Jurnal Ilmiah Mandala Education (JIME)
Vol 12, No 2 (2026): Jurnal Ilmiah Mandala Education (April)

Foregrounding In Expressing Melancholy And Nostalgia In Lana Del Rey’s Song Lyrics

Saragih, Yohana Insani (Unknown)
Pasaribu, Tiara K (Unknown)
Elfrida, Rotua (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
17 Apr 2026

Abstract

This study discusses foregrounding in expressing melancholy and nostalgia in Lana Del Rey’s song lyrics. Although many studies have analyzed figurative language in song lyrics, few have focused on foregrounding as the main analytical framework. This study aims to identify the forms and functions of foregrounding in the songs The Greatest and Happiness Is a Butterfly. This research applies a descriptive qualitative method based on Geoffrey Leech’s (1969) theory of foregrounding. The findings show that foregrounding is realized through semantic deviation and parallelism. Semantic deviation appears through figurative expressions and is more dominant, functioning to construct melancholy, while parallelism appears through repetition and functions to construct nostalgia. In conclusion, this study shows that foregrounding plays an important role in expressing emotional meanings in song lyrics through non-literal and patterned language. This study contributes to stylistic analysis by explaining how linguistic features construct emotional meaning in contemporary song lyrics.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

JIME

Publisher

Subject

Arts Humanities Education Law, Crime, Criminology & Criminal Justice Social Sciences

Description

Jurnal Ilmiah Mandala Education (JIME) is a scientific publication related to education, Social, and Politics is the result of literature studies, study of issues, and the results of research that develops in the community. This journal uses Indonesian. Publish 2 times every ...