Social distance and the multimodal construction of the Other in sectarian song

Abstract

This paper introduces the concept of "tonal gravity" through a multimodal analysis of a YouTube video to demonstrate how multimodality is key to the construction of "Rule Britannia" as a sectarian song. The analysis focuses upon the multimodal semiotics of social distance which has been a key concept in sociological and anthropological traditions in recent times. This concept offers a means to understand the social semiotic relationship between Self and Other in multimodal discourse. Following previous work in social semiotics and music studies which examine how visual composition, music and the voice have constructed social distance or expressions of intimacy, I introduce the concept of tonal gravity which extends the metaphors of semiotic space in previous work in the musical mode, to account for a fuller understanding of how music helps narrate the multimodal Self and Other. This is introduced via a close multimodal analysis of "Rule Britannia" as a Rangers Football fan video which is only transformed into a sectarian text through multimodal collocation where different semiotic resources in various modes act in combination to produce a dominant Self actively prejudiced against a low Other.

Music and discourse: A systemic-functional approach for music analysis in multimodal contexts

“…The aim of this paper is to present a systemic-functional semiotic approach that allows to analyse music in multimodal contexts revising the relations music establishes with verbal and visual modes. We adopt Kress and van Leeuwen’s adaptation of Halliday’s proposal (1996–2020) for the visual mode, and include categories described by McKerrell (2015) and van Leeuwen (1999) for music. According to our perspective, music not only works cohesively with the narrative to establish tension and resolution of conflicts but also interact with verbal and visual modes building ideational meaning and emotional framing.…”

“…As O’Halloran has noted, the need for a multimodal perspective lays on the fact that language use is not thought as an isolated phenomenon (2014: 1). Therefore, analysis of communication must centre in images, visual design, television, newspapers, monuments, toys and also in and through music (McKerrell, 2015: 1). Discourse is conveyed in different modes, not just the verbal, hence the multimodal definition of text as the material manifestation of ideas through different modes.…”

“…Discourse is conveyed in different modes, not just the verbal, hence the multimodal definition of text as the material manifestation of ideas through different modes. Discourses can be thought of as models of the world and project certain social values and ideas which contribute to the (re)production of social life (2015: 5). Music and sound play an important role in themselves but also in dialogue with other modes of communication such as image and verbal text.…”

“…Music and sound play an important role in themselves but also in dialogue with other modes of communication such as image and verbal text. Music within multimodal communication often brings with it particular affordances that are either difficult to express via more propositional linguistic texts or images, or in some cases, impossible to express in other modes (2015: 8–9) and that often elicit irony, unspoken and implicit arguments.…”

Let the people sing? Irish rebel songs, sectarianism, and Scotland's Offensive Behaviour Act

“…40–41). While some have focused on the use and interpretation of anti-Catholic music in Scotland (McFarland 1990; McKerrell 2012, 2015; Davies 2013; Millar 2015), there has been little academic analysis of the use of Irish rebel songs (Boyle 2002), which some consider to be anti-Protestant 11 . This article explores the social function and cultural perception of Irish rebel songs in the west coast of Scotland, examining what qualities lead to a song being perceived as ‘sectarian’, by focusing on song lyrics, performance context and extra-musical discourse.…”