A MULTIMODAL ANALYSIS OF FREE PALESTINE POSTERS BY ACTIVISTS ON INSTAGRAM

Abstract

This study aims to analyze how verbal and visual elements construct meaning in Free Palestine digital posters shared by activists on Instagram. This research employs a qualitative descriptive approach using multimodal discourse analysis. The theoretical framework refers to Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) by Halliday to examine interpersonal meaning in the verbal elements, and Visual Grammar by Kress and van Leeuwen to analyze interactive meaning in the visual elements. The data consist of 20 Free Palestine-themed digital posters collected from Instagram posts shared by pro-Palestinian activists. The data were collected through observation and documentation, and the analysis was conducted using the Miles and Huberman model, which includes data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. The findings indicate that: (1) the verbal elements are dominated by declarative and imperative clauses that function to deliver messages and encourage action; (2) the visual elements display features such as high modality, direct gaze, close social distance, and particular angles to build emotional engagement with the audience. The conclusion of this study is that Free Palestine posters on Instagram function as multimodal texts that combine linguistic and visual strategies to communicate resistance, foster solidarity, and raise public awareness about the humanitarian crisis in Palestine.