7
212 Faculty of Letters, Universitas Negeri Malang (UM) October 2017 Proceedings THE POWER OF THE VISUAL LANGUAGE OF EDITORIAL CARTOONS AS A MEDIUM FOR SOCIO-POLITICAL CRITICISM IN INDONESIA Noval Sufriyanto Talani, Yasraf Amir Piliang, and Hafiz Aziz Ahmad Institut Teknologi Bandung [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Abstract This article is a part of the dissertation research generated from a literature review of some previous relevant research. From the study, the author found that the visual language of editorial cartoons has the power to deliver criticism without causing controversy. The political dynamics in Indonesia since the era of the Orde Lama to post-reform showed a difference in the characteristics of the cartoonists in conveying criticism through their cartoons. In the period of the Orde Lama, a critique in the editorial cartoon is expressed in a very satirical and direct way addressed to the person or group that is criticized. In the Orde Baru period, the criticism expressed through cartoons does not target directly the President Suharto or people nearby. Post-reform criticism in an editorial cartoon is again performed openly and targeted directly the intended figures including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Even in a certain way and cartoonist in processing a way capable of directing criticism became an accusation or abuse. Nevertheless, as hard as any criticism is described through the editorial cartoon controversy or not cause chaos in society. That is why until now the editorial cartoons are still being the most important part in the mass media as a medium for conveying criticism. Keywords: power, editorial cartoons, visual language, medium, criticism. INTRODUCTION This research is a part of a research dissertation which examines the visual ideology of editorial cartoons of newspapers in Indonesia's political dynamics. In addition to the spread of the ideology through verbal language, ideology may also spread through cartoons. Based on the research of Elisa Colina Naghy (2010), the cartoon was able to redirect the ideology. Initially directed through understanding how information and images displayed. From this understanding then that affect the interpretation of the audience's response to the events shown in the cartoon. Here the picture as another language that is used to spread the ideology is called visual language. According to Neil Cohn (2007: 35-36), visual language is a language that we have in addition to the verbal language of sounds and language marked by gestures. Editorial cartoons used newspapers as a message in visual form in addition to the verbal message. Editorial cartoons not only functioned as a part of the mass media opinion but also serves as a comment or criticism of a person or event that occurs daily and community highlights. In contrast to other works of fine art, through a distinctive visual language, editorial cartoons featuring satire and criticisms are humorous and follow the rules of journalism. How to communicate satire and criticisms as it becomes an editorial cartoon uniqueness so that rarely caused controversy. In the academic context, some research done earlier as objects of inquiry from various perspectives theory. Through this paper will explain some previous research that is relevant to the author's dissertation research. As for research that examined, among others: the study of Priyanto Sunarto (2005) about the visual metaphor of editorial cartoons and Wagiyono Sunarto (2008) about the myth and counter-myth of Soekarno and his ideology in political caricatures. Research of Ferry Darmawan and Yasraf A. Piliang (2015) about cartoonist visual communication through online political cartoons, analysis of Taufan Hidayatullah (2007) about the meaning of political cartoon the work of Pramono R. Pramoedjo and research of Noval Sufriyanto Talani (2012) about illustrations corruption in the rubric Opinion Kompas. In particular, the literature review was conducted to explain the power of the visual language of editorial cartoons. As long as this editorial cartoon many understood as a part of the mass media the opinions only. But when are reviewed again the editorial cartoon has a visualization system of grammar as well as verbal language. Gunter Kress and Theo van Leeuwen (2006:1) revealed that many studies ignore the visual grammar. The same as the language describing how words combine clauses, sentences, and texts, a way of describing visual elements---people, place and other things---incorporate visual statements that have agreater complexity or lower and the extension is a way of explanation in visual grammar.

THE POWER OF THE VISUAL LANGUAGE OF …sastra.um.ac.id/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/212-218-Noval...relevant research. From the study, the author found that the visual language of editorial

  • Upload
    others

  • View
    0

  • Download
    0

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: THE POWER OF THE VISUAL LANGUAGE OF …sastra.um.ac.id/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/212-218-Noval...relevant research. From the study, the author found that the visual language of editorial

212 Faculty of Letters, Universitas Negeri Malang (UM) October 2017

Proceedings

THEPOWEROFTHEVISUALLANGUAGEOFEDITORIALCARTOONSASAMEDIUMFORSOCIO-POLITICALCRITICISMININDONESIANovalSufriyantoTalani,YasrafAmirPiliang,andHafizAzizAhmadInstitutTeknologiBandungtalani_121179@yahoo.co.id;[email protected];[email protected]

Thisarticleisapartofthedissertationresearchgeneratedfromaliteraturereviewofsomepreviousrelevantresearch.Fromthestudy,theauthorfoundthatthevisuallanguageofeditorialcartoonshasthepowertodelivercriticismwithoutcausingcontroversy.ThepoliticaldynamicsinIndonesiasincetheeraoftheOrdeLamatopost-reformshowedadifferenceinthecharacteristicsofthecartoonistsinconveyingcriticismthroughtheircartoons.IntheperiodoftheOrdeLama,acritiqueintheeditorialcartoon is expressed in a very satirical and direct way addressed to the person or group that iscriticized.IntheOrdeBaruperiod,thecriticismexpressedthroughcartoonsdoesnottargetdirectlythe President Suharto or people nearby. Post-reform criticism in an editorial cartoon is againperformed openly and targeted directly the intended figures including President Susilo BambangYudhoyono.Even inacertainwayandcartoonist inprocessingawaycapableofdirectingcriticismbecame an accusation or abuse. Nevertheless, as hard as any criticism is described through theeditorialcartooncontroversyornotcausechaosinsociety.Thatiswhyuntilnowtheeditorialcartoonsarestillbeingthemostimportantpartinthemassmediaasamediumforconveyingcriticism.

Keywords:power,editorialcartoons,visuallanguage,medium,criticism.

INTRODUCTION

ThisresearchisapartofaresearchdissertationwhichexaminesthevisualideologyofeditorialcartoonsofnewspapersinIndonesia'spoliticaldynamics.Inadditiontothespreadoftheideologythroughverballanguage,ideologymayalsospreadthroughcartoons.BasedontheresearchofElisaColinaNaghy(2010), the cartoon was able to redirect the ideology. Initially directed through understanding howinformation and imagesdisplayed. From this understanding then that affect the interpretationof theaudience'sresponsetotheeventsshowninthecartoon.Herethepictureasanotherlanguagethatisusedtospreadtheideologyiscalledvisuallanguage.AccordingtoNeilCohn(2007:35-36),visuallanguageisalanguagethatwehaveinadditiontotheverballanguageofsoundsandlanguagemarkedbygestures.Editorialcartoonsusednewspapersasamessageinvisualforminadditiontotheverbalmessage.Editorialcartoonsnotonlyfunctionedasapartofthemassmediaopinionbutalsoservesasacommentorcriticismofapersonoreventthatoccursdailyandcommunityhighlights.Incontrasttootherworksoffineart,throughadistinctivevisuallanguage,editorialcartoonsfeaturingsatireandcriticismsarehumorousandfollow the rules of journalism. How to communicate satire and criticisms as it becomes an editorialcartoonuniquenesssothatrarelycausedcontroversy.

In the academic context, some research done earlier as objects of inquiry from variousperspectives theory. Through this paper will explain some previous research that is relevant to theauthor's dissertation research. As for research that examined, among others: the study of PriyantoSunarto(2005)aboutthevisualmetaphorofeditorialcartoonsandWagiyonoSunarto(2008)aboutthemythandcounter-mythofSoekarnoandhisideologyinpoliticalcaricatures.ResearchofFerryDarmawanand Yasraf A. Piliang (2015) about cartoonist visual communication through online political cartoons,analysisofTaufanHidayatullah(2007)aboutthemeaningofpoliticalcartoontheworkofPramonoR.Pramoedjo and research ofNoval Sufriyanto Talani (2012) about illustrations corruption in the rubricOpinionKompas.Inparticular,theliteraturereviewwasconductedtoexplainthepowerofthevisuallanguageofeditorialcartoons.Aslongasthiseditorialcartoonmanyunderstoodasapartofthemassmediatheopinionsonly.Butwhenarereviewedagaintheeditorialcartoonhasavisualizationsystemofgrammaraswellasverballanguage.Gunter Kress and Theo van Leeuwen (2006:1) revealed thatmany studies ignore the visualgrammar.Thesameasthelanguagedescribinghowwordscombineclauses,sentences,andtexts,awayofdescribingvisualelements---people,placeandotherthings---incorporatevisualstatementsthathaveagreatercomplexityorlowerandtheextensionisawayofexplanationinvisualgrammar.

Page 2: THE POWER OF THE VISUAL LANGUAGE OF …sastra.um.ac.id/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/212-218-Noval...relevant research. From the study, the author found that the visual language of editorial

213Faculty of Letters, Universitas Negeri Malang

October 2017

Proceedings

Toknowthepowerofthevisuallanguageofeditorialcartoons,theauthorusesthetheoryofKressandvanLeeuweninsearchofthemeaningofvisualdesignthroughthevisualgrammar.Theresultsofthisdefinitionthenoutlinethepowerofthevisuallanguageofeditorialcartoonsindeliveringasocio-politicalcritique.FINDINGSANDDISCUSSION

Basedondatafromthepreviousresearchfoundthatthereisthreeeditorialcartoonpublicationperiods. First, the editorial cartoon published in the era of Soekarno, in particular, the end ofparliamentary democracy and the guideddemocracy. Priyanto Sunarto (2005) andWagiyono Sunarto(2008)examinestheeditorialcartoonpublishedintheeraofSoekarno.Furthermore,theeditorialcartoonpublished during the Soeharto reviewed by Taufan Hidayatullah (2007). Finally, the editorial cartoonpublishedintheeraofpost-reformexaminedbyFerryDarmawanandYasrafA.Piliang(2015),andNovalSufriyantoTalani (2012).DarmawanandPiliang researchedpolitical cartoononlinewhile theeditorialcartooninthenewspaperexaminedbyTalani.Exampleofeditorialcartoonsthatappearedineachperiodwillbedescribedinmoredepthtoexplainhisstrengthindeliveringsocio-politicalcritiquethatoccurredatthattime.However,beforeitwillbeoutlinedinadvancethefindingsfromeachofthepreviousresearchandwillthenbepresentedwiththepowersthevisuallanguageofeditorialcartoons.

PriyantoSunartoinhisresearchfoundthatthereisahighrelationshipbetweeneditorialcartoonandpartisanshipofthemediawiththepoliticalsituationandtheculturethatsupportsit.Inter-relationaspectofthefinearts,political,socialandculturalvalueofhertimecoloringlookmetaphorsineditorialcartoons attempted by emotive stance. The political system presents to affect the expression of thecartoons. The visual characteristics of the editorial cartoon in the times of parliamentary democracy,liberalpoliticalsystemreflectstheunderlyingappearanceofcartoons,andtheselectionofappropriatecommunity cultural metaphor overshadows. That kind of political system makes the metaphor incartoons,outrightorutilizedfortaunting.Avarietyofmetaphorsthatappearinthecartoonreflectstheopenness of the system of symbols and values of societywhich gives opportunity tometaphors andexpressionsofemotivestance.Aneditorialcartoonintheemotivepositioncandescribetheattitudeofideologicalandpoliticalnewspaperswhichpublishedit(Sunarto,2005:218-219).

In addition to functioning as the carrier of a message, editorial cartoons can also form andremodelthemythofsomeonewhohighlightedinthecartoon.Forexample,themythsandcounter-mythofSoekarnoanditsideologyinthecartoon.ThroughtheresearchresultsWagiyonoSunarto,weknowthatthephenomenonoccurredsincetheformationofthemythoftheSoekarnoeranationalmovementyears1927-1965 its consand thenmaintained itsposition fromtheyear1966-1967.Media thathavepolitical affiliations to Soekarno tend to become defenders and continue to strengthen the myth ofSoekarno. According to Sunarto (2008:206) at the time of Soekarno, the cartoon became a tool forattackinghispoliticalopponentsbothdomesticallyandabroad.Becauseofthepresswhenitispartisan.However, changes occurred during the transition from Soekarno to Soeharto's post G-30-S/PKI; thecartoonbecameameanstoattacktheSoekarno,ideology,andhisgroup.EventhecartoonscontinuedtoformanopinionforendingthepowerofSoekarno.

IntheeraofSoehartocalledOrdeBaruera,therewasadifferenceinthepoliticalsystemknownasPancasilademocracy.ThissystemisincontrasttothepoliticalsystematthetimeofSoekarnowhichembracedparliamentarydemocracyandguideddemocracywhichhaveanimpactontheopennessofthemassmedia.DuringthereignofSoehartoGovernmentinterventionagainstthemassmediatoaffectthecontentandtheexistenceofthem.ThepressisrequiredtomaintaintheStateideologyofPancasilaandorderofsocietyifthereisareverseimpactonbanningordisablingpublishing.MainlywhenthemediaspreadthedoctrineofMarxism-Leninism-Communism(SenandHill,2001:44-45).Thepoliticalsituationas it also influenced the editorial cartoon published newspapers. Research results from TaufanHidayatullah found that in the political cartoonwork Pramono R. Pramoedjo there are two differentcharacters.First,thecartoonthatsignifiesacompromisewiththesituationthathappenedduringtheneworder.Second,thecartoonthatisfreeof"pressure"sothatitlooksmorestraightforward(Hidayatullah,2007:125-126).InformingthedifferenceisprudencecartoonistinportrayingthecharactersintheOrdeBaruregimelikeSoeharto,UmarWirahadikusumah,orIsmailSalehintocartoons.Submissionofindirectcriticismleadinguptothefiguresbutinsteaddirectedtoofficialsaroundhim.PramoedjowascarefultokeeptheharmonizationofrelationsbetweenthemassmediabytheGovernment.

AradicalchangeoccurredaftertheendofneworderregimeinMay1998.Deliveryofcriticismthrougheditorialcartoonsareveryopenandleadsdirectlytoapersonoreventdestination.Evenatsome

Page 3: THE POWER OF THE VISUAL LANGUAGE OF …sastra.um.ac.id/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/212-218-Noval...relevant research. From the study, the author found that the visual language of editorial

214 Faculty of Letters, Universitas Negeri Malang (UM) October 2017

Proceedings

stageexpressionofcriticismincartoonstendedtobesarcasm.ChangethewaythecartoonwascriticizedthroughresearchfindingsNovalSufriyantoTalani.Inhisresearch,Talani'sanalyzestheillustrationintheKompasnewspaperOpinionpage,especiallyregardingtheissueofcorruptionthatoccurredduringtheyear2011. Thenumberof casesof corruption involvingmembersof theDemocraticPartymakes thecartoonist showing his criticism directly to the party figures including President Susilo BambangYudhoyono.VisualizationofcorruptionintherubricOpinionKompasistheresultoftheinterpretationofthemediathroughthecartoonisttohighlightcorruptioneventhappened.Aneditorialcartoonwasdrawnbyvariouslexicalrepresentationlevels(visual)inthestyleofthediversevisuallanguagebothsatireorsarcasm (Talani, 2012:200-202). Broadcast message through the illustrations not merely lexicalrepresentationstructureseenfrombeingused,butalsolookatthesignsofwhattouseandhowsignsweremanaged andwere composed of language styles will illustratewhat used as amessenger of amessage.

Thefreedomtoconveycriticismthroughcartoonscanalsobeseeninpoliticalcartoonsonline.Based on the results of the study of Ferry Darmawan and Yasraf A. Piliang (2015:203-204) on onlinepolitical cartoon shows that in political cartoons online there are participants that act as interactivecommunicationfollow-uptothepicturewiththereaders.Visualmessagesaredelivereddirectlytothedeaths reported, in this case, called subjectivemodalities. The cartoonist did a visual communicationthrough political cartoons so free including highlighting the ruling as President Susilo BambangYudhoyono. The depiction of the characters in cartoons is iconic create messages easily recognizedbecause itdescribestheactualsituation.Here isvisible inthecartoonist's freedomofexpression. Inafiercecriticismdeliveredcartoonistshowsguaranteestoexpresshisideasfreely.

Basedonthefindingsofthestudiesabovecanbeformulatedthateditorialcartoonsintoameansofpracticalsocialandpoliticalcriticism.Proveneditorialcartoonsuntilnowisstillacrucialpartofthenewspaper.Infactalmostallnewspapers,magazines,ortelevisionasTVOneusesasitseditorialcartoon.Thecriticismdeliveredthrougheditorialcartoondepictednotonlysymbolicallybutalsometaphorically.Acharacterinthecartoonisusuallydrawnfollowingitsoriginalfaceorthroughsimplificationofformbutnotreducethesimilaritybetweenpictureswithcharactersdrawntofacilitatetheaudiencerecognizehim.

Howthedeliveryofsuchamessagerelatedtothereliabilityofamessage.Themeaningofamessage will affect the audience's knowledge. Kress and van Leeuwen (2006:154) stated that thereliabilityofmessagesrelatedtowhatweseeorhearistrue,factual,real,orisitalie,fiction,oranythingelseoutsideofreality.Theobjectdepictedfacingtowardstheaudienceintendedtoinvolvetheminvisualinteraction. Often a character is drawn in the editorial cartoon also leads to the audience so theinteractionbetweenimageandviewer.Themeaningofapicturethatdisplaystheobjectasitiscalledthesignificanceofcommunicationbecausetherewerecontactanddistancebetweentheparticipant(inthepicture)with theviewerand thepresenceofapointof view in thecartoon (KressandvanLeeuwen,2006:45).

From the results of the study of literature, the authors find that the visual language of theeditorial cartoon has three strengths in conveying criticism, namely the power of symbolic,representational,andmetaphor.Athirdstrengthispresentintheeditorialcartoon.Butoneofthemoreprominentofthatpoweronthestrengthofothers.Belowthereare20editorialcartoons(seeFigure1)ofthepreviousresearchwhichisconsideredtorepresentthethreepowersabove.Thecartoonsappearedindifferenttimes.TheimageonthefirstrowuntiltherowisthethirdcartoonpublishedintheeraoftheSoekarnoandSoeharto.Twolinesbelowitistheimageofthepost-reformespeciallyintheleadershipofPresidentSusiloBambangYudhoyono.Theauthordoesnotaddresstheentirecartoononebyonebutexplainssomeofthepicturesonlyfordiscussionofthethreerepresentsthepowerofthevisuallanguageofeditorialcartoons.

Page 4: THE POWER OF THE VISUAL LANGUAGE OF …sastra.um.ac.id/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/212-218-Noval...relevant research. From the study, the author found that the visual language of editorial

215Faculty of Letters, Universitas Negeri Malang

October 2017

Proceedings

Figure1.TheEditorialCartoonsoftheEraofSoekarno,Soeharto,andpost-reform(Source:partofanpreviousresearchdata)

THESIMBOLICPOWEROFEDITORIALCARTOONVisualexpressionsystemineditorialcartoonsfromvarioussymbols.Thesymbolswere inthe

formof images, text,oracombinationofboth(seeFigure2). InFigure2.1editorialcartoonshavenowriting.Butacollectionofavarietyofsymbolsinthecartoonwasabletobuildalotofstories.ThepictureistheworkofSibaranionnewspaper“BintangTimur”theyear1957.Hecompiledadiversecompositionofsymbolssuchthatitformspartoftheface.Elementsofafacemadeupofotherobjectsofsubstitution,andthefaceisfacingtowardstheaudience.Thereisnosinglemeaningofthecartoon.Eachviewercaninterpreteachexistingsymbolitselfandgainedanimpressiondifferenttootheraudiences.Cursoryimageimpressionisfunnybutmainlythisverycartoonsatire.Whenobservingthepictureinmoredetailthenitwillbefoundsomethingdisrespectfulandcruel.Thenakedwomanwhourinatedonthepersonbeneathher represents irreverence and makes someone like a cigarette to representation of cruelty. Not tomentionwhenyou connect itwithother symbols suchaspicturesof cars, people,bags, flowers, andotherswillmakeacartoonhasa lotofstories.Refertothedescriptionofthecartoon"GreatLeader"directingpeopletotheassumptionofthebehaviorofaleader.SothisworkofeditorialcartoonsSibaranicriticizingaleaderbyrevealinghisbehavior.

Incontrasttothepreviousimage,theeditorialcartooninFigure2.2combinessymbolimagebywritingeventhoughhiswritingsinlimitedquantitiesonlyonbooksandknives.Observethesymbolsonthecartoon-likeimagesofseats,caps,clothes,baton,glasses,books,andtheknifewillmaketheaudienceeasilyrecognizestheentirepropertythathasPresidentSoekarno.TheviewercaninterprettheseimageswiththeexpirationofthepowersofPresidentSoekarno.Writing"G-30S"and"MANIPOL"representsissuecoup on 30 September 1965 by the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) failed and the teachings ofSoekarno, who don't need to read. The cartoon became a sort of a counter myths over the thenconsideredverypowerfulinabsoluteterms.

Page 5: THE POWER OF THE VISUAL LANGUAGE OF …sastra.um.ac.id/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/212-218-Noval...relevant research. From the study, the author found that the visual language of editorial

216 Faculty of Letters, Universitas Negeri Malang (UM) October 2017

Proceedings

(1)

(2)

Figure2.ThepowerofsymbolicinEditorialCartoonsSource:(1)AnEditorialCartooninthenewspaper“BintangTimur”in1957inSunarto(2005:92)(2)AnEditorialCartooninthenewspaper“HarianAbadi”in1951inSunarto(2008:296)

From the perspective of visual grammar, both cartoon interactively has the distinction ofmeaning.Twooftheabovepictureaboverepresentjustacartoonfirstinteractiverelationshipbetweenobserverwith images. Interactivemeaning of an image is to notice any contact, social distance, andattitudesfoundincartoons(KressandvanLeeuwenMonday,2006:149).Thepositionofthefaceforwardandasifgazingtotheobservershowedacontact.Moreover,thefigureofpeopledrawnincartoonsamajoritytowardstheaudiencesothatitshowsthepresenceofinteractionresources(attitude)individualimages.Thedepictionofthefacewiththeangleofviewcloseupmakeasocialdistanceinthecartoonisclose(seeFigure2.1).Likeasentence,boththepictureinFigure2asacomparisonbetweenactiveandpassivesentences.REPRESENTATIONALPOWER

In addition to have the power of symbolic, the editorial cartoon also has a representationalpower.Thepowerofusingsymbolsthatresembletheoriginalreality.Theexistenceofasimilaritywithpeople or objectsmakes it easier to understand themessage in the picture viewer. In semiotics, thesimilaritybetweensignifierandsignifiediscalledicons(Piliang,2004:194).SeethecartooninFigure3isstraightforwardobserversrecognizethecharacterinit,namelySoekarnoandSusiloBambangYudhoyono.Figure 3.1 displays activity of the then currently hitting the empty barrelwith a backgroundof threepeople are standing and the trees. This picture is critiquing the opinion later stated the presence offoreignerswhowantedtodestabilizeIndonesiawhoborrowsaproverb"tongkosongnyaringbunyinya."Butthenthestatementofthethen-unprovensowhathewassayingwaslikeanemptybarrelthatreadsaloud.

(1)

(2)

Figure3.ThepowerofrepresentationalinEditorialCartoonsSource:(1)AnEditorialCartooninthenewspaper“IndonesiaRaya”in1955inSunarto(2005:171)

Page 6: THE POWER OF THE VISUAL LANGUAGE OF …sastra.um.ac.id/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/212-218-Noval...relevant research. From the study, the author found that the visual language of editorial

217Faculty of Letters, Universitas Negeri Malang

October 2017

Proceedings

(2)Politicalcartoonsonthewebsitewww.inilah.comtheyear2010inDarmawanandPiliang(2015:201)

ThecartooninFigure3.2highlightsofYudhoyono'sGovernmentpolicyBillprivileges.Throughthetechniquesofadigitalimage,facialresemblancetotheoriginalimageontheviewermakesiteasytoidentifythefigureinit.Inthiscase,theeditorialcartoonshighlightedtheattitudeofYudhoyono.Withthepowerof thismessage in theeditorial cartoonsbecamequite clear andeasy readable critiqueofintent. Audienceswill be no longer struggled to find themeaning of the picture because it's easy tounderstandhissymbol.THEPOWEROFMETAPHOR

Anotherstrengthofeditorialcartoonsthatpossesarehisabilitytodivertcriticismobjectwithsomethingelse.Forexample,thepersonificationoftheratisadiversionfromthecorruptororeventofcorruption.Redirectscanusereplacementorresult,analogy,comparison,andthesimilarityoftheobject(Sunarto,2005:28).Figure4.1displaysfourcharactersincartoons.Threepeoplewereeatingfoodandanother lookatthem.Onthetableareavailablepackedintheformofchickenmeatwithacloththatreads "Dana SD Inpres." Editorial cartoon work of this Pramono R. Pramoedjo critiquing misleadingGovernment officials help funds for presidential instruction elementary school. The actions of thecharactersarecartooneatingchickenmeatintootherobjectsdistractingsituationsofabuseofauthorityagainst the presidential instruction elementary school. The figures in the pictures do not representsomeonepreciselysothatitisnotclearwhodidthemisleadingofficialpresidentialinstructionelementaryschoolfund.However,inthecartoonsatiretoofficialsdeeplyfelt.

(1)

(2)

Figure4.ThepowerofmetaphorinEditorialCartoonsSource:(1)AnEditorialCartooninthenewspaper“SinarHarapan”in1983inHidayatullah(2007:87)(2)AnEditorialCartooninthenewspaper“Kompas”in2011inTalani(2012:136)

Figure4.2combinesvisualandverbalelements(thewritings).Insidearepicturesoftheflagflyingbutshabby,perforated,tear,andfullofpatches.Everypatchthatreads"Eksekutif,""Legislatif,"andthe"Yudikatif."Inadditiontotheflag,therearetwopeoplewhoaretalking.Thewords"Makinsempurnaapanya?Merakyatnya?"and"Korupsinya" indicatesthecontentsof theconversation.Themeaningofthese images is the destruction of the country due to the corruption that plagued the three majorinstitutionsofacountry,namelytheexecutive,legislative,andjudicial.AlthoughcorruptionistheStateinstitutionsbuttheeditorialcartoonworkofJitetKoestanaithighlightslegislativememberswhocommitcorruption(Talani,2012:72).Thiseventturnedhiscartooncorruptionharmstatethroughthemetaphorofahollowandfullflagpatches.CriticisminthecartoonisnotonlythequestionofcorruptionbutalsotheindifferenceoftheinstitutionoftheHouseofRepresentatives(DPR)againstthepeople.Aninscription"Merakyatnya?"becomesamarkerthatquestionedtheconcernoflegislativememberstothepeople.CONCLUSIONANDSUGGESTIONS

Based on the above literature review can provide an understanding that editorial cartoonsbecame ameans of a socio-political critique of theMessenger. Display of humour in cartoonsmadecriticismmorememorableandinvitedsmilesfrompeoplewhoseeit.Visualexpressionsystemusedwill

Page 7: THE POWER OF THE VISUAL LANGUAGE OF …sastra.um.ac.id/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/212-218-Noval...relevant research. From the study, the author found that the visual language of editorial

218 Faculty of Letters, Universitas Negeri Malang (UM) October 2017

Proceedings

haveanimpactonthestyleofdeliveryofcriticisminaneditorialcartoon.Frompreviousresearchdata,there is three editorial cartoon publication time periods, i.e., the era of Sukarno, Suharto, and post-reform. In every time of its publication,wewill find a unique style of criticism fromeach cartoonist.Through the theoretical visual grammar approach, this article found that the visual language of theeditorialcartoonhasthreepowers,namelythepowerofsymbolic,representational,andthepowerofmetaphor. The symbolic power of an editorial cartoon is the ability to display the criticism also takeadvantageofvarioussymbolsinitasaformofmasterycartoonistefficientlyutilizeexistingsymbols.Theuseofasymbolthathassimilaritiestoapersonorthinginacartoonwouldmakeiteasyforobserverstounderstandthemessagesinit.That'sthepowerofeditorialcartoonsarerepresentational.Thepowerofmetaphoristhepowertodivertcriticismwithsomethingelsethroughreplacementorresulting,analogy,comparison,andthesimilarityoftheobject.Throughthepowerofthesethreevisuallanguagesthatmakeeditorialcartoonsbecamethemeanseffectivelytoconveycriticismsothathispresenceissignificantforthemassmedia.REFERENCESCohn, N. (2007). A visual lexicon. The Public Journal of Semiotics, 1(1), 35-56. Retrieved from

http://www.emaki.net/essays/visuallexicon.pdf.Darmawan,P.&Piliang,Y.A.(2015).Cartoonistvisualcommunicationthroughonlinepoliticalcartoonin

the eraof theGovernmentof President SusiloBambangYudhoyono, Jurnal Pendidikan SainsSosial dan Kemanusiaan, 8(2), 195-204. Retrieved from http://www.mindamas-journals.com/index.php/sosiohumanika/article/viewFile/604/602.

Hidayatullah, T. (2007):Maknakartunpolitik karyaPramonoR.Pramoedjoperiode1980-1986 (Masterdissertation,Bandung InstituteofTechnology,Bandung, Indonesia).Retrieved fromLibraryofFacultyofArtandDesign(FSRD).

Kress,G.&vanLeeuwen,T.(2006).ReadingImages:TheGrammarofVisualDesignSecondEdition.NewYork:Routledge.

Naghy, E. C. (2010): Directing ideologies through media cartoons (Master dissertation, UniversidadComplutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spanish). Retrieved from http://eprints.ucm.es/12620/1/Corina_Naghy.pdf.

Piliang,Y.A. (2004). SemiotikaTeks:SebuahPendekatanAnalisisTeks. JurnalMediator,5(2),189-198.Retrievedfromejournal.unisba.ac.id/index.php/mediator/article/download/1156/715.

Sunarto, P. (2005).Metafora visual kartun editorial pada surat kabar Jakarta 1950-1957(Doctoraldissertation,BandungInstituteofTechnology,Bandung,Indonesia).RetrievedfromLibraryofFacultyofArtandDesign(FSRD).

Sunarto,W.(2008):PemitosandanperombakanmitosSoekarnodanideologinyadalamkarikaturpolitikdi surat kabar Indonesia pada masa demokrasi terpimpin sampai akhir kekuasaan PresidenSoekarno (1959-1967) (Doctoral dissertation, University of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia).RetrievedfromLibraryofUniversityofIndonesia.

Talani,N.S. (2012): Ilustrasikorupsi dalam rubrikOpiniKompasperiode 2011:sebuahtinjauanwacana visual (Masterdissertation,Bandung InstituteofTechnology,Bandung, Indonesia).RetrievedfromLibraryofFacultyofArtandDesign(FSRD).