FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE AND THE FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF : A STUDY OF EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION IN LANY'S SONG LYRICS

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Ratu Amanah Amaranth Azalea
Putri Ayienda Dinanti

Abstract

This study examines figurative language and its connection to the Five Stages of Grief as portrayed in tracks from LANY's self-titled debut album, LANY (2017). Specifically, the research aims to categorize the figurative devices found in "Super Far," "Hurts," "13," and "Hericane" using Laurence Perrine's framework, and to explore how these expressions reflect the grief stages outlined by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. A descriptive qualitative approach was applied, using the songs' lyrics as the main source of data. Data gathering involved close textual reading, pinpointing instances of figurative language, and sorting emotional content according to the five recognized grief stages. Results show ten categories of figurative language-metaphor, hyperbole, symbol, personification, paradox, irony, synecdoche, apostrophe, simile, and understatement-appearing a combined 35 times. Metaphor and hyperbole emerged as the leading types, each appearing nine times (25.71%), while symbol followed with seven instances (20%). Regarding the grief-stage analysis, 32 emotional expressions were found spanning all five stages. Depression proved the most frequent, appearing 13 times (40.6%), trailed by bargaining (21.9%), anger (18.8%), denial (12.5%), and acceptance (6.2%). These results suggest figurative language serves a central function in conveying feelings tied to love, heartbreak, yearning, and inner conflict. By merging figurative language analysis with the Five Stages of Grief model, this study offers a richer perspective on how emotional significance is built within LANY's lyrical content.

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FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE AND THE FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF : A STUDY OF EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION IN LANY’S SONG LYRICS. (2026). Argopuro: Jurnal Ilmu Bahasa, 13(3). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21412001

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