before deconstructionists arrive at this point, it has first uncovered the structure that operates in a text and shown us how these structures can be dismantled by making
use of elements of text itself. From the explanations about post-structuralism and deconstruction, it is clear that post-structuralism is applicable in this study. It sees
a text from different perspective. Thus, it reveals hidden meaning within a text.
C. Method of the Study
The researcher used library study in conducting this study. The primary datum was the lyrics of the song
“M.I.A.” written by Matthew Sanders, the vocalist of American heavy metal band, Avenged Sevenfold. The song lyrics were taken
from Avenged Sevenfold’s titled “City of Evil”. The secondary data were theories
about poetry, post-structuralism, deconstruction, and some data related to the song and theories used in this study. The data were collected from printed books and
online sources. There were several steps applied by the researcher in conducting this study.
First, the researcher read the lyrics of the song “M.I.A.” repeatedly many times
without listening to the audio track of the song. Then, the researcher listened to the song and read its lyrics simultaneously to get into the song deeper. Second, the
researcher began to search and collected related theories in order to support the researcher in answering the formulated problems. The researcher also looked for
additional information regarding the song from online sources.
Third, the researcher started to analyze the lyrics of the song “M.I.A.” in
order to find the literal meaning. Also, the researcher used the theory of poetry to clarify the system in writing the lyrics e.g. type of poetry and stanza. Having done
with the literal meaning, the researcher stepped forward to answer the second formulated problem which reveals the hidden
meaning of “M.I.A.”. The researcher applied deconstructive reading strategy using the steps proposed by Barry 2009
and Bressler 1999. Those two experts provide easy steps to follow. Besides, the researcher also employed the theory of ambiguity from Empson 1955 to support
the findings. The theory of ambiguity was used to bridge the literal meaning and the hidden meaning by clarifying that they contradict each other. Finally, the
researcher made conclusion based on the result of the analysis.
