A Semoitic Critical Discourse Analysis Of Selected Amharic Films Of Ethiopia With Reference To Zumra And Semayawi Feres

Film production started in Ethiopia 90 years ago. However, its development wasrnstagnated for long and began flourishing in the 1980s. With the development of filmrnproduction, nonetheless, critical and professional recognitions of films have not yet beenrndeveloped along with popular recognition of films. This study was intended to find outrndiscursive practices of a society by using film semiotics as an approach under thernumbrella of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to give critical recognition to the selectedrnfilms_ ‘Zumra’ and Semayawi Feres’. The study used qualitative method of analysisrnusing the selected films as primary and related documents as the secondary sources ofrndata. The researcher has used, as his method of analysis, Chandler’s (2000) categories ofrncodes and adapted Fiske’s semiotic model in order to match with CDA and thernconsequent discursive practices in the selected films. In ‘Zumra’ film, racialrndiscrimination and its subsequent results are vocalized via social, interpretative,rnsyntagmatic and paradigmatic codes. These codes are moved by two regulatory codes_rnracism and love. Setting, background music, pictures, customs, events, naturalrnphenomena (darkness) and psychological state of affairs are some of the signs whichrnreflect implicit meanings. Similarly, in Semayawi Feres’, the political discourse is thernmain salient feature of the film. In this film, the controversies of the Blue Nile are the toprnagenda. In the film, colors (white, black, green, red, and yellow) are manipulated asrnbroadcast codes. Besides, flags, cars, pictures, statues, flowers, highways, games andrnconversations reinforce hidden meanings of the Blue Nile controversies. In addition tornthese, as in the film ‘Zumra’, darkness and brightness have been manipulated for echoingrnimplicit meanings. Thus, this study contributes, in a modest way, to suggesting arnsystematic approach to the study of Ethiopian films in order to appreciate and evaluaterntheir communicative and aesthetic impact as a powerful mass medium using semioticrndiscourse practices.

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