E. Conceptual Framework
This research is aimed to find the general conventions of noir thriller and more specifically, the conventions of point of view in noir thriller in Harlan
Coben’s The Stranger using Structuralism approach as the guideline. In literature, the theory focuses on classifying the literary genre.
Overall, Structuralism focuses on the deep structure, in which the content of a text is constructed through the structure itself and intertextuality, in which the
meaning of a text is fundamentally derived from the shared system among the texts under the same genre.
As this research is focused on thriller, David Glover’s essay in Priestman’s The Cambridge Companion to Crime Fiction 2003 is
referred to comprehend the definition and characteristics of thriller. Among Pri
estman’s proposal about two major topics of thriller, noir is regarded as the focus of this research. Thus, to answer the question about the
conventions of Harlan Coben’s The Stranger, the research used John Scaggs’s Crime Fiction Guide
2005 and Charles Rzepka and Lee Horsley’s A Companion
to Crime Fiction 2003. In addition, George Tuttle’s essay entitled What is Noir?
2006 and Lee Horsley’s preface from her book Noir Thriller 2001 are also added as the main references. Taking from some theories proposed by the scholars
above, the researchers summarized noir thriller is constructed through some conventions as follows: 1 having a flawed protagonist, 2 focusing on the
character’s conflicts, 3 employing the suspense-based novels, 4 revealing the critique of social milieu, and 5 using the subjective point of view. This research
examined whether Harlan Coben’s The Stranger employs the conventions of noir
thriller as noted above or shows some deviations. Meanwhile, among the literary devices which construct noir thriller, point of view is the most significant one to
create the effect intended. Thus, the conventions of point of view employed in Harlan Coben’s The Stranger are also regarded as the focus of this research. It
will be also examined through those references above which deliver the representation about the use of point of view in the previous works of noir thriller.
It is found that mostly, noir thriller used either first person or third person point of view to obtain the characters’ subjectivity. The significance of point of view used
in Harlan Coben’s The Stranger in making a specific effect is explained as well.
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F. Framework of Thinking
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