Copyright (c) 2026 Revista Científica Orbis Cógnita
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The Rivonia trial, held between 1963 and 1964, was a momentous event in South African history and in the life of Nelson Mandela. Charged with sabotage and conspiracy alongside other African National Congress leaders, Mandela used this trial to expose the injustices of apartheid and advocate for the rights of oppressed South Africans. His defence speech, delivered on 20 April 1964, is an emblematic example of how language can be used to challenge power and communicate ideologies. Mandela's speech not only reflects his own voice and perspective but also incorporates the voices and experiences of other social activists, addressing not only the immediate audience in the courtroom, but the whole of society. This phenomenon, known as heteroglossia, highlights the capacity of language to encompass multiple voices and perspectives, allowing a message to be understood in diverse social contexts. Although Nelson Mandela's speeches have been widely studied for their rhetoric and content, the other voices present in his speech have not been sufficiently explored. The aim of this study is to identify heteroglossia and the different voices in Mandela's speech at Rivonia in 1963. Using a qualitative approach, reading analysis techniques and an extensive literature review were employed to collect data. Previous studies and academic articles were analysed in order to answer key questions about the influence of the additional voices in Mandela's speech and how they contribute to the overall message of justice and resistance.
Este obra está bajo una licencia de Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0 Internacional.
