Sociolinguistic analysis of the Beatles music within the dynamic model of exchange : feminism and Beatlemania quantitative and qualitative linguistic approaches

Abstract

 This thesis investigates the sociolinguistic phenomena of the Beatles’ 68-song lyrics (1962-1964) to explain their essential notion of feminism and the rise of Beatlemania in 1964, within the framework of the revised Full Dynamic Model, based on O’Donnell’s Interpretation of Points of Exchange (O’Donnell, 1990: 293-328). As the framework (Ci-Bi-Ci+1) requires, there are pre- and post-language behavior (C)ontextual variables and linguistic (B)ehavior variables. The two types of contextual variables are analyzed from the macro- and micro-perspectives while the linguistic behavior variables are analyzed by conducting a qualitative approach and a quantitative approach. The qualitative approach pertains to the use of Saldana (2009)’s coding method of content analysis for the 68 songs by categorizing the codes to highlight an ultimate theme. The quantitative approach is frequency of occurrence of semantic roles by looking at pronouns/ nouns, “Me, I, You, She, Girl, Her, Baby”, to espouse and connect with the findings of the qualitative approach. The two main categories emerging from the 409 codes are “Inferior position of men” (89 codes) and “Superior position of women” (236 codes) that highlight the rise of women’s status. The finding attests the essential notion of feminism. However, the analyses of the quantitative approach do not offer significant findings because the strong connection between the two approaches is only on the “Superior position of women” side by strong quantitative indications: women being Agent/ Proto-Agent and positive Theme, and men being positive Experiencer (for women). Lastly, the sociolinguistic link-up explanations between the pre- and post-language-behavior contextual variables and linguistic variables are conducted by using a register analysis and a descriptive approach to explain the points of exchange of the contextual variables and their macro- and micro-perspectives.