Social Science and Human Research Bulletin

This paper presents a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of Bob Marley’s Redemption Song, examining how its linguistic and rhetorical strategies construct a discourse of resistance, identity, and emancipation. Drawing on the frameworks of Norman Fairclough, Teun van Dijk, and Ruth Wodak, the study integrates micro-level textual analysis with macro-level sociohistorical interpretation. It focuses on key features such as lexical choice, transitivity, modality, and intertextuality to show how meaning is ideologically produced and contested.

The findings indicate that the song operates simultaneously as poetic expression and counter-hegemonic discourse. At the micro level, linguistic elements—including Creole syntax and biblical resonance—reconfigure dominant meanings, while at the macro level, the text aligns with broader postcolonial and Rastafarian struggles for self-determination. Central fragments such as “emancipate yourselves” and “mental slavery” encapsulate the song’s core ideology, redefining redemption as a process of self-liberation rather than external salvation.

By rearticulating the emancipatory philosophy of Marcus Garvey through concise yet powerful linguistic forms, Marley transforms political thought into a universal ethical vision. The study concludes that “Redemption Song” transcends its musical form to function as a discursive formation in the sense of Michel Foucault—a site where language, power, and cultural memory intersect to challenge domination and reimagine freedom.

Critical Discourse Analysis; Bob Marley; Redemption Song; Postcolonial Discourse; Rastafarianism; Ideology and Language; Mental Slavery; Linguistic Resistance; Cultural Identity; Liberation Theology

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