CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the study Literature, as one kind of art, has more advanced in the meaning. Literature
,which is used to be defined by the text that is only words, can be described as something that happened in our life either text or not. According to Melani Budianta, the meaning of
the text can be included into two. First, the text is something has been written in books or any value as works of art. Second, text is expression and phenomena that happen in
human’s life which can be read as the text, by paying attention to the elements, such as: discursive, narrative and incident
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. It seems clear, that literary forms, such as: novel, poetry, drama, short story and
others, use the text to convey its aesthetic to the reader. Budianta breakthrough this tradition. In her opinion, everything that happen in human’s life, expression and
phenomena, can be read as the text. As long as there are elements, such as: discursive, narrative, and incident.
Through the explanation above, the writer may conclude that something which is not only in text but also in expression and phenomena that happen in human’s life can be
considered as literature. So that, film , narrative form, concerns with story telling similar to literature because it is also the mimesis or the reflection of the society which is
presented in motion picture. Moreover, film , an audio visual communication, is part of media literacy.
According to Rubin as quoted by Baran “ media literacy, then, is about understanding the
1
PPKB-LPUI. Pelatihan dan teori kritik sastra PPPG Bahasa. 27-30 mei 2004, p. 42.
sources and technologies of communication, the codes that are used, the message that are produced, and the selection, interpretation, and impact of those messages”.
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Its medium, which is made by images and sound, has made film as an art form which can be so easily
transferred by people. Since the film is commonly associated with the telling of a story and since the talking picture depends largely on human speech that is similar to theatrical
dialogue, and since, furthermore, films are presented in an auditorium that resembles a playhouse. It is natural enough that film and theatre should be regarded as similar modes
of expression.
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Since film had been found in the early 20
th
century and then developed very fast until today, it amazed many people with its aesthetic. People are being hypnotized to
watch the film, they would like to spend their time and money just for watching the film in the cinema, or they also can enjoy it at home through DVD or other material that can
be used to watch the film. They often watch the film to discover themselves in their world to assess their special roles in their life, to learn the meaning of the personal
struggles in which they are engaged. There are interrelationship between film and social life. In one side to give impact
the society, in another side to reflect social life. Films are cultural artifacts
created by specific
cultures , which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them
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. Having been watched film, people often imitate or identify the characters in the film. They often
imitate how the actor wear clothes, hair fashion and many others. Movies or films have served as an initiator of certain styles of cultural expression such as clothes, hair fashion
2
Stanley J. Baran. Introduction to mass communication New York: McGraw Hill. 2004, p. 45.
3
John Howard Lawson, Film the creative process New York: Merican Book-Stratford Press, Inc, 1964, p. 175.
4
www.wikipedia.orgwikifilm accessed on February 4, 2009
and even manners of speech; but they have also served as conduit for the spreading of less well-known ideas or forms of expression.
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One of the films which reflected social life was Slumdog Millionaire. It was a film about social life in India that was reflected through the main characters. The story of
Jamal Malik was started when he followed a quiz Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” Indian version. When the show broke for the night, police arrested him on suspicion of
cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal told the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grow up, their adventures
together on the road vicious encounters with local gangs, and Latika, the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story revealed the key to the answer to one of the game
shows questions. Each chapter of Jamals increasingly layered story revealed where he had learned the answers to the shows seemingly impossible quizzes.
This film explicitly depicted about the life of lower class in India through the main character, Jamal. By analyzing the main character, it will be revealed how the world
view of the director depicts social life in India. Genetic structuralism theory, as theory that connects intrinsic and extrinsic elements in the text, is the most appropriate theory to
analyze this movie, in order to find out the world view of the director.
B. Focus of the Study The research is focused on how the main character reflected social life in India in
the film Slumdog Millionaire directed by Danny Boyle through genetic structuralism.
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Garth Jowett and James M. Linton. Movie as Mass communication. California: SAGE Publications. 1980, p.110.
C. Research Question According to the Background of the Study, the writer formulates the statement of the
questions: 1. How is the main character, Jamal, described in the film Slumdog Millionaire?
2. How is the world view of the director?
D. Objective of the Research Based on the statements of the problems above, the writer has several objective of the
research as following: 1. To know how the main character, Jamal, described in the film Slumdog Millionaire
2. To know how the world view of the director
E. Significance of the research The writer hopes this research would beneficial in terms of it is information and
knowledge. It is also hoped that the result of this research can be used for English Department, the Faculty of Letters and Humanities, State Islamic University Syarif
Hidayatullah, Jakarta, as one of the references in studying character in the film and its social life.
F. Research Methodology 1. Method of the Research
The writer uses qualitative method in doing this research, this method describes and analyzes film Slumdog Millionaire and its external elements, which reflected social
life in India through main character from the world view of director. 2. Data Analysis
In this research, the writer used dialectic analytic technique based on critical study and deep analysis to the qualitative data that was collected from variety of sources based
on the study of historical literature that was used internal and external structure of literary work.
3. Research Instruments The writer uses himself as a major instrument to get qualitative data from the
dialogues of the film, about social life in India that is reflected in the film using some ways, such as: reads the books about genetic structuralism and correlates the dialog of the
film with the theory of genetic structuralism. 4. Analysis Unit
Analysis unit that is used in this research is DVD Film Slumdog Millionaire directed by Danny Boyle in 2008.
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
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