THE ILLOCUTIONARY ACTS OF GENDER ISSUES IN BRIDGERTON TV SERIES ON NETFLIX (2020 & 2022)
Keywords:
Bridgerton's series, Illocutionary acts, Language and GenderAbstract
ABSTRACT. This study aims to identify the types of illocutionary acts, to contextualize their meaning through S-P-E-A-K-I-N-G framework, and to examine gender performativity in characters' utterances addressing the marriage market issue in Bridgerton Season 1 (2020) and Season 2 (2022) on Netflix. Employing a qualitative descriptive method, this research used a documentation technique in which the data were drawn from dialogue transcripts and official Netflix subtitles, and verified by re-watching both seasons. The data were analyzed using Searle's (1979) theory of illocutionary acts, Dell Hymes' (1972) S-P-E-A-K-I-N-G model, and Judith Butler's (1990) theory of gender performativity. The findings reveal 132 utterances addressing the marriage market issue, with assertive acts as the most dominant type (103 data), followed by expressive (17), directive (7), commissive (3), and declarative acts (2). The S-P-E-A-K-I-N-G analysis shows that the setting, participants, and prevailing social norms of Regency-era London significantly shape the illocutionary force of each utterance, with directive acts predominantly used by male characters as an instrument of patriarchal authority, while expressive acts are predominantly used by female characters as a form of resistance. From Butler's perspective, normative performativity (69 data) remains more dominant than subversive performativity (63 data), although subversive utterances increase significantly from Season 1 (29 data) to Season 2 (34 data). These findings demonstrate that speech acts function not merely as transactional communicative tools, but as performative mechanisms that actively reproduce and simultaneously resist patriarchal gender norms within the marriage market institution as represented in popular media.
Keywords: illocutionary acts; S-P-E-A-K-I-N-G framework; gender performativity; marriage market; Bridgerton
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