Performing Speech: Reassessing Dialogue in Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino, 2012)

ABSTRACT

While critical discussions of Django Unchained (2012) have largely centered on Quentin Tarantino's controversial use of racial slurs, this article argues that the film's most significant intervention lies in its use of dialogue as a performative and political force. Challenging the tendency in film studies to privilege visual style over spoken language, the paper demonstrates how dialogue functions as a crucial site where power and resistance are negotiated. Through close analysis of key scenes, it examines how Tarantino transforms verbal exchanges into staged performances, using theatrical framing and rhetorical devices to foreground language as an autonomous cinematic element.