I.
Introduction
In the modern
society, the synchronous way of communication has always been in favour as globalized
social network users are used to being interactive at anytime and anywhere. The
empirical study has proven that the purpose of YouTube serves more than just to
entertain or to pour creativity as marketing strategies. The videos uploaded by
individuals that come from all parts of the world do not only provide free
knowledge and information for the viewers but also give them a way to openly
discuss on the issue of the videos posted. The corpus chosen from YouTube, Why
I Hate Religion, but I Love Jesus (Muslim Version), has over a million
comments from the viewers. The context of this video is in response to the
prior video created and posted by a modern Christian, Why I Hate Religion,
but I Love Jesus. This has called the viewers to eagerly discuss and form
an open debate by leaving comments of their understanding of the videos posted.
II.
Purpose of Study
The primary aim
of this study is to fully grasp the ides of the Computer Mediated Communication
(CMC) use in the linguistic perspective through the YouTube corpus chosen. The
study was conducted to particularly scrutinize the concept of Christianity that
has been brought up in the response to the video Why I Hate Religion, but I Love
Jesus (Muslim Version) by using the method of contextual analysis. Most study on textual analysis focuses on the linguistic analysis, such as vocabulary, grammar, semantics, and etc. Linguistic analysis is descriptive in nature. Thus, since this study is on the intertextual analysis, which is on the context basis, it is therefore interpretative and analyzed through the understanding of the concept that will be explained further.
III.
Description of Corpus
The video
chosen was taken from the ‘Religion’ segment, which has gained 1,109,200
viewers and contained 39, 410 comments (and counting) by the 8th of
April 2012. The video are of the spoken response in the form of creative poem,
concise and direct, that points out the false reasoning by the creator of the
first video regarding his thoughts on Jesus and religion. What this study has
analyzed here is the context of the most responded issue of the video, which is
the concept of Christianity, both from an Islamic and Christian view.
IV.
Framework & Background of Contextual Analysis.
“All
language is intertextual: it is shaped by prior texts, oriented to conventions
and interpreted against the background of a very large corpus linguistic
experience” (Stubbs, 1996)
Contextual analysis
is simply an analysis of a text and its meaning that combine features of the
systematic study of social, political, economic, philosophical, religious, and
aesthetic conditions that were assumed to have been in place at the time and
place when the text is created. In other words, “situating” the text within the
realm of its time and assessing the roles of author, readers, and the
respondents in the reception of the text (Behrendt, 2008). In addition, according
the concept of discourse analysis by Fairclough and Wodak, discourse and social
is always related and compliments one another at all time (2003).
V.
Findings & Analysis
The most
frequent discussion underlined by the viewers are the relevance of the concept
of Trinity. The Christians believe that God has manifested himself into three
beings: Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. A viewer of the username ‘jayf4ever’
wrote “god is one but Jesus wasn’t God”. Through this context, the following ‘Corpus
1’ is the diminutive chain of the responds.
CORPUS
1
1+1+1=1
God+Jesus+Holy
spirit are one
stop
thinking with your cold mind,starting warming your heart!God is so mighty, but
yet u cant believe He can have a Son.Just like U can be a Father wirh a Son.
I bet u
cant even Give me 2 reasons why U cant eat Swine.U say Jesus said do something
and I actuely do! But I say Jesus said after me dont believe in any prophets
who comes after me Its like the last one there is a rot egg, U were last
mate.when u read the bible finish it to the end dont talk crap
jesus
probably never existed jews dont call him divine and you christians are the
worst you are more violent than the muslims even though in the last 12 years
you can say muslims are the most violent and if jesus is so divine why did he
do stupid miracles that even a magician can do to trick people why couldnt he
show the different planets you christians blind there is a lost gospel where
jesus get angry at peter for calling him god christianity is fraud
My 4
year old brother even knows 1+1+1 is not 1. I'll give you 2 reasons why you
can't eat swine. Moses forbade swine and in gospel of matthew, jesus said he
didn't come to abolish the law of moses but accomplish it. Contradiction?2)
Swine eat poop and garbage while lamb, goat and cows eat healthy clean veggies. Docors
have come out discouraging eating of pork. Its a devlish thing to change the
laws of god to fit your life style. We should live the way god told us to live
because he knows best.
Another matter brought up is the concept of sin. Christians believe that
Jesus was crucified to save mankind from their sins. Jesus is then depicted as
a savior and Christians are obliged t reverence him. The entailed corpus chosen
is as follow:
CORPUS 2
Yo your
point about the the cross is really stupid. The cross is so we don't
forget the lords sacrifice he made for us. we remember how he gave his life on
the cross for us and our sins.
Also you
screwed up your words.
You said
you refuse to worship Jesus as an idol just like he wants it and proclaimed it
as a sin (exodus 20:4). If he proclaimed it as a sin in Exodus he must be part
of god as that was gods word before Jesus was even born. So you are actually
right in your statement as Jesus is a party of God.
Boom you
got served
his
point is the best i have heard. Christianity has so many lies in it to
brainwash people. they have a double standard saying not to worship idols yet
you see people have pictures of jesus, celebrities and everything else
worshiping them. if jesus dies on the cross for our sins we would automatically
go to heaven becuase our sins are forgiven.. He came to speak the word of God
not for us to worship him but to
worship God.
You're
response is hilarious. You guys pray to the direction of a black rock, make a
pilgrimage there, go in circles around it, kiss it, touch it. If this isn't a
form of idolatry i don't know what
is.
We don't
worship a rock. Its not even a requirement to kiss it. People want to kiss it
because it is a stone from heaven. Who wouldn't want to kiss
the only thing that fell from heaven and has been touched by holy prophets such
as Muhammad (pbuh) and Adam and Eve???
LOL,
would you kiss every space rock that hits Earth? Somehow
the rock is special because Mohammed touched it? That is idolatry!!!!!
From the context of the first corpus (Figure 1) which talks on the crucifixion
of Jesus, Figure 2 are comments linked to questioning on Muslim’s pilgrimage
rituals. This thread displays how language is intertextual and how from one
topic, the context can develop to a whole new topic.
Another significant point and example that displays intertextuality and
how discourse is related to social issues, that has been brought up in the
empirical study analyzed, is that YouTube viewers tend to relate political
issues to their comments, blaming it on organizations or nations on the problem
centralized, even though there isn’t much relevance or important. Figure 3
displays the example of relating politics to the current issue at hand.
CORPUS 3
Hey
Muslim your people blew up the twin towers. So why do we want to believe you.
God says in the Bible that to kill somebody for no reason is a sin. You did
that in the twin towers. Islam is full of lies. You have never read the Bible
and you refuse to read the Bible. So you can't quote the Bible. I am Anti
Muslim. I don't like Muslims. Your people need to leave AMERICA. This is a
Christian nation. So get out and good luck trying to mess with ISREAL. THEY
WILL KICK YALLS REARS. SO LEAVE AMERICA
It's
funny.. Christianity is all about loving OTHERS.. and you're setting the
opposite example. Please Look in the Mirror Real Good before calling
yourself a Real Christian. Actions speak Louder than Words. And anyone who
liked your ignorant comment is just as much of a fool as you are.
@MegaChicken201, My bro in Christ... You need more
prayer that the maker of this film
God says
in the bible "Love your neighbor as yourself" and "Do good to
those who hate you" and "For God so loved the WORLD (which includes
the Islamic people) that he gave his..." and finally if God loves the
world and also commands us to be Christ-like, don't you think we should learn
to love, before we condemn? Have you even read the Bible?
Mortis235 in reply to MegaChicken201 4 weeks ago
VI.
Conclusion
A text does not have a fixed interpretation, but is interpreted
differently in different historical periods, and in different cultural contexts
(Stubbs, 1996). Even though contextual analysis is seemingly a scholarly
applied linguistic concept, it is relevant to state that human beings
inevitably apply it in their everyday-conversation be it through spoken or
written media. The concept brought by contextual analysis has been manipulated by
YouTube to apply to its’ viewers that after a particular video is watched and
analyzed, they are able to discuss and respond by leaving their comments in the
comment box.
References:
Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing discourse: textual analysis for social research. London: Routledge.
Stubbs, M. (1996). Text and corpus analysis: computer-assisted studies of
language and culture. Oxford, OX, UK: Blackwell Publishers.
Wodak, R. (2001). Methods of critical discourse analysis. London: SAGE.
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