’ life experiences and social function of eulogy. Lastly, further studies are recommended on the aspects of the eulogies and their communicative rationale.