The Image of Orientalism in India's Most Beloved Epic Tales: A Semantic-Visual Study in Context of the Ramayana

. Introduction

      The term "Orientalism" explains how European colonial powers constructed the Orient starting in the 19th century and continuing till now. Orientalism, according to Edward Said (1978), is a form of "thought" founded on an ontological and epistemological separation between the Orient and the Occident. It is a Western method of dominating and obtaining power over the Orient. Over the years, the East has been the focus of attention for the West. Western scientists thought of travelling to Eastern countries in order to control Eastern thought by understanding their way of thinking, leading to the emergence of colonialism and the Orientalist movement. This intellectual movement has targeted the Arabic language and the study of the Eastern Islamic civilization with all its sciences. It has reached African countries, China, and India in the 17^th and 18^th centuries (Koefoed & Holdrup, 2020).

      Throughout this study, the researcher sheds light on Orientalism by studying and analyzing one of the most famous Indian epics dating back to the second century AD, the Ramayana. The epic refers to the ongoing conflicts in India during the colonial period. India was subjected to a Western intellectual invasion as a result of the Orientalist movement. The selected Indian epic reflects these ongoing struggles and refers to the image of Orientalism in general since the epic narrates continuous struggles between good and evil. The researcher employs two linguistic theories: Geoffrey Leech's (1981) seven types of meaning and Kress & Van Leeuwen's (2006) theory of visual design. The first theory reveals the hidden meanings of dialogues between the characters of the epic, while the second works on analyzing certain frames taken from the animated movie itself. Through this integration, the researcher tries to draw a comprehensive image of the symbols of colonialism and Orientalism in the chosen epic.

1.1 The impact of Orientalism on the Doctrinal Approach in India

      India was directly exposed to Western intellectual invasion since Britain was able to extend its complete political control over India from an early age. Mary Douglas (1972, p. 12; as cited in Jouhki, 2006) portrayed India as "a mirror image" of Europe, presenting it as a different world from the West. In addition, in contrast to the collectivist or holistic India, Louis Dumont (1972) envisioned a contemporary Western culture that sought for reasoning, being primarily individualist (as cited in Spencer, 2003, pp. 238-240). At the same time, Western civilization indirectly influenced other countries, and since the British invaded India in 1857 AD, Orientalists and Christian missionaries benefited from this political authority. One of their plans was to challenge the Islamic religion, which constituted the major obstacle to the spread of their principles and teachings. They found in Muslims’ skepticism a way to reach their goals. Their trial to change the religious texts of Islam and its rulings achieved this skepticism. They raised suspicions against Islam with regard to the creed, which is the foundation of the entire religion. That is to say, Orientalists began first in India by trying to influence the doctrinal aspect with the aim of doubting, weakening, or denying faith. To weaken the tendency towards faith, they relied on replacing new approaches with existing ones among Muslims (Hendi, 2020/2023).

       Before the emergence of the Orientalist movement, Indians were committed to the Sunni curriculum, adhering to the teachings of the Holy Qur'an and the Islamic Hadith. After the Orientalist scholars entered India and imposed their intellectual methods, some of them fought Islam, such as the American scientist Bevender, who was sent by the English Church to India, and there he fought Islam and wrote books against it such as The Way of Life and The Key to Secrets. Another one is Lord Micali, who travelled from Britain to India and became president of the Scientific Council of India at the time of colonialism. He developed a special curriculum to teach Muslim children European sciences. For him, Christianity and the nature of the West were reasons for progress, and he despised anything linked to the East. However, many other Orientalists, such as William Muir, Thomas Arnold, and Wilfred Smith, promoted the Western thought and studied the instructions of the Islamic religion. Both Thomas Arnold and Wilfred Smith interpreted the events of Islamic history. They learned Arabic, established Islamic institutions in their countries, and called for applying religion to modern sciences (Hendi, 2020/2023).

• Indian Epic Poetry

       Indian epic poetry is one of the most creative classics in India. Among the most famous Indian epics are the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. The Mahabharata is distinguished by its narrative sequence, which combines possible truth with impossible, wild imagination. It summons mythical beings called “gods,” having a dominant presence in the dramatic context where wisdom, sermons, directives, and rules are implemented on their tongues. The epic includes the history of the Hindu Indians, their myths, and stories. It records a great civilization, dominating the Indian subcontinent and transcending it to the wider world. The Ramayana consists of 24 thousand lines of poetry. Like the Mahabharata, it is written in Sanskrit. It contains the signature of Maharishi Valmiki, the author of five sections of the whole epic. This signature may be correct and perhaps hypothetical. Researchers agree that sections from two to six are the only ones characterized by unity in style and poetic language, while the first and seventh sections appear to be additive, belonging to a more recent stage than the one in which the basic epic was formulated (MisirHiralall, 2017).

       Upon the appearance of the Ramayana, Valmiki was revered in India due to the strength of his style and his use of symbols, metonymies, moral parables, popular proverbs, etc. His style in the epic is considered a kind of re-establishment of the Sanskrit language itself. The main plot of the epic involves palace politics and conflicts with demon tribes, but there are also sections that discuss philosophy, ethics, and responsibility. The ideal state of affairs is more prevalent in the Ramayana: Rama is the perfect son and ruler, Sita is the perfect wife, Hanuman is the perfect devotee, Lakshman and Bharat are the perfect brothers, and even Ravan, who represents the demon, is not completely despicable (Basu, 2016).The idea of idealism in the Ramayana sheds light on the fact that not all Orientalists had bad intentions; Orientalism was responsible for transmitting Islamic and Eastern knowledge in general to the West. Orientalists made an effort to rewrite the history of the Hindu epics in order to conform to Western expectations, fit into Western literary genres, and undermine the religious epistemological framework of Hindu or non-Hindu Indians. Some Orientalists also translated both basic texts in religions and scientific texts related to Muslims. These sciences were the basis of the scientific renaissance in the West (Zanati, 2013/2023).

      The researcher employs the Ramayana in this study since this epic is full of exciting events that reflect the features of Orientalism in India; the epic represents the weakness to which man is exposed due to the struggle between good and evil. The ongoing conflicts between the hero of the story, Rama, and the unjust king who kidnapped his wife, Sita, represent the ongoing conflicts between the East and the West and the Orientalists’ desire to control Eastern thought. The epic depicts the deep relationship between God and His followers and explains that human beings can surpass gods in their ability to destroy humans through virtue, righteousness, and God’s help. This reflects the idea that most Eastern scholars have the ability and strength, with God’s support, to overcome Western thoughts and beliefs. According to Jayaram (2019), the epic teaches us the tragedy and weakness of human beings on the one hand and indicates the power of good against evil on the other hand. It also clarifies the idea that knowledge and power are destroyed if they are contaminated with the impurities of ignorance, selfishness, and delusion. Likewise, throughout history, the superiority of the West over the East has not been proven except after the spread of both ignorance and injustice in the Eastern countries.

• Semantic Analysis

      Along with phonology, morphology, and syntax, semantics is considered one of the main branches of linguistics since it examines how meaning is conveyed via language. Emodi (2011) states that semantic analysis explores how sentences in a particular language are comprehended, processed, and connected to states, processes, and objects in the world. In numerous linguistic sciences, semantics expands the investigation of meaning in a broad sense of "all that is communicated by language." Semantic approaches vary widely. Meaning is the link between a word and the notion that it stands for, or between language and the outside world. Additionally, the speaker's emotional or psychological state of mind is conveyed through a variety of overtones. As a result, the different kinds of meaning are connected to semantic study.

       By properly differentiating between distinct kinds of meaning, it becomes straightforward to describe how each one contributes to the overall composite impact of linguistic communication and to demonstrate how one approach of study that is suitable for one type may not be suitable for another (Prosad, 2009). In this study, Jeffrey Leech's seven kinds of meaning, which reveal the dimensions of any dialogue and discern the hidden intentions of the involved characters, will be employed to reveal the image of Orientalism in the Ramayana epic. They indicate the goals of any dialogue that go beyond the literal meaning of the chosen words, discovering their connotations and symbolism in a general way.

• Modality

      According to Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006), modality measures the veracity of signals or messages in which people, places, and things, represented in visual design, communicate, and it determines their level of dependability. Eight represented cues assess and indicate the value of truth. These cues are presented as "modality markers" that indicate the modality value of messages in the visual domain. They are depicted as illumination, depth, color modulation, color differentiation, color saturation, brightness, contextualization, and representation (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2006, p. 160). In this study, non-linguistic visual items that can effectively deliver meanings will be examined, and certain frames of the chosen animated film will be analyzed with regard to Kress and Van Leeuwen's (2006) theory of visual design. The visual grammar framework will be applied to five frames that are rich in multimodal cues. The aim lies in discovering how visual items in Hindi epics can communicate meanings under Kress and Van Leeuwen’s representational and interactive dimensions. Consequently, the study works by investigating in what way the main participants are represented and how they are associated with the viewer.

2. Objectives of the Study

      The present study has both theoretical and practical benefits:

1) Showing the role of Jeffrey Leech’s seven kinds of meaning in revealing the original meaning behind any dialogue. In this study, these meanings will be employed for depicting the symbolism of Orientalism, shedding light on the wars that spread in India, and illustrating the relationship between the most famous epics in India and the image of Orientalism.

2) Demonstrating the effectiveness of Kress & Van Leeuwen's (2006) theory of visual design in reading the visual; it allows multiple readings of the same visual text. The researcher attempts to handle all selected frames in an integrated manner through analyzing characters' gaze, gestures, smiles, stares, pouts, and finger pointing. Also, ideas and thoughts behind each scene will be more comprehensive through looking at social distance and social relations between characters, framings, angle, color saturation, color differentiation, color modulation, contextualization, representation, depth, illumination, and brightness.

3) Investigating both verbal and visual modes that form the structure of the chosen frames and exploring their relations semantically and the way they interact.

4) Showing how the chosen epic encourages every life on earth to follow a righteous path; being truthful never fails, and the victory of good over bad is assured.

       More specifically, the study aims to find answers to the following questions:   

1) Why are both images and text employed for the analysis?

2) Do the three dimensions adopted by Kress and Van Leeuwen's (2006) theory of visual grammar differ from one frame to another?

3) How is the Ramayana considered a mirror of the social life in Ancient India?

4) What is the symbolism of Orientalism in Indian epics?

3. Tools and Procedures

     The three dimensions of Kress and van Leeuwen's (2006) framework of visual grammar will be utilized to analyze particular frames taken from the Ramayana animated film. The first dimension will focus on the participants' representational meanings in two aspects. The narrative aspect will be effective for determining whether the selected participants are dynamic, indicating actions or reactions. In order to highlight their symbols, the conceptual aspect will look for hidden meanings behind the static states for both circumstances and the represented participants (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2006). Second, the interactive dimension will also identify connections between involved characters and their viewers through points of view, modality markers, various gazes, framing with varied sizes, and angles (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2006). Third, the compositional dimension will focus on participants from a new angle to demonstrate how participants contribute to the overall and integrated meaning of the visual design. The seven kinds of meaning presented by Leech in 1981 will also be a decisive tool for revealing the hidden intentions of the epic's chosen characters.

       The Indian epic Ramayana has been chosen as a new domain for conducting the study. Xu Chen (2022) has been an inspiration for the researcher to conduct a multimodal semantic study out of concentrating on analyzing video flow, physical content, physical lens, grammatical lens, and grammatical content of any video, as is obvious in figure 1. His study has inspired the researcher to analyze both text and image with regard to the integration between leech's seven kinds of meaning and Kress and van Leeuwen's (2006) theory of visual grammar.

                                                      Video

                                                                                                          Mix together

                         Fig (1): Multimodal Semantic Analysis Framework (Chen, 2022)

4. Literature Review

5. Theoretical Framework

5.1 Leech's Seven Kinds of Meaning

     "Meaning as a concept is more difficult to define than you might think (Palmer, 1981, p. 3)." Yusuf (2010) asserts that studying meaning is the best approach to comprehending how words or phrases convey meaning in everyday speaking or writing situations. Knowledge of how language users comprehend and interpret words is crucial. This illustrates how words' meanings relate to one another and to conditions that go beyond language. According to Djajasudarma (1999, p. 5), the goal of investigating meaning is to improve communication and mutual understanding. This can be achieved by getting to know the real intentions of the involved participants. Geoffrey Leech (1981) has presented seven kinds of meaning; five of them have been classified under the associative meaning as it is presented in figure 2. Hence, the three major types of meaning are the conceptual meaning, the associative meaning, and the thematic meaning.

MEANINGS

             Conceptual Meaning               Associative Meaning                Thematic Meaning

                              Fig (2): Leech's Kinds of Meaning (1981)

       Politeness and indirectness are effectively related. One successful strategy for avoiding impoliteness is to adopt indirect speech acts or gestures. To avoid impoliteness means to avoid remarks that have the pragmatic force of an imperative. In order to be more courteous, it also becomes vital to employ metaphors and other figurative language. Since the speaker uses metaphors to illustrate a point without explicitly articulating it, metaphors and their functions play an essential role in the preservation of the politeness principle. Figurative language is employed as a tactful technique for persuading the viewer to think differently and enter a new realm (Bieling, 2009).

5.1.1 Denotative Meaning

5.2 Kress & Van Leeuwen's (2006) Theory of Visual Design 

      Gunther Kress and Theo Van Leeuwen have developed the theory of visual grammar with three dimensions: representational meaning, interactive meaning, and compositional meaning, based on M.A.K. Halliday's notions of metafunction in systemic-functional grammar. The ways in which visual components and visual images such as photographs, drawings, pictures, maps, and diagrams are combined in visual statements to convey meaning are described by a general grammar of visual design (Savic, 2020). The rules of visual domains describe how their structures and components communicate messages through their visual representations (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2006, as cited in Ali, 2021).

5.2.1 The Representational Dimension 

      This dimension is based on the ideational metafunction of language, which is concerned with how objects are represented and how they relate to one another in our environment (Halliday, 1978). Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006, pp. 47–48) claim that objects and elements in visual works and designs are presented as "participants." These participants are divided into two categories: "represented participants" and "interactive participants." "Represented participants" refer to people, things, objects, or places that are placed in visual domains, while "interactive participants" refer to those who produce these domains or viewers of works of art. Another type of participants presented by Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006) is known as "circumstances." It depicts the supporting characters that might be eliminated without changing the central idea implied by the narrative structure, even if doing so will result in a loss of information (p. 72). Narrative and conceptual representations are two types of representational dimension.

1. Narrative representation

       Narrative representation entails the dynamic processes in which participants interact with each other: mental processes, action, speech, and reactional processes. "Action" includes the actor who performs the "vector," the action that the "goal" receives. The goal is the receiver of the action (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006, p. 59). There are two ways for the representation of the action process: in "transactional structure, "the goal is present, and in "non-transactional structure, the actor only exists. The representation of an action process in which the goal exists alone is referred to as an "event" since it conveys that something is occurring but does not specify the reason behind the action (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2006, p. 64). "Vector" is portrayed as the "eyeline or direction of a glance by a represented participant" in the reactional process. The parties involved in this process are introduced by Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006, p. 67) as "reactor" and "phenomenon." The participant who casts a glance or an eye is "the reactor," and the participant who is the target of the gaze is "the phenomenon." Similar to the action process, the reactional process can occur in either a non-transactional form with the presence of only "the reactor" or in a transactional structure with the presence of "the phenomenon." Other processes introduced by Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006, p. 68) are "speech process" and "mental process," being compared to the transactional reactional process where the phenomenon has a vector reflected in "the content of the comic strips" (p. 68). The comic strip appears as a "thought bubble" associated with the viewer's mental activity. In the speech process, the viewer is related to the content of a "dialogue bubble."

1. Conceptual Representation

       Conceptual representation is marked by the absence of a vector, which is a crucial component of narrative representation. It is a static image where participants are not engaged in some kind of action (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2006, p. 59). These images depict participants in their condensed essence, and they have a timeless quality. The subcategories of it include classificatory, analytical, and symbolical. Actors in classificational processes are frequently connected by a taxonomy that represents the world in terms of a hierarchical order. Its primary focus is the ordering of concepts in terms of a broad generalization. By a certain type of connection, they are categorized (Kress&Van Leeuwen, 2006, p. 81). Classification methods try to provide participants without context.

        Symbolic processes focus on understanding the meaning of images rather than finding relationships between concrete, objective ones. There are two types of symbolic processes: symbolic attributive and symbolic suggestive (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2006, p. 108). The carrier and the symbolic attribute are the two components that make up symbolic attributive images. The carrier is that which gets its meaning from the symbolic characteristic and its relationship to it. Salient representations put in the foreground, such as excessive size, exquisite details, severe focus, amazing color, and tone, are frequently used to express symbolic attributes. In the process of symbolization, they have symbolic values and seem odd among the other participants in the same frame; they are detected by a gesture (e.g., facial expressions). The carrier whose meaning is established in some other way is the only participant in symbolic suggestive. These additional means of meaning expression highlight the distinction between the analytical process and the symbolic one. The colors of a symbolic suggestive image, for instance, may be muted, merged, or otherwise emphasized in order to create mood. In other words, these images don't depict a particular chronological period; rather, they seek to create a timeless feeling. Figure 3 presents the categorization of images as presented by Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006).

                                                                                                 Narrative stucture

                                                     Ideational meanings 

                                                                                                 Conceptual structure 

Dimensions of

Image ……….                           Interpersonal meanings          Classificational image                           

Meanings

                                               Textual meanings             Overt taxonomy

                                                                                                               Covert taxonomy

          Fig (3): Categorization of images based on Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006) Theory of Visual Grammar

5.2.2 The Interactive Dimension

       The second dimension is based on interaction. It involves relationships in which the represented participants gaze directly into the viewer's eyes. Demands are sometimes made by images because they establish an emotional connection between the spectator and the participant, while at other times the gaze of the participant is turned away from the viewer (Zhang, 2023). Represented participants may not be acquainted with viewers. They have "offer relations," in which the involved participants who are shown in a visual domain have a tendency to deliver information without establishing any sort of relationship with the viewer and to present key elements of the visual design. These relationships are vital for either drawing viewers closer to the represented participant or keeping them apart (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2006, p. 119). Relationships between represented participants, relationships between interactive and represented participants, and relationships between interactive participants are the three types of relationships that are the focus of interaction. These relations are embedded within four main categories: gaze, social distance, angles, and modality.

1. Gaze

      In human social interaction, eye gaze has two purposes: we may use it as a signal to others and to receive information from others. Simmel (1924) states that "eye cannot take unless, at the same time, it gives.” Gaze establishes a fictitious link between the interactive participant, the viewer, and the represented participant, the gazer. Images with gaze are referred to as "images of an act" since the participants are asking the viewer to behave in a certain way in an anticipated interaction (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2006, p. 116). According to the type of gesture used, demanding relations between represented and interactive participants differ, as shown in Table 1.

1. Social Distance and Framings

      Within the investigation of the interactive meanings of the players depicted in visual designs, social distance is related to frame size. This category reflects social connections between viewers and the involved participants, and this can be depicted via the viewer's engagement or disengagement with participants as represented through different framings handled by Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006,p.124) in table 2. These framings denote different kinds of social distance. 

1. Angle (point of view)

      Angle is the perspective that establishes connections between the viewer and the represented participants. The vertical angle denotes relations of power between them, while the horizontal angle pertains to relations of engagement or disengagement between them. The horizontal angle shows "the relation between the frontal level of the represented participants and the other of the image producer (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2006, p. 134). The frontal levels of the creator and the portrayed participants are aligned in the horizontal frontal angle to show involvement relations. The frontal levels of the portrayed participants are not aligned in the oblique angle, resulting in detachment connections. The involved participants are seen from three distinct perspectives when viewed vertically. In order to portray them as inferiors, the represented participants are first seen from a high angle, while the viewer is superior, having control over them. Second, when represented participants are viewed from a low angle, they will be depicted as superiors, having power. Third, no power relation is involved when interactive participants are viewed at the same eye-level angle as the represented participants.

1. Modality

      According to Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006, p. 160), modality evaluates the reliability of messages in visual design. Eight cues represented in Table 3 are employed to evaluate their veracity. Additionally, a continuum is used to describe the level of reality of the depicted messages; full-saturated color representation denotes high modality, whereas the abstraction of the represented colors denotes lower modality. When colors provide sensual and emotive meanings and when every element of the image appeals to the sensory qualities or conveys sensations such as touching, tasting, smelling, and feeling, modality markers become more effective. One visual domain may have more than one type of coding orientation principle that influences how texts are coded by particular social groups or within particular institutional contexts. As a result, one visual domain may be 'sensory' in terms of one modality marker and 'abstract' in terms of another. As a result, the spectator is responsible for evaluating reality in the visual realm.

5.2.3 The Compositional Dimension

      The way that the representational and interactive elements are combined to create a meaningful whole is referred to as compositional meaning. Information value, salience, and framing are three tactics that help in the creation of such a meaningful whole. The first tool permits the placement of items with certain information values associated with each of the image's numerous zones. The second uses features to draw the viewer's attention by using things like location in the forefront or background, contrasts in tonal value, variations in sharpness, and relative size. The third one divides or combines the image's components by showing or hiding dividing lines or real frame lines. The color of one element in an image may seem brighter than that of the background, giving the viewer the impression that the two elements are not related. A trend of color fusion or connection sometimes gains traction. Framing often reflects the development of cinematic technology and the transformation of the viewer's aesthetics, carrying an explicit time stamp and a new source of cultural transference (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2006, p.177; as cited in Zhang, 2023).

6. Data Analysis

      The history of Orientalist studies, especially those related to the Islamic East and its civilization, is ancient, but the opinions of scholars and researchers differ with regard to determining the historical beginnings of these studies. Most opinions tend to specify a period of time, not a specific year, for the beginning of Orientalism. There are those who say that the science of Orientalism appeared officially in the eighteenth century AD. This is because the term “Orientalism” appeared only in Western linguistic dictionaries during the second half of the eighteenth century. There are those who say that the beginning of Orientalism appeared in Europe in the sixteenth century AD. Orientalist institutions and Islamic studies appeared in European and American countries only four centuries ago. Since the fourteenth century AD, the West has been thinking about the necessity of abandoning the idea of war and resorting to learning about the culture of the East in order to find more realistic methods for dealing with the East, based on Eastern studies.

       Although the history of the Indian epics ranges from 500 years to 100 years BC, these epics reflect the religious and social heritage of India, drawing a complete picture of the wars that broke out in India throughout history in particular and another picture of Orientalism in general. Therefore, the researcher in this study tries to draw a picture of Orientalism within the ancient Indian epics by analyzing the Ramayana. The animated film that was produced by Yugo Sako in 1992, called the Ramayana, is considered an imitation of the original historical epic. The producer has focused on drawing a realistic picture of wars in India in particular and a picture of Orientalism in general. The researcher employs this animated film for study and analysis. The analysis is therefore based on the principle of merging events on the one hand and imagination on the other hand. In other words, the researcher attempts to prove the greatness of the poet Valmiki in his ability to embody political, religious, and historical thought or portray future events. The researcher studies and analyzes the most important dialogues between the main characters of the Ramayana, trying to reflect the ambitions of the West during the Orientalist movement by applying Leech's seven kinds of meaning to them. She also analyzes the three dimensions of the five selected frames with regard to Kress & Van Leeuwen's (2006) theory of visual design to complete the picture of the relationship between Orientalism and the epics of ancient civilizations.

6.1 Frame 1

Analysis

       Ramayana is an Indian poetic epic attributed to the poet Valmiki, who received a divine command from Brahma to compose an epic, narrating the biography of Rama. The events of the epic begin in the palace of Dasharatha, the king of Ayodhya, who, after a long wait, is blessed with four sons from his three wives. The eldest is Rama, who embodies the god Vishnu, one of the principal deities of Hinduism. Under the supervision of the sage Visvamitra, Rama, accompanied by his close brother Laksmana, goes through various experiences and adventures. Upon reaching the palace of King Janaka in Vedeha, where princess Sita lives, Rama wins the challenge set up by Sita's father and becomes Sita's suitable husband.

       The current dialogue is considered one of the substantial dialogues in the epic since many events in the epic are based on this dialogue. The dialogue also reflects mysterious symbols specific to the history of India and the relationship of Orientalism to the wars taking place there. It recounts the events that may dominate the rest of the epic. When the king announces his desire to appoint his firstborn, Rama, as his successor to the throne, his second wife intervenes out of the instigation of her maid and demands his fulfillment of the two deferred desires that he has promised after their marriage. The first desire is to banish Rama to the forest to practice asceticism for fourteen years, and the second is to install her son Bharata on the throne. "The story suggests that good and evil exist on a spectrum, and one's choices in life can move one's life closer to one pole or the other"(Narayan, 2000).

      The dialogue between Kaikeyi, the second wife of King Dasharatha, and her slave woman, Montera, carries hidden meanings since it reveals all upcoming events in the epic. Certain symbols in their conversation go beyond the literal meaning of each chosen word. Hidden symbols can be revealed with regard to Leech's seven kinds of meaning. For example, in saying, "Enjoy my lady. Love your heart out......" the slave woman reveals various meanings, and some of these meanings are hidden. The logical comprehension of her speech is not obvious to Kaikeyi, who asks Montera to come to the point. She is not easily able to conceal Montera's intended meaning in her speech. The denotative meaning of her speech seems to be a direct request from Montera to Kaikeyi to enjoy and laugh since the future is enigmatic. With regard to the social meaning, the chosen words by Montera reveal something of both the social context and the social interaction between her and Kaikeyi. Montera reflects the social background, which urges her to warn Kaikeyi against something that may happen in the future. This illustrates her deception and, at the same time, her strong effect on her lady, Kaikeyi. She successfully manages to convince her of her future views.

       Montera plays with words, refusing to say, "Don't laugh. The future will bring sad events" to communicate the personal message politely. The two sentences describe the same occurrence, but Montera avoids direct warnings and requests, which are part of the social meaning. Ordering, focus, and emphasis that Montera employs in organizing her message are what convey the thematic meaning. She suggests a certain context by concentrating on the subject in the sentence, "Who knows what tomorrow will bring?" The viewer knows that there are upcoming events, but he/she ignores the end of the epic or the purpose behind it. Montera's speech also reflects the affective meaning of language; it reflects her own feelings and attitudes towards Kaikeyi. She appears sincere, warning Kaikeyi against Rama. She asks her to let the king fulfill the two deferred desires that he promised her upon their marriage. The first desire is to banish Rama to the forest to practice asceticism for fourteen years, and the second is to install her son Bharata on the throne. Not only does the affective meaning reflect Montera's sentiments in this dialogue, but it also reflects the feelings of the animated film's director towards the rest of the events in the epic. He carries his fears throughout this scene. He attracts the attention of the viewer to the upcoming events, which are full of surprises and excitement. These events are related to the history of the Indian epic in particular and the history of India in general. Montera also employs techniques like casual tone and voice timbre to appear more courteous and to show friendship.

       Also, since the reflected meaning is the result of creativity or imagination, what comes to mind upon listening to Montera's words is the upcoming ambiguous events of the epic, such as the future of Rama within Dasaratha's palace, the upcoming wars that Rama will fight outside the kingdom, and the main characters' incarnation into Indian gods during the period of writing the main epic. In addition, since the connotative meaning varies depending on culture, time, circumstances, and personal experience, the uttered words refer to negative future events that may occur inside the king’s palace and in the whole kingdom, making the queen cry. Both the reflected meaning and the connotative meaning unite to shed light on the future of India itself and the symbolism of the epic. The epic has a significant cultural influence on India's history. It highlights the major ideas of Hindu Dharma and urges readers to consider the value of morality and righteous behavior in maintaining the world's order. The epic and Rama's upcoming wars symbolize the fight between good and evil forces that may result from human faults and impurities. It illustrates the strength of devotion and the profound bond between God and his followers. It also implies that mortals can surpass gods in defeating evil through virtue, justice, and divine assistance (Jayaram, 2019).

      Looking at the future events in the epic and Rama’s ongoing wars to defend his wife, Sita, against the King of Lanka, we find a reference to the history of India, the wars that took place in it, and the desire of Orientalists to control it or affect the doctrinal approach within India. India was exposed to the Western intellectual invasion as Britain extended its complete political control over India at an early time when other countries were indirectly influenced by Western civilization. According to Hendi (2020/2023), when the British invaded India in 1857 AD, Orientalists took advantage of the languages, culture, and history of India. The studies they conducted in India contributed to the formation of ideology, which is the academic investigation of Indian languages, cultures, and histories. They made a significant contribution by translating several Indian texts into European languages, which aided in the dissemination of information about Indian history and culture throughout Europe. From another dimension, they tried to influence the doctrinal approach with the aim of casting doubt or denying faith. In order to weaken the tendency towards faith, they devastated the unity of Muslims. As a result of the Orientalist movement, most thinkers became active in India, adopting intentionally and unintentionally the methods and opinions of Orientalists in the field of belief.

     This frame is considered a visual design, and its elements and structures communicate intended messages through their representations. Each element within this frame has a representation in the surrounding world. For example, Montera appears as a juggler or an evil spirit who has knowledge of the future, and thus she arouses the viewer’s interest from the beginning. It represents deception since she is the reason for Rama's exile for nearly fourteen years, resulting in the weakness of the kingdom for several years and the enemy’s desire to seize it. She appears to be a cunning woman who can manipulate herself to get what she wants. Montera is considered a represented participant, while both the viewer and the director of the animated film are interactive participants. However, since the process of interpretation differs from one to another, Montera, for others, can be considered a secondary participant or "a circumstance" since she can be left out without affecting the basic proposition realized by the narrative pattern. Hence, for some viewers, Montera is one of the main characters, and her absence leads to a loss of information, while for others, she is a secondary one.

      Montera's advice is a dynamic process since her role is restricted to unfolding upcoming events, and her choice of the verb "enjoy" is a satirical one. It reveals the risqué events that will happen to the hero of the epic; it attracts attention towards what comes next, including the conflict between evil and good. The verb further symbolizes the extent to which Orientalists enjoyed Asian and Oriental studies and the negative impact that arose as a consequence of this enjoyment. So, Montera indicates an unknown future. The prediction in itself is related to predicting the consequences of Orientalists' movements in India. With regard to Kress & Van Leeuwen's (2006) theory of visual design, Montera is "the actor," "the reacter" in terms of speech process, or "the senser'' in terms of mental process. Her prediction or advice is "the vector," and Kaikeyi is "the goal." From another direction, the viewer is the goal since there is a message presented by the director to the viewer in this scene. The action process here is presented in a transactional structure since both Keikeya and the viewer are present. The content of the dialogue itself is linked to the viewer. The viewer seems always present when showing the events of the animated film to the director. What happens then, in the absence of Montera or any other actor, is an event. The act of gazing or the eye-line that comes from Montera's side towards Kaikeyi is another vector.

       With regard to the symbolic conceptual process, Montera is "the carrier," and the symbolic attributes lie in the features given to her, such as the exaggerated size, the sharp focus on her face, the way she sits, and the intense colors used. The way she puts her big hand on the carpet represents dominance and control. According to Jung (2015), the dominant hand represents the future. So, Montera's hand here symbolizes the upcoming conflicts in the epic. Hand control in general with regard to the Orientalist movement refers to the dominance of British Orientalists since the nineteenth century, which witnessed the seizure of vast areas of the Islamic world by Western colonialists. In 1857 AD, the British invaded India, and thus India officially became affiliated with the British crown. Also, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Netherlands occupied the East Indies (Green& Deasy, 1985).

       Under the interactive dimension, there are four categories in which the type of relationship between the represented participant and the interactive participant (the viewer) can be examined. These four categories are modality, gaze, angle, and social distance and framing. Table 4 presents an analysis of the interactive dimension under the four categories.

Table 4: Categories of the Interactive Dimension in Frame 1

          Modality in the chosen frame has certain representations that are related to the upcoming events of the epic, wars in India, and the image of Orientalism. The choice of colors has cultural connotations in the epic. First, the chosen shot contains two basic colors: blue and red. Blue, the color of the plain background, is the color of nature; it represents purity and peace. Red, which is the dominant color in Montera’s clothes, suggests war, destruction, and blood. Thus, the matching between the two colors suggests the conflicting events that will occur in the epic and the struggle between good and evil. This is consistent with Montera's speech to Kaikeyi and her prophecy. Wars in the epic refer to the general wars in India and the desire of Orientalists to be influenced by civilizations of the East. The red color of Montera's clothes seems brighter than that of the background, giving the viewer the impression that the two elements are not related. Since the viewer looks at any image from an eye-level point of view, the process of interpretation may differ from one to another, but the choice of colors generally serves the atmosphere of the epic.

      Montera's gestures and facial expressions play a significant role in conveying representational meanings, serving the plot of the epic. The selected visual design effectively conveys details for its foreground participant. As a result, representation obtains a high degree of credibility as a modality marker. Second, Montera's gaze creates an offer relationship with the viewer, presenting the image as an informative tool. Third, the spectator feels engaged with Montera, the represented participant, as a result of social distances and framings that draw him /her closer to the image's hidden meanings. Therefore, modality markers play a critical role in emphasizing the veracity of the information shared between the viewer and the involved participant. Color modulation, brightness, representation, high degrees of color saturation, color distinction, and brightness demonstrate the credibility of the target message.

6.2 Frame 2            

Analysis

      The second frame has been taken from two angles to show both involved participants: Surpanakha and Rama. It handles one of the epic's most significant scenes, which is the life of Rama in the Panchavati forest, where the events become legendary. A plethora of monsters, demons, gods, and ascetics with extraordinary abilities begin to surround Rama and his friends. Rama encounters Surpanakha one day, who is the arrow that initiates the series of events that culminate in Ravan's annihilation. Surpanakha is the malevolent mastermind responsible for the conflict in the epic. During her visit to Rama, she falls in love with him. She uses the power of Maya to disguise herself as a stunning lady in order to attract Rama. She approaches Rama and bends down to put her hand on his foot. When Rama asks Shurpanakha about herself, she tells him that she is Kubera's sister and the daughter of a grandson of Brahma. She then begs Rama to marry her after praising his macho attractiveness. Rama begins to talk about his loyalty to his spouse, Sita. Rama asks her to talk to his brother Lakshman, who takes pleasure in making fun of her and claims that he is only his brother's servant. Upon seeing Sita, Surpanakha understands the reason behind Rama's refusal to accept her proposal. So, she becomes enraged, threatening to devour Sita. In a fit of anger, Lakshmana amputates Surpanakha's nose in support of Sita (Thakur, 2016).

      The character of Surpanakha is not limited to being one of the pivotal characters of the epic that are the reason for vital upcoming events; rather, this character symbolizes the brute force that threatened the history of India over a period of time. Surpanakha appears in the epic as a deceiver who befriends the hero of the epic in order to seize his heart. Rama, the hero of the Indian epic, symbolizes India itself. His loyalty to his wife, Sita, and his rejection of Surpanakha’s offer indicate India’s independence with its wealth during the period of Orientalism and Britain’s invasion of India in the mid-eighteenth century. The conversation between Surpanakha and Rama has different hidden meanings. The denotative meaning of Surpanakha's sentence "Accept my proposal, please, and you shall be the king of this forest" is restricted to Surpanakha's desire to be with Rama out of her strong love for him. She also offers him the kingdom of the forest.

       Since the conceptual meaning can be studied in terms of semantic features, certain larger linguistic units built upon smaller ones are adopted by both Surpanakha and Rama; they choose certain words with certain connotations. For example, Surpanakha chooses the word "king" to capture Rama, and Rama chooses the word "respect" to show his refusal to her offer without violating the politeness principle. These semantic features constitute the designatum of lexical meaning presented by Zgusta (1971, P. 27). The conceptual meaning of Rama's chosen words denotes his desire not to harm Surpanakha out of his respect for women. However, there are many other meanings not included in the conceptual meaning. For the connotative meaning, it can be deduced with regard to the plot of the epic and the experience of the viewer in translating its events. This interpretation is unstable since it differs based on the differences in views, cultures, and historical periods. Generally, the connotative meaning or the real meaning denotes the conflict between good and evil since Surpanakha symbolizes evil and Rama symbolizes good. Surpanakha tries to deceive Rama by urging him to accept her proposal. She is not really in love with him, but she, as an evil spirit, is embodied to be able to capture Rama's heart. Rama's reply denotes his loyalty to his wife, Sita.

      Moreover, since the connotative meaning is open-ended, it goes beyond the events of the epic and reaches the hidden symbols of Indian epics in general. The confrontation between Rama and Surpanakha represents the war between Indian rulers and colonists. God, fearless warrior, ideal human being, disciples, perfect king, virtue, purity, righteous behavior, duty, loyalty, strength, perfection, leadership, strength, empathy, firmness, unified consciousness, and divine justice are all represented by Rama.  Rama represents God, giving humanity a perfect example to follow in order to get liberation. Rama is a symbol of the Supreme Self. He enters the body, the mortal realm, to search for the individual self (Sita), from whom he was split off at the beginning of creation (Jayaram, 2019). Consequently, Rama's rejection of Surpanakha's offer represents the Divine Self with all its good symbols, which reject evil, injustice, destruction, and deception represented by the evil spirit Surpanakha that appears in front of him. The whole epic revolves around what lies behind this pivotal dialogue, which is good's rejection of evil.

      Far from the epic and with regard to Orientalism, the following dialogue reflects the history of India in the colonial period and the ambitions of Orientalists towards the East. The colony of India was a part of the Indian subcontinent that was under the authority of European colonial powers during the Age of Discovery. European power found its way into India both through conquest and trade. The quest for India's wealth and prosperity led to the colonization of the Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1492. Only a few years later, towards the end of the 15th century, Portuguese sailor Vasco da Gama became the first European to restore direct trade links with India by being the first to arrive through the encirclement of Africa. The history of India is also full of many colonists, as the British began to colonize India and benefit from its wealth in 1600. They established the East India Company with the aim of monopolizing trade with countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia. It was clear to the East India Company during the time it was trading that the resources of the Indian subcontinent were dispersed among the regional rulers, so they began to mobilize and collect these resources (Hadeeb, 2023).  

      The British colonization of India, which began in the middle of the nineteenth century, continued for nearly a hundred years, but attempts to extend the influence of the British Empire over the country began much earlier. In 1858, the British government began to undertake the affairs of the Indian administration directly. In 1930, Mahatma Gandhi led mass civil disobedience, and his efforts culminated years later in his country. In 1947, British rule ended, and India finally gained its independence. Hundreds of thousands of Indians refused to pay tax on salt that was evaporated from the sea in a primitive way (" The British Invasion to India," 2019/2023). In this dialogue, Rama's rejection of Surpanakha's offer to stay with her represents the British offer to the Indian Empire to stay and control it. India resisted British control over the years and declared war against the British. Rama confronted Surpanakha and defeated her. In addition, he defeated Ravan at the end of the epic, recovering his wife, Sita. Hence, Rama represents India, both Surpanakha and Ravan represent the British, and Sita represents the occupied Indian lands. 

       In the dialogue between Surpanakha and Rama pronunciation variations, each word phrase and each sentence reflect the social circumstances of their use. The animated film was produced to reflect the environment of communication in India hundreds of years ago. Surpanakha adopts rising intonation and formal language to let Rama accept her proposal, but Rama, in return, adopts falling intonation and formal language in refusing this proposal politely. An offensive expression is substituted by an euphemistic one. Both Surpanakha and Rama organize their messages in an effective way. Since the social meaning includes the illocutionary force of utterances, the language of Surpanakha is interpreted as an offer, while that of Rama is interpreted as either an apology or an indirect threat. So, the affective meaning reflects Surpanakha's admiration for Rama and her strong desire to stay with him, and it shows the loyalty of Rama towards his wife, Sita. The reflected meaning, or what comes to one's mind when listening to the dialogue between Surpanakha and Rama, far from the denotative meaning, is the triumph of good over evil and India's taking pride in its heritage and independence away from the whims of Orientalists.

      With regard to Kress and Van Leeuwen's (2006) theory of visual grammar, elements in this visual work are introduced as “represented participants,” such as Surpanakha, Rama, and the forest itself with all manifestations of nature, and “interactive participants," both the producer of this work of art and the viewer. Represented participants play a pivotal role in the plot of the film. The dynamic process is represented in Surpanakha's proposal and Rama's rejection to it. So, there are two processes: actional and reactional. Surpanakha's action is latent in her proposal, which is presented through the choice of the verb "accept," and the reactional process is presented by Rama through his rejection of this offer, which is presented through his choice of the verb "respect." Surpanakha is "the actor" who forms the vector that is received by Rama, "the goal." The action process is represented in a "transactional structure" since the goal is present (Rama). In a reactional process or by looking at Rama's reaction, Rama is called "the reacter," the vector is his disapproving gaze towards Surpanakha, and the phenomenon is Surpanakha. In the speech process itself, the content of the dialogue is connected to the viewer, and in the process of symbolization, symbolic attributes are marked by salient representations placed in the foreground, such as the delicate details represented in the beauty of nature, the sharp focus towards Rama, and the glaring colors.

      With regard to the interactive dimension presented by Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006), both the director of the animated film and the viewer are involved in an interactive relationship, called "interactive participants." They are also involved in another relationship with the represented participants. Gaze implements an imaginary relationship between Surpanakha, the gazer, and Rama. Surpanakha looks at Rama with sympathy while she is standing. She is groveling to touch Rama's heart, while Rama faces this look steadily while he is sitting and holding his weapon in his hand. Historically, the unexchanged glances between them indicate India's unwillingness to submit to the control of other European countries. There is another relationship other than what appears between Surpanakha and Rama, which is the relationship between the film director and the viewer since the director invites the viewer to look at the relationship between Surpanakha, who represents European thought, and Rama, who represents India with regard to the symbolism of Orientalism in that historical epic. Hence, the taken image is called ‘image of an act’ in which the represented participants, through certain gazes, demand something from the viewer in an imaginary relationship. The two involved participants themselves represent the director of the film, who asks the viewer indirectly to realize what is behind the unexchanged glances between the characters of the film.

       Demanding relations between represented and interactive participants differ depending on the type of gesture performed. Rama's cold stare and defensive gesture indicate his desire to take a distance far from Surpanakha, and from another direction, he asks the viewer to consider Surpanakha as inferior to him, where he becomes superior. Surpanakha's fingers pointed at Rama denote her subservience and deception. So, the represented participants introduce information and involve the viewer at the same time in this visual domain. Since social distance is associated with the frame size in visual designs, the engagement and the detachment relations between involved participants are represented through various framings: Rama has been taken from a very long shot since he occupies more than half the height of the frame with space around him, and Surpanakha has been taken from a medium shot since she is cut off at knees. This indicates that they behave like strangers, discussing affairs in a more formal and impersonal way. This also denotes far social distance between them. This frame is represented at a frontal horizontal angle, reflecting the director's intention to interact with the viewer and engage him/ her with the represented participants. So, the viewer is involved in investigating the relationship between them and their evolution within the events. Modality markers also detect the degree of reliability and question the creditability of messages. Table 5 presents modality markers as portrayed in the second mage.

Table 5: Modality Markers in Frame 2

Frame 2 is represented in intense colors with full saturation to sound real and pure to the viewer. Also, the choice of differentiated warm color palettes (blue, orange, and green) arouses mixed feelings for the viewer, making him/her think of the upcoming events between good and evil. Saturated, differentiated, and modulated colors support the atmosphere of challenge between the two participants, emphasizing the reality of the theme of war in the context of this image. The way participants are dressed and their facial expressions contribute greatly to delivering the representational meanings. The frame itself presents details for its foreground participants, achieving a high value of creditability for the roles of involved participants. The representation of a dusty background depicts the conflict between the two characters. Frame 2 is represented with a fine-detailed wallpaper background to reflect how sophisticated the main theme is; the image in itself has connotations that go beyond the main themes of the epic. It depicts a whole conflict between eastern and western societies. The golden background behind Rama denotes his triumph at the end of the epic and his refusal to be controlled by anyone. Consequently, modality markers help in emphasizing the truth of the information interacted between the involved participants and the viewer.

6.3 Frame 3

                             Analysis

      The third frame presents Ravan, king of Lanka, as one of the main characters in the epic. When Laksmana attacks Surpanakha in the forest out of her desire to get rid of Sita, Surpanakha goes to her brother to ask him to take revenge on Rama. Ravan decides to play the game of illusion, deception, and conspiracy so that he can kidnap Sita. Ravan's brother, Vibhishana, intervenes to warn him against his love of women. However, he orders him to intervene because of his sister's insult. Indeed, Ravan begins to deceive Sita by disguising himself in the forest as a wise old man and asking her for help. She approaches him and gives him food, but suddenly he transforms into the devil Ravan, taking her away. The epic illustrates the strength of devotion and the profound bond between God and his devotees. It also implies that mortals, by being marked by virtue and righteousness, can defeat evil with God's assistance.  Ravan talks about the conspiracy of gods since the whole epic is considered a conflict between good and evil, or God and Satan. Ravan here represents evil and Satan, and he determines to fight gods. This is the conceptual meaning of his speech. Ravan chooses certain words with certain connotations. For example, he chooses the word "illusion" to attract our attention to his intentions and bad deeds.

         For the connotative meaning, it denotes the conflict between good and evil everywhere and over ages, and Ravan's chosen sentence illustrates the tricks played by evil temptations, evil powers, and all invaders throughout history. So, this scene summarizes the whole epic by referring to what will happen later. Ravan fights a long battle against Rama with cunning and deception. Ravan also represents selfishness, ego, and evil attributes. His demonic nature is his own weapon against good. Far from epic, this scene has other historic connotations. The deception of Satan Ravan and his desire to play the game of illusion represent the role of Orientalists and their game against the East, especially India. Many Orientalists thought of sending their armies to the East. They had an intellectual orientation towards studying Eastern civilization in all its sciences, and they actually reached various countries in Africa, China, and India. Ravan appears to Sita in the form of a sage. Likewise, European scholars entered Eastern countries as if they were angles, intending to benefit the East. Orientalists played the game of deception in that they showed their interest in benefiting and developing the East. Maxime Rodinson asserted that Orientalists within the East saw what they only wanted to see, but they had a desire not to see the East like Europe with all its achievements. Stefan Feld, a German professor of Oriental languages and Islamic studies at the German University of Bonn, confirmed that there were orientalists who studied Islam and its history only to combat Islam and Muslims. There were Orientalists who wanted to distort the image of religions in the East. Many Orientalists pretended to work for Islamic civilizations through spreading their heritage and defending them, and many others reached the countries of the East and India to benefit the East with their sciences, such as the Austrian Orientalist Leopold Weiss, whose name became Muhammad Assad (Hendi, 2020/2023).

           After the end of World War II, Orientalists demonstrated some of their colonial and religious goals, such as corrupting the image of religions and spreading doubts about the Qur’an and Sunnah. Many others divided Muslim countries and created sectarian and ideological conflicts to divide Islamic unity. Others went to the East and plundered its wealth in favor of building their civilizations on the skulls of the oppressed Eastern peoples. Indeed, Orientalists entered India in the form of scholars to benefit from Eastern sciences and steal the country’s wealth. Another manifestation of the deception of Orientalists is that Britain allowed delegations of Muslim students to be sent to the West, and after that, they entered India carrying a message and calling for imitating the West. Some Orientalists held positions in India and then promoted Western thought among Muslims, writing books and encouraging non-Muslims. Many universities were established in India similar to Western ones, and many chairs were given to Orientalists there. Western sciences were taught to Muslim children, and unfortunately, many people followed the ideas of Orientalists (Hendi, 2020/2023).

     Ravan's language reflects some norms, attitudes, and intricacies of the society in which he lives. In the dialogue between Ravan and his brother, Ravan adopts rising intonation and informal language to let his brother notice his strength and inform him about future plans that are related to wars and challenges. Ravan's brother, in return, adopts falling intonation to warn his brother and make him forget women and the deeds of illusion. Ravan organizes his messages in an effective way, making the viewer feel fearful for the future of Rama and Sita. Since the social meaning includes the illocutionary force of utterances, the language of Ravan is interpreted as a warning against Rama, who is not present during the dialogue, or a declaration of war. Language also reveals something about the social interaction between the two brothers. Ravan is so close to his brother that he can tell him about his hidden intentions, which may cause fatal problems. The affective meaning in this way reflects Ravan's strong desire to deceive Rama and find Sita. The reflected meaning, or what comes to one's mind when listening to the dialogue between Ravan and his brother, far from the denotative meaning, is the fact that evil doesn't stop harming people using weapons of deception and cunning. The West succeeded in occupying India for a period of time as a result of practicing illusion. For the collocative meaning, Ravan chooses words that go with each other, as in "play a game" and "conspiracy of the gods." Moreover, the thematic meaning appears through organizing messages. Ravan organizes his message with regard to ordering, focus, and emphasis. He uses the active voice, not the passive one, to concentrate on himself as the only character in the epic that is responsible for the upcoming fatal events. Hence, the director of the animated film is attentive to language structure; he attracts attention to the character of Ravan from this scene until the end of the film.

      Frame 3 abounds with conspicuous multimodal characteristics, so it matches well with Kress and Van Leeuwen's visual grammar, ranging from representational meaning to compositional meaning and interactive meaning. This visual design, with its elements and structures, communicates intended messages through different representations. Each element within this frame is symbolic. For example, Ravan appears in the shape of a monster to represent evil, destruction, war, and deception. Ravan is considered a represented participant, while the viewer is an interactive one. Ravan cannot be considered a secondary participant or "a circumstance" since he cannot be left out without affecting the basic proposition realized by the narrative pattern. Ravan's absence leads to a loss of information since his cupidity becomes the vehicle that moves all the events of the film.

       Ravan's speech is a dynamic process with symbolic representations. With regard to Kress & Van Leeuwen's (2006) theory of visual design, Ravan is "the actor," "the reacter" in terms of speech process, or "the senser'' in terms of mental process. His action of informing is "the vector," and the viewer is "the general goal." However, he is talking to his brother, who is the goal in this scene. Ravan's evil sideways glance is another vector. The action process here is presented in a transactional structure since both Ravan and his brother are present. What happens in the absence of actors becomes an event. With regard to the symbolic conceptual process, Ravan is "the carrier," and the symbolic attributes are given within the whole frame, such as the exaggerated size, the sharp focus on Ravan's face, and the intense colors used. The way he stares and opens his mouth represents evil, dominance, and greediness. Table 6 presents the type of relationship between the represented participant and the interactive one with regard to the categories of modality, gaze, and angle, in addition to social distance and framing.

Table 6: Categories of the Interactive Dimension in Frame 3

       The choice of colors has cultural connotations in the epic. First, the chosen frame contains three basic colors: red, black, and gold. Color meanings have a lot of symbolic force attached to them. Numerous civilizations have associated red with a variety of concepts such as love, life, health, religious fervor, vigor, war, courage, fury, and love. The thing that unites them all is the need for passion. In the context of this scene, blood here represents war and violence. Bright red oxygenated blood surges to the skin's surface in moments of fury, passion, or shame as a reaction of the nervous system. Many theories explain why this physiological trait has developed in both human and non-human species; most of them focus on the need to establish dominance or look more appealing. According to the Journal of International Color Association, black is frequently associated with negative connotations like death, terror, or melancholy. Black is seen by many ancient societies as the color of mystery, enigmatic ways, and the insights of God. This is due to the fact that darkness and the absence of light are perceived as being beyond human comprehension, like God's knowledge (Wolchover& Dutfield, 2022).

      In frame three, the black color represents the atmosphere of sadness, darkness, wars, and destruction; since the king of Lanka wishes to declare war, the whole atmosphere will be turned into melancholy. For gold, it symbolizes triumph, achievement, and success. This color is associated with wealth and power. It is linked to fortune, extravagance, excellence, authority, refinement, and grace. Gold is linked to sunlight and masculine vitality. The integration between blood, sadness, and authority in this way symbolizes contradictory and mysterious upcoming events, and generally, this represents the conflicting life in India in light of the presence of Orientalists who were able to deceive the Indians by pretending to have good intentions until they seized power and shifted their desire from wars to dominance. Thus, the whole scene suggests the struggle between good and evil. Ravan's gestures and facial expressions create an offer relationship with the viewer, presenting the image as an informative tool. Ravan's fretful face represents evil. The viewer feels engaged with Ravan, the represented participant, as a result of social distances and framings that draw him /her closer to the image's hidden meanings.

6.4 Frame 4

       The fourth frame reflects the dialogue that takes place between the mother serpent and the monkey, Hanuman. It is considered one of the imaginary dialogues in the epic, but it carries within it many symbolic meanings. After kidnapping Sita, Rama meets the monkey king, Sugriva. Rama helps him regain his kingdom and asks for help. Sugriva assigns him his advisor, Hanuman, who is able to change his appearance at any time. He is able to locate Sita with the help of the falcon, Sampati. In that scene, Hanuman begins his journey in search of Sita to help Rama. During his journey, he meets the mother serpent, which expresses its desire to swallow him. Hanuman is so intelligent that he swells, enters its mouth, and comes out again. The serpent admires his intelligence and lets him leave in peace and blessings.

       Hanuman symbolizes unconditional love, strength, courage, purity, loyalty, immortal power, and intuition. Hanuman represents the divine soul that rescues Rama against evil forces. He is worshiped as a symbol of devotion, physical strength, and perseverance. Hanuman is considered a major character in the epic out of his supernatural abilities; he has the ability to jump between mountains. This is demonstrated in his jump between Lanka’s Mount Trikuta and Mount Mahendra. The poet of the epic mentions his great talent in about two hundred verses, describing his jumps and unique powers. He can change his size to help him in his battles against enemies. Mahulikar (2003) explains that the Ramayana's values make it more valuable. Rama is associated with all masculine ideals: the perfect husband, father, son, and ruler. Sita is revered as the embodiment of all feminine virtues at the same time. Hanuman is a loyal servant.

       Different meanings can be revealed through the dialogue between Hanuman and the serpent mother. The denotative meaning of Hanuman's speech denotes his desire to carry out the main wish of the mother serpent, which is entering its huge mouth; he enters its mouth and asks her to let him go peacefully. However, the connotative meaning implies a hidden meaning, which is the strong will of Hanuman to get rid of all difficulties and get to Ravan in his kingdom to find Sita. Far from the main theme of the epic, the dialogue between Hanuman and the mother serpent has historical connotations. It reminds us of the history of India and its independence in 1920. Hanuman here represents the force of goodness within India during its occupation by Britain and during the presence of Orientalists within it. He symbolizes Ghandhi, who struggled to rescue India from the oppression of colonialism and Orientalist whims. It may also symbolize all the countries that supported India against its enemies until it gained independence. The snake mother represents Britain, which occupied India for many years, and also symbolizes the Orientalists who planned to enter India and benefit from its wealth. Hanuman, after fulfilling the serpent's desire by entering its mouth, passes in peace and safety. This is a historical indication since Indians exploited intelligence and wisdom until they got rid of the dominance of Orientalists. India allowed Orientalists to enter the country for a period of time, and they actually benefited from the Eastern heritage until Ghandhi declared India’s independence in 1920.

      British colonialism crossed the Indian subcontinent in 1600 AD and then turned into a ruling political body in India in 1833 AD, until its activity was finally stopped by the order of the British Crown in 1858 AD. Whatever the reasons behind the British colonization of the Indian subcontinent or what is said about colonialism, whether positive or negative, Britain looked at the Indian subcontinent as the most precious and the brightest jewel in the British crown. British colonialism brought about a radical change in the Indian social system by dissolving it into the British social system. When the British entered the Indian subcontinent, they sought to eliminate Indian customs and social systems. In this way, Western ideas undermined the old social customs that were popular within the Indian subcontinent. For a period of time, the British changed India for the better, but they put another motive in front of their eyes, which was latent in benefiting from the Eastern civilization. In factories, the British and the Indians worked side by side without class distinction. Trains provided a place to sit or stand for everyone who paid the wage. Cooperative societies and political parties included all ranks on one level, and an unexpected fellowship arose between them. Social classes were replaced by more than three thousand classes: guilds, merchants, farmers, teachers, intellectuals, thinkers, engineers, doctors, industrialists, inventors, and discoverers. The absence of caste in the Indian subcontinent is one of the great moral achievements of the British (Al-Zazan, 2021/2023).

       In 1920, Ghandi, a prominent Indian politician and spiritual leader during the Indian independence movement, showed disobedience by letting Britain grant India its independence. Gandhi used nonviolent civil disobedience while he was an expatriate lawyer in South Africa. He resisted tyranny through mass civil disobedience, which led to Indian independence and inspired many civil rights and freedom movements around the world. Ghandi is still officially honored in India as the Father of the Nation. His birthday is considered a national holiday and, internationally, the International Day of Non-Violence. After returning to India in 1915, he organized protests by peasants, farmers, and urban workers against excessive land taxes and discriminatory treatment. After assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Ghandi led national campaigns to alleviate poverty, call for women's rights, build religious and national harmony, and increase economic self-reliance. He aimed to achieve independence and fight foreign control. He later demonstrated against Britain's decision to leave India and encouraged peaceful resistance, which is a set of principles based on religious, political, and economic foundations (Samir, 2015/2023).

      Like all previous frames, with regard to the social meaning, the chosen words by Hanuman reflect the social context and the social interaction between the two involved participants. Hanuman exploits his intelligence by pretending to carry out the wish of the serpent mother, but his desire goes far from obeying her. The social context shows his courage and loyalty. On the other hand, the social context refers to the upcoming conflicts in the epic. Hanuman plays with words, refusing to say "Let me pass since I have fulfilled your wish" to communicate the personal message politely. He avoids making requests when organizing his message. He suggests a certain context by concentrating on the passive voice in his chosen sentence. He reminds her of her wish to capture her heart. Through sentence structure, the director of the animated film himself succeeds in organizing the message by concentrating on evil in this scene. Hanuman's speech also reflects the affective meaning of language, showing his attitudes towards the giant serpent. He overcomes his fear and challenges it for the sake of his friend Rama. Since the reflected meaning involves creativity and imagination, the historical value of this scene shows the firmness of the East in confronting the hidden intentions of the West during the period of occupation or Orientalism. The affective meaning also illustrates the feelings of the animated film's director towards historical events during the period of Orientalism. Hanuman also employs techniques like quiet tone and sharp voice timbre to show confidence and friendship, the two weapons exploited by Orientalists during the period of their presence within India. Generally, all kinds of meanings reflect the symbolism of the animated film.

      Elements in this visual design are organized in a systematic way to give the viewer "a sense of unity, of cooperation, and of consistency" (Royce, p. 73). This visual design, with its elements and representations, communicates intended messages. Hanuman symbolizes good, and the serpent mother symbolizes evil. Both Hanuman and the mother serpent are "represented participants," while the viewer is the interactive one. The serpent mother is a secondary participant, or "a circumstance," since she can be left out without affecting the basic proposition realized by the narrative pattern. However, for some viewers, she is the main character, and her absence leads to a loss of information. This frame represents one of the pivotal scenes that reflect the power of evil and the hidden intentions of the enemy, which can hinder goodness from achieving its goals. The mother serpent fills the whole image, being compared to Hanuman, who occupies a small space, representing goodness. Hanuman's indirect request is a dynamic process where Hanuman is "the actor," "the reacter" in terms of speech process, or "the senser'' in terms of mental process. His request, including his gestures and facial expressions, is "the vector," and the serpent mother is "the goal." From another direction, the viewer himself/herself is the goal since there is also a message presented by the director to the viewer through this scene. The action process here is presented in a transactional structure since both Hanuman and the serpent mother are present. The content of the dialogue itself seems present or expected by the viewer.

       With regard to the symbolic conceptual process, Hanuman is "the carrier," and the symbolic attributes lie in the features given to him, such as his small size, the way he stands, and the way he talks to the mother serpent. His appearance generally shows confidence and control. The colors of his clothes seem muted; he seems naked, wearing only a yellow short. In the context of the interactive dimension, modality, gaze, angle, social distance, and framing are the four categories that show the relationship between the represented participant and the interactive one, as presented in Table 7.

Table 7: Categories of the Interactive Dimension in Frame 4

6.5 Frame 5                       

       The fifth frame embodies the happy ending of the epic with its historical connotations. The scene depicts the victory of good over evil and the restoration of rights. It portrays Sita's happiness through her conversation with herself and her overwhelming happiness after knowing about Rama's victory over Ravan. In Hanuman's trial to help Rama, he has made an extraordinary leap, reaching the Kingdom of Lanka, where he has disguised himself as a giant cat to search for the place where Sita has been imprisoned. Fortunately, he has found her and decided to go to Rama to tell him about her place. Rama's army has used various mythical weapons against Ravan with his seven heads, which have renewed one after the other. Rama successfully manages to stab Ravan directly in the heart. When Sita hears about Rama's triumph, she stands in this scene wondering what will happen upon seeing him again. She feels happy that the evil has ended and that she has returned to her beloved and her homeland once again.

       The conceptual meaning of the sentence uttered by Sita lies in her feeling of happiness over the victory achieved by Rama against Ravan and the end of all devils. Sita says "my Ram," not "Ram" to capture the heart of the viewer, making us feel that the victory achieved by Ram is ours. The triumph against evil at the end of the epic refers to the liberation of the countries of the East and their victory against the ambitions of the West and the thought of Orientalism, which continued for hundreds of years. The connotative meaning goes far beyond the literal meaning, and it reveals her strong desire to return to her beloved, Rama. With regard to its historical significance, the sentence uttered by Sita is a central sentence in the epic itself since it is related to the history of India in light of the presence of Orientalists. It refers to the end of the colonial period in India. The battle between Rama and Ravan refers historically to the Great Indian Revolution held in 1857 and the other revolutions held in India during the presence of the English in India. The contemporary and modern history of India is full of horrific human massacres carried out by the Hindus against the Muslims, especially during the period of the division of the country into Pakistan and India. Indians remained steadfast in resisting the English occupation with its malicious and harmful effects and in liberating their country from the brutal Crusader occupation.

       They were also obliged to fight those who were more hostile to them than the English, those who took the opportunity to express their innermost feelings and unleash their anger and blind hatred towards Indians. It was necessary for Indians to resist the intellectual and cultural invasion of their Islamic identity and belief and to resist the trends of Westernisation, nationalism, and secularism that the British spread throughout their country. They had to resist the misguided sects and destructive doctrines that appeared in the country at the hands of the British. They had to confront the traitors and suspects who had caused many defeats and failures for the Indians. Despite the large number of enemies, the multiplicity of fronts, and the lack of capabilities, Indians continued their battles until they achieved their goal, became independent in their country, and established a great state like Pakistan (Al-Zohairy, 2017/2023).

       The British rule ended on August 15, 1947, and India finally gained its independence. Indians were moving in a massive revolution, known as the revolution of 1857–1858, which was instigated and led by the old ruling classes—the Marathas and the Mongols—to get rid of the British presence, which had robbed them of their political privileges and powers. The English East India Company, which had created a huge empire in India, officially ceased to exist in 1858. In the same year, the British government took direct charge of Indian administration affairs when the revolution of 1857–1858 convinced the British government of the necessity of making radical changes in the method of British rule in India (Bayly, 1990, p. 248).

      In the monologue presented by Sita, pronunciation variation, each word phrase, and each sentence reflect the social circumstances of their use. Sita adopts falling intonation and informal language when talking to herself. Sita also organizes her message in an effective way and talks on the tongue of the film's director, declaring the end of the film with the victory of good against evil. Since the social meaning includes the illocutionary force of utterances, the language of Sita is interpreted as a declaration or informing, and the affective meaning reflects her happiness upon the happy end and her strong wish to return to Rama. The reflected meaning, or what comes to one's mind when listening to the dialogue between Sita and herself, far from the denotative meaning, is the triumph of good over evil and the end of Orientalism in India.

       Different elements in this frame are introduced as “represented participants,” such as Sita and the forest itself with all its manifestations of nature, and “interactive participants," both the director of this animated film and the viewer himself or herself. The dynamic process is represented in Sita's sense of happiness and her declaration of the end of the epic. So, Sita's action is latent in this declaration, which is presented through the choice of the adverb "finally" and the two verbs "won" and "run a way." The reactional process is not obvious since Sita talks to herself, presenting her speech to the viewer directly. Sita is "the actor" who forms the vector that is received by herself and the viewer, "the goal." In this case, Sita, or the viewer, is called "the reacter." The action process is represented in a "transactional structure" since the goal is present: Sita herself. In case of considering the viewer's only goal, the action process becomes represented in "a non-transactional structure." Symbolic attributes in the frame are marked by salient representations placed in the foreground, such as the delicate details represented in the beauty of nature, Sita's surprised look, and the glaring colors.

       Both the director of the animated film and the viewer are called "interactive participants." They are involved in the sense that the director sends a message to the viewer on the tongue of the characters involved in the animated film. They are also involved in another relationship with the represented participants. Gaze implements an imaginary relationship between Sita, the gazer, and the viewer of the film. Sita's look of wonder touches the viewer's heart towards the happy ending of the epic, which represents India's independence historically. Hence, the taken frame is called ‘image of an act’ in which the represented participant, through her gaze, demands something from the viewer in an imaginary relationship.

       Demanding relations between represented and interactive participants differ depending on the type of gesture performed. Sita's hot stare or surprised look indicates her desire to take a distance towards her beloved, Rama. She is afraid to be in a dream and looks forward to the moment when she can meet Rama. She feels ashamed, as if she were a new bride. Here, Sita's return to Rama represents India's return to freedom. Her clenched hands also denote modesty and happiness. Since social distance is associated with the frame size in visual designs, the engagement and detachment relations between involved participants are represented through various framings: Sita has been taken from a very long shot since she occupies more than half the height of the frame with space around her. The director is keen to show the beauty of nature with its stunning colors in the final scene, and this does not denote far social distance between Sita and the viewer.

      This frame is represented at a frontal horizontal angle, reflecting the director's intention to interact with the viewer and engage him/ her with the represented participant. Modality markers also detect the degree of reliability and question the creditability of messages. Table 8 presents modality markers as portrayed in the fifth frame.

Table 8: Modality Markers in Frame 5

      Like frame 2, frame 5 is depicted in rich, fully saturated colors to give the viewer the impression that it is authentic and unadulterated. Also, the viewer experiences conflicting emotions due to the use of distinct warm color palettes (blue, orange, and green). Saturated and differentiated colors reflect the purity of nature, making the viewer feel at ease upon the spread of peace at the end of the film. The blue color, as mentioned in frame 1, represents purity, while the green color symbolizes immortality, renewal, tranquil, freshness, luck, rebirth, health, and hope. It is associated with springtime. Olesen (2013) explains that the green color is most commonly associated with thick vegetation, lush greenery, and expansive views. This earthy color is peaceful and universal since it is frequently connected to Mother Earth. Green calms and offers rest with its soft, calming tones. Chaos is subdued by green, making it an overwhelming power. Generally, modality markers help in highlighting the veracity of information exchanged between the viewer and the involved participant.

7. Conclusion (Summary and Implication)

      Through study and application, the research provides answers to the study’s questions. The researcher has tried to employ two of the most important theories of linguistic studies in the fields of semantics and multimodality. In order to find answers to these questions, the researcher has merged text and image in the analysis since the value of the image lies in clarifying it, conveying its meanings, and translating texts. The image is always considered an alternative to words, as it expresses certain ideas and concepts quickly and effectively. The relationship between the image and the text is complementary since each of them explains, highlights, and confirms the authenticity of the other. The image confirms what is written in texts, and texts explain what is behind the image. When image and text are in harmony, meaning becomes strong, and the desired goal is achieved. Choosing the image is very important. If the image is not chosen appropriately, the strength of the topic may be diminished, and the writer may fail to clarify the message. Image presents text more deeply because image has a strong impact on the senses and the emotional and sentimental aspects of individuals ("Defining Image and Text," 2023).

       Therefore, Leech's seven kinds of meaning have been employed to reveal the main symbols behind the chosen words uttered by the heroes of the epic and then link this speech to the image itself by choosing the other theory. Also, through application, the study shows that the three dimensions of Kress and Van Leeuwen's theory of visual grammar differ from one frame to another according to the chosen dialogue, event, situation, and context, where symbolism controls all these differences. For example, the interactive dimension, including various elements such as gaze, social distance, framing, angle, and modality markers, varies from image to image, depending on the context of the scene. The third frame, which shows the demon Ravan, differs in terms of all these elements from the other frames that depict the beautiful colors of nature. The epic also represents an attractive reflection of the features of Orientalism. The study has attempted to draw a complete picture of the features of Orientalism within the Ramayana, depicting the civilizations of the East and the desire of Western thought to influence the Eastern one. In the Ramayana, Rama represents the entire East, Ravan represents the West, and the colonial wars that targeted the East embody the real wars that took place on the land of India and the desire to control it.