Metaphoric rhetorical criticism on Aminuddin Baki’s torch movement series at Radio Malaysia

Rhetoric is commonly used in the public speaking by the influential people in conveying messages. If rhetoric is used without the presence of metaphors, the speech is considered incomplete. Metaphor is a conceptual word or phrase, a style of language, a sign to the portrayal meaning. The Malay metaphors had been widely used by a rhetor, Aminuddin Baki in his speeches while he was in the government service Amongst his speeches that have given impact to the Radio Malaysia listeners were called the, Torch Movement Series. This research focused on three speeches known as Torch Movement Series were aired on the Radio Malaysia. The three speeches were labeled as "Torch Movement Series a, Torch Movement series b and Torch Movement Series c." The artifacts of the speeches were kept in the National Archive of Malaysia, located at Jalan Duta, Kuala Lumpur. All of the three speeches were aired on Radio Malaysia in the early sixties. Five metaphors were identified in the speeches. The usage of the metaphors was merely with the intention of persuading and making aware to the Malay people about their surroundings at that time. This is a qualitative research towards discourse analysis using the Neo Aristotelian theory which was mostly used by George Lakoff as well as Sonja K Foss theory. The theory of Sonja K Foss was more focused on mass communication compared to the Theory of Lakoff which focuses more on linguistics. Sonja's Theory was helpful in finding the significant of the study through peeling off layer-by-layer of the five metaphors' meanings which were deployed by Aminuddin Baki in his Torch Movement Series. After the metaphors were deployed layer-by-layer with sketches portrayed by Norbert Weiner who uses the stochastic method until it shows the result that the Malay people in the olden days did not emphasize on academic excellence. They were satisfied with inheritance they inherited that have caused them to be left out far behind in term of economy and infrastructure compared to other races. The thick ancient custom which is still practiced in the community has made them as laggards to modernity and was not competitive in exploring modern technologies. Aminuddin Baki was aware of this; hence he tried to persuade the Malays to be more sensitive to modernity and progress. He conveyed this message in the form of metaphors. This is because Malay people are not fond of talking openly and if one does as such, one would be considered rude. The main conclusion of the study was interpreted that the metaphors used by Aminuddin Baki were in the form of persuasive to the Malays to grab all opportunities available to change the mindset and improve themselves as well as their families in all aspects of life especially in the aspect of the economy and education. The study contributed to the previous works of literature and the current generation should learn metaphors in the classroom and even metaphors should also be used in their daily speeches as it is part of mass communication and also it is part of the Malay culture which should be preserved.

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