Semiotic Analysis of Two American Propaganda Posters During World War II.

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ABSTRACT

Dalam tugas akhir ini, sebagai sumber data saya, saya memilih poster propaganda Amerika yang dipublikasikan di masa Perang Dunia II dan ditujukan kepada para perempuan Amerika. Amerika menghasilkan beberapa poster propaganda paling sukses sepanjang sejarah pada era Perang Dunia II, dan menurut saya, membahas poster yang ditujukan terhadap perempuan dengan menggunakan ilmu semiotika sangatlah menarik.

Teori yang saya gunakan untuk menganalisis kedua poster tersebut adalah teori semiotika Saussure. Menurut Saussure, sebuah sistem tanda terdiri dari penanda (signifier) dan titanda (signified), dan kedua hal itu tidak bisa dipisahkan dalam menganalisis sebuah tanda. Selain itu, saya juga menggunakan teori-teori dari bidang lain yang berhubungan dengan analisis saya. Dari analisis kedua poster, saya menemukan konsep pemberdayaan perempuan pada masa Perang Dunia II.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Language is very important in human life. It is a communication system in which we can convey our thoughts, opinions and feelings to other people. According to a Swiss linguist, Ferdinand de Saussure, language is a system of signs which expresses ideas. Then, in his book entitled Course in General Linguistics, he states the concept of Semiotics.

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There are various visual signs around us, for example, posters, novels, advertisements, pamphlets, magazines and photographs. By using pictures with special meanings, we can more easily express our thoughts. Moreover, it is interesting to see how a combination of visual image and text can accentuate and enhance the message.

This thesis is concerned with one of the visual signs, namely, propaganda posters. According to Harper Collins Dictionary, propaganda is “the organized dissemination of information, allegations, etc. to assist or damage the cause of a government or movement” (“Propaganda,” def. 1). The purpose of propaganda is to change opinions and influence decisions. Simply put, it has the purpose of persuasion.

The data source I use are two American propaganda posters during World War II, specifically the posters that were addressed to women. In my opinion, it is important for us to discuss the meaning behind these propaganda posters through a semiotic analysis.

The Second World War was the worst war that ever happened in the world. It is estimated that more than 55 million people died during this war, which lasted from 1939 until 1945 (“World War II”). As a matter of fact, drawing on the experience of World War I, most Americans hoped to stay out of that war. However, the US government realized that war was getting closer, and thus they tried to convince the citizens by creating pro-war propaganda.

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communication (“What is Propaganda”). The objectives of the government for the propaganda were recruitment, financing the war effort, unifying the public behind the war effort and factory production of war materials (“Winning Over Hearts and Minds”).

Those ‘first-wave’ propaganda posters worked successfully, with the result that most of the American men went to the battlefield. After that, women’s lives greatly changed. The government realized women had to fill some jobs that were historically for males to free men to go to battle. Propaganda posters targeted towards women urged them to do these things and promoted the idea that women could contribute to the war effort (“Victory Begins at Home”). And they did. An officer of the the German Army stated that American women were one of the greatest weapons America had and if the Germans had realized it sooner, there might have been a different outcome of the war. The war was won by the Allies, and America realized they could not win without the aid of the women (“American Women in World War II”).

I choose two propaganda posters addressed to women as my data source because during World War II, U.S.A. produced some of the most successful propaganda posters in history. As a woman, I am also very interested in posters that specifically focus on women. Moreover, there is a saying “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Propaganda posters are loaded with meanings and I think it is interesting to know how a picture can influence Americans’ mindset and attitude.

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taught in class and recommended by lecturers, so that it is a theory which I feel most familiar with.

The significance of this topic is people can realize that a poster is not just a piece of art. It contains meaningful messages. Hopefully, my thesis will also give some useful information for the readers so that they can understand how to make an effective and persuasive poster.

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1.2 Statement of the Problem

In this thesis I would like to analyze the following problems:

1. What are the signifiers and the signifieds of the two propaganda posters addressed to American women during World War II?

2. What is the signification of the posters?

1.3 Purpose of the Study

This research is conducted:

1. to find the signifiers and the signifieds of the two propaganda posters addressed to American women during World War II

2. to analyze the signification of the posters.

1.4 Methods of Research

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would use and chose two propaganda posters as my data source. Following that, I analyzed the data and finally wrote the research report.

1.5 Organization of the Thesis

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CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

After analyzing two American propaganda posters during World War II, in this chapter I would like to draw some conclusions. First of all, these two posters are addressed to American women during World War II. In both posters, the visual signs of the women are in a large size and placed in the middle of the posters, becoming the center of attention. There are also many textual signs refering to women, such as “MISS,” “SISTER,” and “WOMEN.” Thus, both the visual signs and the textual signs of women are very dominant.

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delivering messages or orders from headquarters to soldiers in the battlefield. Thus, stenographers have to do their jobs in a meticulous and accurate way since they determine the lives of thousands of soldiers.

Physically, working as a factory worker is more tiring, difficult and dangerous for women. In the second poster, the woman is accompanied by a man wearing similar clothing as hers. The use of this image shows that America’s women are needed and have capabilities to do historically man-sized jobs, namely, as factory workers. I think this implies the equality between men and women.

Not only the visual signs, but the textual signs from both posters also contain loads of meaning. Basically, the textual signs have the meaning of persuading and encouraging American women to support the war effort. It can be clearly seen from the textual signs “KEEP ‘EM FLYING, MISS U.S.A.” from the first poster and “GOOD WORK, SISTER” from the second one.

However, after doing the analysis, I find that the second poster does not only contain an encouraging meaning, but also acknowledgement and praise of women’s involvement in supporting the war effort. This meaning is implied explicitly in the textual sign “AMERICA’S WOMEN HAVE MET THE TEST.” In my opinion, this additional meaning is closely related to the year when both posters were published.

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The second poster, on the other hand, was published in 1944, a year before the war ended. At that time, it can be said that America and the Allies had a bigger chance of winning compared with the enemies. In addition, the women’s capabilities had been proved to be one of the important factors in ensuring the victory. As a result, the government published the propaganda poster containing acknowledgement and praise of the importance of women’s roles during the war. The use of the V-shaped sign in the background of the poster also strengthens this meaning.

Having analyzed both the visual and textual signs of the posters, I find the idea of women’s empowerment in the posters. Both posters have the effect of empowering women’s positions in professional fields. Although the purpose of the posters is originally to persuade women to replace men in some job areas during the World War II only, these posters also affect women’s roles after the war.

The propaganda posters, especially the second one, have a message which is really motivating and encouraging for the women who were originally regarded as inferior to men in the workplace. Besides helping in building women’s confidence, those posters also result in new opportunities for women to have careers in the fields which were exclusive for men before the war. During those years, the women gained new skills that could be used even after the war ended.

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reason that opportunities for women have grown regarding women’s roles in society today. Thus, it is clear that the propaganda posters have a significant impact on women’s roles after the war.

Propaganda posters have the function of persuasion. A propaganda poster should be straight to the point in conveying the messages. In my opinion, the two propaganda posters that I analyze are successful in delivering the message. Considering the fact that originally the women were reluctant to enter workplaces, the persuasion of the posters was also successfully delivered and accepted by American women at that time. Some experts even stated that America produced some of the most successful propaganda in history. In my opinion, this can be achieved because both the visual and the textual signs in the posters are closely connected and support each other in conveying the message. Each signifier and signified has its own significant meanings, which helps the viewers to find the main message of the posters.

Furthermore, during the writing process of this thesis, I came to a realization that semiotic analysis is very interesting and challenging. Semiotic analysis is not only limited to linguistic theories, but also related to other theories from many fields. In this thesis, I use psychological, historical and cultural theories, in addition to semiotic theories. It is both interesting and challenging to gather data from many sources and arrange them into a logical and structured analysis. Doing this analysis really broadens my knowledge about World War II, especially the history related to women’s roles in that era.

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can deliver a solid meaning which will finally compel the viewers to give their attention. Besides, semiotics also helps me in understanding the meaning of visual media. I realize that we should not only see the surface meaning, but also pay attention to the unseen meaning. We have to be more critical in accepting signs and their messages as they can easily influence our thoughts and actions.

My suggestion for other researchers taking Semiotics is that they have to choose a suitable data source to be analyzed and make sure the theories which are used support the signification of the data. In addition, they also have to look for enough theories and arrange them in a certain way so that the analysis will be logical and well structured. Last but not least, it is best if they choose a topic which is interesting for them and keep being spiritful during the process.

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