HAPPY ENDING IN JANG JIN’S ROMANCE MANHWA DEVIL NUMBER 4: READERS RESPONSE ANALYSIS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26740/elitejournal.v5n3.p73-85Keywords:
Encode-Decode, Happy Ending, Manhwa, Readers Response, RomanceAbstract
Readers frequently use the term "happy ending" to describe the pleasant resolution that the main characters achieve. In the romance genre itself, happy endings are frequently linked to stories in which the protagonist finds happiness through marriage to their loving partner. Readers of romance stories frequently expect a happy ending due to the expanding concept of happy endings and their frequent usage in romance genre works. Thus, the aim of this research is to examine how readers perceive happy endings, particularly in Jang Jin's manhwa Devil Number 4. This study used a qualitative method, combining the reader response approach and Stuart Hall's concept of Encode/Decode to analyze the research. It was discovered that the author of this work emphasized that the best ending for the side characters is self-acceptance, and that happiness necessitates significant sacrifice for both the main characters and the side couple. Moreover, eight out of ten participants in this study fall into the dominant-hegemonic reader category, one into the negotiated reader category, as well as one into the oppositional reader category. Based on this research, it can be said that the majority of Devil Number 4 readers are able to comprehend Jang Jin's message of a happy ending which is a sacrifice in order to achieve happiness.
References
Hambali, M., Suyitno, I., Roekhan, & Martutik. (2022). Reader Response on Public Figure Opinion in Social Media. Webology, 19(1), 4158-4173. Doi: 10.14704/web/v19i1/web19274
Hermawan, P. R. (2023). Novel Romance Sebagai Pembelajaran. Bhinneka Jurnal Bintang Pendidikan dan Bahasa, 1(1), 28-34. https://doi.org/10.59024/bhinneka.v1i1.168
Jang, W., & Song, J. E. (2017). Webtoon as a New Korean Wave In The Process of Glocalization. Kritika Kultura, 29, 168–187. Doi: 10.13185/KK2017.02908
Jin, D. Y. (2019). Snack Culture’s Dream of Big-Screen Culture: Korean Webtoons’ Transmedia Storytelling. International Journal of Communication, 13, 2094–2115. Doi: 10.2307/jj.17331657
Jin, J., & LINE Webtoon. (2020). Devil Number 4 (Woombee, Ed.; English Version). Webtoon.com. https://www.webtoons.com/en/supernatural/devil-no-4/list?title_no=1695
Jin, J., & LINE Webtoon. (2021). Devil Number 4 (Woombee, Ed.; English Version). Webtoon.com. https://www.webtoons.com/en/supernatural/devil-no-4/list?title_no=1695
Klauk, T., Köppe, T., & Onea, E. (2016). More on narrative closure. Journal of Literary Semantics, 45(1), 21-48. 10.1515/jls-2016-0003
MacDowell, J. (2014). Review: Happy Endings in Hollywood Cinema. Cliché, Convention and the Final Couple, by James MacDowell (Z. Zurba, Ed.). Journal of Popular Romance Studies, 99(3), 1-5.
Rudin, S. (2020). Happily Ever After? Story Endings in Hebrew Children’s Literature. New Review of Children's Literature and Librarianship, 26(1-2), 103-130. Doi: 10.1080/13614541.2021.1949232
Schell, H. (2020). After “I Do”: Turkish Harlequin Readers Re-Imagine the Happy Ending. Journal of Popular Romance Studies, 9, 1-14. Doi: 10.70138/KCOO7755
Segal, E. (2010). Closure in detective fiction. Poetics Today, 31(2), 153–216. 10.1215/03335372-2009-018
Shaw, A. (2017)). Encoding and Decoding Affordances: Stuart Hall and Interactive Media Technologies. Media, Culture and Society, 39(4), 592-602. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443717692741
Velasquez,, D., & Campbell-Meier, J. (2024). Romance Genre and Collection Management in Australia and New Zealand Public Libraries. ournal of the Australian Library and Information Association, 73(3), 336-361. Doi: 10.1080/24750158.2024.2365475
Wijanarka, H. (2022). Cinderella Formula: The Romance Begins. Journal of Language and Literature, 22(2), 481-489. DOI:10.24071/joll.v22i2.5121
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Salza Rizqiyah Putri
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract views: 3
,
PDF Downloads: 3
