Theories on Postmodernism Review of Related Theories

even agree as to what modernism is, much less Postmodernism Powell, 1998:19. It means that the project of enlightenment as a value had lost its credibility. The project is about “fostering of this belief that a break with tradition, blind habit, and slavish obedience to religious precepts and prohibitions, coupled with the application of reason and logic by disinterested individual, can bring about a solution to the problems of society” Barry, 2002:85. Some of the philosopher such us Derrida believe that the enlightenment is uncompleted project. They try to get rid the value of the enlightenment. In his view “the ideals of reason, clarity, truth, and progress, and as they were thereby detached from the quest for justice, he identi fied them as ‘young conservatives’” Barry, 2002:86. For Lyotard, the project of enlightenment tries to totalize explanations of things like Christianity or the myth of scientific progress. As explained in Peter Barry’s book, for Lyotard postmodernism is simply Incredulity towards metanarratives” 2002:86. He believes that metanarratives of “progress and human perfectability, then, are no longer tenable, and the best we can hope for is a series of ‘mininarratives’, which are provisional, contingent, temporary, and relative and which provide a basis for actions of specific group in particular local circumstances Barry, 2002:87. A series of mini narratives such as myths, legends and tales “legitimize themselves-make themselves believable-just in telling. And at the same time they legitimize the society in which they are told” Powell, 1998:34. It means that the myth, the chanter, the audience, all form a kind of social bond-asocial group that legitimizes itself through the chanting of the myth. The myth requires no authorization or legitimization other than itself. The myth defines what has the right to be said and done in the culture Powel, 1998:35. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI That is why postmodernism reject the grand narratives and change it into mininarratives. To understand this idea, the term modernism should be understood. According to Powell “Modernism is a blanket term for an explosion of new styles and trends in the arts in the half of 20 th century” Powell, 1998:20. Modernism is term that is related to “the Age of Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason. Probably the main value of the age, besides reason was the idea of progr ess” Powell, 1998:20. It means that modernism is a new idea for humanity based on reason and logic. At the 18 th century, people become optimistic that by using the universal values of science, reason, and logic, they could get rid of all the myths and holy ideas that kept humanity from progressing. They felt this would be eventually free humanity from misery, religion, superstition, all irrational behavior, and unfounded belief. Humanity would use thus progress to state freedom, happiness, and progress Powell, 1998:20-21 Postmodernism as a new term after modernism has another idea, proposing that “the nature of knowledge cannot survive unchanged within this context of general transformation. The status of knowledge is altered as societies enter what is known as the postmodern age” Sarup, 1993:118. Fredric Jameson in his essay states that “postmodernism emerged as the reaction against the established forms of high modernism. The key point to the spirit of postmodernism is the reaction against anything modernly organized” Jameson in Kaplan 1988:18. According to Lyota rd in Jim Powell’s book, he states that postmodernism “has to do with skepticism about Grand narratives; and it is about heterogeneity” Powell, 1998:149. That is one of the most characteristic of postmodernism. In Glenn Ward’s book, he mentions that postmodernism is about Knowingness. Knowingness in postmodernism “insists on ‘self-conscious, self-contradictory, self- undermining statement’. Since few people trust their convictions or believe the world can change for better, irony is the only option” Ward, 2010: 9. It means that the only way to find out better change is only from the irony. Irony in the postmodernism is “therefore not just cynical, not just a way of making fun of the world. It demonstrates a knowingness about how reality is ideologically constructed” Nicol, 2002:13.

C. Theoretical Framework

The theories stated above in this chapter will be used to analyze the lottery. The three theories, the theory of plot will describe the plot in the lottery to find out the way of how the story goes on. Theory on character will provide some information to identify the act of the characters in the short story. The theory on characters is also used to find out how the characters’ attitude the lottery based on the plot. The theory on plot from Guerin and Abrams are applied in studying the plot in the Lottery . Those two theories will help the writer to reveal the plot of the story. The theory on plot also has relation to the characters action. It means that theory on characters will be used to analyze the characters for further information. That is through the characters themselves say, what the characters do, and what the characters respond, this theory helps in studying the attitudes of the characters in the story. This thesis uses the idea of postmodernism from many sources as the basic. The analysis will be mainly based on concept of postmodernism. Making an intensive review on the theory and studying it from many points of view such as historically and its development as one of the philosophical school the writer would try to find the idea of postmodernism as seen through the characters’ attitudes in Jackson’s the Lottery. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 17 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

Shirley Jackson’s “ The Lottery ” was a short story which is published in June 1948, an issue of The New Yorker magazine. “ The Lottery ” was successful for the first time when it was published and has become one of the most famous short stories in the history of American literature. The world of Shirley Jackson is horrified and unforgettable. She is the writer who writes something which is not predictable because especially in “ The Lottery ” she makes a beautiful summer- day with nothing seems going to happen into something that is really horrible. The story is taken from The Lottery and Other Stories by Macmillan in his book on 1988. The story is in page 149 until 154. The lottery is a short story that takes place in small a village somewhere in America. A small village where all the residents must participate in the tradition which is held every summer and then becomes a nightmare for some folks there. It goes with a normal condition when people gather around to the square for the lottery. However, at the end of the story the winner is executed to by the people in that village. As the result, the winner of the lottery should be dead.

B. Approach of the Study

This thesis deals with the idea of postmodernism as seen through the characters’ attitudes in Shirley Jackson’s “ The Lottery ”. As a literary work “ The