THE REPRESENTATION OF AMERICANIZATION MYTHS IN THE INTERNET MEMES ON THE 9GAG COMEDY WEBSITE.
The Representation of Americanization Myths in the Internet Memes on the 9GAG
Comedy Website
A Research Paper
Submitted to the English Education Department of the Faculty of Language and Arts
Education of the Indonesia University of Education as a Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for Sarjana Sastra Degree
By:
RYAN ADITYA ACHADIAT
0809457
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS EDUCATION
INDONESIA UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
2013
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PAGE OF APPROVAL
The Representation of Americanization Myths in the Internet Memes on the 9GAG Comedy
Website
A Research Paper
By
Ryan Aditya Achadiat
0809457
Approved by
First Supervisor
Second Supervisor
Dr. Didi Sukyadi, M.A.
Ruswan Dallyono, S.Sos., M.Pd.
NIP. 196706091994031003
NIP. 197008032005011002
Head of Department of English Education
Faculty of Languages and Arts Education
Indonesia University of Education
Prof. Dr. Didi Suherdi, M.Ed.
NIP. 196211011987121001
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The Representation of Americanization Myths in the Internet Memes on the 9GAG
Comedy Website
By:
RYAN ADITYA ACHADIAT
Sebuah skripsi yang diajukan untuk memenuhi salah satu syarat memperoleh gelar Sarjana Sastra
pada Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni
© Ryan Aditya Achadiat 2013
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
Februari 2013
Hak Cipta dilindungi undang-undang.
Skripsi ini tidak boleh diperbanyak seluruhya atau sebagian,
dengan dicetak ulang, difoto kopi, atau cara lainnya tanpa ijin dari penulis.
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ABSTRACT
The use of Internet memes in the website is believed to be a new media to
disseminate important ideologies and cultural values which represent the current
norms of people in today's life. Dealing with this issue, this study entitled “The
Representation of Americanization Myths in the Internet Memes on 9GAG Comedy
Website” is aimed at investigating the Myths of Americanization of 9GAG Internet
memes in the Hot Page of the website where the popular Internet memes are
provided. The data were ten 9GAG Internet memes which were taken from the 9GAG
Hot Page. This study used a qualitative descriptive approach framed in a semiotic
analysis, specifically Barthes’ (1991) orders of signification to examine the myths in
each Internet meme. The myths of the Internet memes then were analyzed using the
USA’s values and assumptions theory proposed by Althen and Bennett (2011). The
findings reveal that there are eight myths of Americanization which delivered spread
globally through the Internet memes. Those are individualism, freedom, equality,
materialism, glorification, directness and assertiveness, and achievement. The myths
of Americanization are represented through the symbolic signs in the Internet memes
which represent the United States of America.
Keywords: Americanization, Internet meme, Myth, Orders of signification
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
STATEMENT OF AUTHORIZATION .........................................................ii
PREFACE ..........................................................................................................iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..............................................................................iv
ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................vii
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................x
LIST OF FIGURES ..........................................................................................xi
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1
1.1 Background of Study ..................................................................................... 1
1.2
Research Questions .................................................................................. 6
1.3
Aims of Study ........................................................................................... 6
1.4
Scope of the Study .................................................................................... 6
1.5
Significance of the Study ......................................................................... 7
1.6
Research Methodology ............................................................................. 7
1.6.1 Research Design ..................................................................................... 7
1.6.2 Data Collection ....................................................................................... 8
1.6.3 Data Analysis .......................................................................................... 8
1.7 Clarification of the Terms ............................................................................. 9
1.8
Organization of the Paper ....................................................................... 11
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .................................................................... 13
2.1 Semiotics ..................................................................................................... 13
2.1.1 Semiotic Models ................................................................................... 14
2.1.2 Myth ...................................................................................................... 21
2.2 Ideology ....................................................................................................... 24
2.3 Hegemony ................................................................................................... 27
vii
2.4 Globalization ............................................................................................... 28
2.5 Americanization .......................................................................................... 30
2.6 Meme ........................................................................................................... 34
2.6.1 Internet Meme ....................................................................................... 35
2.7 Comedy Website 9GAG .............................................................................. 37
2.8 Previous Research ....................................................................................... 39
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ...................................................................... 42
3.1 Research Method ......................................................................................... 42
3.2 Research Procedure ..................................................................................... 44
3.2.1 Data Collection ..................................................................................... 44
3.2.2 Data Analysis ........................................................................................ 46
3.2.3 Data Presentation .................................................................................. 48
CHAPTER IV
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ...................................................................... 51
4.1 Findings ....................................................................................................... 51
4.1.1 Barack Obama Internet Meme ............................................................. 52
4.1.2 Yao Ming Internet Meme ...................................................................... 54
4.1.3 Successful Black Man Internet Meme ................................................... 56
4.1.4 McKayla Not Impressed Meme ............................................................ 59
4.1.5 Shut Up and Take My Money! Internet Meme ..................................... 61
4.1.6 Success Kid Internet Meme .................................................................. 63
4.1.7 Bad Luck Brian Internet Meme ............................................................ 65
4.1.8 Barney Stinson Internet Meme ............................................................. 67
4.1.9 Zeddie Little Internet Meme ................................................................. 69
4.1.10 Ned Stark Internet Meme .................................................................... 72
4.2 Discussions .................................................................................................. 74
4.2.1 Informality ............................................................................................ 75
4.2.2 Freedom ................................................................................................ 76
4.2.3 Equality ................................................................................................. 78
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4.2.4 Achievement ......................................................................................... 79
4.2.5 Materialism ........................................................................................... 81
4.2.6 Glorification of Physically Attractive Person ....................................... 82
4.2.7 Directness and Assertiveness ................................................................ 84
4.2.8 Individualism ........................................................................................ 85
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS .......................................................... 88
5.1 Conclusions ................................................................................................. 88
5.2 Suggestions .................................................................................................. 90
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................... 91
APPENDICES ..................................................................................................... 95
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This introduction chapter explains the nature of the study. It begins with the
background of the study from which the formulation of research questions and the
aims of study are based. This section also includes reasons for choosing the topic and
the significance of the study. There is also research methodology section that explains
the steps used in conducting the study. This chapter ended with the clarification of
some terms used in this study and the organization of the paper as a general
description of the outline of this research paper.
1.1 Background of Study
Globalization has a tendency to defend the patterns of western socialization which are
already established in the world (Sardar & Borin, 1999). Globalization, they further
explain, promotes dominant values and cultural practices which are visions about
how to deal with life by sacrificing their own values and culture. Thus, globalization
has serious practical consequences.
Globalization, according to Sardar and Borin (1999: 161), is a process that
“rapidly shrinks distances, compresses space and time, and changes the world into a
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„global village‟”. Today a large amount of daily interaction occurs on the Internet
(Derks, et al., 2008). Instant Messaging (IM), chat rooms, social networks, and
personal websites have become new media where people can communicate with other
people around the world to get information and entertainment. Those new media of
communication are believed to be the results of the globalization.
As time goes by, globalization has become Americanization. In 1900s, the
term “Americanization” referred to the process of acculturation, assimilation by
immigrants to American customs and values (Moffett, 1907). Nowadays, however,
the term “Americanization” refers more to the cultures, life styles, visions, ideas of
North Americans (USA) that globally spread (Hoynes, et al., 2011). The U.S. spread
their values and assumption to the world through globalization.
There are some American values and assumptions that are considered as the
part of Americanization which is being spread globally. Althen and Bennet (2011)
mentions those values and assumption as follows: Individualism, freedom,
competitiveness, privacy, equality, informality, the future, the change, the progress,
goodness in humanity, time, achievement, action, work, materialism, directness, and
assertiveness. Those values and assumptions proposed by Althen and Bennet (2011)
are discussed more detail in chapter II.
Internet websites, in this case comedy websites, are the results of the cultural
industry that is specially designed to reach people, especially teenagers around the
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world. Moreover, just as any other media which is intended for people, websites are
ideological in some ways. Horkheimer and Adorno (2007) argue that US mass media,
including websites, share an ideology to support their status quo or existence.
Horkheimer and Adorno believe that the enormous businesses which control
messages from the mass media have ideological interests in it (ibid).
One of the ways to share an ideology is through Internet memes. Memes can
be ideas, symbols or practices formed in various forms, such as melodies,
catchphrases, clothing fashion or architectural styles (Shifman, 2011). Memes are
widely used nowadays in many websites. The term “Internet meme” is used to
describe a concept that spreads via the Internet (Schubert, 2003). She further explains
that the term “Internet meme” is a reference to the concept of memes, an idea or
behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture, although the
latter concept refers to a much broader category of cultural information (ibid).
A comedy website named 9GAG (http://9GAG.com/) is one of the websites
that use Internet memes to share ideas among the members. The 9GAG had 67
million visitors in April 2012, and is still growing until now. It has more than one
billion monthly page views as of December 2011 (Gannez, 2012). In 9GAG, the
members can upload “gags” which are usually comical images (Internet memes).
People also use Internet memes mostly as a language of communication in 9GAG.
Internet memes are used almost every time either in 9GAG or in other websites.
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Every Internet meme is believed to be used as a new medium of communication
because people communicate and share ideas through it.
Generally speaking, the communication takes place in two ways, verbal and
non-verbal communication. The visual communication includes the non-verbal
communication because it lacks the use of language. In this case, the Internet memes
are inferred as a language in the form of images. Internet memes are also considered
to be signs and can be interpreted as something else.
Semiotics is often used to confront the question of how images make
meanings head on (Rose, 2002). The orders of signification theory proposed by
Barthes (1991), which is a part of semiotics, explore the meanings behind things. In
that theory, sign can be denotative (the first order signification or denotation) that
describes something, or connotative (the second order of signification or connotation)
that carries a range of higher-level meanings. Connotative signs can be divided into
two kinds: metonymic, the signs are something associated with something else, and
synecdochal, the signs are part of something standing in for a whole or a whole
representing a part. Whereas, myth (the third order signification) is the naturalization
process when every representation is portrayed as something normal, usual and fine
(ibid).
There are some related studies which have been conducted by using a
semiotic analysis to explore the cyber world. Junida, et al. (2011) conducted a study
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to analyze the cyber emoticons using Barthes‟ orders of signification. They explored
the emoticons in the Lounge Forum of Kaskus, the largest Indonesian cyber
community forum. They found that each of the emoticons has meaning and function
as a way to communicate among members. The emoticons were used as a means of
visual communication, and to show emotion of someone‟s feeling so that other
members can easily understand the emotions (ibid).
Ririn and Amalia (2012) discovered the ideology behind the AXE Chocolate
advertisement. They explored each scene in the Axe Chocolate advertisement and
analyzed those scenes with Barthes‟ model of sign. As the results, they found that
masculinity appears as negative and positive ideologies because masculinity is not
contradictory with Indonesian culture. The value of masculinity shown by the
advertiser, however, is narrowed down into the area of sexuality. They also found that
the advertisement also gives a negative stereotype to women by showing women as
figures who like to show ther body through wearing outfits that exposes the women‟s
body (ibid).
There have also been some studies conducted to observe Internet memes.
Shifman (2011) uncovered the attributes common to „memetic videos‟ in YouTube, a
video-sharing website. She employed a combined qualitative and quantitative
analysis for her research. She found that the 30 memetic videos that she assembled
have six common features: focus on ordinary people, flawed masculinity, humor,
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simplicity, repetitiveness, and whimsical content. In conclusion, she addressed that
the rapid popularity of something in contemporary digital culture has something to do
with economic, social, and cultural logics.
Framing by those studies, this study attempts to explore the significance of
Internet memes on 9GAG. It used 10 Internet memes taken from “Hot Page” of
9GAG. This study uses Barthes‟ (1991) orders of signification to discover how the
myths of Americanization are represented in the Internet memes.
1.2 Research Questions
Pertaining to the reasons that have been mentioned before, this study was conducted
to respond to these following questions:
1.
What are the connotative meanings of these Internet memes?
2.
What are the myths contained in those connotations?
3.
Do these Internet memes represent Americanization?
4.
If so, how these Internet memes represent Americanization?
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1.3 Aims of Study
Given the formulation of research questions above, this study is aimed to investigate
the Americanization myths in Internet memes in 9GAG based on semiotic analysis.
1.4 Scope of the Study
This study is investigated the significance of Internet memes in 9GAG and attempts
to examine how the myths of Americanization are represented in the Internet memes.
The investigation pertains to the analysis of the orders of signification theory
proposed by Barthes (1991) which consists of first order signification, second order
of signification and myth of the Internet memes.
1.5 Significance of the Study
Internet memes actually contain important ideologies and cultural values which
represent the current norms of people in today's life. These ideologies and values
embody the motivating elements that influence the ways people conduct their
activities. By discovering these ideologies and values, this study can contribute to
help people to discover what are the ideologies and values represented in the Internet
memes.
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1.6 Research Methodology
1.6.1 Research Design
This study uses a descriptive qualitative approach framed in Barthes‟ (1991) orders of
significations theory to achieve the aims of the study. The descriptive method was
used because this study attempts to describe existing phenomena, current events,
conditions and situations (Picciano, 1991). Meanwhile, the qualitative method
properly seeks answers to questions by examining various social settings and the
individuals who inhabit them (Berg, 2001). Moreover, this study uses Barthes‟ (1991)
orders of signification theory, which includes first order of signification (denotation),
second order of signification (connotation), and third order of signification (myth), as
well. The myths then are explored by using the USA‟s values and assumptions which
are proposed by Althen and Bennett (2011).
1.6.2 Data Collection
Data were collected, analyzed, and interpreted by investigating some selected Internet
memes from 9GAG “Hot Page”. Therefore, this study focuses on the process,
meaning and understanding taken through the Internet meme.
The data were taken from the Internet memes which appeared in the „Hot‟
page of 9GAG. Ten Internet memes were purposively selected as data source of this
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study. Those Internet memes were selected because they were suitable and relevant to
the problems and the aims of this study.
1.6.3 Data Analysis
The data were gathered and analyzed by using a semiotic theory to investigate the
significations of the Internet memes. The orders of significations theory by Barthes
(1991) were used to discover the ideological meaning behind Internet memes in
9GAG. Furthermore, the first order signification was used to describe elements in
each Internet meme. The second order of signification was used to elaborate
connotative meanings attached to Internet memes. Finally, the myths were analyzed
to discover how the naturalization process on every representation is represented in
Internet memes. The myths then were examined by using the USA‟s values and
assumptions theory which are proposed by Althen and Bennett (2011).
1.7 Clarification of the Terms
The following are some terms which were used for the study. The terms are clarified
to avoid misunderstanding of the problem in this study:
9GAG
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9GAG is public comedy website, hosted in the United States. The website
was launched in 2008. It contains Internet memes. The 9GAG had 67
million in visitors April 2012, and is still growing until now. It has and
more than one billion monthly page views as of December 2011 (Gannez,
2012).
Internet meme
The term Internet meme is used to describe a concept that spreads via
Internet. The term Internet meme is a reference to the concept of meme, an
idea or behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a
culture, although the latter concept refers to a much broader category of
cultural information (Schubert, 2003). In this study the term Internet meme
refers to the meme (usually visual image with one or two phrases) which
can be found in the 9GAG.
Meme
Richard Dawkins in his book The Selfish Gene (1976) uses the term
“meme” to refer to small cultural units of transmission, analogous to genes,
which are spread by copying or imitation. Like genes, memes undergo
variation, selection and retention. Memes can be ideas, symbols or
practices formed in diverse incarnations, such as melodies, catch-phrases,
images, clothing fashion or architectural style (Shifman, 2011).
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Myth
The term „myth‟ in this study is a term which refers to the term which
Barthes‟ (1991) proposes. Myth is a second order semiotic system (Rose,
2002) which is built on the principle of connotation. It is also applied to
„naturalize‟ the message in the denotational level as a vehicle for
connotational meaning. For Barthes, a myth is a way of encoding the meaning
and social value (which essentially arbitrary or connotative) as something
natural (Barthes, 1991).
Americanization
The term “Americanization” refers more to the cultures, life styles, visions,
ideas of North Americans (USA) that are globally spread (Hoynes, et, al.,
2011).
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1.8 Organization of the Paper
This paper is organized into five chapters:
CHAPTER I
This chapter contains background of the study, research questions, aims of the study,
scope of the study, significance of the study, clarification of the terms, and
organization of the paper. This chapter also includes research method, research
design, data collection, and data analysis.
CHAPTER II
It consists of theoretical framework that provides a basis for conducting the research
problems.
CHAPTER III
This section contains the research methodology, discussing the steps and procedures
of the study, and the data resources in conducting the study.
CHAPTER IV
In this part the results of the research are presented. This chapter contains the
research findings and discussions.
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CHAPTER V
This last chapter contains the interpretation toward the results of the study in a form
of conclusions and suggestions in accordance with the study.
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CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter discusses the design of the study. It describes the methodological aspects
of the study. It starts with a description of the research method followed by the stages
of research procedure. The research procedures consist of the data collection and data
analysis. Finally, the example of data presentation is presented.
3.1 Research Method
This study uses a descriptive qualitative approach framed in Barthes‟ (1991) orders of
signification theory to achieve the aims of the study. This study aims to analyze the
meanings and the ideological representations of the use of memes on the Internet.
The descriptive method was used because this study attempts to describe the
existing phenomena (Picciano, 1991) in which the linguistic phenomena of memes on
the Internet were described in this study. Meanwhile, this study used the qualitative
method because this study aims to reveal the social settings (Berg, 2001) which
contain the ideological values behind Internet memes. Moreover, this study uses
Barthes‟ orders of signification theory, which consist of the first order of signification
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(denotation), second order of signification (connotation), and third order of
signification (myth) to analyze the Americanization myths in the Internet memes.
This study applies three levels of comprehensions by Maxwell (1996):
description, interpretation, and theory. Description was applied in this study to
discover the denotative meanings in Internet memes. Those Internet memes are the
phenomena which were discovered in this study. Description was used for observing
those phenomena (Alwasilah, 2002). Meanwhile, interpretation was used to discover
the connotative meanings of Internet memes. The Internet memes were considered to
be the related phenomena which were discovered using interpretation (Alwasilah,
2002). Lastly, This study also applied theory of the orders of significations proposed
by Roland Bathes (1991) and the US‟s values and assumptions theory by Althen and
Bennett (2011) to discover how the myths of Americanization in the Internet memes
are explained.
Framed in those three levels, this semiotic-based study is interpretative. It
does not use hypothesis. The questions match the purpose of this study which aims to
investigate the myths of Americanization in Internet memes in 9GAG.
The semiotics theory of Barthes‟ orders of signification was used as a tool for
dissecting the Americanization myths in the Internet memes on 9GAG. The first
analysis was focused on describing the elements of the first orders of signification
(denotation) in each selected Internet meme. The second orders of signification
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(connotation) elaborated the local and global meaning of the Internet memes. The
myths of Americanization were then discovered from how the connotation is
naturalized.
3.2 Research Procedure
This study investigates the Americanization myths in Internet Memes in 9GAG
comedy website. This study was conducted to explore the semiotic meanings of
Internet memes on 9GAG comedy website. It includes a brief observation on the
Internet memes on 9GAG. It also requires information such as what is “memes”,
9GAG, and semiotics. To obtain the information, library research through relevant
source such as articles from the Internet and books was employed.
3.2.1 Data Collection
Ten Internet memes were purposively selected as data source of this study. Those
Internet memes were selected because they were suitable and relevant to the problems
and the aims of this study. The selected Internet memes were those that appear in the
“Hot page” of 9GAG comedy website. Thus, the data in this study were popular
Internet memes in 9GAG.
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Comedy website 9GAG is one of the websites that uses Internet memes to
share ideas among the members. In 9GAG, the members can upload “gags”, Internet
memes which are usually in the form of comical images. The members are also able
to vote for the images under the section called “Vote”. The “Vote” page allows users
to like, dislike, or comment on a gag. When the gag gets enough positive votes, then
it appears on the “Hot page”. On the “Hot page”, members can like the post or
comment; the gag will no longer be able to be disliked.
There were some reasons in the selection process of the data. Firstly, the
selected Internet memes were taken from the 9GAG’s “Hot page” which means the
selected Internet memes have already gained many votes from the 9GAG members.
That fact also shows that the selected Internet memes were already viewed by many
members of the comedy website 9GAG. Secondly, the selected Internet memes were
used many times by the members of 9GAG. It is believed that the ideologies of those
memes had spread widely through those selected Internet memes. Since the number
of Internet memes on 9GAG is too plentiful, it was difficult to analyze all the Internet
memes there.
The data consisted of Internet memes available in 9GAG comedy website
which can be accessed in http://9GAG.com/. Ten Internet memes were purposively
selected out of hundreds other Internet memes in 9GAG.
The following techniques were employed to collect the data.
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a. Selecting the Internet memes as the primary data are used many times by the
members of 9GAG. There was ten Internet memes selected from 9GAG
comedy website. They were selected from the “Hot page” of 9GAG where the
popular Internet memes appeared. The selected Internet memes are presented
in Table 3.1.
Table 3.1
Description of Internet Memes
Internet Memes
Caption
Barack Obama
Not bad
Yao Ming
Bitch please
Admiral Ackbar
It‟s a trap!
McKayla Not Impressed
-
Shut up and take my money!
Shut up and take my money!
Success Kid
-
Bad Luck Brian
“I‟m on a boat!”; Titanic
Barney Stinson
True Story
Zeddie Little
Runs marathon and wins… my heart
Ned Stark
Brace yourself… winter is coming
b. Library research
This study also employed relevant theories and some results of previous studies
related to this study.
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3.2.2 Data Analysis
Data analysis consists of three concurrent flows of activities, namely data reduction,
data display, and conclusion drawing or verification (Miles & Huberman, 1996).
They further explain that data reduction refers to the process of selecting, focusing,
simplifying, abstracting, and transforming the data. Data display facilitates the
understanding of what is happening and what to do further on the understanding.
Finally, the conclusion drawing or verification can take place after the first two
activities.
Semiotic theory was used to analyze the Americanization myths in the
Internet memes on 9GAG. Each collected Internet meme was analyzed using Barthes‟
(1991) orders of signification theory which consisted of three levels of signification.
The analysis was focused on the elements of the first orders of signification in the
Internet memes, also the elaborations of the local and global meaning of the second
orders of signification. The myths were discovered from how the connotation is
naturalized.
The data were analyzed and interpreted based on the Barthes‟ orders of
signification. The analysis was focused on the elements of the first orders of
signification in the Internet memes, also the elaborations of the local and global
meaning of the second orders of signification. The myths were examined from how
the connotation is naturalized, meaning that this study discovered how the myths of
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Americanization are represented in the Internet memes. This study also investigated
how the memes attempt to spread its ideological or hegemonic Americanization
ideas. The classification of the first, second, and third orders of signification is
described into a tabel based on the Barthes‟ theory of signification as follows:
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1.Signifier
2.Signified
Language
3. Sign
MYTH
I. SIGNIFIER
II. SIGNIFIED
III. SIGN
The myths then were examined by using the USA‟s values and assumptions
which are proposed by Althen and Bennett (2011) to see how these memes represent
Americanization.
3.2.3 Data Presentation
In this part, this study provides the presentation of data analysis using Barthes‟ orders
of signification (1991) theory to Internet memes taken from comedy website 9GAG.
The data presentation of the analysis of Internet memes are indicated in the table 3.2.
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Table 3.2
Example of the data presentation of the analysis of Internet meme
Iconic Signification
First Order of
Signification
Verbal:
Not: used to give
the next word or
group of words a
negative meaning.
Bad: unpleasant.
Visual: An icon of
president Obama
looks showing his
nearly impressed
expression through
facial mime.
He is wearing a suit
with a bow tie.
Second Order of
Signification
Not bad is an
informal expression
used to show
acceptance of
something good
Third Order of
Signification
The myth of
informality.
President Obama is
not showing his
formal expression.
The suit and the
bow tie that
president Obama
wears shows that he
is a very inportant
person who should
shows formal
manner.
In the first order of signification, the Barack Obama Internet meme portrays
the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, wearing suit and a bow
tie. He also shows his pleased emotion through facial mime. There is also verbal
descriptions in the Internet meme; “Not Bad”. The “Not” means to give the next word
or group of words a negative meaning. Meanwhile, “Bad” means unpleasant.
In the second order of signification, in the connotative meaning, the President
of the United States of America represents honor of the USA. The bow tie and suit
that he is wearing represent formality and the royal impression for him. However, the
„not bad‟ is one of the expressions which is used to show acceptance of something in
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an informal manner. The expression that he shows indicates that he does not always
behave like a royal member who should always convey formal expressions.
Those second orders of signification have naturalized the myth of informality
in the USA. The President of United States who shows an informal manner in the
Internet memes has shown that USA is a place where the informality of the people
exists.
This Internet meme also shows that the U.S. Americans generally admire
someone in a higher position who acts “down to earth” and not exaggerates his high
profile. It is in line with the assumption proposed by Althen and Bennett (2011) and it
is represented by the Internet meme shows the President of United States of America
who wears a formal suit and bow tie did not show a formal manner by showing his
informal expression. It shows that even the man in the highest position in the USA
can do what he wants to do without caring about formal manners while he is wearing
a formal suit, and so do the people in the USA.
The next chapter presents the result of the analysis with the interpretation of
the data based on the Barthes‟ (1991) orders of signification. It also includes the
discussion of the relation between the myths and the USA‟s values and assumptions
proposed by Althen and Bennett (2011).
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CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
This chapter presents conclusions of the study that has been conducted. This chapter
summarizes the results of analyses that might be useful for those who searching
information about the myths of Americanization in the Internet memes. This chapter
ends with suggestion for further research.
5.1 Conclusions
Derived from the results of analysis, this study concludes that the popular
Internet memes taken from 9GAG “Hot page” contains ideological cultural values
which represent the current norms of people in today's life. These ideologies and
values embody the motivating elements that influence the ways people conduct their
activities. By discovering these U.S. Americans values, this study is expected to help
people to discover what the ideologies and values represented in the Internet memes.
The ten Internet memes which were analyzed in this study are Barack Obama,
Yao Ming, Successful Black Man, McKayla Not Impressed, Shut up and take my
money!, Success Kid, Bad Luck Brian, Barney Stinson, Zeddie Little, and Ned Stark
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Internet meme. Those Internet memes were taken from the 9GAG “Hot page” which
is filled with popular Internet memes.
Each Internet meme has at least an index which has a correlation with the
USA. POTUS Barack Obama, NBA player Yao Ming, Colored man in a suit, the U.S.
gymnast athlete McKayla Maroney, Fry from U.S. TV series Futurama, the “smug”
face child, Brian, Barney Stinson from TV sitcom How I Met Your Mother, Zeddie
Little, and Ned Stark from U.S. TV series Game of Thrones are the symbol of the
USA.
Those facts were followed by the myths which were found in the Internet
memes by using Barthes’ (1991) order of signification. The myths are informality,
freedom, equality, achievement, materialism, glorification of physically attractive
person, directness and assertiveness, and individualism. Those myths were examined
by using the U.S. values and assumptions mentioned by Althen and Bennett (2011).
Those myths of the U.S. American values somehow are not proper to be
collided with other values from different cultures. Those U.S. American values are
being introduced through Internet meme in 9GAG. The fact that people can see those
Internet memes in the 9GAG “Hot page” shows that many people around the world,
especially the members and the visitors of 9GAG, accept the U.S. ideological values.
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5.2 Suggestions
After being analyzed using Barthes’ (1991) orders of signification, this study is hoped
to help the readers to discover the ideologies and values represented in the memes,
especially the U.S. American values. Even though the questions of this study have
been answered and the conclusions have been drawn, this study is still open for
further analysis.
Further studies are needed because Internet memes can evolve and spread
extremely rapidly, sometimes reaching world-wide popularity within a few days. The
9GAG members, which are millions, make Internet memes over and over again,
forming it from some social interaction, pop culture reference, or situations they often
find themselves in. Those ten Internet memes in this study are merely a small part of
the Internet memes which exist. It will be interesting to conduct similar research on
the Internet memes available in local comedy websites such as 1cak
(http://1cak.com/) or YeahMahasiswa (http://yeahmahasiswa.com/).
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
9GAG. (2013, February 02). Try This When the Police Asks You to Pullover the Next
Time. Retrieved February 03, 2013, from 9GAG:
http://9gag.com/gag/6481245
_____. (2013, February 02). Unhelpful High School Teacher. Retrieved February 03,
2013, from 9GAG: http://9gag.com
Althen, G., & Bennett, J. (2011). Amerian Ways; A Cultural Guide to the United
States. Boston: Intercultural Press.
Althusser, L. (2008). Tentang Ideologi. Yogyakarta: Jalansutra.
Alwasilah, C. A. (2002). Pokoknya Kualitatif. Bandung: Pustaka Jaya.
AngelList. (2012). 9GAG. Retrieved February 03, 2013, from AngelList:
https://angel.co/9gag
Barry, P. (2002). Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary ad Cultural Theory.
Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Barthes, R. (1991). Mythologies. New York: The Noonday Press.
Berg, B. L. (2001). Qualitative Research Method for the Social Sciences: 4th Edition.
Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Chandler, D. (2002). Semiotics: the Basics. London: Routledge.
Derks, D., Arjan, B. E., & Jasper, G. v. (2008). Emoticons and Online Message
Interpretation. Social Science Computer Review Vol. 26 Num. 3 , 379.
Fiske, J. (2002). Introduction to Communication Studies. New York: Routledge.
Friedman, T. L. (1998, August 22). Foreign Affairs; Angry, Wired and Deadly.
Retrieved January 22, 2013, from The New York Times:
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http://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/22/opinion/foreign-affairs-angry-wiredand-deadly.html
Gannez, L. (2012, April 12). Meet 9GAG, the Community Comedy Site That’s
Growing Like Crazy. Retrieved January 29, 2013, from All Things D:
http://allthingsd.com/20120412/meet-9gag-the-community-comedy-site-thatsgrowing-like-crazy/
Giddens, A. (1990). The Consequences of Modernity: Self and Society in the Late
Modern Age. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Gill, P. (2013). What Is a 'Meme'? What Are Examples of Modern Internet Memes?
Retrieved January 29, 2013, from About:
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Hall, S. (1997). Representations: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices.
London: Sage Publications.
Hawkes, D. (1996). Ideology. London: Routledge.
Heyilghen, F. (1997, October 3). Memes on the Net. Retrieved January 29, 2013,
from Principa Cybernetica Web: http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/MEMENET.html
Heywood, A. (2001). Politics. New York: Palgrave.
Higham, J. (1963). Strangers in the Land: Americanization. Retrieved January 22,
2013, from Answer: http://www.answers.com/topic/americanization
Horkheimer, M., & Adorno, T. W. (2007). Dialectic of Enlightenment (Cultural
Memory in the Present). Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Hoynes, W., Croteau, D., & Milan, S. (2011). Media/Society: Industries, Images, and
Audiences. SAGE.
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Junida, A. I., Sukyadi, D., & Setyarini, S. (2011). A Semiotic Analysis of Cyber
Emoticons (A Case Study of Kaskus Emoticons in the Lounge Forum at
Kaskus-the Largest Indonesian Community). K@ta , 13 (1), 37-50.
KnowYourMeme. (2012, September). High Expectations Asian Father. Retrieved
February 05, 2013, from KnowYourMeme:
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/high-expectations-asian-father
Lye, J. (2008, April 22). Ideology: A Brief Guide. Retrieved December 12, 2012,
from Brock University: John Lye's Course and Source Page:
http://www.jeeves.brocku.ca/english/jlye/ideology.php
Marketwire. (2012, July 30). Humor Website 9GAG Ups the Ante for Fun, Launches
New Mobile App and Receives $2.8 Million in Seed Funding. Retrieved
February 03, 2013, from Marketwire: http://www.marketwire.com/pressrelease/humor-website-9gag-ups-ante-fun-launches-new-mobile-app-receives28-million-seed-funding-1684998.htm
Maxwell, J. A. (1996). Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach.
London: SAGE Publications.
Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1996). Qualitative Data Analysis. (Second
Edition ed.). London: SAGE Publications.
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dan Bentuk. Kolita 8: Konferensi Linguistik Tahunan Atmajaya .
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http://tonycuny.cuny.ede/a705w007.html
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Piliang, Y. A.
Comedy Website
A Research Paper
Submitted to the English Education Department of the Faculty of Language and Arts
Education of the Indonesia University of Education as a Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for Sarjana Sastra Degree
By:
RYAN ADITYA ACHADIAT
0809457
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS EDUCATION
INDONESIA UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
2013
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PAGE OF APPROVAL
The Representation of Americanization Myths in the Internet Memes on the 9GAG Comedy
Website
A Research Paper
By
Ryan Aditya Achadiat
0809457
Approved by
First Supervisor
Second Supervisor
Dr. Didi Sukyadi, M.A.
Ruswan Dallyono, S.Sos., M.Pd.
NIP. 196706091994031003
NIP. 197008032005011002
Head of Department of English Education
Faculty of Languages and Arts Education
Indonesia University of Education
Prof. Dr. Didi Suherdi, M.Ed.
NIP. 196211011987121001
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The Representation of Americanization Myths in the Internet Memes on the 9GAG
Comedy Website
By:
RYAN ADITYA ACHADIAT
Sebuah skripsi yang diajukan untuk memenuhi salah satu syarat memperoleh gelar Sarjana Sastra
pada Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni
© Ryan Aditya Achadiat 2013
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
Februari 2013
Hak Cipta dilindungi undang-undang.
Skripsi ini tidak boleh diperbanyak seluruhya atau sebagian,
dengan dicetak ulang, difoto kopi, atau cara lainnya tanpa ijin dari penulis.
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ABSTRACT
The use of Internet memes in the website is believed to be a new media to
disseminate important ideologies and cultural values which represent the current
norms of people in today's life. Dealing with this issue, this study entitled “The
Representation of Americanization Myths in the Internet Memes on 9GAG Comedy
Website” is aimed at investigating the Myths of Americanization of 9GAG Internet
memes in the Hot Page of the website where the popular Internet memes are
provided. The data were ten 9GAG Internet memes which were taken from the 9GAG
Hot Page. This study used a qualitative descriptive approach framed in a semiotic
analysis, specifically Barthes’ (1991) orders of signification to examine the myths in
each Internet meme. The myths of the Internet memes then were analyzed using the
USA’s values and assumptions theory proposed by Althen and Bennett (2011). The
findings reveal that there are eight myths of Americanization which delivered spread
globally through the Internet memes. Those are individualism, freedom, equality,
materialism, glorification, directness and assertiveness, and achievement. The myths
of Americanization are represented through the symbolic signs in the Internet memes
which represent the United States of America.
Keywords: Americanization, Internet meme, Myth, Orders of signification
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
STATEMENT OF AUTHORIZATION .........................................................ii
PREFACE ..........................................................................................................iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..............................................................................iv
ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................vii
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................x
LIST OF FIGURES ..........................................................................................xi
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1
1.1 Background of Study ..................................................................................... 1
1.2
Research Questions .................................................................................. 6
1.3
Aims of Study ........................................................................................... 6
1.4
Scope of the Study .................................................................................... 6
1.5
Significance of the Study ......................................................................... 7
1.6
Research Methodology ............................................................................. 7
1.6.1 Research Design ..................................................................................... 7
1.6.2 Data Collection ....................................................................................... 8
1.6.3 Data Analysis .......................................................................................... 8
1.7 Clarification of the Terms ............................................................................. 9
1.8
Organization of the Paper ....................................................................... 11
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .................................................................... 13
2.1 Semiotics ..................................................................................................... 13
2.1.1 Semiotic Models ................................................................................... 14
2.1.2 Myth ...................................................................................................... 21
2.2 Ideology ....................................................................................................... 24
2.3 Hegemony ................................................................................................... 27
vii
2.4 Globalization ............................................................................................... 28
2.5 Americanization .......................................................................................... 30
2.6 Meme ........................................................................................................... 34
2.6.1 Internet Meme ....................................................................................... 35
2.7 Comedy Website 9GAG .............................................................................. 37
2.8 Previous Research ....................................................................................... 39
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ...................................................................... 42
3.1 Research Method ......................................................................................... 42
3.2 Research Procedure ..................................................................................... 44
3.2.1 Data Collection ..................................................................................... 44
3.2.2 Data Analysis ........................................................................................ 46
3.2.3 Data Presentation .................................................................................. 48
CHAPTER IV
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ...................................................................... 51
4.1 Findings ....................................................................................................... 51
4.1.1 Barack Obama Internet Meme ............................................................. 52
4.1.2 Yao Ming Internet Meme ...................................................................... 54
4.1.3 Successful Black Man Internet Meme ................................................... 56
4.1.4 McKayla Not Impressed Meme ............................................................ 59
4.1.5 Shut Up and Take My Money! Internet Meme ..................................... 61
4.1.6 Success Kid Internet Meme .................................................................. 63
4.1.7 Bad Luck Brian Internet Meme ............................................................ 65
4.1.8 Barney Stinson Internet Meme ............................................................. 67
4.1.9 Zeddie Little Internet Meme ................................................................. 69
4.1.10 Ned Stark Internet Meme .................................................................... 72
4.2 Discussions .................................................................................................. 74
4.2.1 Informality ............................................................................................ 75
4.2.2 Freedom ................................................................................................ 76
4.2.3 Equality ................................................................................................. 78
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4.2.4 Achievement ......................................................................................... 79
4.2.5 Materialism ........................................................................................... 81
4.2.6 Glorification of Physically Attractive Person ....................................... 82
4.2.7 Directness and Assertiveness ................................................................ 84
4.2.8 Individualism ........................................................................................ 85
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS .......................................................... 88
5.1 Conclusions ................................................................................................. 88
5.2 Suggestions .................................................................................................. 90
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................... 91
APPENDICES ..................................................................................................... 95
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This introduction chapter explains the nature of the study. It begins with the
background of the study from which the formulation of research questions and the
aims of study are based. This section also includes reasons for choosing the topic and
the significance of the study. There is also research methodology section that explains
the steps used in conducting the study. This chapter ended with the clarification of
some terms used in this study and the organization of the paper as a general
description of the outline of this research paper.
1.1 Background of Study
Globalization has a tendency to defend the patterns of western socialization which are
already established in the world (Sardar & Borin, 1999). Globalization, they further
explain, promotes dominant values and cultural practices which are visions about
how to deal with life by sacrificing their own values and culture. Thus, globalization
has serious practical consequences.
Globalization, according to Sardar and Borin (1999: 161), is a process that
“rapidly shrinks distances, compresses space and time, and changes the world into a
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„global village‟”. Today a large amount of daily interaction occurs on the Internet
(Derks, et al., 2008). Instant Messaging (IM), chat rooms, social networks, and
personal websites have become new media where people can communicate with other
people around the world to get information and entertainment. Those new media of
communication are believed to be the results of the globalization.
As time goes by, globalization has become Americanization. In 1900s, the
term “Americanization” referred to the process of acculturation, assimilation by
immigrants to American customs and values (Moffett, 1907). Nowadays, however,
the term “Americanization” refers more to the cultures, life styles, visions, ideas of
North Americans (USA) that globally spread (Hoynes, et al., 2011). The U.S. spread
their values and assumption to the world through globalization.
There are some American values and assumptions that are considered as the
part of Americanization which is being spread globally. Althen and Bennet (2011)
mentions those values and assumption as follows: Individualism, freedom,
competitiveness, privacy, equality, informality, the future, the change, the progress,
goodness in humanity, time, achievement, action, work, materialism, directness, and
assertiveness. Those values and assumptions proposed by Althen and Bennet (2011)
are discussed more detail in chapter II.
Internet websites, in this case comedy websites, are the results of the cultural
industry that is specially designed to reach people, especially teenagers around the
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world. Moreover, just as any other media which is intended for people, websites are
ideological in some ways. Horkheimer and Adorno (2007) argue that US mass media,
including websites, share an ideology to support their status quo or existence.
Horkheimer and Adorno believe that the enormous businesses which control
messages from the mass media have ideological interests in it (ibid).
One of the ways to share an ideology is through Internet memes. Memes can
be ideas, symbols or practices formed in various forms, such as melodies,
catchphrases, clothing fashion or architectural styles (Shifman, 2011). Memes are
widely used nowadays in many websites. The term “Internet meme” is used to
describe a concept that spreads via the Internet (Schubert, 2003). She further explains
that the term “Internet meme” is a reference to the concept of memes, an idea or
behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture, although the
latter concept refers to a much broader category of cultural information (ibid).
A comedy website named 9GAG (http://9GAG.com/) is one of the websites
that use Internet memes to share ideas among the members. The 9GAG had 67
million visitors in April 2012, and is still growing until now. It has more than one
billion monthly page views as of December 2011 (Gannez, 2012). In 9GAG, the
members can upload “gags” which are usually comical images (Internet memes).
People also use Internet memes mostly as a language of communication in 9GAG.
Internet memes are used almost every time either in 9GAG or in other websites.
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Every Internet meme is believed to be used as a new medium of communication
because people communicate and share ideas through it.
Generally speaking, the communication takes place in two ways, verbal and
non-verbal communication. The visual communication includes the non-verbal
communication because it lacks the use of language. In this case, the Internet memes
are inferred as a language in the form of images. Internet memes are also considered
to be signs and can be interpreted as something else.
Semiotics is often used to confront the question of how images make
meanings head on (Rose, 2002). The orders of signification theory proposed by
Barthes (1991), which is a part of semiotics, explore the meanings behind things. In
that theory, sign can be denotative (the first order signification or denotation) that
describes something, or connotative (the second order of signification or connotation)
that carries a range of higher-level meanings. Connotative signs can be divided into
two kinds: metonymic, the signs are something associated with something else, and
synecdochal, the signs are part of something standing in for a whole or a whole
representing a part. Whereas, myth (the third order signification) is the naturalization
process when every representation is portrayed as something normal, usual and fine
(ibid).
There are some related studies which have been conducted by using a
semiotic analysis to explore the cyber world. Junida, et al. (2011) conducted a study
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to analyze the cyber emoticons using Barthes‟ orders of signification. They explored
the emoticons in the Lounge Forum of Kaskus, the largest Indonesian cyber
community forum. They found that each of the emoticons has meaning and function
as a way to communicate among members. The emoticons were used as a means of
visual communication, and to show emotion of someone‟s feeling so that other
members can easily understand the emotions (ibid).
Ririn and Amalia (2012) discovered the ideology behind the AXE Chocolate
advertisement. They explored each scene in the Axe Chocolate advertisement and
analyzed those scenes with Barthes‟ model of sign. As the results, they found that
masculinity appears as negative and positive ideologies because masculinity is not
contradictory with Indonesian culture. The value of masculinity shown by the
advertiser, however, is narrowed down into the area of sexuality. They also found that
the advertisement also gives a negative stereotype to women by showing women as
figures who like to show ther body through wearing outfits that exposes the women‟s
body (ibid).
There have also been some studies conducted to observe Internet memes.
Shifman (2011) uncovered the attributes common to „memetic videos‟ in YouTube, a
video-sharing website. She employed a combined qualitative and quantitative
analysis for her research. She found that the 30 memetic videos that she assembled
have six common features: focus on ordinary people, flawed masculinity, humor,
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simplicity, repetitiveness, and whimsical content. In conclusion, she addressed that
the rapid popularity of something in contemporary digital culture has something to do
with economic, social, and cultural logics.
Framing by those studies, this study attempts to explore the significance of
Internet memes on 9GAG. It used 10 Internet memes taken from “Hot Page” of
9GAG. This study uses Barthes‟ (1991) orders of signification to discover how the
myths of Americanization are represented in the Internet memes.
1.2 Research Questions
Pertaining to the reasons that have been mentioned before, this study was conducted
to respond to these following questions:
1.
What are the connotative meanings of these Internet memes?
2.
What are the myths contained in those connotations?
3.
Do these Internet memes represent Americanization?
4.
If so, how these Internet memes represent Americanization?
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1.3 Aims of Study
Given the formulation of research questions above, this study is aimed to investigate
the Americanization myths in Internet memes in 9GAG based on semiotic analysis.
1.4 Scope of the Study
This study is investigated the significance of Internet memes in 9GAG and attempts
to examine how the myths of Americanization are represented in the Internet memes.
The investigation pertains to the analysis of the orders of signification theory
proposed by Barthes (1991) which consists of first order signification, second order
of signification and myth of the Internet memes.
1.5 Significance of the Study
Internet memes actually contain important ideologies and cultural values which
represent the current norms of people in today's life. These ideologies and values
embody the motivating elements that influence the ways people conduct their
activities. By discovering these ideologies and values, this study can contribute to
help people to discover what are the ideologies and values represented in the Internet
memes.
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1.6 Research Methodology
1.6.1 Research Design
This study uses a descriptive qualitative approach framed in Barthes‟ (1991) orders of
significations theory to achieve the aims of the study. The descriptive method was
used because this study attempts to describe existing phenomena, current events,
conditions and situations (Picciano, 1991). Meanwhile, the qualitative method
properly seeks answers to questions by examining various social settings and the
individuals who inhabit them (Berg, 2001). Moreover, this study uses Barthes‟ (1991)
orders of signification theory, which includes first order of signification (denotation),
second order of signification (connotation), and third order of signification (myth), as
well. The myths then are explored by using the USA‟s values and assumptions which
are proposed by Althen and Bennett (2011).
1.6.2 Data Collection
Data were collected, analyzed, and interpreted by investigating some selected Internet
memes from 9GAG “Hot Page”. Therefore, this study focuses on the process,
meaning and understanding taken through the Internet meme.
The data were taken from the Internet memes which appeared in the „Hot‟
page of 9GAG. Ten Internet memes were purposively selected as data source of this
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study. Those Internet memes were selected because they were suitable and relevant to
the problems and the aims of this study.
1.6.3 Data Analysis
The data were gathered and analyzed by using a semiotic theory to investigate the
significations of the Internet memes. The orders of significations theory by Barthes
(1991) were used to discover the ideological meaning behind Internet memes in
9GAG. Furthermore, the first order signification was used to describe elements in
each Internet meme. The second order of signification was used to elaborate
connotative meanings attached to Internet memes. Finally, the myths were analyzed
to discover how the naturalization process on every representation is represented in
Internet memes. The myths then were examined by using the USA‟s values and
assumptions theory which are proposed by Althen and Bennett (2011).
1.7 Clarification of the Terms
The following are some terms which were used for the study. The terms are clarified
to avoid misunderstanding of the problem in this study:
9GAG
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9GAG is public comedy website, hosted in the United States. The website
was launched in 2008. It contains Internet memes. The 9GAG had 67
million in visitors April 2012, and is still growing until now. It has and
more than one billion monthly page views as of December 2011 (Gannez,
2012).
Internet meme
The term Internet meme is used to describe a concept that spreads via
Internet. The term Internet meme is a reference to the concept of meme, an
idea or behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a
culture, although the latter concept refers to a much broader category of
cultural information (Schubert, 2003). In this study the term Internet meme
refers to the meme (usually visual image with one or two phrases) which
can be found in the 9GAG.
Meme
Richard Dawkins in his book The Selfish Gene (1976) uses the term
“meme” to refer to small cultural units of transmission, analogous to genes,
which are spread by copying or imitation. Like genes, memes undergo
variation, selection and retention. Memes can be ideas, symbols or
practices formed in diverse incarnations, such as melodies, catch-phrases,
images, clothing fashion or architectural style (Shifman, 2011).
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Myth
The term „myth‟ in this study is a term which refers to the term which
Barthes‟ (1991) proposes. Myth is a second order semiotic system (Rose,
2002) which is built on the principle of connotation. It is also applied to
„naturalize‟ the message in the denotational level as a vehicle for
connotational meaning. For Barthes, a myth is a way of encoding the meaning
and social value (which essentially arbitrary or connotative) as something
natural (Barthes, 1991).
Americanization
The term “Americanization” refers more to the cultures, life styles, visions,
ideas of North Americans (USA) that are globally spread (Hoynes, et, al.,
2011).
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1.8 Organization of the Paper
This paper is organized into five chapters:
CHAPTER I
This chapter contains background of the study, research questions, aims of the study,
scope of the study, significance of the study, clarification of the terms, and
organization of the paper. This chapter also includes research method, research
design, data collection, and data analysis.
CHAPTER II
It consists of theoretical framework that provides a basis for conducting the research
problems.
CHAPTER III
This section contains the research methodology, discussing the steps and procedures
of the study, and the data resources in conducting the study.
CHAPTER IV
In this part the results of the research are presented. This chapter contains the
research findings and discussions.
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CHAPTER V
This last chapter contains the interpretation toward the results of the study in a form
of conclusions and suggestions in accordance with the study.
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CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter discusses the design of the study. It describes the methodological aspects
of the study. It starts with a description of the research method followed by the stages
of research procedure. The research procedures consist of the data collection and data
analysis. Finally, the example of data presentation is presented.
3.1 Research Method
This study uses a descriptive qualitative approach framed in Barthes‟ (1991) orders of
signification theory to achieve the aims of the study. This study aims to analyze the
meanings and the ideological representations of the use of memes on the Internet.
The descriptive method was used because this study attempts to describe the
existing phenomena (Picciano, 1991) in which the linguistic phenomena of memes on
the Internet were described in this study. Meanwhile, this study used the qualitative
method because this study aims to reveal the social settings (Berg, 2001) which
contain the ideological values behind Internet memes. Moreover, this study uses
Barthes‟ orders of signification theory, which consist of the first order of signification
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(denotation), second order of signification (connotation), and third order of
signification (myth) to analyze the Americanization myths in the Internet memes.
This study applies three levels of comprehensions by Maxwell (1996):
description, interpretation, and theory. Description was applied in this study to
discover the denotative meanings in Internet memes. Those Internet memes are the
phenomena which were discovered in this study. Description was used for observing
those phenomena (Alwasilah, 2002). Meanwhile, interpretation was used to discover
the connotative meanings of Internet memes. The Internet memes were considered to
be the related phenomena which were discovered using interpretation (Alwasilah,
2002). Lastly, This study also applied theory of the orders of significations proposed
by Roland Bathes (1991) and the US‟s values and assumptions theory by Althen and
Bennett (2011) to discover how the myths of Americanization in the Internet memes
are explained.
Framed in those three levels, this semiotic-based study is interpretative. It
does not use hypothesis. The questions match the purpose of this study which aims to
investigate the myths of Americanization in Internet memes in 9GAG.
The semiotics theory of Barthes‟ orders of signification was used as a tool for
dissecting the Americanization myths in the Internet memes on 9GAG. The first
analysis was focused on describing the elements of the first orders of signification
(denotation) in each selected Internet meme. The second orders of signification
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(connotation) elaborated the local and global meaning of the Internet memes. The
myths of Americanization were then discovered from how the connotation is
naturalized.
3.2 Research Procedure
This study investigates the Americanization myths in Internet Memes in 9GAG
comedy website. This study was conducted to explore the semiotic meanings of
Internet memes on 9GAG comedy website. It includes a brief observation on the
Internet memes on 9GAG. It also requires information such as what is “memes”,
9GAG, and semiotics. To obtain the information, library research through relevant
source such as articles from the Internet and books was employed.
3.2.1 Data Collection
Ten Internet memes were purposively selected as data source of this study. Those
Internet memes were selected because they were suitable and relevant to the problems
and the aims of this study. The selected Internet memes were those that appear in the
“Hot page” of 9GAG comedy website. Thus, the data in this study were popular
Internet memes in 9GAG.
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Comedy website 9GAG is one of the websites that uses Internet memes to
share ideas among the members. In 9GAG, the members can upload “gags”, Internet
memes which are usually in the form of comical images. The members are also able
to vote for the images under the section called “Vote”. The “Vote” page allows users
to like, dislike, or comment on a gag. When the gag gets enough positive votes, then
it appears on the “Hot page”. On the “Hot page”, members can like the post or
comment; the gag will no longer be able to be disliked.
There were some reasons in the selection process of the data. Firstly, the
selected Internet memes were taken from the 9GAG’s “Hot page” which means the
selected Internet memes have already gained many votes from the 9GAG members.
That fact also shows that the selected Internet memes were already viewed by many
members of the comedy website 9GAG. Secondly, the selected Internet memes were
used many times by the members of 9GAG. It is believed that the ideologies of those
memes had spread widely through those selected Internet memes. Since the number
of Internet memes on 9GAG is too plentiful, it was difficult to analyze all the Internet
memes there.
The data consisted of Internet memes available in 9GAG comedy website
which can be accessed in http://9GAG.com/. Ten Internet memes were purposively
selected out of hundreds other Internet memes in 9GAG.
The following techniques were employed to collect the data.
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a. Selecting the Internet memes as the primary data are used many times by the
members of 9GAG. There was ten Internet memes selected from 9GAG
comedy website. They were selected from the “Hot page” of 9GAG where the
popular Internet memes appeared. The selected Internet memes are presented
in Table 3.1.
Table 3.1
Description of Internet Memes
Internet Memes
Caption
Barack Obama
Not bad
Yao Ming
Bitch please
Admiral Ackbar
It‟s a trap!
McKayla Not Impressed
-
Shut up and take my money!
Shut up and take my money!
Success Kid
-
Bad Luck Brian
“I‟m on a boat!”; Titanic
Barney Stinson
True Story
Zeddie Little
Runs marathon and wins… my heart
Ned Stark
Brace yourself… winter is coming
b. Library research
This study also employed relevant theories and some results of previous studies
related to this study.
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3.2.2 Data Analysis
Data analysis consists of three concurrent flows of activities, namely data reduction,
data display, and conclusion drawing or verification (Miles & Huberman, 1996).
They further explain that data reduction refers to the process of selecting, focusing,
simplifying, abstracting, and transforming the data. Data display facilitates the
understanding of what is happening and what to do further on the understanding.
Finally, the conclusion drawing or verification can take place after the first two
activities.
Semiotic theory was used to analyze the Americanization myths in the
Internet memes on 9GAG. Each collected Internet meme was analyzed using Barthes‟
(1991) orders of signification theory which consisted of three levels of signification.
The analysis was focused on the elements of the first orders of signification in the
Internet memes, also the elaborations of the local and global meaning of the second
orders of signification. The myths were discovered from how the connotation is
naturalized.
The data were analyzed and interpreted based on the Barthes‟ orders of
signification. The analysis was focused on the elements of the first orders of
signification in the Internet memes, also the elaborations of the local and global
meaning of the second orders of signification. The myths were examined from how
the connotation is naturalized, meaning that this study discovered how the myths of
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Americanization are represented in the Internet memes. This study also investigated
how the memes attempt to spread its ideological or hegemonic Americanization
ideas. The classification of the first, second, and third orders of signification is
described into a tabel based on the Barthes‟ theory of signification as follows:
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1.Signifier
2.Signified
Language
3. Sign
MYTH
I. SIGNIFIER
II. SIGNIFIED
III. SIGN
The myths then were examined by using the USA‟s values and assumptions
which are proposed by Althen and Bennett (2011) to see how these memes represent
Americanization.
3.2.3 Data Presentation
In this part, this study provides the presentation of data analysis using Barthes‟ orders
of signification (1991) theory to Internet memes taken from comedy website 9GAG.
The data presentation of the analysis of Internet memes are indicated in the table 3.2.
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Table 3.2
Example of the data presentation of the analysis of Internet meme
Iconic Signification
First Order of
Signification
Verbal:
Not: used to give
the next word or
group of words a
negative meaning.
Bad: unpleasant.
Visual: An icon of
president Obama
looks showing his
nearly impressed
expression through
facial mime.
He is wearing a suit
with a bow tie.
Second Order of
Signification
Not bad is an
informal expression
used to show
acceptance of
something good
Third Order of
Signification
The myth of
informality.
President Obama is
not showing his
formal expression.
The suit and the
bow tie that
president Obama
wears shows that he
is a very inportant
person who should
shows formal
manner.
In the first order of signification, the Barack Obama Internet meme portrays
the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, wearing suit and a bow
tie. He also shows his pleased emotion through facial mime. There is also verbal
descriptions in the Internet meme; “Not Bad”. The “Not” means to give the next word
or group of words a negative meaning. Meanwhile, “Bad” means unpleasant.
In the second order of signification, in the connotative meaning, the President
of the United States of America represents honor of the USA. The bow tie and suit
that he is wearing represent formality and the royal impression for him. However, the
„not bad‟ is one of the expressions which is used to show acceptance of something in
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an informal manner. The expression that he shows indicates that he does not always
behave like a royal member who should always convey formal expressions.
Those second orders of signification have naturalized the myth of informality
in the USA. The President of United States who shows an informal manner in the
Internet memes has shown that USA is a place where the informality of the people
exists.
This Internet meme also shows that the U.S. Americans generally admire
someone in a higher position who acts “down to earth” and not exaggerates his high
profile. It is in line with the assumption proposed by Althen and Bennett (2011) and it
is represented by the Internet meme shows the President of United States of America
who wears a formal suit and bow tie did not show a formal manner by showing his
informal expression. It shows that even the man in the highest position in the USA
can do what he wants to do without caring about formal manners while he is wearing
a formal suit, and so do the people in the USA.
The next chapter presents the result of the analysis with the interpretation of
the data based on the Barthes‟ (1991) orders of signification. It also includes the
discussion of the relation between the myths and the USA‟s values and assumptions
proposed by Althen and Bennett (2011).
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CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
This chapter presents conclusions of the study that has been conducted. This chapter
summarizes the results of analyses that might be useful for those who searching
information about the myths of Americanization in the Internet memes. This chapter
ends with suggestion for further research.
5.1 Conclusions
Derived from the results of analysis, this study concludes that the popular
Internet memes taken from 9GAG “Hot page” contains ideological cultural values
which represent the current norms of people in today's life. These ideologies and
values embody the motivating elements that influence the ways people conduct their
activities. By discovering these U.S. Americans values, this study is expected to help
people to discover what the ideologies and values represented in the Internet memes.
The ten Internet memes which were analyzed in this study are Barack Obama,
Yao Ming, Successful Black Man, McKayla Not Impressed, Shut up and take my
money!, Success Kid, Bad Luck Brian, Barney Stinson, Zeddie Little, and Ned Stark
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Internet meme. Those Internet memes were taken from the 9GAG “Hot page” which
is filled with popular Internet memes.
Each Internet meme has at least an index which has a correlation with the
USA. POTUS Barack Obama, NBA player Yao Ming, Colored man in a suit, the U.S.
gymnast athlete McKayla Maroney, Fry from U.S. TV series Futurama, the “smug”
face child, Brian, Barney Stinson from TV sitcom How I Met Your Mother, Zeddie
Little, and Ned Stark from U.S. TV series Game of Thrones are the symbol of the
USA.
Those facts were followed by the myths which were found in the Internet
memes by using Barthes’ (1991) order of signification. The myths are informality,
freedom, equality, achievement, materialism, glorification of physically attractive
person, directness and assertiveness, and individualism. Those myths were examined
by using the U.S. values and assumptions mentioned by Althen and Bennett (2011).
Those myths of the U.S. American values somehow are not proper to be
collided with other values from different cultures. Those U.S. American values are
being introduced through Internet meme in 9GAG. The fact that people can see those
Internet memes in the 9GAG “Hot page” shows that many people around the world,
especially the members and the visitors of 9GAG, accept the U.S. ideological values.
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5.2 Suggestions
After being analyzed using Barthes’ (1991) orders of signification, this study is hoped
to help the readers to discover the ideologies and values represented in the memes,
especially the U.S. American values. Even though the questions of this study have
been answered and the conclusions have been drawn, this study is still open for
further analysis.
Further studies are needed because Internet memes can evolve and spread
extremely rapidly, sometimes reaching world-wide popularity within a few days. The
9GAG members, which are millions, make Internet memes over and over again,
forming it from some social interaction, pop culture reference, or situations they often
find themselves in. Those ten Internet memes in this study are merely a small part of
the Internet memes which exist. It will be interesting to conduct similar research on
the Internet memes available in local comedy websites such as 1cak
(http://1cak.com/) or YeahMahasiswa (http://yeahmahasiswa.com/).
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Piliang, Y. A.