Representation of Vulnerability and Emotional Intimacy in Daniel Caesar’s Lyrics: A Stuart Hall Constructionist Analysis

• AIDA FITRIANI HASIBUAN
• 2026

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Aida Fitriani Hasibuan (33210154), Representation of Vulnerability and Emotional Intimacy in Daniel Caesar’s Lyrics: A Stuart Hall Constructionist Analysis

Using Stuart Hall's constructionist theory of representation, this study analyzes how vulnerability and emotional intimacy are portrayed in a few song lyrics from Daniel Caesar's 2017 album Freudian. Song lyrics are viewed as linguistic texts that serve as cultural locations where emotional meanings are created rather than just communicated. This study uses a descriptive qualitative approach to examine specific songs that highlight themes of relational closeness, thankfulness, emotional openness, reliance, and uncertainty. In order to comprehend how vulnerability and emotional intimacy are created through language, the analysis focuses on linguistic elements such lexical choices, figurative expressions, narrative voice, and thematic framing. The results show that emotional honesty, self-exposure, and moral reflection rather than weakness are Freudian representations of vulnerability. Linguistic expressions of certainty, thankfulness, trust, and emotional presence help to build emotional intimacy. The study shows that these emotional meanings are culturally constructed through common interpretive codes that enable listeners to decipher closeness and vulnerability as significant and acceptable emotional experiences using Stuart Hall's constructionist method. Additionally, by normalizing relational reliance and emotional openness as essential components of
male emotional identity, the lyrics subvert prevailing conceptions of masculinity. By emphasizing the function of language in creating emotional meaning in modern
music and by extending the application of representation theory to song lyric analysis, this work advances linguistic and cultural studies.

Key word: Vulnerability; Emotional Intimacy; Representation; Song Lyrics; Stuart Hall; Constructionist Theory; Linguistic Analysis; Masculinity

• Vulnerability; Emotional Intimacy; Representation; Song Lyrics; Stuart Hall; Constructionist Theory

https://repository.bsi.ac.id/repo/82864/Representation-of-Vulnerability-and--Emotional-Intimacy-in-Daniel-Caesar’s-Lyrics:-A-Stuart-Hall-Constructionist--Analysis
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