1. Presupposed Meaning in Existential Presupposition
Existential presupposition is a type of presupposition which presupposes certain meaning by using definite descriptions such as possesive remarks, noun
phrases, or proper names. Based on the data above, it indicates that the researcher finds 25.6 out of 39 utterances in the film script that belong to the existential
presupposition. There are 10 utterances in the film script that presuppose meaning based on existential presupposition. The summary of the presupposed meaning
based on existential presupposition can be seen in the table below.
PageScene Characters
Utterances
13 Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk‘s recorded will 920
Harvey Milk McConnelly
Scott Smith Conversation
2625 David Goodstein
Harvey Milk Conversation
3657 Harvey Milk
Conversation with a boy 4167
Dan White Press Conference
4976 Channel 5 Reporter
Harvey Milk Conversation
Interview by the reporter 5888
Anne Kronenberg Harvey Milk
Conversation 6894
Harvey Milk Harvey Milk‘s recorded will
7099 Cleve Jones
Harvey Milk Conversation
81112 Harvey Milk
Speech at the City Hall‘s front doors Table 1. Utterances with Existential Presupposition
All of the utterances mentioned in the table above presuppose a meaning that is triggered by the definite description, such as possesive remarks, noun
phrases, and proper names. The first utterance is found in Scene 3, portraying Harvey Milk‘s recorded will in a tape recorder which can only be played in the
event of his assasination if it occurs. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
1 Harvey Milk: If I was speaking to a slightly hostile or mostly straight audience
, I‘d try to break the tension with a joke p.1. There is a slightly hostile and straight audience.
Based on the utterance above, it presupposes that there is a slightly
hostile and straight audience in San Francisco during the 1970s, indicated by the noun phrase a slightly hostile or mostly straight audience. Those two noun
phrases presuppose the existence of a slightly hostile audience that is mostly straight non-homosexual. The second utterance is found in Scene 9, portraying
Harvey Milk‘s conversation with two other characters namely McConnelly and Scott Smith.
2 McConnelly: I don‘t think your application will be approved Mr.
Milk. This is a family neighboorhood. Your kind is far more welcome on Haight Street.
Harvey Milk: trying to keep it friendly What ―kind‖ do you mean, sir?
McConnelly: not playing along The Merchant‘s Association will
have the police pull your license if you open your doors.
Scott Smith: Based on what law? McConnelly:
There‘s a man‘s law and there‘s God‘s law in this neighboorhood and in this city. The San Francisco
Police force is happy to enforce either.
Harvey Milk: to McConnelly as he walks away Thanks for the warm welcome to the neighboorhood p.9.
There i s a ―kind‖ of person that refers to a gay person or gay
community that is far more welcome on Haight Street. There is a law established by the society and God‘s law in San
Francisco. Based on the conversation above, it presupposes two kinds of meaning.
The first one is that there is an existence of a gay person that is far more welcome on Haight Street, indicated by the possesive remark your kind. The reason why
your kind can be referred to gay people because in its isolated meaning, kind PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
means a group of people or things that is the same in some ways. Thus, the possessive remark your
uttered by McConnelly refers to Harvey Milk‘s possession. It means that your kind refers to the people that are the same as
Harvey Milk in some ways, in this case sexual orientation. Thus, your kind means gay people homosexuals who are in the same position as Harvey Milk. The
second one is that there is an existence of man‘s law and God‘s law in San Francisco
, indicated by the genitive ‗s that is attached to the noun man and God which means that the law belongs to both man and God. Therefore, it is
presupposed that there is a man‘s law and God‘s law in San Francisco. The third utterance is f
ound in Scene 25, portraying Harvey Milk‘s conversation with David Goodstein.
3 David Goostein: For you, politics is a game, a lark. Like putting a
rock festival or staging a ―love-in.‖ You‘re too old to be a hippie, Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk: I‘m not a candidate. I‘m part of a movement. The
movement is the candidate p.26. There is a movement.
Based on the conversation above, Harvey Milk‘s utterance presupposes that there is a movement that is a part of Harvey Milk. The presupposed meaning can be
indicated by the noun phrase a movement which illustrates the existence of a movement advocated by Harvey Milk. The fourth utterance is found in Scene 57,
portraying Harvey Milk‘s conversation with a boy. 4
Harvey Milk: There are people out here just like you who will welcome you and love you p.36.
There are people out here just like the boy who will welcome the boy and love the boy.