Linguistic Analysis on the Musical Hamilton: Functions of Puns and Repetitions

Shuqing Yang

doi:10.62051/ijsspa.v4n1.36

Authors

Shuqing Yang

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.62051/ijsspa.v4n1.36

Keywords:

Pun, Repetition, Reprise, Drama Analysis, Literature Linguistics

Abstract

Hamilton: The Musical, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, has quickly become globally popular after its premiere in 2015. As a hip-hop musical with quick rapping, the lyrics and language in the songs prove to be a huge part in the play. This article explores this successful musical from a linguistics perspective. Texts and lyrics in the play are analyzed here based on linguistic theories with a qualitative research method. It is found that puns and repetitions are key elements of the language used in the play. Exact puns, near puns, reprises of songs, and repetitions of words and lines are used to establish the American historical setting, portray characters, refine plot development, and deliver emotion to the audience.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

[1] Van Evra, Jennifer. “Hamilton: 15 Fascinating Facts about the Biggest Musical of All Time”. [online] Available: www.cbc.ca/radio/q/blog/hamilton-15-fascinating-facts-about-the-biggest-musical-of-all-time-1.5341556.

[2] Bates, Catherine. “The Point of Puns”. Modern Philology, vol. 96, no. 4, pp. 421–438, 1999.

[3] Koestler, Arthur. The Act of Creation : A Study of Conscious and Unconscious Processes of Humor, Scientific Discovery and Art. New York: Macmillan Co, pp.65, 1964.

[4] Partington, Alan Scott. “A Linguistic Account of Wordplay: The Lexical Grammar of Punning”. Journal of Pragmatics, vol. 41, no. 9, pp. 1794–1809, 2009.

[5] Darmawan, Alfian. “A STYLISTIC ANALYSIS of WORDPLAY in the SIMPSONS SERIES”. Sastra Inggris - Quill, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 217–222, 2016.

[6] Kyllesdal, Mari. The Power of Repetition an Analysis of Repetition Patterns in the Hothouse and the Caretaker by Harold Pinter, University of Oslo, 2012.

[7] Pezzillo, Mary. “CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT and REVOLUTION: USE of LEITMOTIF in the FIRST ACTS of LES MISÉRABLES and HAMILTON: AN AMERICAN MUSICAL”, Stephen F. Austin State University, 2023, [online] Available: scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/522/.

[8] Scott, Derek. “Musical Theater(S)”. The Oxford Handbook of Opera, by Helen Greenwald, Oxford University Press, 2014, p. 63.

[9] Blustein, Nathan. Through Arrangements of Shadows: Experiences of Reprise in Stephen Sondheim’s Leitmotivic Musicals, Indiana University, pp. 265–339, 2020.

[10] Isenberg, Nancy. ““Make ’Em Laugh”: Why History Cannot Be Reduced to Song and Dance”. Journal of the Early Republic, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 295–303, 2017, [online] Available: www.jstor.org/stable/90006301.

[11] Verhoeff , Michiel. Hamilton, the Pinnacle of Inclusive Chauvinism, Radboud University, 2021, [online] Available: theses.ubn.ru.nl/server/api/core/bitstreams/2d490de2-8a43-481c-aff5-5871b4fad1a1/content.

[12] Arivett, Erika. The Timeliness of Hamilton: An American Musical. The Popular Culture Studies Journal, vol.8, No.2.5, pp.126-144, 2020, [online] Available: www.researchgate.net/publication/360494346_The_Timeliness_ of_Hamilton_An_American_Musical.

[13] Miranda, Lin-Manuel, and Jeremy McCarter. Hamilton: The Revolution. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2016, pp.23.

[14] National Archives. “Founders Online: To Alexander Hamilton from Angelica Church, [2 October 1787]”, [online] Available: founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-04-02-0144.