Cahiers In-Image N°01/ “Interpretivism in Combination with the Analysis of Transitivity” 123 Interpretivism in Combination with the Analysis of Transitivity: Towards an Interdisciplinary Approach to Academic Research in Cultural Studies * Sadok Damak / University of Sfax Abstract The typical paradigm adopted in cultural studies research and teaching methodologies alike is more often than not the interpretative approach to the available data. The present paper speculates that the cross-verification of the outcome of the interpretative approach by means of the Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) Transitivity analytical toolkit in application to the collected data not only confirms the findings and concluding remarks, but even allows additional discernments about aspects that the cultural studies researchers or practitioners may overlook. This hypothesis has been tested with regard to the interpretative findings about a lecture by the current spiritual leader of the Nation of Islam, an African American sect. The content analysis of such an ethnic-religious discourse has reflected the identification hesitance of the mouthpiece of the sect as one swaying between separatism and social integration or, simply, between Islamity and Americanity. With respect to this finding, the cross-checking by means of the significant Experiential characteristics of Transitivity has proved conclusive, as will be shown. Although at this stage more identical surveys will certainly be needed for testing this hypothesis further, it is recommended in the interim that such an interdisciplinary approach be adopted in application to cultural studies research and classes, both. Keywords Black Muslims – interdisciplinarity – interpretivism – SFL Transitivity – cultural studies Introduction Relying heavily on content analysis, cultural studies tends to yield narrative reports about the investigative results and commentaries it conducts by identifying patterns and features that are likely to explain cultural phenomena and behaviors. To this end, it focuses on the meaning of the language stemming from the data collected about the studied phenomena. Simultaneously, in an interdisciplinary perspective, cultural studies’ approach to the thus gathered data also draws a lot upon the humanities—by borrowing different explanatory theoretical frameworks—but upon linguistics, too, for its various informative toolkits and theories. 1 Accordingly, as a confirmed authoritative approach to language and language functions, Systemic Functional Linguistics (henceforth * In In-Image Journal: Semiotic Studies and Discourse Analysis 1 (2019): 123-47. ISSN: 1737-7390. 1 Damak, “Methodological Approach”; interested readers may also refer to Milliot and Wieviorka; Charlot, Halimi, and Royot.