Vol. 7 No. 2 December 2020. Elite ; English and Literature Journal

Print ISSN : 2355-0821
Online ISSN : 2580-5215

Volume 7 Number 2, December 2020

Elite

English and Literature Journal

Volume 7 Number 2, December 2020 Print ISSN : 2355-0821
Online ISSN : 2580-5215
Elite

English and Literature Journal

Editor in Chief
Dr. Rosmah Tami, S.Ag., M.Sc, M.A.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Vol 7, No 2 (2020): December

STUDY OF DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF PAKISTANI STANDARD ENGLISH
Ameer Ali, Abdul Wahid Samoon, Mansoor Ali.............................................................................. 112-124

READING FICTION FOR BETTER LIFE IN LUIS SEPULVEDA’S THE OLD MAN WHO READ LOVE
STORIES
Melania Priska Mendrofa..................................................................................................................... 125-137

SELF-IDENTITY IN A REPORT TO AN ACADEMY BY FRANZ KAFKA AND PISTOL PERDAMAIAN
BY KUNTOWIJOYO
Sandra Dewi Dahlan ............................................................................................................................. 138-148

MULTIMODAL ANALYSIS OF WARDAH LIPSTICK ADVERTISEMENT
Aning Rustanti Raharjo, Didin Nuruddin Hidayat, Alek Alek, Nasifuddin Jalil…………………149-159

IMPLEMENTING OF POLYTECHNIC STUDENTS’ ABILITY OF WRITING APPLICATION LETTERS
Masrul Huda, Gozali Gozali................................................................ ………………………………...160-171

“CONSTANT, ZIG-ZAG LINEAR, OR MULTIPLE?”: THEMATIC PROGRESSION PATTERNS ON EFL
STUDENTS’ RECOUNT TEXTS
Merina Devira, Makhroji Makhroji, Allif Syahputra Bania, Novia Sari .......................................... 172-185

SARCASM: MOCK POLITENESS IN THE BIG BANG THEORY
Nico Harared, Siti Nurani ...................................................................................................................... 186-199

THE NARRATOR’S MOTIVES CONCERNING JULIANA’S LETTERS IN HENRY JAMES’S THE
ASPERN PAPERS
Ahmad ..................................................................................................................................................... 200-208

SPEECH ACT ANALYISIS OF JACINDA ARDERN ABOUT COVID-19
Husein Furqani Attamimy, Esti Junining, Ismatul Khasanah............................................................ 209-224

Study of Distinguishing Features of Pakistani Ameer Ali at. al

STUDY OF DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF PAKISTANI STANDARD

ENGLISH

Ameer Ali1, Abdul Wahid Samoon2, Mansoor Ali3
1,2Applied Linguistics at the University of Sindh, Jamshoro, 3English at College Education and

Literacy Department Sindh. Pakistan.
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The current research has adopted a qualitative approach to investigate the linguistic differences of
Pakistani Standard English in contrast to British Standard English. We studied morphological, lexical,
and hybrid characteristics of Pakistani Standard English. Besides, we investigated the linguistic
features to prove the fact that cultural context determines the use of a language. Moreover, the findings
of this research also support the fact that a language keeps evolving in different contexts leading to the
development of different varieties of the language. However, the researchers have studied
comparatively many varieties of Englishes, but this research investigates the distinguishing features of
Pakistani Standard English employing secondary data from Dawn e-newspaper. Additionally, the
researchers have also qualitatively codified the data into broader themes. The findings of this research
will help readers in understanding the role of a cultural context in developing a new variety of a
language. Consequently, they will be able to carry out further research in the field of World Englishes.
Hence, this research is a systematic investigation of Pakistani Standard English and its differentiating
features.

Keywords: Englishes, varieties, Pakistani Standard English, different contexts.

ABSTRAK

Penelitian ini telah mengadopsi pendekatan kualitatif untuk menyelidiki perbedaan linguistik Bahasa
Inggris Standar Pakistan berbeda dengan Bahasa Inggris Standar Inggris. Para peneliti mempelajari
karakteristik morfologi, leksikal, dan hibrida dari Bahasa Inggris Standar Pakistan. Selain itu, peneliti
menyelidiki fitur linguistik untuk membuktikan fakta bahwa konteks budaya menentukan penggunaan
suatu bahasa. Selain itu, temuan penelitian ini juga mendukung fakta bahwa suatu bahasa terus
berkembang dalam konteks yang berbeda yang mengarah pada perkembangan ragam bahasa yang
berbeda. Namun, para peneliti telah menemukan ragam bahasa Inggris secara komparatif, tetapi
penelitian ini menyelidiki fitur yang membedakan Bahasa Inggris Standar Pakistan dengan
menggunakan data sekunder dari surat kabar elektronik Dawn. Selain itu, para peneliti juga secara
kualitatif mengkodifikasi data menjadi tema yang lebih luas. Temuan penelitian ini akan membantu
pembaca dalam memahami peran konteks budaya dalam mengembangkan ragam bahasa baru.
Dengan demikian, mereka dapat melakukan penelitian lebih lanjut di bidang Bahasa Inggris Dunia.
Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini adalah penyelidikan sistematis yang membedakan antara Bahasa
Inggris Standar Pakistan dan fitur-fiturnya.

Kata kunci: Bahasa Inggris, varietas, Bahasa Inggris Standar Pakistan, konteks berbeda.

INTRODUCTION

Cultural context plays a pivotal role in shaping and developing a language or
its variety. Whenever a language encounters a new socio-cultural context, it gradually
starts changing and thereby adapting to the new cultural reality. The language change

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occurs so that it may enable its new users to express their cultural reality conveniently
(Kachru, 1987: Clyne, 1987: Tarone and Yule, 1987). These scholars have also
investigated the phenomenon comprehensively. Their findings in different contexts
stand by the fact that culture shapes the evolving nature and structure of a language in
different circumstances.

Furthermore, a new language variety that develops in a new cultural context
encounters regional linguistic influences which also determine its development and
evolution. (Mehboob, 2009) has also revealed the reality by investigating the
interaction of Pakistani English with the Urdu language. His research findings show
that Pakistani (then Indian) English came into being when the British colonizers came
to the subcontinent (Mehboob, 2009). He further elaborates that Pakistani English has
been developing constantly since the separation of the subcontinent in 1947 by
borrowing Arabic vocabulary from the Urdu language (Mehboob, 2009). In this way,
cultural circumstances change the shape and form of a language.

(Baumgardener, 1993), these morphological characteristics are also visible in
spoken Pakistani English. Similarly, (Mehboob, 2004) also comes up with the same
findings which show that Pakistani English has the influence of Urdu, Arabic, and
Persian languages which shape it as a specific variety of English. In short, these
morphological interferences from the local languages have influenced the
development of Pakistani English.

When the British colonizers came to the subcontinent, they introduced
English as an official language of India. This policy decision entailed the interaction
between the British Standard English and the local languages of India. Thus, in the
new cultural reality, Indian English as a variety of English developed to facilitate the
local users. When the colonizers left the subcontinent, India and Pakistan came into
being as two separate states in 1947. Consequently, Pakistani English developed in
the new cultural context. Moreover, Pakistani English has linguistic features which
many speakers of British English find it hard to understand; hence, many scholars
(Mehboob, 2004; Rehman, 2010) have studied and systematically addressed this
linguistic particularity. If Pakistani English is researched and enriched, it can serve as
a tool to counter the discourses of hegemony. Thus, the current research has made use
of a qualitative approach to investigate the differences between Pakistani English and
British English.

The current research is significant because it has explored the various
dimensions of differences between the two varieties of English in a comprehensive
manner. This will enable many researchers to research this pattern in different

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cultural contexts of World Englishes. Besides, this has also added new findings to the
field of World Englishes. Finally, the current research is a compact attempt at
understanding the linguistic features of Pakistani English in contrast to British
English. This research paper addressed about, what are the morphological, hybrid,
and lexical features of PSE?, why have linguistic differences emerged in PSE?, and
how does cultural context determine the form and shape of PSE?

Research Delimitation: The current research is delimited to the morphological,
hybrid, and lexical differences of PSE.

Theoretical Framework: (Weinreich, 1953), when two different languages interact
in a new cultural reality, they gradually tend to influence each other in a way that they
produce a different variety of a language. This cultural-specific interaction paves the
way for new linguistic processes which ultimately form a new language variety. This
variety of language develops due to what Weinreich (quoted in Rehman, 2010) has
called "interference”. He argues that 'interference' involves a process in which the
morphemes of language A transfer to language B; alternatively, the B language
designates new functions of its morphemes on the model of A-language morphemes.
Moreover, Pakistani English has borrowed many of its lexical morphemes from Urdu
and Arabic languages, and this is the fact which distinguishes it from Indian English
and British English. Therefore, this research paper has discussed how Pakistani
English has interference from the Urdu language.

LITERATURE REVIEW.

While studying the South Asian variety of British English, researchers have
often centred their attention to Indian English (Leitner, 2012; Halliday, 1974; Kachru,
1986). These researchers have mostly considered South Asian languages as a
coherent whole. It was the work of the successive scholars who managed to bring out
the different varieties of South Asian English to the light. For the first time, there was
a questionnaire survey concerning English language teaching problems when
Pakistan was mentioned separately (Bickley, 1982). Bickley (1982) pointed out the
fact that there were different problems which teachers and learners of English in
Pakistan faced on a daily basis. This research work served to establish the hypothesis
that there is a different variety of English in Pakistan which must be dealt with in the
context-specific manner.

By building upon Bickley’s hypothesis (1982), many researchers undertook
the task of studying the phenomenon, however, their attempts were not well directed.

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Finally, the time came when researchers started exploring English language problems
in the context of Pakistan. In this regard, there was further research in Pakistan’s
context which found out the typical linguistic characteristics of English in Pakistan,
and the country was finally included in the list of ESL countries (Campbell, 1932).
Then, the research practices became much more focused. Kachru wrote a research
paper in 1984 in which he elaborated upon his earlier views by referring to the
different varieties of South Asian English: Indian English, Sri Lankan English, and
Pakistani English (1986). Moreover, he also cites examples from Pakistani
newspapers to develop the culture-specific view of the language (1986). In this
manner, the researchers managed to identify PE as a separate, nonnative variety of
BE.

Apart from identifying PE as a separate variety of BE, research scholars
working in the field have also studied the linguistic forces which have contributed to
the development of PE. There is a prominent research work which shows that PE has
developed differently to comply with the country's cultural reality. Unlike Indian
English, Pakistani English is shaped by Islam and Muslim History (Rehman, 2010).
(Rehman, 2010) means to imply that PE is different from Indian English because the
former derives its terminology from Islamic register. Additionally, Rehman's work is
an innovative contribution to the field of PE, because it has described the nature of
PE along with its different regional varieties. His work establishes the fact that even
in Pakistan there are varieties of PE, such as Sindhi English, Punjabi English, Pushto
English, and Balochi English.

Researchers have not only found out the different varieties of PE but also,
they have discovered different approaches to teaching PE in the new cultural reality.
One of these approaches is to teach PE using newspapers. Baumgardener (quoted in
Rehman, 2010) advocates the view that PE might be taught effectively through PE
newspapers. Although Baumgardener (1987) endorses the view that PE might be
taught through PE newspapers, he does not mention the fact that there are even
varieties of PE. Moreover, he has also defined PE as a non-native variety of English
(Baumgardener, 1987 mentioned in Rehman, 2010). Much like Rehman (2010),
Baumgardener is also of the view that PE is a variety of BE, however, the different
cultural context has molded its evolution differently. Thus, there are different ways of
teaching different varieties of Englishes considering the concerned cultural context.

In addition to this, there is another study which has investigated the stress
pattern system of Pakistani English. This time researchers from Pakistan took the
challenge and conducted convincing research, however, there were some flaws in
their work which were mentioned and criticized later. Usmani, a Pakistani researcher,

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studied the stress pattern of PE in the cultural reality of Pakistan (quoted in Rehman,
2010). There were some serious defects in his work. Thus, Kachru assessed his work
as misleading and native in nature (Kachru, 1969). Consequently, the research zeal
continued to expand upon Usmani’s work, and there was another scholar who carried
out pioneering work in the field. (Rehman, 2010) built upon the research gap who not
only studied Pakistani English but also its varieties in the cultural reality of Pakistan.
Hence, the research work on PE developed systematically.

With the passage of time and the development of PE, the research in the field
grew much more focused than before. Researchers, then, started looking at the Urdu
factor which influenced the development of PE. In this regard, Baumgardener took
the task in his hands again and authored Urduization of English with the assistance of
Fauzia Shamim (Baumgardener, et. al., 1993: Shamim, et. al., 2016). Later, he further
expanded upon the "Urduization" by researching people's attitudes. Baumgardener
made a huge contribution by carrying out a survey on the acceptability of PE among
teachers and journalists (Baumgardener, 1995). The research work did not stop there,
but it went on to further exploring different dimensions of PE. It was Ahmar
Mahboob who took the task at that time and contributed to PE by writing book
chapters and articles (Mahboob 2002, 2004; 2009). His works have filled a new spirit
in the field of PE, and he has also explored different domains of the field.

The above review of the related literature shows that PE is a variety of
English which has been studied by many scholars from different dimensions at
different times. These scholars have indeed systematically contributed to the field,
however, there is need of further research to explore the distinguishing features of PE
in an evolving cultural context, so this research fills up the gap by studying the
updated features of Pakistani English in the twenty-first century using Weinreich's
concept of interference. We have, thereby, employed secondary data to investigate
the linguistic features of PE, such as morphological items, hybrid terms, and lexical
items which differentiate it from other varieties of English including BE. Thus, the
current research has explored the distinguishing linguistic features of PE using a
qualitative approach and data.

RESEARCH METHOD

The current research employed a qualitative method to investigate the
distinguishing features of Pakistani English. The use of qualitative, secondary data
has made this research comprehensive and relevant. Simultaneously, the use of the
qualitative method has enabled the researchers to code data into broader themes and

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analyze accordingly. The research design of this paper is qualitative. This design has
enabled the researchers to explore the features of PE effectively. The researchers have
chosen the qualitative design because it facilitates in-depth investigation (Creswell,
2012). The qualitative interpretations of language change and variety help define the
processes of linguistic evolution. The researchers have used a purposive sampling
tool to collect data from Dawn epaper. Simultaneously, the researchers have also
made use of thematic analysis to identify the distinguishing features of PE. The
selection of thematic analysis has been made considering the qualitative nature of the
research problem.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

In this segment, the analysis of data has been carried out based on
morphological, lexical, and hybrid features of PE which distinguish it from other
varieties of English.

1. The Distinguishing, Morphological Features of PE:

1.1 Interference of Suffix ‘Ation’ in Pakistani English

Pakistani English (PE) has proclaimed its distinguished identity by
designating the new functions of morphemes. There are morphological characteristics
in Pakistani English which have brought forth new words which are not found in
other varieties of English. The suffix “ation” has been used in Dawn newspaper with
nouns, such as “point”. This interference is unique to PE as it gives birth to the word
“pointation” (Dawn, 2015) which implies “to furnish someone with information”.
Consequently, it is no wrong to say that the word “pointation” solely belongs to
Pakistani English. There is no place for this word in the other varieties of English
around the world. It is the cultural reality of Pakistan that has facilitated these types
of morphological changes to create new words as discussed by Weireich.

1.2 Interference of Local Prefixes and Suffixes in Pakistani English:

Moreover, there are many words with this type of unique morphological
structure which one can usually find in Pakistani English, however, these very words
are unknown to the native speakers of English language. The words, such as
“deshape”, “deload”, and “eveninger” are unique neologisms of PE. Furthermore,
the derivational morphemes also tend to merge with Urdu or any other local language
bases, and thus formulate new words. For instance, there is „ism‟ a derivational suffix
which as Weinreich had said interferes with Urdu bases, such as “baradari” “gunda”
to neologize “baradarism” and “gundaism”. In this way, the generalized use of

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morphemes in the cultural reality of Pakistan has formulated new words which cannot
be found in the other varieties of English.

1.3 Interference of Local Productive Suffixes in Pakistani English:

Much like these derivational suffixes, there are some other productive suffixes
which are also generously used in Pakistani English; however, these same suffixes
are used in a very restricted manner in the countries where English is a native
language. the use of these suffixes is made in a creative manner when it comes to the
cultural context of Pakistan. The suffixes "er" and "ee" are interfered with English
bases, such as "affect", "shift", or "lift" to make "affectee", "shiftee" and "motorcycle
lifter" (Dawn, 2018). These examples also confirm Weinreich's statement of
interference. Though these words are easily understood by the speakers of the
Pakistani language, the native speakers will not be able to understand these words.
Pakistani speakers are quite open with morphological coinage, because sometimes
they cannot find the British English equivalent to refer to their cultural reality, so they
usually rely on these productive suffixes to deal with the situation in a creative
manner. In this context, Pakistani speakers negotiate with their social dilemmas by
making creative use of derivational morphemes. Besides, these derivational
morphemes are attached with the name of a person to refer to that person's way of
life. The suffix "ism" is used with the name of Zia ul Haq to make "Ziaism” which
refers to his policies in a sarcastic manner. Even a person who follows the tenets of
Zia would be labelled “Ziaist” (Hussain, 2019). Similarly, there are other coinages,
such as “Bhuttoism” (Almeida, 2012), “Mullahism” (Dawn, 2016), and “ad hocism”
(Khan, 2009), however, one can easily find these words in Pakistani English
newspapers, such as Dawn, but there are no chances at all that a person will find the
same words in the other cultural contexts except that these ideas have made their
influence and interference in the concerned cultural context.

1.4 Interference of Local Free Morphemes in Pakistani English

In addition to these derivational morphemes, the independent, lexical
morphemes from both regional languages and Pakistani English also combine to
make new words. This influence of the local languages has determined the shape of
Pakistani English in a much more different manner than British Standard English.
There are many words such as “lathee charge” (Waqar, 2020), “roti price”
(Raza,2019), “richshaw-wala” (Booya, 2014), “car-wala”, etc. The words, such as
“charge”, “price”, and “rickshaw” are from English, while the words, such as
“lathe”, “roti”, and “wala” are from the Urdu language. In the context of Pakistan,
they have merged with each other to create new hybrid words which have different

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meaning and concepts associated with them from the ones associated with their bases.
This is also a creative usage of languages. In this instance, languages are interfering
and creatively interacting with each other. In the contextual reality of Pakistan, the
languages are enriching each other. These hybrids are not only restricted to Pakistani
English, but they are also used with an equal frequency in the Urdu language.
However, once again, researchers cannot find these words in other cultural contexts,
because these are the products of the cultural reality of Pakistan. There are many such
hybrid words which one will find unique to Pakistani English.

2. The Distinguishing Lexical Features of Pakistani English:

Apart from these morphological differences, Pakistani English is also
enriched with the lexical items which add to its variety. Since Pakistani’s society is
multilingual in its formation, new words from these languages keep entering
Pakistani language. The continuous process has indeed led to the development and
evolution of Pakistani English in a very different way. These linguistic interferences
have given PE new forms and words which add to its richness and beauty. The
multilingual variety is the cultural context where Pakistani English meets different
languages in an organic way whose interference has given the language new
directions of evolution and development. However, this process of development and
evolution has always been two-way. In the following paragraphs, the lexical items
which have interfered with PE from the regional languages are discussed
systematically.

The lexical items from the regional languages have diversified the vocabulary
of Pakistani English in contrast with British English or other varieties of English.
Most of these lexical items have entered PE from Urdu. There is a word “katchi
abadi” which PE has borrowed from Urdu. Dawn reports: “…to relocate people
from illegally set up katchi abadis…” (Sahoutara, 2020). PE has naturalized this
word completely. There are both singular and plural forms of this borrowed word in
PE. In the above instance, the word has been used plurally. The regulations of
pluralization have moulded the borrowed word so that it may fit naturally in its new
home and linguistic context which is no doubt PE. Moreover, there are also other
words of Urdu which PE has borrowed generously to enrich its vocabulary and
thereby allow its speakers to express themselves conveniently in the Pakistani
context. The word is "Urs" which is used in Sindhi as well as the Urdu language.
Pakistani English has also internalized the word in a very natural manner. The
prestigious newspaper of the country, Dawn writes: “The book comprises poems and
research papers presented during the Mushaira and Literary Conference held on
the last Urs of Bedil '' (Dawn, 2007). The word “Urs” refers to the birthday

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anniversary of a saint. In the same article, another lexical item has been used which
PE has borrowed from Urdu as well (Dawn, 2007). The word is “mehfil-e-sama”
which means a concert of Sufi music. Thus, Pakistani English has been enhancing its
scope and vocabulary.

There are also many other lexical items which PE has been borrowing from
the regional languages to facilitate its speakers to express themselves easily in their
own cultural context. This contextualization of Pakistani English has indeed put many
of its speakers at ease by borrowing from their own languages. In this regard, there is
the word “mushaira” which means a literary gathering where people recite their
poetry. The word has now become a part and parcel of Pakistani English as well.
Dawn has also utilized the word: “Rahman Faris was the first poet to take the stage.
He set the tone of his stint there by reciting a couplet which paid tribute to the host
(nazim) of the mushaira…” (Dawn, 2020). The borrowing of this literary word also
shows the fact that it is the quality of literary languages that they always borrow
literary, expressive, words from other languages. In this regard, Pakistani English has
also relied upon the Urdu language to borrow the concerned word so that its speakers
can easily talk about the literary context of Pakistan. Additionally, there are also
traditional food items which English speakers cannot talk about without borrowing
the words from the local languages. In this social dilemma, Pakistani English has also
borrowed from local languages to refer to these items of food. Dawn (Yasin, 2016)
talk about “samosas”, “pakoras”, and “kachoris” which are being sold in the hot
weather. It is interesting here to notice the pluralization of these borrowed words. It
shows that these words have not fully naturalized in the linguistic context of Pakistani
English. Thus, Pakistani English has naturalized many words which it has borrowed
from the local languages.

Not only these food items but also other words which show social identities
have also made their way from the regional languages of Pakistan into Pakistani
English. These words have also enabled Pakistanis to question their social realities
and resist oppressive identities. The word "Wadera" is of a Sindhi origin, however, it
figuratively refers to a dog in the manger mindset. This mindset can be found in many
areas of Pakistan. Dawn has reported and used the word: “the issue of wadera/tribal
justice is quite complicated…” (Rehman, 2014). The use of “wadera” in this daily
shows that Pakistani English has also internalized the word from Sindhi language to
allow its speakers from Sindh to talk about the mindset, identity, or individual
concerned. This internalization is also beneficial for Pakistani speakers because it
allows them to understand the typical “wadera" mindset and thereby equips them to
resist it. Moreover, there are also other words related to vocal arts which PE has also

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borrowed from the Urdu language. There is the word “Qawwali” which has come
from the Urdu language into Pakistani English. Dawn e-newspaper writes: “But this
generation is aware of qawwali…” (Noorani, et. al., 2016). The word “qawwali”
refers to the person who sings qawwali as well as to the song he/she sings. In this
way, many words from regional languages have come into Pakistani English which is
evolving to new directions in contrast to British Standard English. Similarly, there are
also other words from local languages which stand for musical instruments have also
taken their places in Pakistani English. Once again Dawn shows the tendency: “…the
instrumentalists played dhol, tabla, clarinet and sitar” (Dawn, 2017).

Finally, all the above discussions show that Pakistani English has indeed
borrowed many lexical items from the regional languages to enrich itself and
facilitate the local speakers to easily express their cultural reality. In this multilingual
context, Pakistani English will keep evolving into new forms and shapes in contrast
to British Standard English or the other Englishes which are spoken in the different
contexts of the world.

CONCLUSION

Thus, it is finally concluded that Pakistani English has borrowed lexical items
from the interfering regional languages, and it has also enriched itself through word-
formation processes with the assistance of derivational and functional morphemes.
Pakistani English has creatively interacted with the local languages mainly with
Urdu. We found out that many prefixes and suffixes from the Urdu language have
interfered with Pakistani English. In other words, many of Urdu morphemes have
also interfered with Pakistani English in almost the same way as Weinreich had
suggested in 1953. Similarly, Urdu lexical features have also found their way into
Pakistani English making it a unique variety among world Englishes. We have been
of the view that all these morphological and lexical features of Pakistani English
place it in a very distinguished place which reflects the local cultural reality. Pakistani
English will keep developing and evolving by interacting with the regional languages
in the contextual reality of Pakistan. This will provide its speakers with powerful
discourses to resist international, hegemonic discourses by developing their cultural
variety and integrated identity. Moreover, this research paper will also enable many
research scholars to explore the linguistic features of Pakistani English using corpus-
based approaches. Finally, this research is a collective effort of three scholars who
claim no absolute truth in terms of their findings. The researchers are hopeful that this
research paper will open new directions for further research in the field of Pakistani
English.

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124 Elite Journal Volume 7 Nomor 2, December 2020

Melania Priska Mendrofa Reading Fiction For Better Life

READING FICTION FOR BETTER LIFE IN LUIS SEPULVEDA’S THE OLD
MAN WHO READ LOVE STORIES

Melania Priska Mendrofa
Sekolah Tinggi Bahasa Asing Prayoga Padang

[email protected]

ABSTRACT

Reading is therapeutic. This statement reflects reading as a technique to heal people‟s mental problems
and increase self-ability. Research proves that reading is not only for entertainment but also a tool to
solve a problem in people‟s life. Meanwhile, the question comes up in terms of what kind of book is
suggested to read. In Luis Sepulveda‟s The Old Man Who Read Love Stories, it is implied that reading
fiction helps the old man, Antonio, to deal with his old age and loneliness. Reading a love story
enlightens the old man‟s mind and feelings. Life is overloaded by complex problems, such as war,
poverty, gender problems, and nature destruction. People become sentimental to life; there is no happy
ending story in life, only death. Meanwhile, Sepulveda sees fiction as the rescuer for a problematic life.
This paper discussed why people read fiction and the effects of reading fiction for someone‟s life. The
positive impacts of reading fiction for mental health and self-transformation are supposed to encourage
people to start a new habit of reading for a better life.

Keywords: reading, fiction, mental health, self-transformation

ABSTRAK

Membaca merupakan sebuah terapi. Pernyataan ini mencerminkan bahwa membaca adalah sebuah
teknik menyembuhkan masalah mental dan meningkatkan kemampuan diri. Peneliti membuktikan
bahwa membaca tidak hanya untuk hiburan, tapi juga merupakan alat untuk memecahkan masalah
dalam hidup. Namun, pertanyaan muncul tentang buku apa yang seharusnya dibaca. Dalam novel Luis
Sepulveda yang berjudul Pak Tua yang Membaca Kisah Cinta, disiratkan bahwa membaca karya fiksi
telah membantu seorang pak tua bernama Antonio untuk berdamai dengan masa tua dan
kesendiriannya. Membaca karya fiksi, dalam hal ini berupa cerita cinta, telah mencerahkan pikiran
dan perasaan si pak tua. Kehidupan telah dibebani dengan masalah rumit, seperti perang, kemiskinan,
masalah gender dan perusakan alam. Orang-orang menjadi sentimental akan hidup; beranggapan
bahwa tidak ada akhir hidup yang bahagia, yang ada hanya kesedihan. Namun, Sepulveda melihat
karya fiksi sebagai sebuah penyelamat untuk hidup yang penuh masalah. Artikel ini akan membahas
alasan mengapa orang membaca karya fiksi, serta pengaruh yang ditimbulkannya dalam hidup.
Pengaruh positif yang ditimbulkan dari membaca karya fiksi terhadap kesehatan mental dan
perubahan diri diharapkan mampu mendorong orang-orang untuk memulai kebiasaan baru dalam
membaca untuk hidup yang lebih baik.

Kata kunci: membaca, fiksi, kesehatan mental, perubahan diri

INTRODUCTION

To read is to heal. This sentence means so much since studies find reading
can heal people‟s health. It is literature that is believed to increase well being and
mental health (Billington, 2019). The activation of the imaginative realm from reading
fiction helps people to deal with stress and to distance themselves from a daily issue in

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Reading Fiction For Better Life Melania Priska Mendrofa

life. It even allows people to re-describe their life through imagination (Billington,
2019). From the statement, reading starts to get a high position as the self-healing
method. Reading can reduce the risk of trauma, and let the reader have some comfort
spaces in their mind and re-create a self-peaceful world.

The importance of reading also derives from the text allowance to the
creativity of the readers. The texts evoke readers‟ minds to be active in responding to
the story. They are supposed to be both a receptive reader and reflective critic
(Colclough, 2007). It implies how reading forces people to keep thinking, imagining,
and questioning something new in their life. The new information and ideas from a
literary text can encourage people to construct a new horizon of life. Fiction provides
new knowledge, understanding, and sharpens ethical sense (Zunshine, 2006).

Concerning the importance of reading, not all literary texts help the healing
of mental health. A newspaper, for instance, is not a good choice for those who want
to relieve stress. The actual news of war, politics, the economic crisis even creates
more stress for readers. To anticipate stress, people tend to choose fiction as an
alternative reading. Reading fiction has more positive impacts to the readers. The
readers can have better emotions and perceptions toward life since fiction offers
stories closely experienced by the readers. Readers can get imaginative realms of
power, in which they can imagine themselves to be the hero or heroine in the story
(Isabel & Buchenau, 2004). By characterizing themselves into a hero, it can reduce
their stress and sadness. Furthermore, reading also improves one‟s ability to
empathize with and understand the thoughts and feelings of other people (Tamir et
al., 2015). It is implied in this novel that Sepulveda proposes a positive change in the
affective domain of fiction reading through Antonio‟s character.

This study aims to elucidate the significance and effect of reading fiction for
life. The significance of fiction represents the sense of why people read fiction through
the perspective of the theory of mind. It exposes reading activity as a way to trigger
the reader‟s emotion. After finding the justification of reading activity, there are also
reading effects found for the readers. This study then submits the mental health effect
and self-transformation as a result of fiction reading. After all, it proposes an
understanding of the crucial function of fiction in enlightening people‟s minds and
souls.

LITERATURE REVIEW

1. Theory of mind

Before coming to the impact of reading fiction for life, we should
acknowledge the sense of why people read fiction. Although fiction is imaginative
writing, it supports readers with life information and knowledge. There are so many
topics that correlate to human‟s dilemma, such as love, war, prosperity, gender issues,
and so on. Through the characterization of a hero, heroine, and villain, the reader can

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Melania Priska Mendrofa Reading Fiction For Better Life

find and learn a new situation they never dealt with. The information from this fiction
can be used to improve real-world beliefs (Ooi & Liew, 2011). This view reminds us
that the essence of reading fiction is not only for enjoyment purposes, but also to help
the readers gain new insight, knowledge, belief, and idea.

To get a deep insight into why people read fiction, this study engages the
analysis of a theory of mind. When reading fiction, the reader is allowed to drown
themselves into the atmosphere of the story. According to research, brain networks
become active when processing stories. There is a network of brain regions that is
active and responsible for the cognitive processing of stories while they are being
consumed (Berns et al., 2013). This research implies how fiction reading supports the
imagination and thinking process. The reader can feel the situation encountered by
the character. A reader may have the ability to explain someone‟s behavior, such as
their thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and desires (Zunshine, 2006). This activity, which is
well known as mind-reading, assists the reader to take issue with certain
circumstances presented in a story.

Close to the reader‟s ability in engaging with the characters‟ lives, the novel
also has a role in constructing people‟s interest to read. A novel with aesthetic value
can determine personal liking toward the book he may read. Everyday life information
sources however affect the reader‟s choice of fiction book (Ooi & Liew, 2011). It is to
argue that a reader pursues the gap in his knowledge and feeling through fiction
reading. The reader can get new information from reading fiction. new In this study,
the analysis of Antonio‟s character represents the search for the older person‟s greatest
need in life, for purpose in life (Romani, 1973). Thus Antonio‟s enjoyment in fiction
reading for the searching of a peaceful mind is in line with the implementation of
everyday life information seeking (ELIS) proposed by Ooi and Liew (2011).

Furthermore, reading fiction encourages the emotional bonding between the
characters and the reader. This emotion, as clarified by Zunshine (2006), can trigger
another cognition. When a reader feels good emotional pleasure through a story in a
novel, then it can create his or her enjoyment toward the novel. Fictional literature not
only allows the reader to approach ideas and situations. It establishes the experience
of rarely acknowledged emotion (Mar & Oatley, 2008). It points out the correlation of
fiction reading with the recovery of mind-health also. This function of enjoyment to
someone‟s health is also proposed by Haworth (2016) who stated that older people
who enjoy life show declines in physical function. Haworth reminds us that enjoying
life is crucial to avoid the development of health problems, particularly in old age.
Emotional pleasure built during reading a fiction indirectly assists the reader to
explore and express their hidden feelings.

Thus, with a brief analysis of why fiction reading is important for people, this
study argues that Sepulveda undertakes the main function of fiction to shape people‟s
interest in new knowledge and information, and to improve their well-being.

2. Reading fiction for mental health and self-transformation

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Billington (2019) proposed reading as a mentalization-based theory to show
reading as therapy which can help people to understand their feelings and others.
Some mental problems are represented in someone‟s inability to establish a
relationship with their mind, and also a relation with others. To solve this problem,
one can use reading as a therapy to self. It is to say that reading becomes an answer to
recreational satisfaction (Alejo et al., 2013). It gives us a perspective that a person
uses reading as media to heal their burden, it can reduce depression and anxiety.

About the mental-healing process, narratives in imaginative literature help
the reader to identify and explore their experience, the past, and the present.
Billington (2019) noted that the coherent story of experience can be therapeutic. The
readers can express their personal experience through reading imaginative literature.
Imaginative literature also allows the reader to escape from their day-to-day life
experience, and the pressures of living in the twenty-first century (Usherwood &
Toyne, 2002). It challenges the function of fiction reading that helps the reader to
expose their implicit pain through the reading novel and to relax their mind.

Besides that, fictional works can re-describe reality (Gleeson, 1992). By
reading similar characters‟ life and experience with their own, the readers are
involved in it. The readers can recognize the repeated experienced memories from a
story. Thus by reading and involving in the story, it evokes the negotiation and
tolerance toward the readers‟ repressed memory. It is worth pointing out that the
reader can recognize and release their burden through the recognition of the
characters‟ feelings.

Furthermore, reading is believed to affect the changing view of self, the
world, and others. Smaragdi & Jonsson (as cited in Alejo et al,. 2013) noted that for
self, reading can increase the ability of logical reasoning, the ability to express
oneself, comprehension, and understanding (p. 93-94). This argument underlines the
point of reader self-improvement. Besides, fiction reading also gives access to a self-
transformation which allows the reader to have a better personality. Reading fiction
evokes direct reference. Direct reference is explained as the attentional gesture
oriented toward the bodily present (Billington, 2019). It correlates to the sense of the
same, in which reading literature may recall the same past experiences of the readers.
There is conscious acceptance from the readers toward their repressed memory and
burden after reading fiction. It offers a view that the narratives accompany the readers
to encounter their loneliness. It changes the view of self from being alone and the
depressed one into the „normal‟ or „one of many‟ because some people also
experience the same burden as them (Billington, 2019). From the justification, fiction
reading hits the viewpoint of self-transformation as the improvement in affective
domain made up by reading.

Overall, the studies above show the significance of recognizing the
importance of fiction reading. The narratives help the reader to develop both their
cognitive (knowledge, information, belief, and idea) and affective (mental health and

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Melania Priska Mendrofa Reading Fiction For Better Life
self-transformation).

RESEARCH METHOD

This research applies qualitative methods to explore and to explain a social
phenomenon, to construct understanding about some aspects of life (Leavy, 2014).
The analysis brings forward the discussion of a social problem, which is the
importance of reading fiction for life. The data used in this study is a novel by Luis
Sepulveda entitled The Old Man Who Read Love Stories. This novel was originally
written by a Chilean writer, Luis Sepulveda, published in 1989, and won three major
literary awards. It narrates the struggle of an old man who encountered the
destruction of the natural world by Western civilizations. Therefore, the writer found
another interesting aspect to analyze from Antonio‟s character, that is his hobby for
reading novels. After his wife‟s death, Antonio spends his day alone in his small hut
and becomes a member of Shuar‟s tribe. He enjoys his loneliness by reading some
novels that he got from the neighborhood library. His favorite fiction is about the
suffering love theme because it reminds him of his personal life of losing a beloved
wife, Dolores. Reading fiction helps Antonio to revisit his memory. The similar story
between the novel and his life reminds him that nothing is everlasting. The suffering
love of the hero and heroines helps him to realize that he is not the only person who
suffers from losing a beloved person. The fiction reading finally heals his mental
suffering and transforms his life to be a sympathetic person.

The discussion creates critical thinking which aims to question Antonio‟s
tendency to read fiction and the effects of it on his life. To strengthen the process of
critical thinking, the writer applies a sociological approach. Saukko (2003) mentions
that the function of the social approach is to clarify the empowering and
disempowering aspects of discourses both from personal as well as social points of
view. Concerned to this point, the writer explored the social roots and implications of
the discourses that intertwine people‟s real life. This exploration helps the writer
analyze the social phenomenon; which is the importance of reading fiction for life.
The writer goes through some steps in analyzing the topic. First, the writer reads the
novel and finds the problem within the story. Second, the writer sets the background
and impacts of the problem. Third, there are interpretations of the problem and
organization of the research question. The entire steps guide the writer to specify
theories used in the analysis, which are the theory of mind and reading for mental
health.

Both theories are applied for the research since it concerns two main aspects;
the relation between mind and reading, and the impact of reading for life. The
discussion of mind and reading underlies the concept of mind-reading as the basic
understanding of human activity in reading. Further, reading for mental health
describes the effects of reading fiction for someone‟s mental health and self-
transformation. Thus this research method does not only aim to question why people
read fiction but also overcomes the effects of it on the readers‟ health and personality.

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FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

In general, this novel presents the situation of Western civilization and
human relations with nature. Therefore, there is one interesting area to be discussed
through Antonio‟s character. This novel presents a unique character, an old man who
likes reading a love story in his old age and loneliness. Luis Sepulveda tries to show
the reader how reading does not limit the reader‟s level of age. The special thing
about the old man is his extraordinary desire for reading a suffering love story, and
how it then brings a self-transformation. This study attempts to look at Antonio‟s
portrait and examine the reason why someone read fiction and its effects on life.

a. Antonio’s interest in reading fiction

The narration shows Antonio‟s passion for reading, especially for a love
story. He prefers to read the love story because it shows the struggle of the characters
to find their true love. Florence Barclay‟s El Rosario is one of his favorite stories
because it tells about the suffering characters who struggle for love and live in misery
as well. The mournful narration makes him cry a lot until his loop gets wet
(Sepulveda, 2017). Antonio has no interest in a perfect love story, where the
characters seem to have no problem in their life. He likes a sad love story. He enjoys
„suffering‟ with the characters. By reading Edmundo D‟Amicis and Corazon, Antonio
concludes that no one can suffer so badly, or be afflicted endlessly (Sepulveda, 2017).

Luis Sepulveda narrates Antonio as a reading maniac. When Antonio
exposes his reading ability, he always becomes „hungry‟ for reading. When loneliness
comes after him, he just needs to read (Sepulveda, 2017). In his place, El Idilio, he
finds no book. He finally goes to the neighborhood, El Dorado. There, he meets a
headmistress who allows him to read books in the school library. Antonio drowns
himself into pages of books. In 5 months, he improves his reading skill and taste. He
questions himself and tries to find the answer from the book.

Nevertheless, Antonio sorts out some books from his reading list. While
reading a geometry book, he questions whether reading is useful or not. Some terms
found in the book sound ridiculous. Hypotenuse, for instance, is the only formulation
mastered by Antonio. When he mentions the word to his people, they think his tongue
is twisted. The term sounds like a mantra for them (Sepulveda, 2017).

Not only the geometry book, but Antonio also doubts the historical book. In
his mind, it is a fictive book. He is suspicious of the child‟s story about who can win
the war. He wonders how the innocent and pale child can gain victory in war. They
are just a child who is even scared to kill flies (Sepulveda, 2017). Political issues
make Antonio bored as well. Once, El Idilio‟s Mayor allowed him to read some old
newspaper. The issues seem irrelevant to his life experience. The news covers the
speech of a Congress member who insults the other members, a murder case whose
suspect claims to have no motives in killing his friend, and chaos in a football match.

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Melania Priska Mendrofa Reading Fiction For Better Life

The cases are boring for Antonio. He has no idea about congress and football
matches. It is out of his life circle. He spends his life living in a jungle with El Idilio‟s
people. Nature is his home. For him, the news cannot make him live in his
imagination (Sepulveda, 2017). He does not recognize the real world. He wants to
grow an imaginative world in his head; a story that makes him feel alive.

From Antonio‟s case, it can be seen clearly that he chooses fiction over the
non-fiction one. Reading fiction pleasures him. Fiction has the capacity to re-describe
reality. It brings language into a pre-objective world; a world where someone is
rooted (Gleeson, 1992). Antonio is described as a character who has a longing for
love. His interest in fiction reflects his lost desire for love. Antonio has a sad love
story. His wife, Dolores, dies because of malaria in their second year of marriage. His
loss affects his mind in which he becomes more sensitive to sorrowfulness. He
becomes sentimental when he reads a sad love story. Emotion gives meaning to our
minds (Zunshine, 2006). By reading fiction, it helps Antonio deal with his emotion.
The character in fiction makes him realize that he is not alone. As he assumed before
that no one can bear sorrowfulness in his life. Life is not only about a feeling of
sorrow, but also happiness. Reading fiction helps him to create a new form of
meaning for his everyday existence (Zunshine, 2006).

Antonio‟s sad experience in love has turned into a meaningful episode in his
life. This is reflected in the picture of his wife which is still hanging up in his small
house. Dolores has been forever in his mind, where the loneliness has rooted in
silence (Sepulveda, 2017). In his old age, Antonio feels lonely. That is a love story‟s
book that amuses him during his heavy time in memorizing his deceased wife. It
brings back all memories they ever had, and Antonio may realize that sorrow is a part
of a human‟s life story. The fiction has its aesthetic beauty in symbolizing morality
(Gleeson, 1992). Knowing the moral truth of a story will help Antonio to know the
new realm of reality, where love does not always end in a happy moment. The world
also serves sadness to make people realize their feelings for the longing of love.

Tension in a love story is also crucial in fiction to ensure the occurred
recognition (Gleeson, 1992). Antonio never complains about the truth of the love
story. For him, fiction is more realistic than the newspaper. Fiction allows the reader
to feel the real world atmosphere through the existence of tragedy. The novels read by
Antonio mostly destroy the life of the heroine or the hero through their death. It gives
tension between the fiction and the real. It will allow Antonio to see the actual life
even in a fictional story. Antonio gets the complete feeling from reading fiction and
love stories. He can feel the love nuance and moral truth as well.

b. The effect of reading fiction for Antonio’s life

From Antonio‟s case, Luis Sepulveda emphasizes the dominance of fiction
in helping people to find a better life. Science and technology are indeed significant
in life development. Therefore, humanities should come first, so people know how to
cooperate in creating, applying, and developing science and technology in life
(Billington, 2019). The theme of humanities is mostly exposed in fiction, such as

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Reading Fiction For Better Life Melania Priska Mendrofa

human relations, identity, compassion, injustice, love, family values, equality,

freedom, and many others. Through fiction, readers are guided to have empathy in
life, and also enable social understanding. Antonio‟s hobby in reading sentimental

novels helps him heal his mental health, and constructing a new perspective toward

life.

1. Reading fiction for mental health

It is explained before that reading has a good impact on life, and so does
fiction. There is the influence of fiction toward someones‟ mental health. Firstly, it
helps with the growth of the readers‟ imagination. Antonio spends his time reading

novels, pondering the secret of love, and imagining where the stories took place

(Sepulveda, 2017). He reads many new places, such as Paris, London, Geneva,

Prague, and Barcelona. He tries hard to imagine those cities. Compared to Ibarra, the

only big city he ever visited, those new places attract his attention. He also likes a

snowy place. There is always an imaginative correlation between every place he reads

to his past life with his wife, Dolores. Loja and Zamora are two places he ever passed

by with Dolores once, and he compares those places to Prague and Barcelona. He

assumes that love may not arise in those small places. Only in the new places he never

visited before, love may grow well. This thinking helps him to grow his desire for

love. His repressed feeling of love and memories of some places help him to get

happiness. The re-visited memories finally help Antonio to heal his sadness.

The growth of imagination also provides freedom for Antonio. Since he has

lived alone, the only entertained activity he has is the book. Living in a jungle and
staying far from others make Antonio choose the book as his „window‟ for life. He

gets different freedom, where he should not move around or spend money and time to

visit a new place. The novel allows him to free his imagination, to build a new world

as he wishes for. A reader can be a traveler for the story he reads (Colclough, 2007).

Fiction gives authorization for the readers to use text for their purpose. Even though

Antonio has no idea on how the new place looks like, his imagination can help him to
„see‟ it.

Science fiction allows the reader to use text as their purpose, Antonio can

freely choose how he situates the hero, heroine, and the villain in the novel. When he

reads a story of Paul and Gondola in Venetia, for instance, he has so many imaginative
opinions on Paul‟s character. The opening paragraph of the novel is described as

follow:

“Paul is kissing the woman passionately while his friend,

the Gondolier, pretends to look to another side. The full

cushioned Gondola then slowly moves along the
Venetian‟s canal” (Sepulveda, 2017, p. 65).
The story triggers Antonio‟s mind to investigate Paul‟s characteristics. He

thinks Paul is a pervert person since he kisses the woman passionately in front of his

friend, the Gondolier. He can describe the figure with any type of person he likes.

Therefore, Paul may not be the kind of bad figure in the novel, there is no need to find

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Melania Priska Mendrofa Reading Fiction For Better Life

the truth of it, or involve intentional objects. Antonio has no loss for the meaning of

the story. Compared to the scientific book and actual news he ever read, it will be

problematic if he makes the wrong description of the real person and condition. Thus

the freedom assigned by fiction is to reduce the mental burden of the reader and

provides an exciting moment in constructing the delightful life of the characters.

The freedom in fiction also assists Antonio to get away from boredom. Once

again, Antonio has a longing for love. He needs to revisit his love feeling. Before
moving to El Idilio, he lived with Shuar‟s people. It is narrated that Antonio does not
need a love story when he lives with Shuar‟s people (Sepulveda, 2017). He falls in
love with nature and Shuar‟s way of life. Therefore, in El Idilio, the situation is

different. There is no love, and Antonio has to live alone in a small hut. This new life
seems to force him to find a new activity to get away from boredom. A love story‟s

novel is the best solution for him. He gets his longing of love through the story and
has the activity to play with his imagination in „drawing‟ the narration. It is to say

that reading keeps individuals company throughout hours of boredom and loneliness

(Kokkevi et al., as cited in Kourkouta et al., 2018, p. 2).

After all, fiction is really helpful for mental health. There will be an inner

emotional feeling that can be released after reading a love story. The more someone

understands his or her emotion, the more it is in their power (Billington, 2019).

Antonio has strong emotional power, thus reading a love story helps him to explore
and „explode‟ the feeling. It is fiction that can release the hidden feeling and give his

spirit for life back.

2. Reading fiction for self-transformation
When fiction helps to heal the mental health of the reader, it gives a further

impact on the readers‟ personality as well. The pleasure he finds in reading love

stories pushes him to be a better man. He can see the world from a different

perspective. A love story has significant meaning, in which it concerns what

something means to the reader or others (Gleeson, 1992). The reader may reflect the

meaning of fiction through his behavior or speech. When a love story triggers
Antonio‟s longing for love, this feeling grows his spirit to live life well. It will affect
someone‟s behavior.

In Antonio‟s case, the acceptance of significant meaning can be seen from

the transition of understanding the story to his desire of living the new life as narrated

in the story. He enjoys his life in his small hut without being disturbed by the

loneliness. Lately, he read a romantic novel that tells the story of a romantic couple

from Italia. Wondering every action done by the characters helps Antonio to have a

peaceful mind. He turns himself into a calm person. While living with Shuar, he

becomes tough on himself. Hunting, planting, and doing anything to keep survive are

his daily activities. He almost finds no spare time for himself. Everything he does is

to fulfill his desire. He makes physical activity as a way to hide his sadness. Thus by

reading fiction, he finally finds his new self. He is no longer a devoted person. He can

appreciate his emotional wound by realizing that no one can escape from misery. He

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Reading Fiction For Better Life Melania Priska Mendrofa

turns himself into an easy-going person.
Antonio‟s self-changing from a devoted person to an easy-going person

reflects the creation of fiction in changing someone‟s sense as a normal person.
Living with Shuar has changed Antonio‟s life in many ways. He becomes closer to

nature, knows how to survive in nature, and loves nature so much. Meanwhile, there

is a thing he cannot experience with Shuar but exists in the love story. The passionate
kiss of the characters reminds him of his wife. Shuar‟s people never kiss (Sepulveda,
2017). He saw resistance from a Shuar‟s girl who was kissed by a gold miner in the

jungle. The love story allows him to revisit his kissing memory with his wife. They
rarely kiss each other because of Dolores‟ old thought that kissing may be a sin. The

passionate kissing in the novel read by Antonio represents the normal action people

do in life. He is not the sinner. He is one of many. It is against his thinking that a kiss

is a sin or forbidden action for people. Fiction enables Antonio to challenge his
previous idea and thinking of being different from Shuar‟s people.

Another self-changing encounter by Antonio is his ability to engage with
others‟ ideas. In his expedition to find a beast with El Idilio‟s people, he gets a chance

to share the novel with them. The three men have an interest in the story but have no

idea of some new words they hear from Antonio. Antonio describes the words, such

as Gondola, the gondolier, and passionate kiss with his speculation. The other men

also deliver their explanations of the story. For them, the place in the novel is a kind

of weird place. They imagine the situation in Venetia; a rainy place, flooded area, and

uncanny surroundings to pee. They have so much fun engaging their idea of fiction.
Moreover, engaging with others‟ ideas helps them to improve their

perspective and knowledge. When Antonio and the men are involved in a small

discussion about Venetia, the Mayor comes up with his knowledge of the place. He

informs them that Venetia is a floating city in Italia. This new information triggers

many questions from the men. They question the function of the boat since the people

can go everywhere with their rafted-house. The Mayor adds an explanation that the

houses have a stone foundation under the water to hold their position. Meanwhile,

those men have already known about the floating stone, in which it cannot be used to
build a floating house. They argue the Mayor‟s explanation by assuming the

impossibility to use floating stone as a foundation. They provide a new idea that

people may use some boards under the water to keep the foundation. The argument

and different ideas allow them to be critical thinking people. Science fiction is not

merely a fictive narration, it also helps the reader to get knowledge and truth of a

situation and condition. Antonio and other men can get knowledge of how Venetia
looks from the Mayor‟s story. Thus fiction brings transformation of knowledge for

the readers.

The more people read, they will have better empathy and understanding of
others (Billington, 2019). This can be found through Antonio‟s action to the black

panther. He has a mission from the Mayor to collect the bone of a white man who has

been killed by the panther. However, Antonio finally finds the reason behind the
panther‟s attack. The female panther protects her male who has been shot by the

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white man. After reading love stories, he can understand that love is everything. The

female panther is angry with the white man, and she wants to take revenge. When

seeing the dying male panther, Antonio cannot help himself to free him for the pain.

He finally kills the male panther not because he wants to protect himself, but for
mercy. He feels the female‟s suffering in seeing her dying partner. After shooting the

wounded male panther, he cannot see the female panther, but he wonders her hiding

and sobbing somewhere (Sepulveda, 2017). Through reading fiction, Antonio

understands that no one in this world can live without sorrow (Sepulveda, 2017). He
has had the saddest feeling of watching his wife‟s pain, and he feels it too in the

female panther. Instead of seeing both of the panthers suffer, death is the only way to

end the pain.
At the end of the novel, Antonio‟s sympathy can also be seen through his deep

regret for killing the female panther. To save himself from the female‟s attack,

Antonio pulls the trigger and kills her. He is so lamentable. Ignoring the pain in his

leg, he strokes the panther and sobs with embarrassment. He feels useless and being a
loser for the fight (Sepulveda, 2017). This situation reflects Antonio‟s deep sympathy

for the killed panther. He even blames himself for being such a loser. His eyes fill with
tears, and he washes away the panther‟s body into the river. He sends her into the deep
forest where there are no white men around (Sepulveda, 2017). Antonio‟s struggle to

take care of the dead female panther shows his sympathy to the panther which has

been killed by white men. He does not leave the dead body there. He shows his last

respect to the female panther by sending her away from the white men. Finally, it is

narrated that Antonio goes back into his hut and enjoys reading books that narrate love

in a lovely way. He just wants to leave human cruelty behind, and leave in peace.

CONCLUSION

Reading fiction is not merely about being an imaginative person and living
in an unreal world. Sepulveda presents the function of fiction reading to show the
reader‟s relation with fiction, both in the cognitive and affective domain. People read
fiction to get knowledge, information, belief, and idea. Antonio gets new knowledge
of some new places he never visited before. Besides that, fiction allows the reader to
have an emotional bond through the narration of the character. In the affective
domain, reading fiction can heal mental health because it can release the inner
emotional feeling and wash away the boredom. Self-transformation is also another
result of reading fiction. It allows the reader to have a new perspective on something.
By knowing and understanding something from a new perspective, we can be more
sympathetic to our surroundings.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Alejo, Bilyson D., Balnao, Connie Lou G., & Aquino, Luisa B. (2013). Fiction
Reading on Head and Heart. International Journal of English and Literature
(IJEL), 3(1), 89-98. http://www.tjprc.org/publishpapers/--1359617493-
15.English%20-%20IJEL%20-%20Fiction%20Reading%20.full.pdf

Berns, Gregory S., Blaine, Kristina ., Prietula, Michael J., & Pye, Brandon E. (2013).
Short- and Long-Term Effects of a Novel on Connectivity in the Brain.
Brain Connectivity, 3(6), 590-600. DOI: 10.1089/brain.2013.0166

Billington, Jose. (Ed.). (2019). Reading and Mental Health. Switzerland: Palgrave
Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21762-4

Colclough, Stephen. (2007). Consuming Texts: Readers and Reading Communities,
1695–1870. NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Gleeson, Gerald P. (1992). The Value of Reading Fiction. The Sydney Society of
Literature and Aesthetics Journal, 2, 67-
80.https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/index.php/LA/article/view/535
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Haworth, J. (2016) Enjoyment and Wellbeing. CWiPP Working Paper No.6, Centre
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Isabel, Ana., & Buchenau, Aliaga. (2004). The “Dangerous” Potential Of Reading:
Readers and the Negotiation of Power in Nineteenth-Century Narratives.
NY & London: Routledge.

Kourkouta, L., Iliadis, C, Frantzana, A, & Vakalopoulou, V. (2018). Reading and
Health Benefits. J Healthc Commun, 3(4:39), 1-4.
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Benefits

Leavy, Patricia. (Ed.). (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research. NY:
Oxford University Press.

Mar, R. A. and Oatley, K. (2008). The function of fiction is the abstraction and

simulation of social experience. Perspectives on Psychological Science,

3(3), 173-192.

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Ooi, Kamy., & Liew, Chern Li. (2011). Selecting fiction as part of everyday life
information seeking. Journal of Documentation, 67 (5), 748-772.
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Trends, 21(3), 390-403. http://hdl.handle.net/2142/6690

Saukko, Paula. (2003). Doing Research in Cultural Studies: An introduction to
classical and new methodological approaches. London: SAGE Publications.

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Sepulveda, Luis. (2017). Pak Tua yang Membaca Kisah Cinta (2nd ed.). Terjemahan
oleh: Ronny Agustinus. Tangerang Selatan: Marjin Kiri.

Tamir, Diana I., Bricker, Andrew B., Dodell-Feder, David., & Mitchell, Jason P.
(2015). Reading fiction and reading minds: the role of simulation in the
default network. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 1-10.
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Usherwood, Bob., & Toyne, Jackie. (2002) The Value and Impact of Reading

Imaginative Literature. Journal of librarianship and Information Science,

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1&type=pdf

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Columbus: The Ohio State University Press.

Elite Journal Volume 7 Nomor 2, December 2020 137

Self-Identity in a Report to An Academy Sandra Dewi Dahlan

SELF-IDENTITY IN A REPORT TO AN ACADEMY BY FRANZ KAFKA
AND PISTOL PERDAMAIAN BY KUNTOWIJOYO

Sandra Dewi Dahlan
English and Literature Department, Universitas Islam Negeri Alauddin Makassar
Jln. H.M Yasin Limpo No. 36 Romang Polong, Kab. Gowa-Sulawesi Selatan, 92118

[email protected]

ABSTRACT

This research studied the concept of self-identity of the main character in A Report to an Academy and
Pistol Perdamaian. This research also described the social relations between the main character and
the otherness. The method used is qualitative and library research is the main technique of the
research. The analysis is based on the theory of literary reception and the sociology of literature. The
results showed that, in A Report to an Academy, the main character relies on the ratio to solve his
problem, whereas, in Pistol Perdamaian, the ratio of the main character is defeated by the
metaphysical irrationality associated with the belief system adopted. Thus, these two short stories also
illustrated how the environment and the socio-cultural life influence the reaction of both main
characters in understanding their existence among other beings.

Keywords: self-identity, existentialism, ape, ratio.

ABSTRAK

Penelitian ini menganalisis konsep identitas-diri tokoh utama dalam A Report to an Academy dan
Pistol Perdamaian. Penelitian ini juga mendeskripsikan hubungan sosial antara tokoh utama dengan
sekitarnya. Metode yang digunakan adalah kualitatif dan studi pustaka merupakan teknik
penelitiannya. Analisis didasarkan pada teori resepsi sastra dan sosiologi sastra. Hasil menunjukkan
bahwa dalam cerpen A Report to an Academy, tokoh utamanya mengandalkan rasio untuk mengatasi
permasalahan yang dihadapi, sedangkan dalam Pistol Perdamaian, rasio tokoh utama dikalahkan
oleh irasional metafisik yang berhubungan dengan sistem kepercayaan yang dianut. Dengan demikian,
kedua cerpen juga menggambarkan bagaimana lingkungan dan kehidupan sosial-kultural
memengaruhi sikap kedua tokoh utama dalam memahami keberadaannya di tengah keberadaan yang
lain.

Kata kunci: identitas diri, eksistensialisme, kera, rasio.

INTRODUCTION

A Report to an Academy (Ein Bericht für eine Akademie) is a short story written by
Austrian writer, (Kafka, 1917) and Pistol Perdamaian by Indonesian writer, (Kuntowijoyo,
1996). These two short stories were created in different dimensions of space and time by the
two authors with a very different background, but they have the same concept in describing
the struggle of life faced by the main character. It is written in both short stories how the
main character is confronted with some difficult life choices, which require them to do
everything possible to maintain their existence amid coalition relations.

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Sandra Dewi Dahlan Self-Identity in a Report to an Academy

The reaction of the two main characters confronts the problem in their life as a
statement of their existence to life itself shows the self-identity; "be" and "being", which is a
part of existentialism discussion. The concept of "self-identity" of the main character in the
two short stories becomes the first problem chosen and will be discussed by using the theory
of literary reception. Literary reception is an approach that considers the role of the reader in
giving meaning to the literary texts (Jauss, 1982). The second problem in this research is to
describe the sociological aspect of the story. In this context, the relationship of the main
character with objects or other people around him (the otherness). This is interesting to
explore considering that the two short stories highlight the element story of a life that has
different properties from the other elements of existence.

In A Report to an Academy, an ape (an animal) is described as the main character,
while in Pistol Perdamaian a gun (an object) as a cause of intrigue in the main character’s
life, who is a husband and holds the position as RW leader and also known as a historian in
the community. These two elements, ape and pistol, in each story are told to have different
characteristics (peculiarities) compared to the other's existence. Is this difference or
uniqueness a compliment or even conciliator in the diversity of life or it becomes a problem
in the main character's communal relations? The study in this section will use the sociology
of literature approach.

LITERATURE REVIEW

There are several studies found about these two short stories. One of them is
"Religious Values in Short Stories Anthology First Lesson for Political Candidate by
Kuntowijoyo: Study of Sociology of Literature" (Suharni, et al., 2017). This study described
the religious values in Pistol Perdamaian from the Javanese cultural point of view, which
contained several beliefs. Another study is an essay entitled "Aping the Ape: Kafka's Report
to an Academy" (Elmarsafy, 1995), which focused on the analysis of the ape's use of the first-
person pronoun which at the same time demonstrating a theatrical autobiography featuring
the self in question. It is also explained that the writer also analyzed the writing process as a
negotiation between the self and others displayed through Kafka's parable.

Standing upon different perspectives, this research compares both short stories to
study the western and eastern points of view and the best tools to examine both texts are by
using the theory of literary reception and sociology of literature. According to Wolfgang Iser,
reception theory has concerns about the impact of literature on its readers and the responses it
elicits (Iser, 2000). Correspondingly, Yumi Kinoshita wrote that Robert C. Holub in his book
Reception Theory (1984) characterized Reception Theory as a general shift from the author
and the work as the main concern, to the text and the reader. It is also explained that this new
horizon of literary criticism emphasizes the function of the reader in a process of literary
experience (Kinoshita, 2004).

Jauss argued that literary reception (Rezeptionsästhetik) is an approach that considers

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Self-Identity in a Report to An Academy Sandra Dewi Dahlan

the role of the reader to be important in giving meaning to literary texts (Jauss, 1982). Raman
Selden also declared that the meaning of the text (Textsinn) has never been formulated by
itself; the reader must act on his textual material to create meaning. This opinion is based on
the theory by Wolfgang Iser, that literary texts are the result of intentional acts of the author,
and contain empty spaces "gaps" or elements of uncertainty "indeterminate elements"
(Abrams, 1981). The "empty space" (Leerstellen) in literary texts is an area of uncertainty
that can only be filled by the reader through interpretation (Selden, 1985).

According to Setyawan and friends, the sociological approach is one of the branches
of literary theories that discusses its relationship with society (Setyawan, et al., 2017). Robert
Escarpit in 1970 also described the reader as a cultural consumer in literary work (Jadhav,
2014). In that connection, this theory used to describe the main character's social relationship
with another object or people around him that determines his existence.

On the other hand, existentialism emphasizes human existence, freedom and
responsibility (Shrader and Malhotra, 1996). The freedom of choice is the main theme, which
talks about how every human being creates his nature because each individual is free to
choose his path/life. In existentialism, the issue that stands out is the one that concerns the
questioning of one's existence; identity; individual identity.

RESEARCH METHOD
This research is a qualitative research which according to Ritchie and Lewis is

directed at providing an in-depth and interpreted understanding of the social world of
research participants by learning about their social and material circumstances, their
experiences, perspectives, and histories. Moreover, they explained the main qualitative
methods include: observation, in-depth individual interviews, focus groups, biographical
methods such as life histories and narratives, and analysis of documents and texts (Ritchie, et
al., 2003). The research technique is library research by collecting data. Primary data is both
short stories and secondary is data relate to the research topic. The next steps are based on the
theory of literary reception which by doing the act of reading to fill the "empty space". In this
process, the reader interacts with literary texts to understand the structure of a literary text,
which used the term repertoire. The repertoire is a set of social, historical, and cultural norms
expressed in the text, which originate from philosophical and social ideas that prevailed in
society at the time the work was created (Endraswara, 2003).

In the literary reception, the success or failure of the reader's communication or
interaction with the text during the reading process will be determined by two things, namely
(i) the reader's knowledge of the text he/she reads, and (2) the reader's ability to complete
what is incomplete, or choose to mean the potential ones and ignore those that are not
(Selden, 1985). In the final stage, the reader can formulate the results of understanding the
story text, according to the purpose of reading which might be unique to each reader caused
by the expectation horizon (Erwartungshorizont) of each reader. In the axis of

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Sandra Dewi Dahlan Self-Identity in a Report to an Academy

communication, the reader factor is distinguished according to function. One of those is the

real reader (Sangidu, 2002). The real reader is a reader in the physical sense, that is, the

person carrying out the act of reading. Specifically in this study, the researcher played the
role of a research reader, who combined text acceptance—as a reader, with work
interpretation of the text—as a researcher.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

A. Self-Identity of the Main Character

Explicitly the concept of self-identity of the main character in A Report to an
Academy and Pistol Perdamaian can be explained by describing the situation faced by each
character in the events observed.

In A Report to an Academy, the identity of the main character is clearly illustrated as
an ape. At the beginning of the plot, the uniqueness of the story shown in the first paragraph
when the main character made a speech, reporting his past life as an ape to an academy. He
came from the Gold Coast but he was arrested in a hunting expedition by the Hagenbeck
Firm. During the hunt he was shot twice, one on the cheek leaving a large hairless red scar
made him named Red Peter, a name taken from a trained circus ape, Peter. The second bullet
lodged just below his hip, made him slightly crippled. During the captivity, he was locked up
in a cage.

As in general, we know that the nature possessed by apes just like the other animal is
an only animal instinct, but in this story, the ape is very unique. More than just animal
instincts, his consciousness encouraged him to find a way out. Being a Hagenbeck's prisoner
for the first time in his life he felt deadlocked. Interestingly told in this short story, the main
character considered that the way out was not by running away. He knew it was not a smart
move because he might soon be arrested again and the consequences could instead be locked
up in a worse place or even picking up other bad luck. He thought that life as an ape was
unfortunate because it would end up like the other’s Hagenbeck captive apes: always
squeezed in a crate. The absurdity of the story culminates when a thinking process emerged
and the main character decided to stop being an ape!

The main character made several decisions to save his life, to be able to enter the
human world, even intrinsically—to become human. From this explanation, the self-identity
described in this short story relates to relying on oneself to find a way out for his life, by
learning from the background of his origins to progress and to develop. During captivity, he
was also trained to behave like a human. At the end of his speech, the main character
confirmed that he had succeeded in achieving what he had planned, as the conclusion of his
report to the academy.

Another story presented in Pistol Perdamaian, the identity of the main character is a
man and a husband. His reaction is described as a unique process when he had to respond to

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the presence of a gun, an object known as a killing machine. Meanwhile, the identity of the
main character during society is also a historian and RW leader. As a historian, the main
character translated the existence of this weapon not as a tool for killing but as a historical
legacy with some aesthetic values. For this reason, he intended to place the gun on the wall of
the house, but his wife rejected that idea because of her fear of the gun. She was afraid that
the gun would be used unconsciously by her husband to kill someone, including her. The gun
was practically perceived as a tool for killing by his wife. That is why her suggestion was to
place the pistol "far away" and hidden, although still inside the house, the process of
concealment of that sacred object then raised a strange thing in terms of modern perspective
(rationality).

According to the wife, there was noise in the library at night. She said, it must have
been the work of kris and spear that fought with the gun, but the man had another speculation
that it was caused by rats in the library. The noise then repeated, almost every night, said the
wife. "’It's so concrete, there's no way it's just an illusion.’ I indeed often accuse her of
thinking with her feelings, not with reason. But subjective or not, if the stakes are for the
peace of the household, I will yield.” (line 98).

In the short story, it is mentioned that krisses and spears are artefacts from agrarian
culture, whereas pistols are from industrial culture. Based on these reasons, his wife
suggested that an election be held to separate the two cultures. In short, there must be one of
them removed. Logically, the character depicted tends to be rationalist, choosing to throw
away the gun because there are still many pistols that are made, while spear and kris are rare.
The pistol was finally thrown away. But what happened next is, it came back to his hand
again. The husband threw the pistol in the trash but two trash men found it. The pistol was
handed over to him to be processed according to applicable procedures. The husband showed
the pistol to his wife. The problem was perhaps he threw it not too far away. After really
trying, he can only say it is fate. So he was told to throw it away again, this time even farther.
For a few days they were spared from the gun, but only for a few days!

B. Ratio- and Irrationality

Based on the literary reception theory, it is concluded that both in A Report to an
Academy and Pistol Perdamaian, the characteristic of one's existence in terms of one's
identity is determined by how a person responds to his environment, both to object and
others, which shown by how they react to the problems they are facing. The problem
presented in both short stories is an existential difficulty—when being yourself. The
existence of the self cannot be presented fully due to the existence of other-self—the
otherness.

In A Report to an Academy, the human expectation for the main character to provide
a report to the academy created an inner conflict in the character's self-articulation and
securitization of identity. In general, people will rely on something, whether it involves
cultural or religious values, both relate to an emotional relationship between people, people

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with objects, and/or with religion—God. But this is not what manifested in this short story.
The main character, the ape showed his existence by holding on or relying on himself. No
statement in the short story refers to the mention of God, lover, or even traditional beliefs. He
was dependent on himself, his intellect. The main character realized that change will not
happen without a lot of effort. The effort does not only rely on strength or physical perfection
as possessed by humans, but the most essential is the superiority of the "ratio", based on this
short story.

The memories of the free past as an ape were realized only nostalgic, at this point
what is real is what he faces today and tomorrow, whether will remain in captivity, ending up
like the other apes if he just accepts or surrenders to his circumstances or does something to
get out. Absurdity happens when the ape begins to use his “mind”. He began to show changes
with thinking patterns like humans. He pointed out that superiority lies not in the strength of
the muscles and teeth possessed by an ape, but futuristic intelligence like humans, the ability
to see what is more significant for his life in the long term, to find ways that can lead him to
“the way out”.

The uniqueness of the ape with his critical thinking has made his existence
recognized by the academicians, which drew their interest to make this animal as research
material. His ability to attract the attention of many people to keep abreast of his
development until finally, he can manage to reach the way out according to what he had
planned; the way of human life. The knowledge that changes the identity of the main
character from an ape to behave like humans.

A different perspective is shown in Pistol Perdamaian. Science is not a determinant
or "winner" in the story. Even science is defeated by the irrationality displayed uniquely by
the author. The pistol that created chaos inside the house turned out it could not be thrown
out even after many times trying, it still came back again. This is where the "triumph" of
irrationality that marks the identity of the character. Although the main character is known as
a historian and a respected figure, he could not ignore the customs and myths, which cannot
always be explained truthfully but their presence is part of the reality of life. Equally found in
both short stories is how science and belief systems adopted by a person will also determine
their identity.

C. Social Relationship of the Main Character

Identity can only be identified when the person relates to another self. The plot
explains how the series of sequences of story motion determines the social patterns and
existentialists depicted in the short story. The social pattern in both fictions becomes
interesting because the relation between one person and the other, an object, or even the
environment is managed by the two authors by highlighting the conflict side and how each
character is involved and handles the problem.

1. A Report to an Academy: Knowledge is a Way Out!

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More than just applying Darwinism and its powerful contribution to understanding
cultural and social entities and change, the theory of natural selection and evolution (Gough,
et al., 2008), Kafka in A Report to an Academy questioning the existentialist thing; a
fundamental question what is the meaning of predicate (to be) human, judging from the
perspective of someone who is not human. For the main character, being apart from a human
is not a perfect existence let alone final. That thought was concluded after the ill-treatment he
received from humans in his previous existence as an ape, because being an ape it turned out
causing problems, being a trapped creature as mentioned: "there is no way out". The phrase is
very suing the existence of oneself as "persona". For the main character, the answer was to
find a way out, to become a human being is a "path" that leads to the main goal. Not the other
way: dead-end.

Therefore, Immanuel Kant's phrase "who am I?" (Olson, 2008) is a truly existential
question for every man to confirm the task and process of being and what role should be
performed in this life. It is humans who have the right to determine/legitimize one existence
or the function of the natural surroundings to be made "as to what". For this reason, being
human to the main character is a liberating decision.

A Report to an Academy reaches its climax when the character finds a way out of his
problem through the learning process. Learning to become a human in a substantive sense by
imitating human behaviour by saying "Hello!" as his first word. This is a mirroring process in
response to the surrounding environment and as a sign of development obtained from his
association with the crew. Thus this expression has made people around him to have a social
relationship with him. He is then trained to behave like them, humans. This is what Bhaktin
refers to as an exotopi process (Faruk, 1994), moving from oneself to reach a new self.

Science can transform the existence of beings, even from apes to humans as
portrayed in the short story. Therefore, what Kafka has presented in this short story is nothing
but a symbol of existentialism, which highlights "how a creature becomes a persona, a
conscious self". At this point, this is the blank space that can be filled in the short story. The
main character has made a transcultural relation based on the choices he made. Strictly
speaking, the core of someone’s existence is based on "the results of his thinking", as the
formulation of the existentialist philosopher, Rene Descartes “Cogito Ergo Sum” (I think,
therefore I am).

2. Pistol Perdamaian: Status as a Social Predicate

In the short story Pistol Perdamaian status becomes important in the relationship
between people. As a historian (academician), he gets special treatment from society simply
because he has expertise. Pistol as the object that determines the storyline, which for others
it’s dangerous and not allowed to keep, but for the historian it is trusted to keep it in his
house, to take care of it.

In this short story, other people played a decisive role. Even sociologically the
identity of the main character and the pattern of social relations depend on others. This is

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evidenced by the behaviour of the character who always follows what his wife wants, for the
sake of his family. Although he wanted the gun to be put on display, because his wife forbade
it, he relented. He only tried to keep it in the library until his wife complained about the
commotion in the library which she accused as the result of the pistol "fighting" with the kris
and the spear—a conflict between industrial culture and agriculture. That is why the main
character relented again when his wife suggested that the gun be thrown away. Although on
the other hand, his wife said, she will only accept the existence of the gun if it turns out to be
fate. Destiny at the end is the existential determinant for the circumstance.

In Pistol Perdamaian, the character always accepts the deterministic nature of the
people surrounding him. Besides, even stronger determinism is the value system, customs,
and beliefs adopted by society. Absurdity in this short story is the mysticism believed to be
owned by the grandfather's inheritance. When there is no longer inner resistance from the
wife, when they have reached an agreement that the return of the pistol is accepted as destiny,
the mysterious things that metaphysically believed caused by these items in the end no longer
occur. The phrase destiny signifies a belief system adopted by the main character, not based
on rationality or the power of self, but it is believed that there is another power that exists
greater than the self.

In this short story, it is illustrated that although the main character does not believe in
the traditional values, he still accepts the prevailing traditions, even with a note, it is not
because it makes sense, but as a custom and to uphold togetherness. This is the key
relationship of the main character in the short story. He is willing to succumb, whether to his
wife, to Lurah or the community, and also to the customs for the sake of togetherness—social
harmony.

3. Reflections on Thoughts and Emotions

Thoughts and emotions exist together in humans, only sociologically and personally,
a person can decide which is more important. In explaining these two ideas there is a myth-
based on tradition, that the westerners tend to be more rational and the easterners rely more
on feelings (emotional; irrationality). Although we cannot always generalize this saying,
these two short stories highly represent this idea. A Report to an Academy represents the
superiority of the mind in the well-known Cartesian formula "cogito ergo sum", and Pistol
Perdamaian upholds the truth of feelings or rather an irrationality; sometimes it doesn't make
sense but it does exist, which known as metaphysical facts. The pistol was thrown away
many times but always returned showing that the ratio does not always support the reality.
There is another reality which cannot be understood enough if it only relies on the ratio,
based on the short story.

However, both stories also portrayed the role of the mind and feelings. As in A
Report to an Academy, the ape's feelings are expressed from the suffering he has experienced
since the captivity and confined in a cage until he eventually reached the level of human way
of life. The feelings element gives an intense nuance in the short story. Also in Pistol

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Perdamaian, it does not merely depend on feelings or irrationality. In several parts, the main
character has shown the process of reasoning and thinking: analyzing and considering the
actions and reactions of others to him, and conversely.

Destiny is also another crucial element that differs from these two short stories. If in
A Report to an Academy destiny can be changed by knowing and through learning effort, but
in Pistol Perdamaian science or by reasoning cannot change the situation, but by succumbing
to the determination of customs and beliefs.

CONCLUSION

The struggle of beings is marked by the searching process of identity, to establish
“who am I”. The main character in A Report to an Academy relies on ratio, which is through
knowledge to achieve his goals. Whereas in Pistol Perdamaian, the ratio of the main character
is defeated by the metaphysical irrationality associated with the belief system adopted. A
Report to an Academy supports the physical fact, ratio “I think therefore I am”, in a special
sense: knowledgeable and apply it! While Pistol Perdamaian supports the fact that something
is also real behind a physical fact: metaphysics! So the description is: apes or humans are
beings, what distinguishes them from one another is the mind, body, and soul, how they react
in their relation to other beings must be seen as a process “to become”. Thus, these two short
stories also illustrate how the environment, socio-cultural life influenced the reaction of the
main character in understanding their existence among others. One thing that is found the
same from these two short stories is how science and belief systems adopted by a man will
also determine his identity. So, it can be interpreted that the reception of literary works allows
us to understand our identity; the personal and cultural identity of the situation described in
the short stories, through the formulation of the work viewed from the point of existentialism,
which the affirmation examined here are primarily seen in terms of choice, responsibility, and
freedom, as well as other elements, such as authenticity.

A Report to an Academy and Pistol Perdamaian are proved to be the representation
of the existential process to become something or someone that matters to the surroundings in
social relation. Both in the sense of humanity as oneself and in a broader sense, namely one's
existential life when interacting with another existence, because in any existence: apes,
humans, in fictional life, are all able to be presented, concreted and given meaning.

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March, 2020

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Aning Rustanti Raharjo et.al A Multimodal Analysis Of Wardah Lipstick Advertisement

MULTIMODAL ANALYSIS OF WARDAH LIPSTICK
ADVERTISEMENT

Aning Rustanti Raharjo1, Didin Nuruddin Hidayat2, Alek3, Nasifuddin Jalil4
UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, Indonesia

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

Advertising is utilized to promote certain products and attract the attention of potential customers to
purchase the products. In this study, the researchers use advertisements broadcasted through an
electronic form, namely Wardah lipstick advertisement. The advertisement is audiovisual, and the form
of the message included sound and moving images. The analysis in this study used a semiotic approach
and multimodal analysis focusing on multimodal systems, including aspects of linguistics, visual,
audio, gestural, and location. This study used qualitative research methodology by applying a
descriptive analysis in the research. The study found that this advertisement covers the five aspects of
the multimodal semiotic system: linguistics, visuals, audio, gestural, and location. These five aspects
are integrated to convey the core message in Wardah lipstick advertisement. Finally, this research
found the meaning contained in an advertising message. The advertisement structure was also
composed of verbal and visual text to persuade and affect buyers' decisions.

Keywords: Advertisement, Discourse Analysis, Linguistic, Multimodal

ABSTRAK

Iklan digunakan untuk mempromosikan produk tertentu dan menarik perhatian orang atau calon
konsumen untuk membeli produk tersebut. Dalam penelitian ini, peneliti menggunakan iklan yang
disiarkan melalui bentuk elektronik yaitu iklan lipstik Wardah. Iklan ini bersifat audio visual, dan
bentuk pesannya termasuk suara dan gambar bergerak. Analisis dalam penelitian ini menggunakan
pendekatan semiotik dan analisis multimodal yang berfokus pada sistem multimodal, yang meliputi
aspek linguistik, visual, audio, gestur, dan lokasi. Penelitian ini menggunakan metodologi penelitian
kualitatif dengan menerapkan analisis deskriptif dalam penelitiannya. Hasil penelitian menemukan
bahwa iklan ini mencakup lima aspek dari sistem semiotik multimodal, yaitu aspek linguistik, visual,
audio, gestur, dan lokasi. Kelima aspek tersebut terintegrasi untuk menyampaikan pesan inti dalam
iklan lipstik Wardah. Akhirnya, penelitian ini menemukan makna yang terkandung dalam pesan iklan.
Selain itu, struktur iklan terdiri dari teks verbal dan visual untuk membujuk dan mempengaruhi
keputusan pembeli.

Kata Kunci: Iklan, Analisis Wacana, Linguistik, Multimodal

INTRODUCTION

Language is a tool to communicate with others. Humans communicate with
each other, individuals to individuals, individuals with groups, or even groups with
groups using language. Language is the tool that humans can use to communicate
with others. According to (Pettinger, 2013), language is a communication system in
which thoughts are transmitted (transmitted) through the voice (as in a conversation)

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or symbols (as in written words or physical cues).

(Turhan, 2017) concluded that since the advertising itself needs to convince
the consumer to purchase and use the product, the language used in advertising must
be simple to understand, catchy and convincing. In other words, when marketing a
product, the language used in advertising is very significant. People will buy a
product if the language used is interesting. Advertising language can influence and
persuade consumers to buy products through language, image or picture, sound, or
gesture. As explained by (Eynullaeva, 2018), advertisement contains a complex
meaning. It is a mixture of text and images and is usually developed through graphic
artists and copywriters' collaboration. However, in audiovisual commercials, the
verbal and the visual can also be supplemented by music. To recognize the
complexities of meaning, it is necessary to study multimodal in an advertisement;
since multimodal analysis aims to understand the power and meaning of a text
containing several modes such as verbal, visual, and aural (Kress & Lueewen, cited
in Bo, 2018). In this research, the researchers did a multimodal analysis of beauty
product advertisements. The use of visual and verbal language in beauty product
advertisements is the easiest way to manipulate the customers' beliefs. It will gain
their desire to buy the product because of the advertisement's visual and verbal
elements.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The various meaning modes, including visual, linguistic, audio, gestural and
technical modes used for meaning building, are taken into account in a multimodal
approach to text analysis (Shamini Periasamy et al., 2014). It notes that if the text is
realized from a combination of two or more semiotic systems, a text is called
multimodal. In a text, there are five multimodal semiotic systems, namely: 1)
Linguistic: vocabulary, generic structure and oral and written language grammar, 2)
Visual: colour, vector and point of view in still and moving images, 3) Audio: music
and sound effects length, pitch and rhythm, 4) Gestural: facial expression and body
language movement, speed, and stillness, and 5) Spatial: proximity, direction, the
position of layout and organization of objects in space (Anstey & Bull in Fitriawati et
al. 2019).

Visual Grammar

The systematic and detailed method for multimodal discourse analysis in
Reading Images is Visual Grammar. Visual Grammar considered that language is a
social semiotic type. In discourse, the fusion of language and other semiotic forms
makes the speech meaningful and vivid to the readers. As explained by (Ping, 2018)
visual Grammar has three basic meanings: representative meaning, interactive
meaning, and compositional meaning. Representative meaning refers to the faithful
reproduction of people's objective world, human actions, places, and even people's
inner world. It consists of two processes: the conceptual process and the narrative

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process. The narrative process completes the process of action, the reaction process,
the verbal and mental process, while the emotional process and the existential process
are included in the logical process. Interactive definition, to make it plain, is the
explanation of the image marker relationship, image representation and readers. The
components are touch, attitude, distance and modality, even in the interactive sense.
Modality is divided into three forms of Visual Grammar: high modality, middle
modality and low modality that can be shown by color, illumination, etc.
Compositional importance implies the whole multimodal discourse layout. Data
significance, framing and salience are the elements composed of the compositional
sense. The value of information is the location of specific information, such as new
and old information. Framing means whether or not there are such devices for linking
the elements of the debate. Salience refers to various levels of components, such as
context and foreground, for readers.

Advertisement

An advertisement is a form of promotion for individuals, organizations, or
companies to convey their vision and mission. (Koçyiğit, 2018) pointed out that
marketing provides the benefits of oral contact and engagement between individuals
and brands on network channels. In this way, consumer brands can build more
strategies and tactics through input from both customers so that they can find
solutions to their issues in a short time for both brands. Television has kept the title of
the largest mass medium used for advertisement for more than 60 years. Due to its
pervasiveness, effect and targeting capabilities, television is an essential component
of a media strategy. Television and advertising present a lethal combination and have
become an integral part of modern society. Television Advertisements typically play
a part in either launching a product that enhances the product's familiarity or
encouraging the product to buy. (Lim-fei et al., 2017) noted that advertising is one of
the most visible advertising techniques and has gained a great deal of publicity in the
last ten to fifteen years. Advertising can not only alter thoughts but have a subliminal
message. Television Advertisements typically play a part in either launching a
product that enhances the product's familiarity or encouraging the product to buy.
Advertising is one of the most visible advertising techniques and has gained a great
deal of publicity in the last ten to fifteen years. Today's advertisement appears to
exert a far-reaching impact on people's everyday lives anywhere and ever-present. To
encourage buying choices, commercials create self-concepts. Television advertising
uses attention-grabbing tricks such as catchy and pleasing songs, lyrics, jingles,
humour and repetitive messages. The effect of advertising is greater on television
than on print or radio media. Advertising can not only alter thoughts but have a
subliminal message.

Several attempts have been made to study multimodal analysis is an
advertisement. Some researchers have mentioned the importance of multimodal
analysis in an advertisement (Hidayat et al., 2017; Hu & Luo, 2016; Nashihah, 2016).
For instance, multimodal analysis of Tmall's Double Eleven advertising was done by

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(Hu & Luo, 2016). The findings showed that visuals components serve as a massive
attraction to the audience and adequately explain consumption by appealing to the
social and cultural state. It also sheds some light on raising customers' awareness by
presenting how commercial producers practice psychological manipulation on the
audience. They also claim that the visual and language aspect in advertisements can
attract and persuade consumer buying. Another study was done by (Nashihah, 2016)
entitled Discourse analysis of Rexona Advertisements. The result showed that
advertisers used linguistics devices to attract women, such as a direct address,
optimistic vocabulary, headlines, and catchy slogans. Besides, in this analysis, the
language used in beauty product advertising is politically disputed. From the
explanation mentioned above, the two advertisements cover the visual, language, and
linguistics aspects. On the other hand, Wardah lipstick advertisement has all the
components displaying verbal images and expressions that show the power of
announcements and enhancers.

Besides, the visual structure in this advertisement with its lead components
displays proportional size. Position and color in an interpersonal way and the actor's
make-up is essential. The setting makes use of the circumference location in property
primary and secondary colors produce complementary contrast. The two research
studies before using different theories of research methods, research subjects are also
expanding, such as three-dimensional space (Stenglin, 2008), picture, and comic
books (Feng & O'Halloran, 2012; Birner, 2015). On the other hand, this research used
theory developed from a combination of multimodal theory (Anstey, M., & Bull,
2010) and multimodal analysis by Kress and Van Leeuwen, cited in Bo (2018). The
researchers are interested in research to overcome the gaps by analyzing the verbal
and visual meaning in Wardah lipstick advertisement. This research aims to analyze
the multimodal semiotic systems text in Wardah lipstick advertisement and describes
the verbal and visual meaning in the advertisement. Finally, this research can find out
the meaning contained in an advertising message, the advertisement structure consists
of verbal, visual text in persuading the people and many things can be examined from
language advertising in terms of language that can affect buyers so that Wardah is the
best-selling cosmetics in Indonesia

Based on the previous study, it seems to indicate that advertisements can be
analyzed through critical discourse analysis use of multimodal analysis. This research
attracts two questions: what is the semiotic multimodal in the Wardah Lipstick
advertisement?, and what is the verbal and visual meaning in the Wardah Lipstick
advertisement?

RESEARCH METHODS

This research was conducted in a qualitative research methodology that
utilized the descriptive approach to conduct the research. Qualitative research
systematically describes and interprets problems or phenomena for the individual or

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population being studied, as explained by (Mohajan, 2018) and to generate fresh
concepts and theories. Besides, this type of research focuses on words rather than
numbers and observes the world in its natural environment, interpreting situations to
understand the meanings people make from day to day life (Walia, 2016). The data
were in the form of an image collected from the screenshot of the advertisement
video. The researchers captured each advertisement video scene consisting of an
image, written text, and logo brands in getting the data. Then, the researcher
transcribed and identified the text and visual information found in the advertisement
video.

The researchers analyzed the data descriptively, and the result was in the form
of an explanation. This research described the multimodal analysis using a semiotic
approach in Lipstick matte Wardah advertisement. This study's data were texts,
images, sounds, and gestures found in Wardah cosmetic advertisement video. The
multimodal analysis model was developed from a combination of multimodal theory
(Anstey, M., & Bull, 2010) and multimodal analysis by Kress & Van Leeuwen, cited
in (Bo, 2018). To analyze the data, the researchers carried out some stages, for
instance, analyzing the linguistic, visual, audio, gesture, and spatial in the
advertisement, interpreting the codes, writing the findings, and concluding the results.
Machin & Mayr (2012) explained qualitative data analysis techniques: (1) Data
documentation and data collection method, (2) Data organization/categorization into
concepts, (3) Data link to show how one definition may influence another, (4)
Corroboration/legitimization by testing alternative interpretations, (5) Disconfirming
facts and looking for negative cases—representing the account (reporting the
findings).In this research, the first step of this analysis must treat an image like
language. This means that the image is believed to be verbal language functions; how
the image represents experience. This can be seen in the image in how, for example,
objects or represented participants or items in the image 'related' to the other object.
Second, after seeing the image with a three-metaphysical perspective language, the
image analysis procedure's next step is the description or identification. Furthermore,
(Machin & Mayr, 2012) describe what is in the image facilitates good analysis. The
researchers illustrate in detail every major element in an image, including how this
element is displayed. After depiction or identification, the researcher is doing critical
analysis or significance. In this context, mastery and understanding of meaning,
connotation and denotation of internal elements, the context of the image being
analyzed is very helpful.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Findings

After analyzing the advertisement, it was revealed that:
1. Linguistic Analysis

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The Wardah Exclusive Matte Lip cream ad is played by Tjahyana Saphira and
Sheila Firdaus using a combination of spoken and written languages. The oral speech
was spoken by Tjahyana Saphira, who is a female idol today. Tjahyana represents the
beauty of Indonesian girls today.

(30 seconds).
*Backsound 2 seconds
S : Hai (Hi)
T : Baruya?( Is it a new one?)
T : Cobadeh Lip Cream Wardah dengan warna warni yang tahan lama.
Percaya diri melangkah coba hal baru jadikan dunia kita lebih berwarna, nyaman
lakukan yang kita mau. (you must try Wardah Lip cream with long-lasting colorful. It
makes you confident in trying new things. Make our world more colorful and you can
do what you want.)
T: Dengan matte Lip Cream Wardah exclusive formula baru lembut warnai

senyummu.(Matte Lip Cream Wardah exclusive new formula gently color your
smile.)
*2 second
Feel the color, Berani coba (dare to try?)

The verbal variety used in the new formula exclusive to Wardah matte Lip
cream is formal and informal. Next, stress the importance of being found in the verbal
variety of verbal advertising. This is enhanced and emphasized by the inclusion of
written variety manifested byproduct and trademark emblems in the form of visual
emblems.

TRADEMARK Product

EMBLEM Product

2. Visual Analysis
Three images represent Wardah's lipstick advertisements' visual appearance,

namely the visuals of the advertising models, product visuals, and visual emblems
(product logos).

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Visual model

Visual used

Visual product

Visual trademark

The combination of advertising star visuals and product visuals generates
interpersonal meaning between and the viewer in commercials. interaction is realized
by eye contact between participants and the audience that acts as a query. This
situation demonstrates that the participant clarifies the products offered. The next
process is the meaning of the products provided verbally by participants. Verbal text
that illustrate the benefits of offered goods.

Demand/Display

Demand is a direct interaction that manifests through eye contact between the
participants and the viewer that looks at the viewer.

Benefits of
product

The three images are included in the set, which has a background function that
explains the advantages of the products offered. The Additive is a relationship that
explains various visual information through verbal text, which is complementary to
the product's advantages.

3. Audio Analysis

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The music in this commercial that accompanies the action is only in the form
of music. The type of rhythmic music used in this commercial is to
demonstrate or give the impression that Wardah Lipstick items can generate a
powerful and quick spirit of action. This is being better, or the use of verbal is an
affirmation of the product's supremacy so that the spirit, Wardah lipstick, and the use
of silence is the transmission to the viewer of product excellence. This is getting
stronger or is an affirmation of the superiority of the product is the use of verbal so
that the spirit, Wardah lipstick, and silence are the delivery of product excellence to
the audience on the visual activity of participants.

4. Location /Spatial
Overall, the distance analysis between one image and the other image already

reveals this advertisement's integrated significance. The image has its meaning, but
each image's meaning supports the meanings of each other’s images. The depiction of
the spirit of operation participants, product excellence, and product ease is shown by
the distance from the active participants' images and the process of processing
Wardah Lipstick and the lead at the end of the advertisement image. This lead serves
to give an impression and a deep meaning to the user. The lead in this ad is a Locus
of Attention (LoA) realized in the following image:

5) Gesture Analysis

Body movement and speed, and facial expressions are the gesture of the
participants. The gesture in this advertisement is realized from the participants'
activities responding to his daily life, which is full of enthusiasm. This is reflected in
the process and objectives of the actress and active and passive participants, where
participants have a process about the direct impact that can be obtained from
consuming the products they offered. Verbal participants in this advertisement show
active and passive participants.

Verbal Image

Soften your smile

Discussion
The findings above show that Wardah Lipstick advertisement consists of five

parts (linguistic, visual, audio, spatial, and gesture) based on multimodal analysis. It is
supported by the previous statement by Anstey and Bull, cited in Amatullah et al.
(2019). Thus, language studies are inseparable from the social context (Gana et al., in

156 Elite Journal Volume 7 Nomor 2, December 2020

Aning Rustanti Raharjo et.al A Multimodal Analysis Of Wardah Lipstick Advertisement

Suprakisno, 2015). One context is known in TLSF theory in the context of the
situation (register). In the context of the situation, two terms are always used by TLSF
experts in different ways, namely: situational and discoursal. The term 'situational' has
the noun 'situation' used here to present the semiotic space of the TLSF concept
'situation context' or register as variety in a language or register. The advertisement
uses language, image or picture, sound, or gesture. The Advertisement contains
complex meaning in conveying a message presented not only through linguistic or
verbal elements but also through visual elements. To understand the complexities of
meaning, it is necessary to study multimodal in an advertisement; since multimodal
analysis aims to understand the power and meaning of a text containing several modes
such as verbal, visual, and aural (Kress & Lueewen in Bo, 2018).

Significantly based on the research, multimodal learning can improve
students’ communicative competence, cultural understanding, and attitudes towards
language (Farias, Miguel, & katica, 2007). Through the form of language (encode)
can represent a world that is socially constructed. The emphasis is on the social
context of language, and namely, function social determines the form of language and
how it is developed. Furthermore, literacy is multimodal directed at various sources of
text that can produce meaning. Literacy multimodal is an effort to understand various
ways of representing knowledge and making meaning. The focus of multimodal
literacy is on the design of discourse by investigating the contributions of various
semiotic sources (verbal, visual, and spatial), which is deployed through various
modalities and interaction and integration in the process of text coherence.
Multimodal literacy considers how linguistic choices and visuals fulfil the purpose of
the text, audience, and context. Those choices work together in the organization and
develop information and ideas (Lim-fei et al., 2017). Multimodal in learning is a
process, way, and makes people learn by utilizing various text sources as a learning
media. The intended media is not limited only through text but also utilizes the
elements of motion and visual elements.

CONCLUSION

Based on the results of the multimodal analysis on Lipstick Wardah
advertisement, the following conclusions can be drawn: (1) There is a multimodal
semiotic system in Lipstick Wardah advertisement, (2) Each multimodal semiotic
system is closely interrelated produce advertising meaning and semiotic, (3) The
resulting message is quite comprehensive and easily understood by the audience.
Wardah advertisement has visual and picture meaning. It is the easiest way to
manipulate customers' beliefs. It will gain their desire to buy the product because of
the advertisement's visual and verbal elements (Hidayat et al., 2020). The text is
completed in speech alone, pictures, motion, graphics, and influencing acts of
communication, specifically in learning. Collaboration between literacy and
multimodal makes students understand the position, gaze, position, posture, gesture,
and action with books and boards and talk in the classroom. Besides, multimodal

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