• ISSN: 2382-6282 (Print); 2972-3108 (Online)
    • Abbreviated Title: Int. J. Lang. Lit. Linguist.
    • Frequency: Bimonthly
    • DOI: 10.18178/IJLLL
    • Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Jason Miin-Hwa Lim
    • Managing Editor:  Jennifer X. Zeng
    • Indexed by:   CNKI, Google Scholar, Crossref,
    • E-mail: ijlll_Editor@126.com
IJLLL 2021 Vol.7(4): 171-176 ISSN: 2382-6282
DOI: 10.18178/IJLLL.2021.7.4.307

A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Incognegro (2008)

Marilyn M. Albert

Abstract—This study attempts to conduct a multimodal discourse analysis (MDA) of Incognegro (2008), a graphic novel by Mat Johnson and arts by Warren Pleece, by applying Michael Halliday’s theory of the Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) (1994) for the written texts, i.e. the captions found on the images, and Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen’s Grammar of Visual Design (GVD), or what has been recently called Systemic Functional Multimodal Discourse Analysis (SF-MDA) (1996) for the images themselves. The study employs, as well, Teun A. van Dijk’s modal of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) (2004), in which power, racism, segregation, oppression, ethnicity, inequality, discrimination, identity, superiority, inferiority, dominant groups, and dominated groups are being analyzed. The study aims at showing the inequality, the oppression, the racial discrimination, and the exercised power Negroes previously suffered (1930s) in America, the land of freedom, and how this suffering is depicted through graphic novels for historical documentation. The study shows that the Whites considered themselves the dominant group, whereas the Negroes were treated as slaves, not even equal to human beings, and hence are recognized to be the oppressed and the dominated group.

Index Terms—Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), Multimodal Discourse Analysis (MDA), Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG), racism, inequality.

The author is with the Faculty of Al-Alsun (Languages), Ain Shams University, Egypt (e-mail: marly_albert@alsun.asu.edu.eg).

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Cite: Marilyn M. Albert, "A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Incognegro (2008)," International Journal of Languages, Literature and Linguistics vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 171-176, 2021.

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