as to produce as illusion on the imagination. Poem is the art of doing by means of words what the colors”.
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B. Sociology of Literature
Society is a place where human nature live and do many things, and sociology is a ‘tool’ to see and analyze the relationship between human either as
individual or group and society. Sociology is scientific study about human on society; the study of institute and social process. By seeing the social structures
and all issues of economic, politic, religion and so on, we will get picture of the ways of human being in adapting themselves to their environment, the mechanism
of socialization, and cultural process. Like sociology, literature also deals with human being in society: human’s
effort to adapt him or herself and to change the society. Literary work contains the relation of human with his world and its problem; economic, politic, social, and so
on. Sociology of literature is a way or tool to see and analyze the relationship between literature and society; the author, the literary works, and the society. The
poet is a member of society, so the poet can make the social condition as hisher inspiration.
Damono divides the object of sociology of literature research into three clasification:
1. The social context of author. Analyzing the relationship between author and hisher position in society; .
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ibid
2. Literature as mirror of society. Analyzing the literature as reflection of social condition.
3. Social function of literature. Analyzing the literary value and its relationship to social value, and how far literature is functioned as consoler
and media of social education to the readers.
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From the clasification above, the sociology of literature can be applied through three perspectives; first literary text perspective, second biography
perspective, and the last is receptive perspective. Literature is one of social documents which reflect the situation in society. Literature can record what
occure in society, and can be used to explore the social history. The research gets literary work as a mirror of the writer’s social condition, and as a manifestation of
historical event and socio-cultural condition. According to Warren and Wellek, since every writer is a member of
society, he can be studied as a social being. Though his biography is the main source, such a study can easily widen into one of the whole milieu from which he
came and in which he lived. It will be possible to accumulate information about the social provenience, the family background, the economic position of writers.
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It means the author has important role in producing a literary work, he or she writes what he or she see and feel.
By using this approach, the writer tries analyze three Maya Angelou
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Damono, Sapardi Djoko, Sosiologi Sastra: Sebuah Pengantar Ringkas, Jakarta: Pusat Pengembangan Bahasa Dan Departemen Pendidikan Dan Kebudayaan, 1984. p. 4-5.
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Wellek, Rene and Austin Warren, Theory of Literature. New York: A Harvest Book, 1956. p.84.
poems to see the social condition in America, especially which relates to Afro- America. The writer hopes to find real condition in the past; in economic, politic,
social, culture.
C. Racism
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