From Utterance to Intention: Mapping Illocutionary Force and Implicature in the Discursive Landscape of the July Revolution

Abstract

The 2024 political movement in Bangladesh, or the July Revolution, marks a significant phase of organized public resistance. It was highly influenced by Gen Zs who employed slogans as powerful linguistic tools of resistance. This study, titled ‘From Utterance to Intention: Mapping Illocutionary Force and Implicature in the Discursive Landscape of the July Revolution’ examines 15 slogans collected through purposive sampling. It explores how slogans function as acts of resistance across sources by analyzing their speech acts and implicature. Each slogan is examined using J. L. Austin’s tripartite framework of locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary acts. This helps to capture not only what is said, but what is intended. Additionally. The slogans are also categorized into directives, expressives, declaratives, commissives and representatives according to Searle’s classification of speech act. Implicature is analyzed using Grice’s four conversational maxims. This analysis helps to uncover implied meanings and strategic violations employed in resistance discourse. The study finds that Gen Z slogans function primarily as directive and expressive acts of resistance. Through strategic use of implicature, slogans convey powerful political meanings despite linguistic brevity, relying on ambiguity, metaphor and shared contextual