EXPRESSIVE ILLOCUTIONARY SPEECH ACTS IN “WELCOME TO THE BLACK PARADE”

Abstrak

This study examines the use of expressive illocutionary speech acts in the song Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance. It aims to identify the types of expressive acts, analyze their communicative functions, and interpret how they construct emotional meaning. This research employs a qualitative descriptive approach using documentation as the data collection technique. The data consist of selected utterances from the song lyrics, analyzed based on the speech act theory proposed by Searle (1979), supported by pragmatic and semantic perspectives. The findings reveal that the lyrics contain various expressive acts, including sadness, nostalgia, hope, resilience, and defiance. These expressions not only reflect the speaker’s psychological state but also function as communicative tools that shape meaning and influence listeners’ interpretation. Furthermore, the expressive acts contribute to a coherent emotional narrative, moving from personal loss toward collective strength. This study contributes to pragmatic studies by highlighting the role of language in constructing emotional meaning in song lyrics. However, further research is recommended to explore broader data.