Postmemory Multimodal Discourse of Grand Watudodol Underwater Advertisement

Abstract

This thesis discusses the phenomena of memory transmission in advertisements. The data that used were taken from official Instagram account of bwi.id, and Posindonesia.ig. In order to find the transmission, the researcher applied visual grammar analysis from Gunther Kress and van Leeuwen (2006), Textual analysis from McCabe (1999), and Postmemory by Mariane Hirsch (2012). Nowadays, the way to communicate with relatives who lives far away is easy and effortless. By using their phones or social media, people can communicate with each other seamlessly. In contrast, before the appearance of social media, people’s choice to communicate is only by using posts. In the present day, people do not use written letters anymore. Both Banyuwangi tourism and Pos Indonesia then collaborate to recreate the activity of sending written letters as tourist attraction which called Banyuwangi Posbox Underwater. In order to reach their target audience, they are using Instagram posts to advertise this tour. Therefore, it is interesting to analyze the advertisement visually and textually to find out the effort of re-imagining the past according to them. This thesis uses qualitative research. Documentation regarding the selected Instagram posts was done by the researcher. In total, there are six images and two captions that was collected. In addition, collecting testimonials from the visitors and the management of the tour was also important for the analysis. Hence, five testimonials and one statement from the tour manager were collected. The finding of this research shows that both Instagram post from bwi.id, and Posindonesia.ig persuades its viewer by showing their main activity of diving but in combination with the activity of sending a written letter on the seabed. Based on visual analysis, memory transmission is represented through the represented participants in the image where bwi.id and Posindonesia depict the action of sending, showing, and going through a struggle. While in textual analysis of the caption, the researcher found that the type of simple and constant thematic progression are employed by Posindonesia.ig and bwi.id to persuade and invite the reader to come at the place and try the attraction themselves. In analyzing the postmemory, the researcher classified the phenomena of the transmission as affiliative. The generations involved in this phenomenon are first generation and second generation. The first generations are those who recreated the activity of sending written letters, Pos Indonesia and Banyuwangi’s Regent. Through their imaginative investment, they successfully persuaded the second generations (the tourists) to try their way communication back in their day. In addition, the first generations also use it as a strategy for their tourism. In conclusion, based on the visual and textual analysis, Pos Indonesia and Banyuwangi tourism are using their trauma to create one tourist attraction. This tourist attraction advertisement is one of the efforts of Banyuwangi government to recover its tourism sector after the pandemic. In addition, it is also an effort from Pos Indonesia, as a company engaged in the delivery of letters and goods, to maintain its existence because people don't send written letters anymore.