EXPRESSIVE SPEECH ACTS IN THE MOVIE INSIDE OUT (2015)

Abstract

This study examines expressive speech acts in the animated film Inside Out (2015) as a representation of emotional expression through language. In communication, language functions not only to convey information but also to express the speaker’s attitudes, evaluations, and psychological states. From a pragmatic perspective, utterances are understood as actions performed to achieve particular communicative purposes within specific contexts. Recent studies have shown that expressive speech acts are widely analyzed in various types of discourse, including digital communication, media texts, and public speeches, and that expressive functions contribute to interpersonal meaning and emotional construction in discourse. These findings indicate the relevance of analyzing emotional expression in contemporary communication. The film Inside Out was selected because it vividly portrays the emotional development of the main character, Riley, through dialogues rich in emotional expressions. This research aims to identify the expressive speech act functions found in the film and to explain how emotions such as anger, sadness, and happiness are linguistically realized through specific expressive functions. In this study, emotions are not categorized as direct types of speech acts instead, they are interpreted as psychological meanings manifested through expressive functions such as complaining, emotional rejection, expressing sadness, and expressing pleasure. This research employs a qualitative descriptive method. The data were collected through observation and note-taking techniques by carefully watching the film and selecting utterances that clearly contain emotional expressions. The selected data were classified according to their expressive functions and analyzed by considering the situational context and interpersonal relationships among the characters. The findings reveal that expressive speech acts occur significantly throughout the film and play an important role in shaping the characters’ emotional development. Complaining and emotional rejection are the most dominant functions used to express anger and frustration, particularly in situations involving conflict and resistance to change, while sadness is realized through expressions of loss and longing, and happiness appears through positive evaluations of experiences. These findings suggest that emotions in film discourse are systematically expressed through identifiable expressive functions, demonstrating the relevance of pragmatic analysis in understanding emotional representation in cinematic narratives.