Background of the Study

Hence, this undergraduate thesis focuses more on setting and aspects of postmodernism are depicted in the story.

B. Problem Formulation

1. How are the elements of setting depicted in Bharati Mukherjee‟s The Management of Grief? 2. What are the aspects of postmodernism in the social condition depicted as the setting in Bharati Mukherjee‟s The Management of Grief? C. Objectives of the Study The point of this undergraduate thesis is to prove that the social condition of the characters in Bharati M ukherjee‟s The Management of Grief represents aspects of postmodernism. In order to find the evidence of the condition of postmodernism in the short story, problem formulation has to be formulated. Based on the problem formulation, there are two objectives of study. The objectives are: First, to depict setting in Bharati Mukherjee‟s The Management of Grief. Second, to analyze aspects of postmodernism in setting depicted in Bharati Mukherjee‟s The Management of Grief. It is because this undergraduate thesis focuses on setting, and studies how the condition of the story depicts aspects of postmodernism.

D. Definition of Terms

There are five terms should be explained, so that the title of this undergraduate thesis becomes clear for the readers. They are social condition, postmodernism, and language games. The first term is social condition. In PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI general, social condition is a term referring to a condition of the society. It is usually related to geographical, political, economical, or social status. Social is defined in yourdictionary.com, September 19, 2016 as “of or having to do with human beings living together as a group in a situation in which their dealings with one another affect their common welfare: social consciousness, social problems” whereas condition is defined in yourdictionary.com, September 19, 2016 as “Anything that modifies or restricts the nature, existence, or occurrence of something else; external circumstance or factor.” The second term is postmodernism. Sarup 1993: 131 said that Postmodernism is a name for a movement in advanced capitalist culture, particularly in the arts. There is a sense in which if one sees modernism as the culture of modernity, postmodernism is the culture of postmodernity. The term postmodernism originated among artists and critics in New York in the 1960s and was taken up by European theorists in the 1970s. The term of postmodernism is also mentioned by Barker 2004: 156 that “We may understand postmodernism to be a notion that refers us to questions of culture and knowledge while the idea of postmodernity relates to historical patterns of social organization .” This undergraduate thesis uses the word „postmodernism‟ to refer to the problem of culture and society. Thus, the questions of this undergraduate thesis is not confined by the text, but it attempts to extend through the culture and knowledge in the social condition in Bharati Mukherjee‟s The Management of Grief in order to find the relation of the internal and external problem. It relates to the definition of the social condition. Besides, the term PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI „postmodernism‟ also includes to related terms, such as postmodern, postmodernity, and postmodernist. The third term is language games. Barker 2004: 108 said that “The concept of a language games is strongly associated with the ordinary language philosophy of the „later‟ Wittgenstein, for whom the meaning of words derives from the usage in a complex network of relationships between signs, and not from some essential characteristic or referent. Thus meaning is contextual and relational; it depends on the relationships between words that have „family resemblances‟ and on specific utterances in the context of pragmatic narratives.” This undergraduate thesis uses this term because it relates to the topic in which language is an important to communicate in the society. Besides, language games is related to postmodernism which uses language games referring to the meaning of the context of words. The fourth term is legitimation. This term is used because it is the way of communication in the aspects of postmodernism which is discussed in this study. As Lyotard 1984: 8 said that Legitimation is the process by which a legislator is authorized to promulgate such a law as a norm. Now take the example of a scientific statement: it is subject to the rule that a statement must fulfill a given set of conditions in order to be accepted as scientific. In this case, legitimation is the process by which a “legislator” dealing with scientific discourse is authorized to prescribe the stated conditions in general, the conditions of internal consistency and experimental verification determining whether a statement is to be included in that discourse for consideration by the scientific community. It means that legitimation is used by legislator in making rule in order to fulfill a given set of conditions, so that, it is accepted as scientific. Then, the fifth term is sublime. Lucy 1997: 35 said that According to the great eighteenth-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant, in opposition to whose ideas the Romantic period is often wrongly PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI defined, sublime is an order of judgement. The sublime, as distinct from the beautiful or the horrible, is not to be found in nature, but in the mind. While the sublime is both „universally valid‟ and „independent of interest‟,the analytical process by which anything is judged to be sublime is a cultural ahievement, not a natural priori condition. This undergraduate thesis uses this term because it is one of the aspects of postmodernism which explains that communication is used to express people‟s mind and thought. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 9

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Review of Related Studies

Bharati Mukherjee‟s The Management of Grief is a short story with religious and cultural theme overarching it. It descibes how immigrants who lost their relatives, in terrorist bombing, face the grief with the various of cultures and religions in their surroundings. To analyze this study, there are some studies to consult in order to enrich any perspectives that important for the study. The first study, written by Katleen Brogan, entitled “American Stories of Cultural Haunting: Tales of Heirs and Ethnographers.” It deals with Bharati Mukherjee‟s The Management of Grief, as a short story, invoking ghosts to dramatize some points in the story. In its article 1995: 150, she mentioned that In “The Management of Grief” 1989, Bharati Mukherjee invokes ghosts to dramatize the divided loyalties and ultimate transformation of immigrants to North America. Brogan‟s study attempts to analyze how ghosts invokes in the short story to dramatize the loyalties and ultimate transformation of immigrants who lost their relatives. It also reflects a phenomenon concerning with the questions of ethnic identity and transmission. Brogan 1995: 151 said that “Plainly, the contemporary American ghost story is not solely an African-American phenomenon; it is, in fact, a pan-ethnic phenomenon, registering a PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI