CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE, CONCEPT, AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK. of memes, minions, meaning and context which is presented in Concept.

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1 7 CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE, CONCEPT, AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK This chapter explains three things. First, Review of Literature which is some studies which is considered relevant to this study. Second, the explanation of memes, minions, meaning and context which is presented in Concept. Third, theory used in solving the problems in this study that is presented in Theoretical Framework. 2.1 Review of Literatures Three undergraduate theses and two articles from international journal are reviewed in this study. The first undergraduate thesis is A Semiotic Analysis of English Printed Advertisements by Lingua Sanjaya (2003). This undergraduate thesis analyzed the presentation of words and pictures at the printed advertisement connecting both verbal and visual signs semantically. This study used semiotic theory from Peirce to analyze the presentation of words and pictures at the printed advertisement connecting both verbal and visual signs semantically. According to Nőth (1990) in his Hand Book of Semiotics, Pierce once referred to his sign model as consisting of a triple connection of sign, thing signified, cognition produced in the mind. Its relevance to this study is that it is similar topic analyzing the presentation of words and pictures in memes. The strength of his study is the clear correlation both verbal and visual signs semantically. However, his study has a minor weakness in which the background should be more structural.

2 8 The next thesis to review is Semiotic Analysis in Advertisements of Educational Institution by Darmayanti (2011). The study was focused on verbal and visual sign in printed advertisements to analyze the meaning from those signs and described the function of language. The Semiotic theory was used from Saussure. Theory of meaning and function was proposed by Leech and theory of visual communication proposed by Dyer. Its relevance to this study is that it is similar topic analyzing the meaning from sign and function on that advertisement. The strength of her study is easy to understand and theory that used to analyze is relevance with her study. However, her study was focused on advertisements not memes which makes interested to analyze memes while used same theory of her study. The other undergraduate thesis is Semiotic Analysis of Love Album Covers by Angel and Airwaves Band by Diryani (2013). This study focused on identifying the semiotic elements found in the cover and generally to find out the meaning and the messages implied from the symbol in album cover. This study was used semiotic theory from Pierce and visual communication by Dyer that helps to present the semiotic elements behind the cover. The relevance in this study is that it similar analysis presented which is to find out the meaning of album cover. The strength of her study is the visual communication analysis that presented the semiotic analysis behind the cover. The weakness of her study is in describing the visual aspects of the album covers which showed minor mistake in grammar. This study is different with Diryani s thesis because this theses using music video as

3 9 data source whereas in this study the populer icon minions are used as the data source. The next review is from International Journal of Semiotic Studies. This article entitled The Semiotics of Memes in the Law written by Christophe B. Gray (2009) from International Journal for the Semiotics of Law. The article introduced the analogy of memes as a semiotic device for understanding the law. The strength of this journal is that it contains the complete explanation of how Memes are use in Law. However, this article give very little real example that makes the reader hardly understand about the explanations The last article to review is taken from the international journal Internet Memes as Means of Communication by Branislav (2012) from Masaryk University. This study focused on the purpose of internet memes for the communities and the type of memes. This study is about a description and conceptualization of the internet environment which has a determining influence over how the internet memes evolve and the forms they take. The strength of this journal is the complete explanation of memes. The weakness of his study is the background should be more structural. 2.2 Concepts There are 3 concepts that should be considered which is related with the title of this writing Semiotic Study on Minion Memes. The concepts are definition of sign, memes, minion.

4 Sign According to Oxford Dictionary, Sign is an object, quality, or event whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. In semiotics, a sign is something that can be interpreted as having a meaning, which is something other than itself, and which is therefore able to communicate information to the one interpreting or decoding the sign. Signs can work through any of senses, visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory or taste, and their meaning can be intentional such as word uttered and icon like in memes. There always meaning in sign, according to Oxford Dictionary, meaning is the thing or idea that a sound, word, sign, etc. Represents. Meaning of the memes is the idea that the memes represent. C.K Odgen and I.A Richards cited in Leech (1981:1) tried to give the meaning word as: a) In intrinsic property b) The other words annexed to a word in a dictionary c) The connotation of a word d) The placc of anything in the system e) The practical consequences of a thing in our future experience f) That to which user of a symbol actually refers g) That to which the user of a symbol ought to be referring h) That to which the user of a symbol believes himslef to be referring

5 11 i) That to which the interpreter of a symbol Refers Believes himself to be referring Believes the user to be referring Meme Memes in despicablememinions.org are the visual signs that contains minions expressions and also little text as the explanation of that memes. Richard Dawkins (1989:192) said in his book The Selfish Gene as a concept for communication in explaining the spread of idea and culture phenomena to describe packet of information and critics but consist of humor. Memes commonly about people who have no friends with whom to have real inside jokes. Examples of memes included melodies, catch-phrases, fashion and the technology of building arches. Richard Dawkins also said on his book We need a name for the new replicator, a noun that conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation." (Dawkins, 1989:192) Based on the oxford Dictionary, meme is a type of behaviour that is passed from one member of a group to another, not in the genes but by another means such as people copying it. The origin from this word is 1970s: from Greek mimēma 'that which is imitated', on the pattern of gene.

6 Minions two eyes. The Minions are small, yellow, and cylindrical creatures who have one or Picture 1 : Minions Minions are impulsive creatures with little self-control, but with a wideeyed wonder and odd innocence that endears them to viewers and makes them relatable. They can be pesky when they are doing weird interactions with other people, animals, or objects. Minions have standard English names. Unlike most other criminal masterminds and their usual doctrine of abusing their henchmen, Gru as boss of minions gets along famously with his minions. He genuinely seems to like them and even shows appreciation for their

7 13 hard work and support. He even seems to know each of them by name. ( Minions) For most of life, the word minion has meant evil underling, but recent events in pop culture are changing the meaning of minion. Now, it could refer to underlings that are not evil, or evil things that are not underlings. The first development came with the release of the movie Despicable Me in The minions of the evil genius Gru were an entire species of sponge-cake-resembling, gibberish-speaking aliens that were just so cute that they could not possibly be evil. These creatures have become such a hit that for today s children, minion probably just refers to the Despicable Me minions. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, minion was borrowed from Middle French in the early 1500s, from a word that meant a lover, or someone s favorite. Later, it lost the meaning of favorite and just came to mean follower or underling. After that the word minions was borrowed form French into English in the 1600s, this time as an adjective meaning small, delicate, and grateful. This time it kept its original spelling, and it s pronounced differently; as Mignon! (literalminded.wordpress.com)

8 Theoretical Framework The theories that are used in this study are theories from Saussure, and Chandler. The theory from Saussure about semiotics were used to analyze and find out the signifier and signified of the data. In analyzing the signifiers and signified of the memes, the features of each memes were analyzed using Saussure s theory about signifier and signified. Next the function of each memes in the post was analyzed using the theory from Chandler Theory of Semiotics Saussure (1983) defines semiotics as the science of signs in society. The study of social semiotics offers the promise of a systematic, comprehensive, and coherent study of communication phenomena as a whole, not just as instances of it. Saussure (1983:67) defines a sign in terms of signifier and signified. a) A signifier (significant): the form which the sign takes. It is the material sign of the language, the actuaal letters, sounds, and symbols used to represent what the speaker/writer wants to communicate. b) A signified (signifie): the conccept it represents. It is not material object but abstract concept of what the siignifier means.

9 15 SIGN Signified Signifier A sign must have both signifier and signified. A sign cannot have a totally meaningless signifier or a completely formless signified. Folley (1997) stated that all linguistic signs consist of two poles: a physical form, such as a word s pronunciation, and a meaning, the discrimination it makes in the domain of langauge which sustains the coordination or behaviour. In this study, visual sign in form of memes will be analyzed. In the matter of visual sign, Chandler (2001:186) explained the three modes of the relation between the signifier and the signified as the following: a) Symbol/symbolic: a mode in which the signifier does not resemble the signified but which is fundamentally arbitrary or purely conventional so that the relationship must be learnt: e.g. language in general (plus specific languages, alphabetical letters, punctuation marks, words, phrases, and sentences), numbers, Morse code, traffic lights, national flags. Folley (1997:112) defines symbol as a sign in which the relationship between its form and meaning is strictly conventional, neither due to physical similarity or contextual constraints.

10 16 b) Icon: a mode in which the signified is perceived as resembling or imitating the signified (recognizably looking, sounding, feeling, tasting, or smelling like it) being similar in possessing some of its qualities: e.g. portrait, a cartoon, a scale model, onomatopoeia, metaphors, realistic sound in program music, sound effects in radio drama, a dubbed film soundtrack, and initaive gestures. Folley (1997:112) defines icon as sign in which there is a perceptible likeness in its form and what its meaning describes. For example in linguistics the verb Buzz off in which the verb form buzz [b z] bears a perceptible sound resemblance to the sound of a bee as it flies away. c) Index/indexical: a mode in which the signifier is not arbitrary but is directly connected in some way (physically or causally) to the signified, and this link can be observed or inferred. For examples: natural signs (smoke, thunder, footprints, echoes, medical symptoms such as pain, a rash, or pulse rate, measuring instruments, signals such as a knock on a door or a phone ringing, pointers, recording, personal trademarks, and indexical words. Folley (1997:112) defines index as a sign whose meaning is interpreted from the context which is uttered. For example, a black cloud is a sign, and index, of heavy rain that will come. Symbol, icon, and index/indexical are modes, which can be performed as visual sign to represent specific things, which can inform something to the public

11 17 through pictures or images in some medium such as magazine, newspaper, television, internet,etc. The posts in which were analyzed are in form of comical story or picture contains signs, in form of words, sentence, punctuation, and cartoon pictures including the memes. The signs were classified whether they are symbol, icon, or index, what do they represent, and then the function of the memes in the post could be concluded. The memes in are the signs of various comical facial expressions that particularly found in Internet memes. According to Nummenmaa (1964) and Leonhard (1976) (cited in Noth:1995), the variable semiotic potential of the face is usually studied under the heading facial expression. Eyebrows and forehead, eyes, nose, lips and jaw, cheeks, and skin are the regions by which facial signals can be transmitted. The major functions of facial signals are excessive (of emotions), phatic, and conative (in communicative interactions). Facial signals are usually evaluated on the basis of (pictures of ) the whole face. Some authors have experimentally isolated the forehead and eyebrows, eyes, nose, and mouth as regions of the face where emotoional meanings may be discovered independently (Nummenmaa 1964, Ekman, et la. 1967).