From Memory to Identity: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Y2K Mediatization and the Formation of Generation Z Identity

doi:10.36782/jcs.v16i1.2682

From Memory to Identity: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Y2K Mediatization and the Formation of Generation Z Identity

Mahatma Aditya Mikaila

Abstract

The resurgence of the Y2K trend in the early 2020s demonstrates how media discursive practices reproduce cultural memory beyond mere recollection. This study examines how digital media mediates Y2K memory and links it to the identity formation of Generation Z, despite their lack of direct historical experience with the era. Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis method was used in this study to examine 63 articles published on 53 digital mass media platforms throughout 2021. This research focuses on the textual representations, discursive practices, and socio-cultural contexts underlying these discourses, thus showing how these discourses are created and distributed.

Studies show that Y2K is reconstituted as aesthetic nostalgia, regardless of its original historical context, where mass media normalizes it as a symbolic source in consumption practices and the expression of generational identity. Through the framework connective turn (Hoskins, 2011), This study asserts that mass media functions as a place of mediatization of memory, where the past is reactivated through connectivity and discussion to meet current symbolic needs. Therefore, Generation Z's identity is formed through the consumption of remediated memories rather than directly experienced collective memories. By positioning mass media as an actor in the production of cultural memory and generational identity in the current digital era.

Keywords

y2k; gen z; mass media; memory

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