A semiotic Analysis of the Representation of Women in Kabyle and Western Song Lyrics
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Date
2024-06
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Mouloud Mammeri University
Abstract
The present dissertation adopts a multidisciplinary approach incorporating, Media
Studies, Music Studies, and Gender Studies. It offers an in-depth comparative analysis of the
ways women are represented in Kabyle and English song lyrics. The objectives of this study
are twofold. First, it aims to inspect and explore the presence of women’s empowerment in
western and Kabyle music. Second, it intends to investigate the extent to which these
representations reflect or challenge societal views in both musical contexts. To answer these
research questions, a qualitative approach is adopted. Twenty songs, equally divided between
English and Kabyle music, were selected within this context. The research draws upon
Charles Sanders Peirce’s triadic theory of signs to lay the foundation for uncovering the
underlying meanings within the lyrics involving the interplay between the sign, the object,
and the interpretant, in addition to the adoption of a second theory, Max Weber’s Verstehen
theory, as a means to interpret the songs. The findings reveal that female empowerment is
manifested in both western and Kabyle musical contexts through communicating empowered
messages to embolden girls and women to break the traditional gender roles. The study
reveals that women’s representation indeed deconstructs societal expectations to an extent
while perpetuating them in certain ways within the western perspective. However, the Kabyle
context, for its part, concerns itself with challenging these social norms to a greater extent.
Description
67p. ; 30cm(+CD-Rom)
Keywords
Culture Studies, Media Studies, Gender Studies, Popular Music Studies, representation, English and Kabyle songs, Semeiotic Analysis
Citation
Language and Communication