For the Durban University of Technology’s (DUT’s) part-time Media, Language and Communication lecturer Kunle Oparinde, obtaining his doctorate was a dream come true.

“I am really excited to have achieved my Doctor of Philosophy in Language Practice, a surreal moment,” he said excitedly.

He obtained his Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the department of Media, Language and Communication during the Faculty of Arts and Design’s graduation ceremony at the DUT Fred Crookes Sports Centre, last Friday (7 September 2017).

Dr Oparinde’s thesis analyses the political discourse and symbols and how politicians manipulated photos in Nigerian politics.

“Using critical discourse analysis and multimodal discourse analysis, his study examined linguistic (mis) representation and manipulation, drawing instances from political texts and symbols used by the All Progressive Congress and the People’s Democratic Party,” he said.

His study further discussed the use of language in an attempt to understand how discourse and symbols are used to manipulate the masses, as well as (mis) represent politicians in Nigeria.

Dr Oparinde added that his interests are in the aspects of linguistic manipulation and misrepresentation in the Nigerian political context and how language is used to achieve political benefits.

Dr Oparinde also represented DUT at the prestigious Three Minute Thesis (3MT) National Competition, presenting his actual PhD thesis, at the University of Free State, last year.

For Dr Oparinde, he is also grateful to DUT for giving him the opportunity to travel overseas, through various seminars and workshops with scholars and researchers with similar research areas.

He believes having such academic experiences helps to nurture students to grow in their fields of research, like he had.

Pictured: Dr Oparinde Kunle.

Waheeda Peters