ARKEOLOGI MAKNA TOPENG: ANALISIS SEMIOTIS FOTO KOMPAS “MENYAMBUT PESTA DEMOKRASI”

Abstract

The reaction of the market community of Gede, Solo, Central Java, to the declaration of Joko Widodo-Kiai Ma'ruf Amin and Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Salahudin Uno, as candidates for President and Vice President, unique. They wear four candidates' masks. This research aims to explore the meaning of the using of mask. Using Michel Foucault's hermeneutical-archeological approach, it is hoped that traces of the deepest meaning can be traced, why do people use masks? Charles Sanders Peirce's semiotic analysis with triangle meaning method (representament, object, and interpretant) is used to data analyze, especially mask photos. As one type of qualitative research, this study produces meaning findings as follows: real markets characterized by crowds, crowded people, passing sellers and buyers, and the transportation activities of busy goods also do not occur. This condition symbolizes criticism of the behavior of the government which is too happy to play the image in front of their people. This is also a symbol of weakness or failure of the government to place the people (in the market) as the main actors driving the welfare of a nation. We all know that the welfare of a nation is represented by the high activity of "selling" and "buying" on the market. The masks of candidates for the President and Vice President who are not in the center are also not in front of the market, symbolizing criticism of the government which has not been in the midst of its people to motivate and build optimism. They also criticized the government which could not be a role model for the good of the nation. In other words, the mask as a whole contains the criticism of the argument that the people are not sure that leaders can motivate their people, or leaders cannot be trusted to be role models for the welfare of their people.