Background of the Study

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

In the introduction, there are five parts that are discussed in this study. They are background of the study, objectives of the study, problem formulation, benefits of the study, and definition of terms. The first part is background of the study, which explains reasons why the novel is chosen as the source of this study. The second part is objectives of study. It deals with the aim in conducting this study. In the third part, problem formulation, two problems become the main discussion in this study. The fourth part, benefit of the study provides some information about the benefits of this study. The last part is definition of terms that defines some terms related to the study.

1.1 Background of the Study

Literature is an expression of life through a language. According to Wellek and Warren states that the works of “literature portray life as reality. They also say literature looks like a real life portrait. It is an illustration of human lives because the literary works present the reality of human situations, problems, feelings, and relationship” 96. Literature can be a reflection of someone’s experiences in his or her daily life. Wellek also says literature is a creative working, an art contains imagination, and figurative language 3. Authors can create literary works based on their imagination creatively. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI Wellek and Warren 227 state that most modern literary theory divides three main’s genre in literature. The first one is prose. Prose divides into types. They are fiction short stories, fairy tales, folk tales, novels, poems and non- fiction short stories, reports, letters. The second is drama. The last one is poetry. I am interested in novel among several genres of literature above. Therefore, I decided to use a novel as the source of this study. According to Abrams, “novel is applied to a great variety of writings that have in common only the attribute of being extended works of fiction written in prose” 130. Chevally explains that novel is a fiction in prose of a certain extent and the extent over 50,000 words 3. Thus, novel is a fiction story which is written in a book form. It has a certain length, with characters, plots, time and place of action, and incidents. The story in novels is closely related to human life. Readers see experiences, problems, feelings, relationship, romance, characters’ development and the symbolic action that is intended as a dramatization of the book’s ideas, mood or state of the mind. Novel has six elements. Hudson 130- 131 states that the six elements are plot, characters, dialogue, time and place of action, style, and a stated or implied philosophy of life entering into the composition of any work of prose fiction, small or great, good or bad. In this study, I used one of Junichiro Tanizaki’s novels as the source. The title of the novel is The Makioka Sisters. It is the Japanese greatest post war novel. What is interesting about this novel is its theme, which is about a girl who lives in Osaka. She comes from an upper class family just before the war. She is PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 33 years old and is unmarried. Her name is Yukiko Makioka. In the end, she gets married in her 30s. The reason why this study chooses this novel is because in this novel, Tanizaki tried to tell the readers about Japanese women’s life and marriage in 1930s-1940s. As stated above, literature and novel are closely related to human life or human nature, and The Makioka Sisters also relates to women’s life. Therefore, I am very interested in knowing the realities, problems, feelings, and relationship in that novel. After I read that novel, I could see one problem which Tanizaki wanted to tell to the readers, which is about Japanese women’s marriage. In 1930s-1940s, the average age for marriage was very important for girls. According to Encyclopedia of Contemporary Japanese Culture, in the early 19 th century, girls were often married by the age of sixteen 9. Japanese society still thought negatively about a girl who was 30 years old and still unmarried was sort of a taboo. It made the family tried to arrange for marriage omiai. Yukiko Makioka’s family also tries to find a husband for Yukiko. In the same way, Yukiko Makioka’s family must have motivations in finding a husband for Yukiko Makioka. Therefore, I am interested in analyzing the motivations of Yukiko Makioka’s family to find a husband for Yukiko Makioka. Before analyzing the motivations, I also analyze Yukiko Makioka’s character. It helps me to know her behavior that makes her family to help her in finding a husband. It is because motivations are causes or reasons underlying particular behaviors. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

1.2 Problem Formulation