A multimodal analysis of Bob Marley’s “Natty Dread” album
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Cosmas Rai Amenorvi
Abstract
This study employs social semiotics as a multimodal analytical framework to explore various communication modes employed in Bob Marley’s 1974 “Natty Dread” album to describe the Rastaman. The album’s cover design, including images, font style, and colours, carry significant meanings that contribute to the representation of the Rasta identity. Marley’s lexical choices, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives and noun phrases also play a crucial role in presenting the Rasta identity. Additionally, Marley utilises various literary devices such as repetition, metaphor, allusion, and imagery to vividly describe the Rastaman. The song titles and their arrangement on the album form a cohesive narrative depicting the Rastaman’s life. In essence, the “Natty Dread” album portrays the Rastaman as a humble individual connected to the streets. The Rastaman’s physical appearance is distinguished by his distinctive dreadlocks. His lifestyle embraces simplicity, a deep connection with nature, the pursuit of freedom and happiness, love, peace, unity, and rebellion against the oppressive establishment. Material possessions hold little importance for the Rastaman as he considers his spiritual devotion to Jah (God) and his commitment to his community paramount. Furthermore, an inseparable part of the Rastaman’s culture is his use of marijuana and music, particularly reggae, which serves as a powerful tool with which he combats social injustices and inequalities in the world.
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- A multimodal analysis of Bob Marley’s “Natty Dread” album
- Stance and food activism on Arabic Twitter (X): a multimodal analysis
- Image schemas in gestural metaphorical scenarios of swearing
- Enabling participation in joint drumming within organizational workshops
- “Propping up” the “I,” or the discursive constitution of subjectivity: a multimodal discourse analysis of informal talk in a kindergarten classroom
- Tattoos as multimodal semiotic assemblages
- The EU and environmental education: a multimodal ecological discourse analysis
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- A multimodal analysis of Bob Marley’s “Natty Dread” album
- Stance and food activism on Arabic Twitter (X): a multimodal analysis
- Image schemas in gestural metaphorical scenarios of swearing
- Enabling participation in joint drumming within organizational workshops
- “Propping up” the “I,” or the discursive constitution of subjectivity: a multimodal discourse analysis of informal talk in a kindergarten classroom
- Tattoos as multimodal semiotic assemblages
- The EU and environmental education: a multimodal ecological discourse analysis
- A multimodal translation analysis of online app advertisements: the case of Careem as a Taxi-sharing app in Iraq
- Representing slavery in visual art: a multimodal approach
- Leaving one’s mark: self-authorized commemorative practices in a rural semiotic landscape
