• Followership: Boosting Power and Position in Popular TV Fiction

    Author(s):
    Mohd Muzhafar Idrus (see profile)
    Date:
    2015
    Subject(s):
    Culture--Study and teaching, Southeast Asian literature, Southeast Asia, Area studies, Television--Study and teaching
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    Cultural studies, Postcolonial literature, Social power, Southeast Asian studies, Television studies
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M67P8TC7G
    Abstract:
    Research by Andaya (1999) has shown that the “expansion of authority” in Southeast Asia is jostled through culture. In Malay archipelago, such authority and legitimacy are manifested in the regulation of “dress, language, and custom,” reinforcing powerful gains emanating from wide cultural control. Following this premise, we seek to provide insights that work in tandem with how culture evolves to signify one‟s power and position through conversational exchanges palpable in popular TV fiction. Specifically, in this paper, we argue that reasons related to culture including religion and communal beliefs are employed by the “dominant knower” to prevail in TV fiction‟s narrative exchanges. Based on Conversation Analysis (CA) of Julia and On Dhia, we show that “dominant knowers” triumph using Malay adat (customs), as a reasoning firstly to justify the behavior of relationships, and parenthood) and secondly to explicate one‟s choices in instituting the roles of women and men in the Malay world. Through such analysis, it is also found that any arguments through logic are denied and eliminated. Given these findings, this study demonstrates whether followers do or do not possess agency and whether followership does or does not dwell on loyalty to friendship and kinship over the course of navigating their private and public lives. By focusing on the narrative exchanges, we also contend that although TV fiction evokes issues that are decidedly modern and liberal in response to forces of globalization, Malay adat is still powerful for boosting power and authority in everyday everyday discourse (friendships, Malay discourse.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Pub. DOI:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/GEMA-2015-1501-12
    Publisher:
    Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM Press)
    Pub. Date:
    2015-4-20
    Journal:
    GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies
    Volume:
    15
    Issue:
    01
    Page Range:
    207 - 224
    ISSN:
    1675-8021
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    5 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved

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