Representation of Independent Women on A Miniseries Entitled Self-Made Inspired by The Life of Madam C.J. Walker: Pragmatics Study

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-587-4_4How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Pragmatics; Representation; Sarah Breedloves; Self Made; Speech Acts; Women’s Independence

Abstract

This study explores the ways in which speech acts shape and convey the image of an independent woman in the miniseries Self Made, as embodied through the character of Sarah Breedlove (Madam C. J. Walker). The study is directed toward three objectives: (1) examining how the notion of independent womanhood is constructed by means of speech acts, (2) identifying the categories of speech acts utilized, and (3) elaborating on how these speech acts portray women’s independence. A qualitative descriptive approach is adopted, drawing on pragmatic analysis rooted in speech act theory as formulated by Austin and Searle. The data are drawn from selected utterances delivered by the main character across pivotal scenes throughout the series. The findings demonstrate that independence is built through language that captures resilience, defiance against social and gender constraints, economic self-sufficiency, and leadership. Four categories of speech acts are identified: assertives, directives, commissives, and declaratives. Each speech plays a distinct role in the construction of meaning and identity. Of particular note, the study reveals that speech acts convey independence through personal agency, acts of resistance, financial autonomy, identity assertion, and collective empowerment. These findings underscore that language does not merely communicate meaning, but also embodies and reinforces women’s independence. Taken together, the findings indicate that speech acts in Self Made operate as potent instruments in portraying independent womanhood, attesting to the capacity of discourse to shape agency and drive social transformation.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Heni Haryani
AU  - Deri Fikri Fauzi
AU  - Dini Nur Fadilah
AU  - Thomson R. Lingga
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/12
TI  - Representation of Independent Women on A Miniseries Entitled Self-Made Inspired by The Life of Madam C.J. Walker: Pragmatics Study
BT  - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on English Studies in Indonesia (ICONESIA 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 24
EP  - 33
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-587-4_4
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-587-4_4
ID  - Haryani2026
ER  -