Background of the Study

Jonathan Culler in the book of Literary Theory A very Short Introduction says, “literature is the vehicle of ideology” 1997:36. It can be said that literature is a tool to impose the need and desire of a person or powerful groups to others. Literature can be a device to question the arrangement of domination in a particular society. Postcolonial literature can be observed as literature that carries the ideology of a person or certain groups. It questions the Eurocentric views, which takes for granted the superiority of European or Western, and the inferiority of others Barry, 2002: 193. It focuses on the unequal relation of power between the coloniser and the colonised, the reactions of the colonised people that will always be resistant, and the effects of colonisation on culture and societies Ashcroft et all, 1998: 186-189. It means that postcolonial literature is a way to attack the colonialism and its practice. It fights against the oppression, discrimination, and subordination that the coloniser has done. It also questions the domination of the coloniser towards the colonised people in economic, social, political and other aspects of life. Disgrace that is written by J. M. Coetzee is a postcolonial literary work. It embodies a protest against colonialism and its practice. It reflects the new models of colonialism, which is not concerned on colonising the physical things but more on colonising the stage of mind and culture of the colonised. In this case, the efforts of the coloniser to convince the colonised about their Eurocentric views are not in the form of military force, but through economy, technology, education and 2 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI the media so that Eurocentric views can be accepted as common views. By defining what is meant by coloniser and colonised, colonialism itself wants to strengthen the power and the domination of the ruling group. Moreover, the act of accepting and imitating Eurocentric views, attitudes, and opinions shows the way in which colonialism works in a certain society. The influence of Eurocentric views can be found in this literary work. Set in South Africa, Disgrace is the story about a white man, namely David Lurie, who works in Cape Town University as a lecturer. This man teaches communication and the Romantic poets to his students. He tries to make his students like the subjects that he taught. His great interest in literary canon enables him to produce three books, namely Baito and the Faust Legend: The Genesis of Mefistofele, The Vision of Richard of St Victor, and Wordsworth and the Burden of The Past. The values of life that David Lurie believes in are mostly influenced by Eurocentric views. The situation and the condition of the society do not discourage his spirit to spread his ways of thinking about life by creating literary works. He does not really care about where he lives and what kind of society he deals with. Although the era of physical colonialism is over, he wants everyone to have the same opinion as his says that the inferiority belongs to the local people and the superiority belongs to the European people. From the situation he deals with throughout the story, it is indicated that David Lurie really wants to highlight his position in the society. However, the way David Lurie sees life is the result of the ideology that binds him. 3 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI By knowing these facts, it is interesting to explore the general qualities of David Lurie as the main character. The way David Lurie’s qualities represents the qualities of the coloniser and the way western hegemony is depicted through the representation of David Lurie’s qualities, as the main character here are the challenged topics that are articulated in the story.

B. Problem Formulation

In order to have a further analysis, the thesis will focus on the problems stated as follows: 1. How are the general qualities of David Lurie described in the novel? 2. How does David Lurie’s qualities represent the qualities of the coloniser? 3. How is western hegemony depicted through the representation of David Lurie’s qualities?

C. Objective of the Study

This thesis is an effort to find out the general qualities of the main character, to identify how David Lurie’s qualities represents the qualities of the coloniser, and to investigate how western hegemony is depicted through the representation of David Lurie’s qualities. By acknowledging those problems, the western hegemony that can be learned from the creation of David’s character can be understood.

D. Definition of Terms

The writer will point up some terms to clarify and to avoid misunderstanding of meanings. The terms are defined as follows: 4 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 1. The coloniser It is noted on the book of The Wretched of the Earth that the colonial world is inhabited by two different species; the foreigner who comes from another country and the local. The foreigner here is known as the coloniser. It emphasises that the foreigner or the coloniser imposes his rule by humiliation, manipulation, and exploitation in military, economic, and political aspects on the local Fanon, 1963: 38-40. 2. Postcolonialism It is stated on the book of Key Concepts in Post-Colonial Studies that postcolonialism talks about the effects of colonialisation on cultures and societies. It concerns on the study of European territorial conquests, the institutions of European colonialisms, the discursive operation of empire, the subtleties of the subject construction in colonial discourse and the resistance of those subjects, and the differing responses to such incursions and their contemporary colonial legacies in pre-and post-independence nations and societies Ashcroft et al, 1998: 186-187. 3. Representation Based on the Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture, representation is defined as “the act of representing or state of being represented, or something that represents something else” 2005: 1169. In Edgar and Sedgwick’s Cultural Theory The Key Concepts, representation has a political meaning or a more nuanced meaning, which may be used in the mass media, in order to present images of certain social groups 2002: 339. 5 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI