A Functional Approach to the 2019 Indonesian Presidential Debate
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17977/um064v2i92022p1305-1317Keywords:
functional theory, presidential debate, Indonesia, discursive functionAbstract
Abstract: The present study aims to describe the proportion of the second Indonesian presidential debate content, evaluate the applicability of functional theory, and express Joko Widodo's (candidate 01) and Prabowo Subianto's (candidate 02) communication styles according to the Functional Theory of Political Campaign Discourse by Benoit (2015). This study analyzed seven hypotheses from the functional theory under the fourth and fifth axioms using content analysis. The data of this study are the forty-one turns spoken by candidates in the second debate. The findings show that functional theory is suitable for identifying the debate content and describing the proportion of the themes, discursive strategies (acclaim, attack, and defense), topics (policy and character), and sub-topics (past deed, future plan, general goal, personal quality, leadership ability, and ideal). Six hypotheses are proven to be consistent with the prediction. However, the third hypothesis is partially confirmed in the debate as candidate 02 uses acclaim more than candidate 01. Further, both candidates utilize different communication styles; candidate 01 favors using acclaim and defense to establish preferability while candidate 02 chooses to claim and attack.
Keywords: functional theory; presidential debate; Indonesia; discursive function
Abstrak: Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan proporsi isi debat kedua presiden Indonesia, mengevaluasi penerapan teori fungsional, dan mengungkapkan gaya komunikasi Joko Widodo (calon 01) dan Prabowo Subianto (calon 02) menurut Teori Fungsional Wacana Kampanye Politik oleh Benoit (2015). Penelitian ini menganalisis tujuh hipotesis dari Teori Fungsional di bawah aksioma keempat dan kelima menggunakan analisis isi. Data penelitian ini merupakan empat puluh satu giliran yang diucapkan oleh para calon pada debat kedua. Temuan menunjukkan bahwa teori fungsional cocok untuk mengidentifikasi konten debat dan menggambarkan proporsi tema, strategi diskursif (acclaim, attack, dan defense), topik (policy dan character), dan subtopik (past deed, future plan, general goal, personal quality, leadership ability, dan ideal). Enam hipotesis terbukti konsisten dengan prediksi. Namun, hipotesis ketiga sebagian dikonfirmasi dalam debat karena kandidat 02 lebih banyak menggunakan pujian daripada kandidat 01. Selanjutnya, kedua kandidat menggunakan gaya komunikasi yang berbeda; kandidat 01 lebih memilih menggunakan acclaim dan defense untuk menetapkan preferensi sementara kandidat 02 memilih untuk acclaim dan attack.
Kata kunci: teori fungsional; debat presiden; Indonesia; fungsi diskursif
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