Signs And Connotative Meanings of Korean Drama Scenes “Start Up”

Abstract

One of the most popular Korean drama series today is “Start Up.” This drama becomes popular as it has motivated viewers to explore entrepreneurship. There are some signs and symbols in this drama implying valuable messages for its viewers. This present study applies Roland Barthes’s semiotics theory to find out types of connotative signs and their meaning. The data are scenes from portrayal life of Seo Dalmi and Nam Dosan.  Using qualitative descriptive methods, the procedures of data collection and data analysis are: 1) selecting the scene in the Korean drama "Start Up", 2) classifying signs based on connotative types, 3) displaying data, 4) describing the data, and 5) drawing conclusion. The results show that In the case this drama “Start-Up”, the signs symbolize challenge, a sense of belonging, and even motivations. The study found that there are five types of connotative meaning, namely: allusive, attitude, associative, collocative, and reflective meaning. Allusive are the most common connotative meaning found in this drama. the signs symbolize challenge, a sense of belonging, and even motivations.