Memes As the Representation of Criticism in Social Media

Abstract

The development of the internet world is now increasingly widespread and diverse. Information can be immediately obtained. For example, meme content is distributed via social media accounts. Memes are a form of creative ideas that are packed with graphic design and often contain insinuations about something. The purpose of this study is to uncover the signified and signifier, and speeches that appear in memes that are circulating on Fakartun Instagram account regarding the disappointment with the House of Representatives (DPR). Following a student rally in the courtyard of the DPR, concerning to the rejection of the revision of the Organization Statue of the Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission (Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi - KPK) and the Indonesian Criminal Code (UU KUHP), various responses emerged on social media platforms. In particular, electronic graphic designs spread from one person to another through social media platforms such as Instagram. These memes represent some people’s anxiety about the revised bills. This study relies on Roland Barthes’s semiotic approach which is the development of Ferdinand De Saussure’s semiotic theory and the illocutionary act of Searl. The results of this study suggest that the memes merged as a form of reaction to the disappointment of citizens over the revision of the bills.
 Keywords: semiotic-pragmatics, illocutionary acts, representations, memes