14 made even more ridiculous by the author’s comments and narrative style”
Abrams 188
2.1.5. The Relationship between Literature and Society
According to Langlard, society means “not merely people and their classes but also their customs, conventions, beliefs and values, their institutions – legal,
religious, and cultural-- and their physical environment 6. It means that society can be defined as two; a group of people and the system that embodied in them.
She divides society into two; they are the world that exists in the novel and the world in which a writer lives. The two can influence each other. The world in
which a writer lives may influence the world in the novel in a way that there are similarities between the two. On the other hand, the world in a novel may
influence the world in which a writer lives in a way that it is the author’s way in expressing his opinion or criticisms towards it. It means that the readers may find
out that while reading along the novel, they may find the messages or values that the author conveys.
The question of values has strong mimetic implications. Analyzing the values …allows us to address questions of why novels mean what they
mean to us and why they can affect us powerfully. Society, as depicted in the novel, thus comments on the roles and possibilities of society in our
lives Langlard 6.
According to Wellek and Warren, the relationship between literature and society may appear in the sociology of the writer, the influence of literature on
society, and the social context of the works themselves. The first is the sociology of the writer. It also deals with the writer’s social background, social status, and
15 social ideology. “Since every writer is a member of society, he can be studied as a
social being” 96. The main source is his biography, but the information about where he came and in which he lived becomes another important point to explore.
His opinion of what happen in his society matters in analyzing his work. The second is the influence of literature on society. It has a connection in a
way that the writer is not only being influenced by society but also influencing society. The work that he produces is also influencing the shape and behavior of
society. People learn how to live their lives based on what they read in the book Wellek and Warren 105.
The third aspect is the main focus of this thesis. The context of the works also deals with the implications and social purpose of the works. The most
common relation between literature and society is that the study of works of literature is considered as social documents and assumed as the pictures of social
reality. As a social document, literature can be used to give the outlines of social history. But studies of literature as simply social documents are not enough if
critics do not go beyond it. They should know the artistic method of the novelist being studied - in what relation the picture stands to the social reality. Is it realistic
by intention? Or is it, at certain points, satire, caricature, or romantic idealization? Wellek and Warren 102-104. The writer has his own opinion about the social
issues in the society where he lives. Though not like a history work, the opinions of the writer about those social issues can be traced in his work of literature.
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