Flouting of Maxims in Finding Dory Movie
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e-Journal of Linguistics
Available online at https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/eol/index Vol. 16, No. 2, July 2022, pages: 283--290 Print ISSN: 2541-5514 Online ISSN: 2442-7586 https://doi.org/10.24843/e-jl.2022.v16.i02.p09.
Flouting of Maxims in Finding Dory Movie
1Ni Made Ayu Dwiantari
Mahasaraswati University, Denpasar, Indonesia, [email protected]
2Putu Desak Eka Pratiwi
Mahasaraswati University, Denpasar, Indonesia, [email protected]
3Made Perdana Skolastika
Mahasaraswati University, Denpasar, Indonesia, [email protected]
Article info
Received Date:7 Maret 2022
Accepted Date: 15 April 2022
Published Date:31 July 2022
Keywords:*
flouting maxims, motivation, illocutionary, cooperative
principle
Abstract*
This research aims to describe the types of maxims that are flouted in Finding Dory, to reveal and explain the strategies used by the main characters to flout maxims in Finding Dory, and to describe the functions of maxim flouting done by the main characters in Finding Dory. The study concerns with the flouting maxims that occur in main characters utterances in reaching their goal in Finding Dory movie, a movie which uses under sea universe as the main theme of the story. The study aims at analyzing the types of flouting maxims, and motivation of flouted maxim which frequently used in a conversation between main characters other characters in Finding Dory movie and the reason of applying that particular type of flouting maxims, and motivation to giving information the interlocutor in the utterances. This study uses qualitative method to conduct a clear and well organized description about the problems which is identified. Descriptive study in textual analysis is applied to elaborate the flouting maxims which occur in Finding Dory movie. The data were taken from the script and analyzed by applying Cooperative Principle theory proposed by Grice (1975). The study concludes that the flouting maxim of relation and quantity is mostly applied by the main characters to giving the information the interlocutor but the information is irrelevant.
Language is a media for communication. Language is a system that is used by human to say something through communication. Language is the first thing that we need to doing communication, without language we will be difficult to communication and convey the meaning. In life, people communicate to connect with others with a clear understanding in which the participants give and receive information to and from one another. To express about their ideas and to inform about something when they have a conversation. Conversation must have both the speaker and the hearer who need to cooperate and contribute that can be understood so the communication will be successful. According to Grice (1975: 45), the cooperative principle makes your conversational contribution such as is required. It means that do not give any information less or more to the listeners.
In a communication misunderstanding can happened when the speaker fails to delivering the message the hearer fails to catching the meaning. We need Cooperative Principle to make the conversation become informative, truthfulness, relevance and clear. Cooperative Principle has four maxims that can help the conversation become more effective. He also stated that there are four types of maxim to make the communication be effectively, they are: maxim of quantity, maxim of quality, maxim of relevance and maxim of manner. Maxim of quantity is the speaker gives enough information as is required. Maxim of quality is the speaker gives fact or truth information. Maxim of relevance is the speaker gives relevant information based on the topic of conversation and maxim of manner is the speaker give clearly, orderly, briefly information to avoid ambiguity.
There are several related studies that deal with flouting maxim analysis that has been used to support this research, they are from Purwanto (2008) his study aims to describe the kinds of maxims flouted by the main characters and showed by the main characters in Titanic movie. Dwi (2016) the aims of her study are to analyze the types of flouting maxim in EFL Classroom Interaction. Based on some related studies, most of them focused on analyze the main character in the movie. Therefore, this research aims to analyze all of the characters in the movie. Although the previous studies and present study analyzed a similar topic and the difference is from data source.
From several studies above which are used as a reference. Researchers also searched study journals from international studies, one of them was a study by Niclas Andresen from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Department of Language, Literature and Intercultural Studies at Karlstads University. The title of the study conducted by Andresen is “An analysis of flouting in the comedy series Community”. The problem discussed in this study is almost the same as the study conducted by the researcher, namely, the maxim most often used by the main character. Here is an example of the problem discussed by Andresen: What conversational maxims do the main characters in the series flout, and how often.
The results that Andersen found in his research is, he found that main character in series Community flouted a maxim ten times each, but they differed in which maxims they flouted. When Britta flouted the maxims, it was the maxim of quantity that was flouted the most, and when Pierce flouted the maxims it was the maxim of quality. The other three characters were found to flout the maxims much less than the others. Troy, Annie and Abed flouted the maxim of quantity the most, whereas for Shirley, the maxim that was flouted the most was the maxim of quality.
This study would focus on analyzing the conversation between the characters in Finding Dory movie. Since the object relates to the background of the study which focuses on how the characters use flouting maxims in manipulating the information for their own benefit. Further, all categories of maxims in Cooperative Principle theory proposed by Grice (1975). In conducting this study, the method of collecting the data is with observation method and the method of analyzing the data is with descriptive method. The data collected from Finding Dory movie, the steps was taken the process of analyzed. First step, watching the movie it repeatedly to understand the plot. Second step, the movie script will be examined to distinguish the flouting maxims of the characters in Finding Dory movie. Third step, the data will be noted to figure out how often each type of flouting maxims occur in the movie. The data were analyzed based on theory types of flouting maxim proposed by Grice (1975). The finding presented in two methods, the formal method and informal method.
Table 1
The Types of Flouted Maxim in Finding Dory movie
|
No |
Types of Flouted Maxims |
Frequency |
Persent |
|
1 |
Flouted Maxim of Quality |
3 |
17% |
|
2 |
Flouted Maxim of Quantity |
6 |
33% |
|
3 |
Flouted Maxim of Relation |
6 |
33% |
|
4 |
Flouted Maxim of Manner |
3 |
17% |
|
Total |
18 |
100% |
The four types of maxim are flouted in the movie. They are maxim of quantity, maxim of quality, maxim of relation, and maxim of manner. In table two above presents how many times the flouted maxims happen in the Finding Dory movie.
The first is flouted maxim of quality. In the maxim of quality, the participants of the conversation have to be as truthful as it required. The speakers are expected to say what they believe to be true with the evidence related to the information they bring. In the movie, the maxim of quality is flouted three times. The second is flouted maxim of quantity. Flouted maxim of quantity is giving the information as it is required neither less nor more than it should be. In normal circumstances, maxim of quantity provides no less information and no more than is necessary. In this movie, Dory did in almost every dialogue because Dory has a cheerful character which makes her love and too much talk. In this movie flouted maxim of quantity occurs in six times.
The third is flouted maxim of relation. The speakers who flout the maxim of relation seems to be irrelevant. Being relevant is the key to observe this type of maxim. In this case, the speakers flout the maxim because they avoid continuing the conversation or they implied intended meaning. The flouted maxim of relation much happens in this movie, there are six times. The fourth is flouted maxim of manner. In maxim of manner requires the participants to give information orderly and avoid ambiguity. In this movie the flouted maxim of manner happens two times.
In this section, the findings of flouting maxims in Finding Dory movie were discussed more comprehensively. Some examples of flouting maxim that occurred in the movie were provided to give a more in-depth explanation of the phenomena. The aim of the discussion was to answer the hypothesis and objectives of this research clearly
Based on Grice (1975: 170) A speaker flouts the maxim of quality when the speaker simply says something that does not represent what he or she actually thinks. The speaker fails to fulfill the maxim of quality a maxim that requires the speaker to make a contribution that is true, that is not saying what is believed to be false and not saying that for which the speaker lacks of adequate evidence. Based on the table above the flouted maxim of quality happens three times. The following example indicate the flouted maxim of quality
Data 1
Marlin : Back to bed! That’s it, very simple!
Dory : Ah! Got it.
Marlin : Back to bed! Back to bed!
Dory : Hey, Marlin, I-
Marlin : And we’re up. That’s it, ready to start the day.
(Finding Dory, 00:07:48)
The example above happens when Marlin couldn’t sleep and asked Dory to be quiet, but because Dory kept waking him up, marlin said “And we’re up. That’s it, ready to start the day”. He chose to be a liar by giving an untruthful statement in responding the situation. According to Grice’s (1975) statement, flouting maxim is non-observing the maxims of Cooperative Principle by intentionally breaking the maxims to convey hidden meanings. Flouting maxim of quality is when the speaker simply says something that does not represent what he or she actually thinks. His response showed he flouted the maxim of quality.
The flouted maxim of amount happens while the speakers appear to be uninformative through giving lots or much less records. In this example, the speakers want to give element facts about what they are speaking approximately. moreover, the speakers need to offer much less facts about something in sure functions. the example under show the flouted maxim of amount.
Data 2
Destiny : Who is that? Is that blue blob talking?
Dory : Can you help me? I lost my family. And...
Destiny : You lost your family?
Dory : Well, it's a long story, and truth be told, I don't remember
most of it.
(Finding Dory 31:18)
The dialogue above happens in the whale aquarium. In that situation, Destiny was shocked because there was a blue blob in her place looking for help. The whale named Destiny asked her then Dory answer it. In this conversation, character flouted the maxim. Based on the dialogue above Dory flouts the maxim of quantity because she is not informative as is required. Maxim of quantity concerned with giving the information as it is required neither less nor more than it should be. Speakers become less informative or more informative when they flout maxim of quantity. Actually, Dory answers it but in too much utterance. It is shown in Well, it's a long story before she answers the question and truth be told.
The flouted maxim of relation happens when the participants being irrelevant. Sometimes speakers being irrelevant because some purposes such as being unfocused of some things. The thing maxim of relation requires is where one tries to be relevant and says things that are pertinent to the discussion. To fulfill this maxim, the speakers are expected to say something relevant to what is said before. This type of maxim can be found in conversation when the speakers try to say something like “Oh, by the way”, “anyway”, or “well, anyway” Grice (1975: 127)
In this case, the flouted maxim of relation happens sixteen times which mostly done by Dory. The way of flouting maxim of relation can be seen as follows.
Data 3
Destiny : Of course! We talked through the pipes when we were little. We
were pipe pals!
Dory : We were?
Destiny : Aw, you're so pretty.
Dory : So you know where I'm from?
(Finding Dory 32:00)
The dialogue happens when Dory had conversation with Destiny in her place. In that time Destiny praised Dory after long time they never communicate but her answer was irrelevant. According to Leech (1983), irrelevant communicate is flouting maxim of relation, this mean when speaker flouts the maxim of relation when the speakers of a conversation fail to be relevant
in communicating. From the dialogue above can be seen Dory flouted another maxim of relation. Dory’s answer So you know where I'm from? is not relevant with Destiny’s question.
The maxim of manner is flouted when the speakers are being obscure. He/she wants to convey something by giving unclear statements that are difficult to be understood by the hearer. In this case, the flouted maxim of manner occurred because the speaker was forgetful that makes her a bit difficult to convey the message. The flouted maxim of manner is shown in the following example.
Data 4
Dory : Mommy? Daddy? Help. No. No. No. Help. Help. Help me. Help. Help
me. Please. Somebody help me! Hey, can... help me? Can you help me? I've lost them!
Female Fish : Oh. Lost who?
Dory : I-I-I-I...
Female Fish : Ah, sorry, honey. I can't help you if you don't remember
(Finding Dory 1:04:50)
The dialogue above describes when Dory is separated from her friends and Dory is trapped in separate places. Because she panicked, she could not explain her purpose clearly to other fish. Then she could not convey well what she just said. In the dialogue above Dory’s utterance is flouting maxim of manner because what she said just obscure. As Grice (1975) stated, to be clear in saying things is what all speakers try to do. However, in some occasion, ambiguity indeed happens whether the speaker intends to make it or not. Then, maxim of manner is not fulfilled as the result She conveyed something with “I-I-I-I...” Which is obscure to be understood.
The flouting of maxim not only can be seen in real life but also in the movies. So, the researcher decided to analyze the flouting of maxim from a movie because it represents the reality which people flout the maxim almost every day. Finding Dory movie is the film focuses on the amnesiac fish Dory, who journey to reunited with her parents. The film was released in the US on June, 17th 2016 produced by Pixar Animation Studios. Finding Dory is all about Dory finding her family. She has a flashback of her family, which she'd long forgotten until something triggers a series of memories. Along with Nemo and Marlin, Dory ventures across the ocean to find her family. In true Dory fashion, she gets lost and confused along the way. The one thing that she doesn't forget is her family. The message of Finding Dory is that you should never give up. Whether you're chasing your dreams or chasing your forgetful, crazy blue friend – don't give up. A little determination can go a long way. The journey is not always an easy one, but it's the trials and tribulations that make the journey one to be proud of. Dory get confused a lot, forget where she is, repeat things over and over again, but she never gives up hope. Dory may be silly and maybe a little annoying, but she is a heck of a friend and has an incredible support system in her friends. It just goes to show you how a positive attitude can attract people fish of all kinds. we can appreciate the loyalty of the friendships that were made in Finding Dory.
Related to the first objective of the study that is to describe the flouted maxim used by the main characters in Finding Doty movie, the researcher found that there are four types of flouted maxim, namely flouted maxim of quality, quantity, relation and manner. As the main character, Dory flouts all the maxims. The main characters are kind of unfocus fish and excited fish. It is done by giving irrelevant responses. These dominant types are related to each other. Motivation carried out by the main character is explain how the process of fulfilling the goals in a speech carried out by the main character can persuade the interlocutor to help find information and fulfill the main character's goals.
For the readers, the researcher expects that this research can make the readers to be more aware about maxim flouting phenomenon. To be aware of flouting maxim can make the readers easily to understand about implied meaning in daily life conversation. This research also can enrich their knowledges in linguistic especially maxim flouting in pragmatics. In addition, the movie chosen by the researcher can also interests the readers to watch it bacause the movie teach us to be more aware and care to people who suffers short term remembory loss. For the English learners, the researcher expects that this research will make the English learners more interested to learn about pragmatics especially maxim flouting because it occurs in the daily life conversation which is can make the students think critically to find out and to identify the maxim flouting are. It also motivate them to conduct a similiar research with different objectives because it has another aspects beside the strategy used that can be investigated.
The researcher would like to express her gratitude to Ida Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa, for his blessing so that this thesis can be completed on time. In completing this thesis many people have given motivations, advices, and supports for the researcher. The researcher also would like to express her gratitude and appreciation to the following people.
In finishing this study, the writer really wants to give her regards and thanks for people who have given their guidance and support during the process of conducting the article. All lectures and staff of Faculty of Foreign Languages, Mahasaraswati Denpasar University for their assistance. The researcher’s beloved parents and family members who had given support, prayer, and encouragement to finish this study. The researcher realized that this thesis is far from perfection. Therefore, comments, suggestions, and new ideas are needed for the improvement of this paper. Hopefully this article will be useful for those who want to develop their study on English especially in directive illocutionary acts.
References
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Biography of Authors
Ni Made Ayu Dwiantari was born in Denpasar on July 20th, 1999. She is a graduate student from the Faculty of Foreign Language, Mahasaraswati Denpasar ■^ University. She graduated from Mahasaraswati University in 2021 with a bachelor degree in English literature. She is interested in pragmatic, …
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Desak Putu Eka Pratiwi, S.S., M.Hum. is a lecturer of English Study Program, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Mahasaraswati Denpasar University. She graduated from Udayana University in 2007 with bachelor degree in English Literature. She got her Master degree in 2009 and Doctoral degree in 2015 from Linguistics Department, Udayana University. In 2013, she got Sandwhich scholarship from Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education of the Republic Indonesia and attended a short study in the Linguistics Department of Sydney University, Australia. She actively attends national and international conference and presents her articles which generally discusses about the language of advertisements. She also published her articles in national and international journals. She is interested in Semantics, Semiotics, Pragmatics and Linguistic Anthropology.
Made Perdana Skolastika, S.S.,M.Pd is lecturer in Faculty of Foreign Languages, Mahasaraswati Denpasar University. He pursued his three years diploma in Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta. He then finished his bachelor’s degree from faculty of cultural sciences at Udayana University on 2008. He had years of experience in working for national and international NGOs specialized in education. He then earned his master in education on 2015 from Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha, Singaraja. Currently, he is a part of passionate instructors in the ministry of education for its journey to strengthen Indonesian educators through Guru Penggerak Programs. He is interested in education and educational psychology.
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