Email this article 
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS ON TAYLOR SWIFT’S YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN MUSIC VIDEO WITH SEMIOTIC APPROACH
Abstract
As a mode of expression, music video involves the process of meaning-making. Its unique method of assembling symbolic codes should be apprehended differently from films even though some film technical terms are found applicable. This research takes Taylor Swift’s music video for her song You Need to Calm Down (YNTCD) which won two MTV VMA as Video of the Year and Video for Good in 2019. Barthes’s theory of semiotics is firstly applied to scrutinize the music video which is done by answering how the denotation and connotation meaning is made to respond to these issues. Discourse analysis is then applied to study what discourses are influential in the signification system of the music video. As a response to issues of hate speech, LGBTQ, and media toxic contestation, meaning in this video is built by (1) the objects symbolizing personal experiences, (2) borrowing meaning from the iconic show, (3) cameos demonstrating social conflict, (4) stage-setting exemplifying media toxic contestation, and (5) the painting indicating historical context. Thus, the YNTCD music video symbolically voices a counter-discourse to the mentioned social problems.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Alexander, J. & Elizabeth L. (2010). “A YouTube of One’s Own?” “Coming Out” Videos as Rhetorical Action. LGBT Identity and Online New Media. Ed. Christopher Pullen and Margaret Cooper. London: Routledge.
Allen, G. (2003). Roland Barthes-Critical Thinkers. London: Routledge.
Anglis, J. (2019, March 6). What Happened to Audrey Hepburn’s Cat Costar After ‘Breakfast-at-Tiffany’s? Retrieved June 6, 2021, from website:
https://www.womansworld.com
Barthes, R. (1977). Images, Music, Text. Trans. Stephen Heath. London: Fontana Press.
Berger, A. A. (2010). The Objects of Affection: Semiotics and Consumer Culture. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Borge, J. (2020, June 15). The Queer Black History of Rioting. Retrieved May 5, 2021, from website:
https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/06/9861317/first-pride-riots-history-black-lgbtq-blm
Cher. (2005, April 8). Retrieved June 9, 2021, from website:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cher
Eco, U. (1976). A Theory of Semiotics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Grady, C. (2019, November 17). An annotated guide to Taylor Swift’s star-studded “You Need to Calm Down” video. Retrieved July 23, 2021, from website:
https://www.vox.com/culture/2019-/6/17/18681878/taylor-swift-you-need-to-calm-down-video-celebrity-guide
Harvey, S. (2019, June 24). GLAAD’s 2019 Accelerating Acceptance Index: Results Show Further Decline in LGBTQ Acceptance among Americans Ages 18-34. Retrieved July 15, 2021, from website:
https://www.glaad.org/blog/glaad%E2%80%99s-2019-accelerating-acceptance-index-results-show-further-decline-lgbtq-acceptance-among
Lerer, L., Giovanni R., and Isabella G.P. (2020, August 26). On L.G.B.T.Q. Rights, a Gulf Between Trump and Many Republican Voters. Retrieved July 13, 2021, from website:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/17/us/politics/lgbtq-supreme-court-trump-republicans.html
Lobanova, N. (2016, September 14). This Cher Interview From 1996 Is Going Viral Because It's Perfect AF. Retrieved July 15, 2021, from website:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/natalyalobanova/this-cher-video-from-1996-is-going-viral-because-its-perfect
Metz, C. (1991) Film Language: A Semiotics of the Cinema. Trans. Michael Taylor. USA: University of Chicago Press.
Morris, B. J. (2019). History of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Social Movements. Retrieved June 23, 2021, from website:
https://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/history
Morrow, G. (2020). Designing the Music Business: Design Culture, Music Video, and Virtual Reality. Cham: Springer.
Movement, TYW. (2017, November 24). The Young Women's Movement. Retrieved from https://www.ywcascotland.org/?post_type=post&s=ciara
Noveck, J. (2020, October 20). Billy Porter Helps Examine Origins of Gay Rights Movement. Retrieved June 25, 2021, from website:
https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-entertainment-gay-rights-billy-porter-6fe1aee67c91cc26c7d2643a29579a04
Perez, A.J. (2018, February 15). Figure skater Adam Rippon gives LGBTQ community athlete they can relate to. Retrieved June 15, 2021, from website:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/winter-olympics-2018/2018/02/15/figure-skating-adam-rippon-lgbtq-community-2018-winter-olympics/342743002/
Schiller, R. (2019, December 13). Taylor Swift Accepts Woman of the Decade Award at Billboard's Women in Music: Read Her Full Speech. Retrieved June 8, 2021, from website:
https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/awards/8546156/taylor-swift-woman-of-the-decade-speech-billboard-women-in-music
Shank, G. (1995). Semiotics and Qualitative Research in Education: The Third Crossroad. The Qualitative Report, 2(3), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/1995
Dijk, T. A. (1991) “The Interdisciplinary Study of News as Discourse.” A Handbook of Qualitative Methodologies for Mass Communication Research. Ed. K. B. Jensen and N. W. Jankowski, 108-119. New York: Routledge.
Van Leeuwen, T. (2008). Discourse and Practice: New Tools for Critical Discourse Analysis. London: Oxford University Press.
Vernallis, C. (2004). Experiencing Music Video: Aesthetics and Cultural Context. New York: Columbia University Press.
Vernallis, C. (2013). The Unruly Media: YouTube, Music Video, and the New Digital Cinema. New York: Oxford University Press.
Why Conservatives Support Non-discrimination Protections for LGBTQ Americans. (2021, March 1). Retrieved June 28, 2021, from website:
https://freedomforallamericans.org/why-conservatives-support-non-discrimination-protections-for-lgbt-americans/
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24071/ijhs.v5i1.3634
Article Metrics
Abstract view : 4802 timesPDF view: 2315 times
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2021 Jonathan Irene Sartika Dewi Max, Aries Utomo
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Indexed and abstracted in:
IJHS Sinta 3 Certificate (S3 = Level 3)
International Journal of Humanity Studies (IJHS) has been nationally accredited Sinta 3 by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia based on the decree No. Surat Keputusan 158/E/KPT/2021. Validity for 5 years: Vol 4 No 1, 2020 till Vol 8 No 2, 2024
This work is licensed under CC BY-SA.
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
p-ISSN: 2597-470X (since 31 August 2017); e-ISSN: 2597-4718 (since 31 August 2017)
International Journal of Humanity Studies (IJHS) is a scientific journal in English published twice a year, namely in September and March, by Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Note: The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the editorial team or publishers.