AN ANALYSIS OF TECHNOCULTURE CRITIC IN THE “ALITA:

BATTLE ANGEL” MOVIE BY ROBERT RODRIGUEZ

(An Application of Jean Francois Lyotard’s Postmodernism Theory)

A PROPOSAL

Submitted to the Proposal Examiners Team in Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirement of the Degree of Sarjana Sastra (S.S) at English Literature
Studies Program, Language and Literature Departement of Humanities
Faculty at Halu Oleo University

NURDIN
N1D217140

ENGLISH LITERATURE OF STUDY PROGRAMS

FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
HALU OLEO UNIVERSITY
KENDARI
2020
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

In this chapter the researcher will explain an introduction that consist on

Background of the Study, Research Question, Objectives of the Study,
Significance of the Study, and Scope of the Study.

1.1 Background of the Study

Literature is a fictional work that is imaginative as well as a creation based

on overflowing emotions that is able to express the aesthetic aspects of language
and meaning (Taum, 1997:13). According to Ratna, states that the nature of
literary work is fiction or more often called imagination. Imagination literary
work are imagination based on reality. Although, essentially literary work are
fiction and literary work are constructed on the basis of reality( Ratna, 2005:312).
Based on its form, literary works are devided into several works such as Poetry,
Novel, Fairy Tale, Short Story, Drama, and Saga. Literary works are not only in
visual form, but also in audio form which is Movie.
Movie is a period of communication as well as a combination of
technologies such as photography and sound recording, as well as a combination
of fine arts and artistic literature and architecture and also music art (Effendi,
2000:211-216). Movie is a pillar of a postmodern aesthetic building in addition to
Novel, Poetry, Short Story, Drama, Folk Tale, and Saga. Through movie all the
principles and aesthetic forms in postmodern theory and culture display the
integrity of the work and captivate the audience. Meanwhile, movie is all
paradigms and theories of postmodern culture can be read easily throughout the
world. As a mass culture, movie encapsulates all the ability to explore in every
corner and space, creating its own aesthetic space, as well as providing a variety
of value and outlook on life. In this case, movie is a commodity, art, and ideology
(Hidayat, 2012:134).
According to Hornby (2006:950) movie means a series of moving picture
recorded with sound that tells a story that shown at cinema as one of visual aids
that can be used in a writing class. A movie is one of the visual aids that can be
used in a writing class. It makes lesson more fun. It can also be used to create
situation for writing classes more clearly, that the students have big enthusiasm in
teaching learning process. Movie is a term that encompassed individual motion
picture, the field of movie as an art form, and the motion pictures industry. Movie
are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating
images using animation techniques or special effect.
Literature and Movie as media communication, it should remain pay
attention to the contents or capacity to be delivered. At this time, the definition of
literary is already no longer just letters (printed) but rather visual, electronic,
nonverbal, gestural, or social literary. This matter already certainly cannot be
releaded from rapid technological development. The emergence of new findings
are make it easy for humans to do leaps of activity and thought raises the
possibility of new definition anyway. In its development, the next symptom is the
activity of adapting literary works into movie or often called Ecranisation. In its
definition, Erneste said that ekranisation is the whitening or transferring/ the
appointment of a novel to the movie. In his book titled novels and movie which
trying to bridge new symptoms filming literary works in a framework theoritical
study so that it can be approached scientifically (Erneste, 1991). Therefore, with
the theory of ecranisation it is said that the point of contact between literary and
movie can be seen the common thread. So, the movie can be seated as object of
literary studies.
The modern era brought human become more advanced in the 20th
century. In this century, technology and industry had changed the life condition of
human from traditional into modern and everything become more practical. But,
the modern society didn’t bring human as an individual who was enlightened.
There are many problems that couldn’t be solved by them. Like essential human
value thta had been lost. The great concern to the humanism caused by the
changing of the structure of world society. Events that happened in the 20th
century, gave evidances that althought science explosion had positive sides, it
didn’t make a utopia (Stanley, 1996: 270).
 The second millenium ended by modernism and industrialism that caused
that Capitalist society started to lose its credibility. According to Daniel Bell,
modern culture has influenced new life values. Bell saw hedonism, lack of
social identification, narcissism, and decline. These societies didn’t recognize the
other which consists of small communities, low culture and the third worlds. The
modern periode has become a period of significant development in the fields of
science, politics, warfare, and technology. This also the era of discovery and
globalization. During this time, European power and their colonies began to
colonize politics, economics, and culture from all over the world.

The modern era is a topic in the humanities and social sciences is both a
historical period as well as the esemble of particular socio-cultural norms,
attitudes and practices that arose in the wake of the renaissances in the “Age of
Reason” of 17th century thought and the 18th century enlightenment. Depending
on the field, modernity may refer to different time periods or qualities. In
historiography, the 17th and 18th centuries are usually described as early modern,
while the long 19th century corresponds to modern history proper. While it
includes a wide range of interrelated historical process and cultural phenomena, it
can also refer to the subjective or existential experience of the conditions they
produce, and their ingoing impact on human culture, institutions, and politics
(Berman, 2010:15-36).

Related to the times, literary works are inseparable from modernism which
is currently considered obsolete and must be replaced with the new paradigm is
postmodernism. The modernism era was considered no longer able to answer
human needs as a whole. Rationality is a deep spirit precisely modernism in the
last few periods has brought the bad impact fo the survival of humanity. In a state
of where modernism endured this “Identity Crisis” in the ned postmodernism
plays its role.

However, as well as postmodernism which assumes that modernism has

failed in raising of human dignity. In postmodernism, modernism has failed to
bring human life towards more advanced and the absence of violence. The
development of science in the modernism era brought destruction to mankind,
wars occured where which resulted in human life in suffering (Maksum, 2012:44-
45).

According to Lyotard postmodernism thought they do not look at science

modern knowledge as universalism, because postmodernism rejecting
explanation that are universal, harmonious, or even consisten. The postmodernism
replaces that to the particular and local, then get rid of things that are universal.
Prominent character of this postmodernism era raised the concept of pluralism,
an emphasis on the value of the individuality of humans as the autonomous. The
historical emergence of the concept of technoculture in the last half of the
twentieth century marks a distinct shift in the relationship between technology
and society, culture and nature. The development during this period of
technologies of a qualitatively different character from those associated with
modernity, has deeply problematized the widespread instrumental view that
technology is a central index of moral improvement (Carey, 1989).

Science and technologies constitute the global economy and everyday

culture of the world we live in. New biotechnologies have changed what we eat
and how we reproduce. With the advancement like video game and military
hardware, technology has shaped a culture of its own that we term
“Technoculture”. Techchnoculture is a culture of postindustrial age where society
has moved past industrial age or is consumer society, media society, information
society, electronic society/high tech, and the like (Fredrick Jameson, 1991:3). The
interplay of science, technology and culture cannot be danied and it has become a
full fledged discipline in contemporary studies because of its significance.
According to Fredrick Jameson (1991) called postmostmodernism the cultural
logic of late capitalism, which implies that the cultural landscape has changed
with the society having moved past the industrial age into the information age. So,
this study aims to discuss how cricize the technoculture in the Alita: Battle Angel
Movie by using postmodernism theory.
 Alita: Battle Angel is a 2019 American cyberpunk action film based on the
1990s Japanese Manga series Gunnm By Yukito Kishiro. It was directed by
Robert Rodriguez and produced by James Cameron, who co-wrote the script with
Laeta Kalogridis. Alita:Battle Angel tells the Heroine named Alita (Rosa Salazar)
as the stars of the voice of titular Heroine Alita, a cyborg who awakens in a new
body with no memory of her past, so she sets out to uncover her destiny.
Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connely, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle,
Haley, and Keean Johnson stars in supporting roles. When Alita awakens with no
memory of who she is in a future world she does not recognize, she is taken in by
Ido, a commpassionate doctor who realize that somewhere in this abandoned
cyborg she is the heart and soul of a young woman with an extraordinary past.

In the modernism era advance in technology, science, objectivity,

structuring, ratios, and individualism is the most important thing in the aspect of
life. In the Alita: Battle Angel movie heroine characters are created by the power
of technology, she is created by the form of manifestation in the modern era as we
know in the modern era is an era of technological, scientific and scientific of
sophistication that can solve all the problems then consider mythology and
supernatural, is not an important things in life, so in the Alita:Battle Angel
presents the character of Heroine which shows the ability of the Panzer Kunts
stance and its cyborg body that has advanced technology, Alita became the target.
She also managed to find pieces of memory from her past and remember his
mission to kill people behind the crime in the Iron City. So, the reseracher can see
that the Alita: Battle Angel movie reflects that metanarative of the power of
technology and science of modernism are not the only things that are the
important things in life but myths, traditional culture, and supernatural things also
still have a role in our lives.

Based on the description above, the researcher will analyze Alita: Battle
Angel Movie because in the movie there are some technological sophistication
used by the society as a culture in creating half-robot humans. In addition, the
researcher also take the Alita: Battle Angel Movie because it is very close and
related to the theory of postmodernism, especially in terms to criticize the
technoculture. Alita, Zapan, Grewishka, and Nysianna are the Cyborgs that the
forms of technological and science rejection, so the researcher then interested to
analyze the movie of Alita:Battle Angel by Robert Rodriguez using the concept of
postmodernism theory by Jeans Francois Lyotard because the researcher saw that
Alita:Battle Angel movie was related to one of the postmodernism concepts that is
critic of technoculture.
1.2 Research Question
Based on the Background above, the research question of this research is
“How to Criticize Technoculture in the Alita:Battle Angel Movie?”
1.3 Objectives of the Study
Based on the Reseach Question above, the objective of the study of this
research is to describe the Technoculture Critic towards the cyborg in the
Alita:Battle Angel Movie.
1.4 Significance of the Study
Through this research, the researcher hopes that it would be beneficial to
the readers in terms of information and knowledge. It is also hoped that the
result of this research can be used for seeing the Technoculture Critic towards the
motive of Cyborg in the Alita:Batlle Angel by Robert Rodriguez. This research is
expected to be useful for the readers in terms of information and knowledge and
can apply for English Literature in Analyzing the literary works, the faculty of
cultural studies as one of the references in this study. In addition, the researcher
expects that this research can explore, give, and provide their understanding of
Technoculture Critic toward the motive of Cyborg, especially the postmodernism
concept by Jean Francois Lyotard.
1.5 Scope of the Study
There are many things that can be analyzed from this film, however to
make this research focus, the researcher will limit this research is only in the
critic of Technoculture which is reflected in the Alita: Battle Angel Movie and it
will be discussed by using Lyotard’s thought.
1.6 Definition of Terms
1. Rejection of Metanarative: According to Lyotad, Rejection of Metanaratives
is a big story that has a function legitimacy because it is unfying, universal and
total, which means rejection of unity, universality and totality. And his view, this
is one of the distinguishing features of being most prominent between philosophy
of postmodernism and philosophy of modernism (The Postmodernism Condition:
A Report on Knowledge, 1984)
2. Metanarative: Metanaratives are also world construction which include entire
problems, fix the truth criteria, knowledge, and technology. Metanaratives has
purpose to legitimate their authority (The Postmodernism Condition: A Report on
Knowledge, 1979: 24-25).
3. Technoculture: Refers to the strong interaction in contemporary scientific
research and development between that which traditionally was separated into
science and technology, which goes back at least to the beginning of modern
science (Fredrick Jameson, 1991: 3).
4. Critic: According to Lyotard, critics have also argued in so far as one of
Lyotard’s targets was science, he was mistaken in thinking science relies on a
grand narative for social and epistemic validation, rather than upon the
accumulation of many lesser narative successes (Lyotard, 1992: 29)
5. Postmodernism: Lyotard interpreted postmodernism as everything criticism of
universal knowledge of the metaphysical tradition, both foundationalism and
modernism (Maksum, 2014: 348).
 CHAPTER II
LITERARY REVIEW

In this chapter the researcher will explain the theories that will use in this
research. Those theories are Postmodernism, Jean Francois Lyotard’s Theory, The
Rejection of Metanarative, Language Game, Previous Study, and Theoritical
Framework.
2.1 Postmodernism
The emergence of postmodernism cannot separated from modernism itself.
The word modernism contains all meaning forward, sparkling and progressive.
Modernism always promises us to bring change to a more established world in
where all needs will be fulfilled. Rationality will be help us deal with myths and
beliefs traditionally baseless, which makes people helpless in facing this world
(Maksum, 2014:309).
Nevertheless, modernism has a dark side to it causing human life to lose
orientation. What is said by Max Horkheimer, Ardono, and Herbert Marcuse that
the enlightenment gave birth to opression and domination besides also giving
birth to progress. According to Anthony Giddens, modernism gives rise to
proliferation of disaster for mankind. First, use violence in resolving disputes.
Second, opression by the strong over the weak. Third, increasing social inequality
severe. Fourth, life damage is increasingly worrying (Max, 2014:311).
The fall of modernism and the rise of postmodernism can we know from
his philosophical thought Soren Kierkegard(1813-1855), as quoted by Ali
Maksum who opposes rational and plausible reconstructions that determine
legitimacy the truth of science. That something is said to be true when it suits
consensus or rules that apply in the modern world, namely rational and objective,
but not with Kierkegard, he argues that truth is subjective (Ghazali & Effendi,
2009: 314).
Truth is subjectivity, meaning that opinions about truth subjective it
emphasizes the importance of the experience by an individual that he considers
relative. Postmodernism symptoms that penetrate into various fields that life
which includes science is a reaction to the modernism movement judged to have
failed. Developing modernism marked by the existence or rationalism,
materialism and capitalism which is supported by technological developments as
well science raises religious moral disorientation with the collapse human dignity
(Kalean, 2002: 298)
Against this background, the figures and thinkers postmodernism presents
a new idea called with postmodernism in the context of deconstruction paradigm
towards various scientific fields, as an effort to correct or create and even find
paradigms the new one. Postmodernism as said by Derrida and Lyotard is an anti-
thesis of modernism. Almost all terms proposed by postmodernism is the
anthonymation of modernism. The birth of postmodernism made new terms and
resulted the difference with modernism. Here are a few terms which is used by
modernism and postmodernism or distinguishing between the two (Maksum,
2014: 348).
Jean Francois Lyotard is the one of the most famous postmodernism
philosophers as well as the most important among other postmodernism
philosophers. Two works which made him famous both in France and abroad
namely The Postmodernism Condition and The Differend. His work too either
something or someone who is rejected has a voice on the system the dominant
ideology that determines what can be accepted and unacceptable (Zaprulkhan,
2006:320).
Lyotard’s thinking about science from view modernism which is as big a
naratives as freedom, progress, and so on now according to him experiencing the
same problem like the middle ages which gave rise to the term religious, national,
nationality, and belief in the superiority of European countries for the time being
cannot be trusted or the truth is not correct. So, postmodernism considers science
not necessary immediatelly accepted the truth must be investigated and proven
first. According to Lyotard, the science of postmodernism is not merely an
instrument of authority, of science postmodern broadens our sensitivity to that
view different and strengthen our ability to tolerate above a position you don’t
want to compare ( Maksum, 2014: 319-321)
 In postmodernism, there are grand narative or metanaratives. They called
grand or metanaratives because they saw the effects from modernism that was not
creating the progression. In general postmodernism term, they are called with
grand naratives. This term was created through Friedrich Nietzsche’s thought who
was the first thinker that gave many contribution of thinking for other
postmodernist about a world without center which was creating a world from
global into local (Zaprulkhan, 2006: 320).
According to Jameson, postmodernism society consist of four elements
namely: First, postmodern society is characterized by shallowness and lack of
depth. Second, postmodernism society is characterized by pretense or lethargy of
emotions. Third, postmodern society is characterized by a loss of history. And
Fourth, postmodernism society is characterized by a kind of new technology
closely related to postmodern society itself. For example, technology such as
television or electronic technology (Maksum, 2014: 339).
Based on the explanation above, the researcher conclude that
postmodernism means after the modern. It was a reaction to modernism and was
influenced by the disenchanment brought about by the Second World War.
Postmodernism refers to the state that lacks a central hierarchy and one that is
complex, ambiguous and diverse. The development in society, the economy and
the culture of the 1960s were impacted by postmodernism. Postmodernist thinker
believe that there is no universal truth, abstract or otherwise where attempts to
remove the difference between high and low.
2.2 Jean Francois Lyotard Theory
Jean Francois Lyotard was born in Versailles, France in 1924 and died in
paris in 1998. Lyotard won the title of Professor Emeritus in 1987 when he was
still actively teaching at the University of Paris VIII, Vincennes. For two decades
next, he gave lectures outside France, specifically as a Professor in Critical
Theory at the University of California, Irvine and as a visiting lecture at
Universities throughtout the world including Johns Hopkins, Berkley, Yale, and
the University of California, San Diego in the U.S, Universite de Montreal in
Quebec Canada, and Sao Paulo University in Brazil.
 Jean Francois Lyotard is the person who introduced the term of
postmodernism in philosophy and science in years 1970s in his book “The
Postmodernism Condition: A Report on Knowledge”. He interpreted
postmodernism as everything criticism of universal knowledge, of the
metaphisical tradition, both foundationalism and modernism. According to Louis,
postmodernism is an idea movement that replaces the ideas of modern times
postmodernism symptoms that penetrates into various fields that life which
includes science is a reaction to the modernism movement judges to have failed.
Developing modernism by being characterized by rationalism, materialism, and
capitalism supported by science and technology resulted in it religious moral
disorientation (religious) especially the collapse of dignity human (Louis, 1985).
According to Lyotard (1984), with his postmodernism considers that to
activating science is by living differences, decisions and openness to new
interpretations. He did not believe that science could be contained by a body
unifier in the form of a stable system. Because according to him, that science
grow as an organic system in the sense of not homogeneous let alone closed on
experimentations and playing various possible discourses. From Lyotard’s
perspectives, that postmodernism is an attempt to reject and to distrust all
“Narative Great” modern philosophy, rejection of metaphisical philosophy,
historical philosophy, and everything forms of thinking that totalize like
hegelianism, liberalism, marxism, or anything.
In his book, Lyotard’s thought generally revolve around the position of
knowledge in this tranformation technology age specifically about the way of
science legitimized through, what he called “Grand Narative” such as freedom,
progress, emancipation of the proletariat and so on. Accordin to him, one of the
characteristic postmodernism society is individualism and free to differ another.
These development and changes have led the community in a condition he calls
postmodern. For four the last decades leading science and technology have
become increasingly intertwined closely with language, linguistic theories,
communication problems and cybernetics, computer and language, translation
issue, information storage, and data bank. Technology transformation has a big
influence on knowledge. The miniaturazation and commercialization of machines
has changed the way of obtaining, the classification, creation and exploitation of
knowledge. And Lyotard belives that the nature of knowledge cannot be changed
in the context of transformation this big. The status of knowledge will change as
people begin to enter what is called the postmodernism era. At a later stage,
knowledge does not again becomes a goal in itself but knowledge exists only and
will only be created for sale (Jalaluddin, 2013 p. 67).
2.3 The Rejection of Metanarative
Metanarative are theories or construct of the world that compass
everything and establish criteria for the truth and objectivity of science. So, the
consequences is that naratives outside of big naratives are non-scientific
naratives. According to Lyotard, the perspective of human experience is one of
the narative that can be a source of scientific truth itself. This is one of the
foundation of postmodernism in science. So that postmodernism is an attitude that
rejects all boundaries, namely limits that curb criticism which is strongly opposed
in modernism (Jencks, 1987).
Metanarative or grand narative is a term introduced by Jean Francois
Lyotard in his classic 1979 work, in which Lyotard summed up a range of views
which were being developed at the time, as a critique of the institutional and
ideological forms of knowledge. Narative knowledge is a knowledge in the form
of story telling. In the tribal times, myths and legends formed knowledge of this
type that such and such a mountain was just where it was because some mythic
animal put it there, and so on. The narative not only explained, and when applied
to the social relations of their own society, the myths functioned as a legitimation
of the existing power relations, custom and so on (Lyotard, 1984).
The concept of grand narative or metanarative and in particular what
Lyotard called the “Emancipation Narative” concerns the kind of metanaratives
which talks not just about one damn thing after another, but sees some kind of
interconnection between events, an inner connection between events related to one
another a succession of social systems the gradual development of social
condition and so on. In other words, is able in some way to make sense of history.
2.4 Language Game
In the early 20th century, since G.E. Moore and Bertrand Russell
culminating in Wittgenstein, language became the main study theme, in fact until
now(21st century). This analytic tradition tries to show that much the basic
problem of traditional philosophy is only apparent: only a matter of logic and
more language. Since then, there has been a strong tendency to sue the essence of
“Philosophy” itself from the point of language. In other words, happened the
flurry is heading towards philosophy about philosophy: ‘Metaphilosophy’
(Lyotard, 1984)
In contemporary times, where complexity is considered increasingly
increases the further the possibility of a single explanation or double about
knowledge or science. Previously, a belief in something naratives (for example,
religious doctrines) can solve this difficulty. Since world war 2, as anticipated by
Weber, engineering and technology has experienced as shift in emphasis from
the aims of action to how. By denying both the narative unfication form as a
nature speculative or in the form of emancipatory legitimacy towards knowledge
cannot rely on one great narrative so that the knowledge now best understood in
terms of the theory of ‘Language Game’ according Wittgenstein. Language game
show that there isn’t one scientific concepts or explanations or theories that can
capture deep reality adequate totality. Therefore, language games cannot be
expected to be able to explain reality as it is because it is wrong one game among
a variety of other language game (John Lechte, 19950)
Lyotard believes that there is no unity and essence of language. For him,
language is ‘Agonistic’, namely a space or place of dispute and conflicts that can
never be resolved. The differences are there cannot be compared. There are no
other games, other language and other phases which can reconcile these
differences. The idea of justice for lyotard comes from the realization that the
differences are cannot and should not be resolved because of these differennces
fundamentally irreconcilable.
Based on the interpretations above, Science language games are
denotative language games. The rules playing denotative language games is a
statement must be accompanied by evidence from the party who submitted a
statement to convince the second party as the party that must give approval or
refusal based on evidence submitted by the first party. Science is a language game
it contains normative rules (for example, the makers of proposition without
providing substantiating evidence. In its proposition, the second party cannot
provide evidence but rather approval or their refusal). Science is confronted with
the fact that it cannot enforce the rules of the game universally to the right to
judge which valid knowledge and which are not. Lyotard is convinced that we are
entering the phase in which a single logic which modernists believed was dead
was replaced by a plurality of logic or paralogy (Akhyar, 2003 p.14).
2.5 Previous Study
In doing this research, the researcher also look for other research or article
and other academic writing that having similar theories and different method of
research or different object that used in this research or thesis and also different
point of view. Actually, the researcher have not found a study of postmodernism
analysis in the Alita:Battle Angel movie by Robert Rodriguez using
postmodernism theory by Jean Francois Lyotard before, the researcher only found
several academic writings that have similarities relationship in this research such
theory as follows:
The first is study by Andhika Rania Putria Ningsih entitled “Technoculture
in the Avengers: Infinity War by Anthony and Joe Russo. This research comes
from the English Literature, Faculty of Humanities, Halu Oleo University, April
2019. This study aims to find out the Technoculture displayed in the Avengers:
Infinity War Movie Postmodernism theory by Jean Francois Lyotard. In this
study, the researcher only focus on how the Technoculture displayed in the
Avenger: Infinity War on the movie without paying to much attention on the critic
of tecchnoculture itself.
The second is a study by Waode Fadhila Fitriah entitled “Critics Towards
Metanaratives in the Babel Movie viewed by Jean Francois Lyotard Thought: A
Study of Postmodernism”. The study came from the Faculty of Literature and
Humanities, Syarif Hidayatullah Satate Islamic University Jakarta, June 2010. The
result of this study are explain how the critics of large narative reflection in the
Babel Movie are based on the condition of each country, namely United State,
Japan, Mexico, and Maroco. Using the postmodern thinking of Jean Francois
Lyotard concept.
The third is a study by Nina Fitriani entitled “Postmodernism in the Life of
Main Character in Passo’s The Big Money which analyzed by Jean Francois
Lyotard thought. The study came from the Faculty of Humanities, North Sumatra
University, 2017. This study focused on the main character in Passo’s The Big
Movie based on the postmodernism perspective in the dailylife.
The fourth is a study by Fidelis Krisna Hayati entitled “Postmodernism
Ideas As Seen in the Character Thoughts of Jostein Gaarder’s Maya which
analyzed by Jean Francois Lyotard thought. The study came from Faculty of
Letters, Departement of English Letters, Sanata Dharma University Yogyakarta,
2018. This study focused on the characteristic of characters by interpreting their
action based on the postmodernism ideas.
Based on the research above, there are several similarities and differences
between object and theory. As research conducted by Fadhilah Fitriah entitled
Critics Towards Metanaratives in the Babylon Movie viewed by Jean Francois
Lyotard Thought: A Study of Postmodernism has similarities in the use of theories
with the different object. Whereas in the research of Andhika Putri Rania Ningsih
entitled Technoculture in the Avengers: Infinity War by Anthony and Joe Russo
the author gets information that Technoculture displayed in the movie are same
with the researcher’s analysis and the theory but the different object. So, it can be
concluded indirectly between the object of the researcher and the object of
Andhika Rania Putria Ningsih research has the same theory but the different
object so that it can be said that the researcher in this study will continue of
Andhika Putri Rania Ningsih research study.
2.6 Theoritical Framework
This study has a theoritical framework to explain rather than the problems
in the background, problem statement, and all research objects that can be
understood by the readers.
 In Lyotard’s book describes the crisis of legitimation facing all
metanaratives that attempt to legitimise themselves through an appeal to universal
reason. As noted previously, he also aims that by his reckoning, science has lost
its legitimation but fails to address the issue of its legitimation by performatively
and scientific discoveries are welcomed and adopted by the society in the new
technologies, medicine, engeneering and many aother disciplines. In this study,
the researcher focuses only on one of the important postmosdernism theory by
Jean Francois Lyotard, which is part of a metanaratives called technoculture. But,
the researcher not only analyzed the technoculture in the Alita:Battle Angel movie
alone, but also the researcher analyzed the criticism of the technoculture itself in
the Alita:Battle Angel Movie by Robert Rodriguez. In the Alita:Battle Angel
movie using the rejection of metanaratives theory. Based on the explanation
above, the researcher then creates a concept bellow:

Condition of
Alita: Battle Angel by Robert Technoculture in the
Rodriguez Alita: Battle Angel

Postmodernism Theory

Technoculture Critic by United States Technology

Jean Francois Lyotard’s
Thought

Based on the description above, technoculture is one part of metanaratives

where a technological, culture, and science take an important role and strongly
influences all human life system. So, in this study the researcher focused on the
one of Jean Francois Lyotard’s postmodernism concepts that are the Rejection of
Metanarative which is implemented in the Alita:Battle Angel by Robert
Rodriguez. In analyzing the Alita: Battle Angel Movie the researcher will find
one of Lyotard’s postmodernism concepts that are the rejection of metanarative or
technocultutre. In this case, the researcher focused only on citicism from
technoculture.
Based on the explanation above, the researcher decide to make the
technoculture critic toward the analysis of Alita: Battle Angel Movie by Robert
Rodriguez..
 CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In this chapter deals with the research methodology which presents

research method, source of the Data, Techniques of the Data Collection, and
Techniques of the Data Analysis.
3.1 Research Type
Research is a pursuit of trust with the help of study,
observation,comparison, and experiment the research for knowledge through
objective and systematic method of finding solution to a problem. It means that
research as the original contribution to the existing stock of knowledge making for
its development (Kothari, 2006).
The researcher will apply qualitative descriptive method as the research
methodology. This is because the researcher will analyze the data descriptively
and the presentation of the result was in a form of explanation of words which
would be supported by data presented in the form of tables. In relation to this,
Suryana (2010: 14) affirms that descriptive research is focused to make a
description sistematically and accuratelly beased on facts about a certain objects.
The present research used descriptive method which involved collecting
data in order to answer the questions concerning the subject of the research.
According to Fraenkel and Wallen (1993: 23), descriptive method is a method
used to explain, analyze and classify something through various techniques,
survey, interview, questionaries, observation, and text.
Based on the data in descriptive qualitative research above, it usually
presents an analysis not in the form of numbers. Therefore, the researcher will
use a descriptive qualitative method to explain and interpret how a literary theory
namely postmodernism playes in the analysis of Alita:Battle Angel Movie by
Robert Rodriguez using postmodernism theory by Jean Francois Lyotard.
3.2 Source of the Data
Source of the data in this research can divide into two types such as
primary data and secondary data:
 1. Primary Data is the data collected from the Alita: Battle Angel movie
by James Cameron that consist on characters, action, dialogue, and
image.
2. Secondary Data is the data collected from Alita : Battle Angel movie
script adapted from the Manga series namely ‘Gunnm’ written by Yukito
Kishiro or known as Battle Angel: Alita, and many sources relating to the
theory and analysis relating to postmodernism analysis.
3.3 Technique of the Data Collection
In collecting the data, there are some steps that is used by researcher. As
seen in the following steps:
1. Watching
In this step the researcher used a startup guide by watching Alita: Battle
Angel movie by James Cameron carefully by pressenting interpretations
and perspectives to analyze the movie.
2. Pausing
In this step, the researcher pauses for getting the conversation spoken by
each character and find out the duration of each conversation.
3. Reading
In this step, the researcher read the subtittles from the Alita: Battle Angel
movie to understand the meaning spoken by each characters in every
scene.
4. Classifying
In this step, the researcher selected and classified the data which relate to
the problem statement. The researcher also collects supporting data from
internet and other sources.
5. Noting
In this step, the researcher wrote the conversation from each characters
who is closely related to postmodernism theory.
3.4 Techniques of the Data Analysis
In analyzing the data, the researcher will use descriptive qualitative to
analyze the data with postmodernism perspectives by Jean Francois Lyotard to
see how technoculture critic is describe in the Alita: Battle Angel movie by
Robert Rodriguez. According to Bogdan and Biklen ( 1982) states that qualitative
research is descriptive which the data is collected in the form of words or picture
rather than number. First, the researcher collects and categorizes proper data for
this research including the event, object, and action of the characters. The
researcher analyzes this object material by using postmodernism theory by Jean
Francois Lyotard. The researcher doesn’t only analyze the main character, but
also analyzes the technology other characters as supporting data. In this research,
the researcher will use descriptive qualitative in analyzing the data. Qualitative
research is concerned with meaning as they appear or are achieved by person in
lived social situations (Sheman and Web, 1998).
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 APPENDIX

Synopsis of Alita: Battle Angel Movie

Alita: Battle Angel Movie is a 2019 United State cyberpunk action film
based on the Manga series by Yukito Kishiro namely Gunnm or Battle Angel:
Alita. This movie produced by James Cameron and Jon Landau and directed by
Robert Rodriguez from a screenplay by Cameron. Alita: Battle Angel movie tells
about cyborg woman named Alita. The movie follows the adventures of Alita, a
cyborg that has been found in a Scrapyard by Dr. Dyson Ido. Alita doesn’t
remember anything of her past. Besides, from her training in material arts. With
these abilities, she will become a ruthless bounty hunter, looking for the worst
criminal of the world.
In 2563, a catastrophic war known as the “Fall” had destroyed the earth.
When examining the wrecked city of a metropolis called Iron City, cyborg
scientist Dr. Dyson Ido found a bodiless cyborg with a fully intact human brain.
Ido rebuilt the cyborg, which has no memory of her past and named it Alita after
the name of his deceased daughter, even installing it in the body he had built for
the real Alita before she was killed by a crazy cyborg.
Alita befriends a teenage boy named Hugo who dreams of moving to the
rich sky city, Zalem. Hugo introduces him to the competitive sport of Motorball, a
royale race where cyborgs fight to the death. Alita is a teenager wakes up
remembering nothing about her past life. She woke up in a world she didn’t
recohnize and no memory of who she was before. She is then taken care of by Ido,
a doctor who is aware of Alita’s potential. When Alita learns to live her new life
on dangerous streets in the city of Iron City. Ido tries to protect her from her
mysterious past while her new friend named Hugo who is experienced in the
streets, actually invites the opposite to help recover her lost memories. When the
evil and dangerous army that controls the city chases after Alita, she discovers a
fragment of her past. She has a unique fighting ability named Punzer Kunsts that
makes it the target of everyone. If she is able to fight them, then she will be able
to safe her friends, family, and the world she loves.