A WORLD WITHIN THE WORLD THE JEJEMONS AS THE OTHER CULTURE
ABSTRACT
Cataan, J. C. (2011). A ‘World’ Within the World: The Jejemons as the ‘Other’ Culture,
Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines College of Mass
Communication.
This research entitled A ‘World’ Within the World: The Jejemons as the ‘Other’ Culture
gives a basic picture of the Jejemon phenomenon. I start with criticizing the concept of
‘subculture’ and establish its difference with ‘sub-culture’. I consistently use the latter
throughout the research.
This study explores beyond the empowerment-resistance model of many previous studies, as it coins an original concept of ‘Jejemony’ or Jejemons’ alternative hegemony. It also raises a relevant research problem on how Jejemons apply ‘Jejemony’ in their everyday life as a form of resistance and style.
To ground this research, the review of related literature traces the roots of the concept ‘subculture’. As the years progress, the concept suffers some relevant critiques such as extreme empiricism, its liberal application to any phenomenon, and the neglect and failure to always relate to class and ethnicity. At the end of the review, it directs the research to coin a new term that is more fitting with the emerging sub-cultures in the Philippines and in the world. In the Philippine popular culture scene, the most interesting ‘subculture’ to date is the Jejemonsters or simply Jejemons. In a short span of time, they have proven the strength of a subordinate culture to fit into the nation’s state of affairs and the mainstream media as evident with GMA Network’s show, Jejemom. I use participant observation as the primary method in studying the phenomenon. I spent five weeks researching in the field, living with the Jejemons and as a Jejemon.
This research is written in two languages, English and Jejenese, the Jejemons’ language. The former serves as the main text.
Keywords: culture, class, ideology, Jejemons, subculture, media