The thesis is based on an analysis of the music video Black Is King (2020) in relation to recent cases of police violence against black people in the United States. In its theoretical part, the text examines the practices of deep systemic racism that have triggered the Black Lives Matter movement. Through semiotics, I define the rhetorical figures and signs that are the product of processes of signification. Taking a multimodal approach, I interpret the symbolic texts produced by integrating symbolization and different media technologies. In the research, my main aim is to identify the elements through which the black American singer Beyoncé dedicates herself to celebrating the history of blackness in order to empower African Americans. I also pay attention to the subversiveness through which the artist challenges the dominant ideology in her film and explicitly indulges in activism. Through the narrative, she pays homage to the collective black culture in her artistic projects and directs global attention towards the still-pressing issue of racism.
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