A SAUSSUREAN SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF RACIAL IDENTITY IN SPIKE LEE’S BLACKKKLANSMAN (2018)
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Abstract
This study examines the construction of racial identity in Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman (2018) through Ferdinand de Saussure's semiotic theory. While previous studies have primarily focused on discourse, language, or the thematic portrayal of racism, this research investigates how verbal and visual signs work together to construct meanings of white supremacy and Black identity. Employing a qualitative approach, the study analyzes 20 scenes selected based on the research criteria, consisting of verbal and visual representations, using Saussure's concepts of the signifier and the signified. Data were collected through repeated viewing, scene segmentation, documentation, and note-taking, and analyzed using Miles and Huberman's interactive model. The findings reveal that verbal and visual signifiers collectively construct racial identity by representing white supremacy, institutional racism, Black identity, and resistance. The study concludes that BlacKkKlansman functions as a cultural text in which interconnected systems of signs construct ideological meaning, demonstrating the relevance of Saussure's semiotic framework for literary and film studies.
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Rusmawan, D. A., Nurhapitudin, I., & Sakinah, R. M. N. (2026). A SAUSSUREAN SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF RACIAL IDENTITY IN SPIKE LEE’S BLACKKKLANSMAN (2018). Jazirah: Jurnal Peradaban Dan Kebudayaan, 7(1), 78-107. https://doi.org/10.51190/jazirah.v7i1.409
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Wollen, Peter. Signs and Meaning in the Cinema. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019.
Alviniyanti. “Racism on Spike Lee’s Blackkklansman Movie: A Critical Discourse Analysis.” 2019. http://etheses.uin-malang.ac.id/19240/1/15320132.pdf.
Ang, Desmond. “The Birth of a Nation: Media and Racial Hate.” American Economic Review 113, no. 6 (June 2023): 1424–60. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.20201867.
Atasoy, İrem. “Literature and Film. Introduction to Literary Film Analysis.” Studien zur deutschen Sprache und Literatur 1, no. 37 (June 2017): 59–62.
Bailey, Joanelle A., Sara F. Jacoby, Erin C. Hall, Utsha Khatri, Gregory Whitehorn, and Elinore J. Kaufman. “Compounding Trauma: The Intersections of Racism, Law Enforcement, and Injury.” Current Trauma Reports 8, no. 3 (May 2022): 105–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40719-022-00231-7.
Benshoff, Harry M., and Sean Griffin. America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies. John Wiley & Sons, 2021.
Creswell, John W., and J. David Creswell. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. SAGE Publications, 2017.
Dean, Lorraine T., and Roland J. Thorpe. “What Structural Racism Is (or Is Not) and How to Measure It: Clarity for Public Health and Medical Researchers.” American Journal of Epidemiology 191, no. 9 (August 2022): 1521–26. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwac112.
Gregory, Anthony. “Policing Jim Crow America: Enforcers’ Agency and Structural Transformations.” Law and History Review 40, no. 1 (February 2022): 91–122. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0738248021000456.
H, Cone, James. Black Theology and Black Power: 50th Anniversary Edition. Orbis Books, 2018.
Hafitri, Erlania, and Laili Etika Rahmawati. “Semiotic Analysis of Cultural Identity and Colonial Resistance in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.’” Jurnal Spektrum Komunikasi 13, no. 2 (June 2025): 255–69. https://doi.org/10.37826/spektrum.v13i2.973.
Hasanah, Lailatul, and Nine Febrie Novitasari. A Study of Racism and Hatred by Ku Klux Klan in Movie BlacKkKlansman. 2021.
Jung, Moon-Kie, João H. Costa Vargas, and Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, eds. State of White Supremacy: Racism, Governance, and the United States. Stanford University Press, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780804777445.
Kolker, Robert P., and Marsha Gordon. Film, Form, and Culture. 5th ed. New York: Routledge, 2024. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003398875.
Lapsley, Robert, and Michael Westlake. Film Theory: An Introduction. 2nd edition. Manchester New York: Manchester University Press, 2024. https://doi.org/10.7765/9781526185853.
McVeigh, Robbie. “Kwame Ture and Charles Hamilton’s Black Power: The Politics of Liberation.” In Mobilising Classics, edited by Fiona Dukelow and Orla O’Donovan. Manchester University Press, 2016. https://doi.org/10.7765/9780719095016.00012.
Miles, Matthew B., A. Michael Huberman, and Johnny Saldana. Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook. SAGE Publications, 2013.
Pradnyana, Komang Geni. “The Analysis of Taboo Language as a Form of Racial Discrimination on Blackkklansman Film by Spike Lee.” International Journal of Language and Literature 6, no. 3 (July 2023): 107–18. https://doi.org/10.23887/ijll.v6i3.29254.
Rahman, Jacquelyn. “The N Word: Its History and Use in the African American Community.” Journal of English Linguistics 40, no. 2 (June 2012): 137–71. https://doi.org/10.1177/0075424211414807.
Ramrao, Dr Totawad Nagnath. Film and Literature: An Overview. 2016.
Roberts, Steven O., and Michael T. Rizzo. “The Psychology of American Racism.” American Psychologist 76, no. 3 (April 2021): 475–87. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000642.
Rose, Gillian. Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to Researching with Visual Materials. 4th edition. London: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2016.
Shames, Stephen, and Seale Bobby. Power to the People: The World of the Black Panthers. Abrams, 2016.
Smalls, Krystal A., Arthur K. Spears, and Jonathan Rosa. “Introduction: Language and White Supremacy.” Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 31, no. 2 (August 2021): 152–56. https://doi.org/10.1111/jola.12329.
Sya’dian, Triadi. “ANALISIS SEMIOTIKA PADA FILM LASKAR PELANGI.” PROPORSI : Jurnal Desain, Multimedia Dan Industri Kreatif 1, no. 1 (November 2015): 51. https://doi.org/10.22303/proporsi.1.1.2015.51-63.
Turco, Lewis. The Book of Literary Terms: The Genres of Fiction, Drama, Nonfiction, Literary Criticism, and Scholarship, Second Edition. University of New Mexico Press, 2020.
Wollen, Peter. Signs and Meaning in the Cinema. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019.