Visualizing Legitimation: Photographic Strategies in the Autobiographies of Pakistani Military Dictators

Political autobiographies, especially those written by military dictators, have rich political agendas, as they are carefully crafted narratives designed to legitimize their power. This paper examines the use of photographs in the autobiographies of two Pakistani military dictators: Ayub Khan’s Friends Not Masters (1967) and Pervez Musharraf’s In the Line of Fire (2006). The analysis focuses on the role of visual elements in cultivating a favorable image of these leaders, emphasizing their patriotism and heroism. Using a qualitative approach, this analysis incorporates aspects of Machin’s (2013) multimodal framework and Van Leeuwen’s (2017) strategies of multimodal legitimation. The results indicate that Ayub Khan and Musharraf utilized imagery to influence public perceptions of their leadership and legacy, intentionally situating themselves within symbolic or historically significant contexts. This study makes a significant contribution to the field of political discourse by revealing that visual elements are not merely illustrative but are central to the process of political legitimation.