A Text Analysis of the Representation of Imam Samudra in Tempo Article Entitled "Imam's Journey to Martydom" Using van Dijk's Theory.

ABSTRACT

Dalam tugas akhir ini, saya menganalisis representasi Imam Samudra di dalam sebuah artikel yang berjudul “Imam’s Journey to Martyrdom”. Artikel tersebut di ambil dari majalah Tempo edisi 2 Desember 2002 yang ditulis oleh Wahyu Muryadi, Irfan Budiman, Darmawan Sepriyossa dan Edy Budiarso. Penelitian ini dilakukan dengan tujuan untuk mengetahui bagaimana representasi Imam Samudra sebagai teroris yang memiliki obsesi untuk menjadi martir dan proses apa saja yang dialaminya sehingga memiliki obesesi tersebut.

Saya menggunakan teori van Dijk untuk menganalisis representasi Imam Samudra. Terdapat tiga tingkatan dalam teori tersebut, yakni makro, meso dan mikro. Saya memfokuskan penelitian ini pada tingkat mikro. Terdapat tiga aspek dalam tahap mikro, yakni analisis makrostruktur, superstruktur dan mikrostruktur. Melalui penelitian dengan menggunakan tiga aspek tersebut, saya mendapatkan kesimpulan bahwa Imam Samudra direpresentasikan negatif oleh penulis dalam artikel ini. Strategi yang diterapkan oleh para penulis juga sangat menarik, yakni menyajikan representasi Imam Samudra tidak hanya secara eksplisit akan tetapi juga implisit.

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Maranatha Christian University

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... i

ABSTRACT ... ii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ... 1

Background of the Study ... 1

Statement of the Problem ... 4

Purpose of the Study ... 4

Method of Research ... 4

Organization of the Thesis ... 5

CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ... 6

2.1 Macrostructure ... 7

2.2 Superstructure ... 7

2.3 Microstructure ... 9

CHAPTER THREE: A TEXT ANALYSIS OF THE REPRESENTATION OF IMAM SAMUDRA IN TEMPO ARTICLE ENTITLED “IMAM’S JOURNEY TO MARTYRDOM” USING VAN DIJK’S THEORY……….. 14

3.1 Macrostructure Analysis ... 14

3.2 Superstructure Analysis ... 18

3.3 Microstructure Analysis ... 37

CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION ... 44

BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 48

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

When we hear the word “terrorist”, a negative impression immediately comes to our mind. It is because we always find that a terrorist act is not reasonable, which causes others to suffer or even die. In addition, he or she acts as a vigilante to disguise in order to achieve their goals. According to Cambridge Advanced

Learner’s Dictionary 3th Edition, terrorist means “someone who uses violent

action, or threats of violent action for political purposes.” (“Terrorist,” def. 1). Thus, a terrorist is a person who is involved in a group and takes part in a terrorist act.

A terrorist is not alone to carry out the plans because the person involved in this act has accomplices. What is more, they are united to make them stronger. Every terrorist has his or her own duty. In this thesis, I will analyze Imam Samudra, who is widely known not only in Indonesia but also all over the world.

Nowadays, some public places like restaurants, clubs even some places of worship become targets for terrorist attacks. Terrorists use bombs because of their efficiency and big impacts. Moreover, it draws people’s attention. Terrorists want

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to make others follow their obsession so they are really committed. They even have their own purpose in doing the act like for political and religious beliefs.

Imam Samudra’s case is one of the cases of terrorist attacks in Indonesia. Imam Samudra is the mastermind of the Bali bombing 1 and widely known as a martyr. According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 8th Edition, martyr means “a person who suffers very much or is killed because of their religious or political beliefs.” (“Martyr,” def. 1). From this definition, it can be concluded that Imam Samudra is willing to die for his belief. To carry out his plan, Imam Samudra used many aliases so as to hide his real identity. He also has many accomplices to commit this act. His main reason for the bombings is to carry on the jihad in Indonesia. In fact, Imam Samudra thought that to die as a martyr would be rewarded in Heaven. He is known as the man behind the Sari Club and Paddy’s Bar’s bombings in Bali.

After the bombings, Imam Samudra becomes a controversial figure because there are two opposing opinions about his act. Some people support Imam Samudra while others are against him. At last, less than 40 days after the explosion in Bali Imam Samudra was arrested. As a result, he got a death penalty. Knowing the fact that Imam Samudra was sentenced to death, some people who supported him feel disappointed while others who were against him felt relieved and were proud of the police’s effort because they managed to arrest him.

In this thesis, I take an article from the English edition of Tempo magazine, entitled “Killers among Us” as the source of my data. I choose this source because

Tempo is a reputable magazine which not only provides recent events but also the

is entitled “Imam’s Journey to Martyrdom”, because I want to know more about how Imam Samudra as a terrorist is represented in this article, specifically by using Teun A. van Dijk’s theory.

I particularly use van Dijk’s theory about critical discourse analysis based on news schemata, which is a major theory of conducting my analysis. I will analyze the article using a micro level analysis which consists of the macrostructure, superstructure and microstructure analyses in order to know Imam Samudra’s representation. Thus, it can be stated that the topic of this thesis is “A Text Analysis of the Representation of Imam Samudra in Tempo magazine Entitled ‘Imam’s Journey to Martyrdom’ Using Van Dijk’s Theory.”

In the news report, a writer usually has a certain representation to represent other characters. We can know how a person is presented either positively or negatively from the way the article is written or from the way words are chosen.

I like the way this magazine represents Imam Samudra because it is really clear for the global readers to understand the article more deeply. What is more, a text analysis requires a deeper understanding for the readers to learn further. Therefore, the topic is significant to discuss as it can make the readers know how writers can create a text to represent other people in an article, especially concerning terrorists in a news report.

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1.2 Statement of the Problem

In this thesis, there are three main problems that I will analyze. Those problems are stated as follows:

1. What is the representation of Imam Samudra in the text based on the macrostructure analysis?

2. What is the representation of Imam Samudra in the text based on the superstructure analysis?

3. What is the representation of Imam Samudra in the text based on the microstructure analysis?

1.3 Purpose of the Study

In this analysis, there are three purposes stated as follows:

1. To find out the representation of Imam Samudra in the text based on the macrostructure analysis.

2. To find out the representation of Imam Samudra in the text based on the superstructure analysis.

3. To find out the representation of Imam Samudra in the text based on the microstructure analysis.

1.4 Methods of Research

I began the research by searching and finding articles in magazines and newspapers from many sources. I decided to choose an article from Tempo magazine entitled “Imam’s Journey to Martyrdom”. Then, I read and tried to understand the purpose of the article conveyed to the readers. Next, I browsed

some further explanation about my topic on the Internet to get a deeper understanding. In addition, I read some journals in the library and searched the theory of representation by van Dijk, which is related to my thesis. Furthermore, I started doing the analysis. Finally, I wrote a research report.

1.5 Organization of the Thesis

I divide this thesis into four chapters. Chapter One is Introduction, which consists of five parts: Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Purpose of the Study, Methods of Research, and Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two contains the theory which is used to analyze the data in this thesis. Chapter Three contains the text analysis of the article and Chapter Four is the Conclusion of the analysis. At the end of the thesis, I put the Bibliography and Appendix.

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CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

In this chapter, I would like to conclude the specific points about the representation of Imam Samudra in Tempo article entitled “Imam’s Journey to Martyrdom” based on the discussion of micro level analysis in Chapter Three, which consists of three aspects of analysis. They are macrostructure, superstructure and microstructure analyses. From these three analyses, I conclude that the representation of Imam Samudra is presented negatively in the article.

Interestingly, I can also find some characteristics of Imam Samudra as a terrorist that the writers want to convey to the readers by showing implicitly in each paragraph. It is really clear the writers want the readers to realize that Imam Samudra was actually a cold-blooded and wicked terrorist with a single-minded obsession. Therefore, those two words are really connecting with each other in drawing his representation.

In the macrostructure analysis, Imam Samudra is presented as a negative representation. It can be seen from the choice of the main headline, lower headline and lead. From the headlines, the writers emphasize Imam Samudra’s obsession of

bombing by telling the readers that Imam Samudra wanted to be a martyr, which makes him willing to do anything even to use bombs to make his plan run smoothly. In the lead, the characteristics of Imam Samudra being cold-blooded and wicked become stronger because he felt no remorse for something he had done by bombing several places in Bali.

I notice that the writers are really capable of making an interesting summary in this article. It is one of the effective ways to get the reader’s attention. Personally, I am very interested in the main headline of this article because it is presented uniquely. The writers use the word martyrdom in describing Imam Samudra. It is used because the writers want to make Imam Samudra seem to do a positive action in his journey, even though he was widely known as a terrorist who had bombed several places. Presenting a headline in this way is a good strategy, as it can make the readers more curious about Imam Samudra and make them want to continue reading the rest of the article.

Imam Samudra’s wickedness is further emphasized in the superstructure analysis, which can be seen in the verbal reaction and background category. In these categories, an Indonesian National Police Chief revealed that Imam Samudra was influenced by Abu Bakar’s camp, where religion is taught very strictly as is the jihad ideology. Imam Samudra also believed that Muslims were being oppressed in Palestine and Afghanistan. Therefore, the representation of Imam Samudra as a cold-blooded and wicked person with a single-minded obsession becomes clearer because he wanted to carry on the jihad in Indonesia in his own way by using bombs which had killed 186 people.

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from the superstructure analysis. Moreover, the presence of the superstructure category is really important because we can understand the article objectively. It is proved that the writers provide more verbal reactions and backgrounds rather than another category. I think they are parts of the writers’ strategy to make the readers have the same perception as them and agree with it. Surely, the readers will not be doubtful anymore after they know that the opinions and backgrounds are quoted from a reliable person. It shows that the writers do not present the article based merely on their own point of view. Surprisingly, in these categories the writers only give one positive representation in order to convince the readers that Imam Samudra had a negative representation.

Opposite to the previous category when explaining Imam Samudra’s negative attitude, the representation of Imam Samudra is presented subtly in the microstructure analysis because the writers want the readers to draw their own conclusion from Imam Samudra’s characteristics by using some negative words in this article. In this analysis, the writers choose eleven words which have negative representation in meaning. However, Imam Samudra is not directly mentioned as a cold-blooded and wicked person with a single-minded obsession, because the writers want the readers to draw their own conclusion after reading those chosen words. From the chosen words, it is really interesting to find that those words are related with each other to give a stronger representation of Imam Samudra as a cold-blooded and wicked person. Those words are cold, silent, evil-looking man, a

malevolent terrorist, the brains behind the bombing, and controversial figure.

Surely, the chosen words in this article have a big impact on the representation of Imam Samudra.

Strangely, the writers do not even give one positive word in describing the representation of Imam Samudra. I am of the opinion that the writers do not give any chance to the readers to think that Imam Samudra was a good person. In my opinion, if the writers give some positive words to present Imam Samudra, the readers may think that he was doing the bombings because of a good reason and they will even agree with Samudra’s action. In addition, the chosen words in this article are really suitable to draw a negative representation of Imam Samudra. Therefore, this last category is also important to be presented in the article in order to support the other categories.

To analyze an article, there are so many theories can be used. However, I choose van Dijk’s theory to analyze this article because this theory is concerned with every single detailed information in each paragraph. After analyzing the article by using three aspects of analysis, I find that this article is really well worth reading. From the beginning until the end of the paragraph, the writers are consistent in presenting Imam Samudra. They also present the representation of Imam Samudra straight to the points.

In this last paragraph, I would like to give my suggestion to students who want to analyze or have an interest in news articles. I suggest that the students be more selective in choosing an article to analyze, because not all articles are really worth analyzing. It is also advisable for the students to not just focus on what is written. What is more, they have to be more aware of some issues happening at that time because in analyzing a news article, an analyst has to know the background of the topic being discussed in the news article.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Text

Wahyu Muryadi, Irfan Budiman, Darmawan Sepriyossa, Edy Budiarso. “Imam’s Journey to Martyrdom.” Tempo Magazine 2 December 2002, pp. 14-16.

References

“Brains.” Def. 5. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. Calvert, John. Islamism: A Documentary and Reference Guide. United States of

America, 2008. Print.

“Cold.” Def. 5. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. “Controversial.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010.

Print.

Dawson, John. “The Bali Bombers: What Motivates Death Worship?” In Defense

of Individual Rights Capitalism Magazine. Capitalism Magazine, 2003. Web.

07 June 2014.

“Defiant.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. “Evil.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. “Extreme.” Def. 3. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print.

“Fugitive.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. “Jihad.” Def. 2. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. “Journey.” Def. 2. Longman Advanced American Dictionary. 2nd ed. 2001. Print. “Looking.” Def. 6. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. “Malevolent.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. “Martyr.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. “Martyrdom.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.8th ed. 2010. Print. “Moro Islamic Liberation Front.” Mapping Militant Organization. Stanford

University, 2013. Web. 06 June 2014.

Paddock, Richard. C. “Terror Network’s Academic Outpost.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 2003. Web. 07 June 2014.

“Seeking.” Def. 5. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. “Silent.” Def. 5. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. “Slippery.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. “Terrorist.” Def. 1. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3th ed. 2008.

Print.

van Dijk, T. A. “Analyzing Racism Through Discourse Analysis.” n.d. Web. 28 August 2014.

van Dijk, T. A. Critical Discourse Analysis. Handbook of Discourse Analysis. 352-371. Oxford: Blackwell, 2001. Print.

van Dijk, T. A. Discourse and Manipulation. Discourse & Society. 359-383. 1993. Print.

50 Maranatha Christian University

van Dijk, T. A. News Schemata. Studying Writing. 155-185. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1986. Print.

van Dijk, T.A. Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis. Discourse & Society. 249-283. 1993. Print.

Wockner, Cindy. “Bomber Imam Samudra’s Words from Beyond the Grave.”.

bombing by telling the readers that Imam Samudra wanted to be a martyr, which makes him willing to do anything even to use bombs to make his plan run smoothly. In the lead, the characteristics of Imam Samudra being cold-blooded and wicked become stronger because he felt no remorse for something he had done by bombing several places in Bali.

I notice that the writers are really capable of making an interesting summary in this article. It is one of the effective ways to get the reader’s attention. Personally, I am very interested in the main headline of this article because it is presented uniquely. The writers use the word martyrdom in describing Imam Samudra. It is used because the writers want to make Imam Samudra seem to do a positive action in his journey, even though he was widely known as a terrorist who had bombed several places. Presenting a headline in this way is a good strategy, as it can make the readers more curious about Imam Samudra and make them want to continue reading the rest of the article.

Imam Samudra’s wickedness is further emphasized in the superstructure analysis, which can be seen in the verbal reaction and background category. In these categories, an Indonesian National Police Chief revealed that Imam Samudra was influenced by Abu Bakar’s camp, where religion is taught very strictly as is the jihad ideology. Imam Samudra also believed that Muslims were being oppressed in Palestine and Afghanistan. Therefore, the representation of Imam Samudra as a cold-blooded and wicked person with a single-minded obsession becomes clearer because he wanted to carry on the jihad in Indonesia in his own way by using bombs which had killed 186 people.

46

Maranatha Christian University from the superstructure analysis. Moreover, the presence of the superstructure category is really important because we can understand the article objectively. It is proved that the writers provide more verbal reactions and backgrounds rather than another category. I think they are parts of the writers’ strategy to make the readers have the same perception as them and agree with it. Surely, the readers will not be doubtful anymore after they know that the opinions and backgrounds are quoted from a reliable person. It shows that the writers do not present the article based merely on their own point of view. Surprisingly, in these categories the writers only give one positive representation in order to convince the readers that Imam Samudra had a negative representation.

Opposite to the previous category when explaining Imam Samudra’s negative attitude, the representation of Imam Samudra is presented subtly in the microstructure analysis because the writers want the readers to draw their own conclusion from Imam Samudra’s characteristics by using some negative words in this article. In this analysis, the writers choose eleven words which have negative representation in meaning. However, Imam Samudra is not directly mentioned as a cold-blooded and wicked person with a single-minded obsession, because the writers want the readers to draw their own conclusion after reading those chosen words. From the chosen words, it is really interesting to find that those words are related with each other to give a stronger representation of Imam Samudra as a cold-blooded and wicked person. Those words are cold, silent, evil-looking man, a malevolent terrorist, the brains behind the bombing, and controversial figure. Surely, the chosen words in this article have a big impact on the representation of Imam Samudra.

Strangely, the writers do not even give one positive word in describing the representation of Imam Samudra. I am of the opinion that the writers do not give any chance to the readers to think that Imam Samudra was a good person. In my opinion, if the writers give some positive words to present Imam Samudra, the readers may think that he was doing the bombings because of a good reason and they will even agree with Samudra’s action. In addition, the chosen words in this article are really suitable to draw a negative representation of Imam Samudra. Therefore, this last category is also important to be presented in the article in order to support the other categories.

To analyze an article, there are so many theories can be used. However, I choose van Dijk’s theory to analyze this article because this theory is concerned with every single detailed information in each paragraph. After analyzing the article by using three aspects of analysis, I find that this article is really well worth reading. From the beginning until the end of the paragraph, the writers are consistent in presenting Imam Samudra. They also present the representation of Imam Samudra straight to the points.

In this last paragraph, I would like to give my suggestion to students who want to analyze or have an interest in news articles. I suggest that the students be more selective in choosing an article to analyze, because not all articles are really worth analyzing. It is also advisable for the students to not just focus on what is written. What is more, they have to be more aware of some issues happening at that time because in analyzing a news article, an analyst has to know the background of the topic being discussed in the news article.

48 Maranatha Christian University

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Text

Wahyu Muryadi, Irfan Budiman, Darmawan Sepriyossa, Edy Budiarso. “Imam’s Journey to Martyrdom.” Tempo Magazine 2 December 2002, pp. 14-16.

References

“Brains.” Def. 5. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. Calvert, John. Islamism: A Documentary and Reference Guide. United States of

America, 2008. Print.

“Cold.” Def. 5. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. “Controversial.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010.

Print.

Dawson, John. “The Bali Bombers: What Motivates Death Worship?” In Defense of Individual Rights Capitalism Magazine. Capitalism Magazine, 2003. Web. 07 June 2014.

“Defiant.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. “Evil.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. “Extreme.” Def. 3. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print.

“Fugitive.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. “Jihad.” Def. 2. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. “Journey.” Def. 2. Longman Advanced American Dictionary. 2nd ed. 2001. Print. “Looking.” Def. 6. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. “Malevolent.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. “Martyr.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. “Martyrdom.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.8th ed. 2010. Print. “Moro Islamic Liberation Front.” Mapping Militant Organization. Stanford

University, 2013. Web. 06 June 2014.

Paddock, Richard. C. “Terror Network’s Academic Outpost.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 2003. Web. 07 June 2014.

“Seeking.” Def. 5. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. “Silent.” Def. 5. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. “Slippery.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print. “Terrorist.” Def. 1. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3th ed. 2008.

Print.

van Dijk, T. A. “Analyzing Racism Through Discourse Analysis.” n.d. Web. 28 August 2014.

van Dijk, T. A. Critical Discourse Analysis. Handbook of Discourse Analysis. 352-371. Oxford: Blackwell, 2001. Print.

van Dijk, T. A. Discourse and Manipulation. Discourse & Society. 359-383. 1993. Print.

50 Maranatha Christian University van Dijk, T. A. News Schemata. Studying Writing. 155-185. Beverly Hills, CA:

Sage, 1986. Print.

van Dijk, T.A. Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis. Discourse & Society. 249-283. 1993. Print.

Wockner, Cindy. “Bomber Imam Samudra’s Words from Beyond the Grave.”. Herald Sun. Herald Sun, 2008. Web. 07 June 2014.