Review of Related Studies

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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Review of Related Studies

“Repression toward Students at School in James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” by Maria Puspitasari Munthe is one of the studies that discuss about repression. She is an English Letters Department student. She focuses to look and pay more attention on how a school continuously does repression toward students in the condition where people are not aware of it. In order to make a clear discussion in her study, Maria Puspitasari Munthe sets three objectives for her study. The first objective is to see the characteristics of the characters in the novel. The second objective is to find out how the institution of school with its system represses the students through some ways. The last objective is to prove whether such actions are truly repressions by considering the criteria and impacts of repression. In supporting her study, Maria Puspitasari Munthe uses some related theories. Theory of Character and Characterization is used to support the first objective. Theory of Psychoanalytic is used to support the second objective. Theory of Subject is used to support the last objective. She also uses other supportive theories in developing her study. To get an effective analysis, she uses Psychoanalytic approach because her study is about character and repression. The topic that Maria Puspitasari Munthe discusses in her study is the same as this undergraduate thesis. Both Maria Puspitasari Munthe and the writer discuss something about repression. The approach that is used is also the same. The difference are that Maria Puspitasari Munthe and the writer have different novel and objectives to discuss. Another study is “Symbols that Reflect the Main Character Named Coco in Wei Hui’s Shanghai Baby” by Marta Nelly, an English Letters Department student. Her study is meant to analyze the symbols that reflect the main character, Coco, in Wei Hui’s Shanghai Baby. Her study has three objectives. The first is to describe how Coco is described as the main character in the novel. The second is to describe how a cat, Coco’s novel, and the yin yang are depicted in the novel. And the last one is to identify how cat, the novel, and the yin yang symbolize Coco. Marta Nelly uses theories of character and characterization by Abrams, Milligan, Henkle, Gill, and Murphy, the theory of setting by Abrams, Gill, Holman and Harmon, and the theory of symbol by Holman and Halmon as well as sources from the internet about cat in many cultures. Symbolic or Formalistic approach is used in this study because it examines the foreground properties or devices in literary works, including symbols, to reveal the form and logic of the literary works. The topic that is discussed in Marta Nelly’s study entitled “Symbols that Reflect the Main Character Named Coco in Wei Hui’s Shanghai Baby” is relatively the same as the topic discussed in this undergraduate thesis, which is symbol. She focuses on the identification of the symbols that reflect the main character of the novel. By analyzing several symbols, she can identify the main character, Coco, in Wei Hui’s Shanghai Baby. Although the topic is the same, the novel of this undergraduate thesis is different. The writer uses Fistful of Colours by Suchen Christine Lim while Marta Nelly uses Wei Hui’s Shanghai Baby. The approach between the two studies is also different. The writer uses Psychoanalysis approach in this undergraduate thesis and Marta Nelly uses Symbolic or Formalistic approach in developing her study. Another related study is the study of Suchen Christine Lim’s work, which is “Resistance and Oppression in Su-Chen Christine Lim’s Novels: A Radical Feminist Analysis” by Santhi Mathy Ramdas, Shakila Abdul Manan and Elangkeeran Sabapathy. They analyze the Chinese women’s resistance to oppression by women themselves in Su-Chen Christine Lim’s novels: A Bit of Earth, Fistful of Colours, Gift from the Gods, and Rice Bowl. These novels depict the problems faced by Chinese women owing to the patriarchal practices and the long-standing Confucian beliefs that are found to be inherent within the Chinese society. This study attempts to answer the “when”, “how” and “why” of oppression of women by women in the selected novels. The Radical Feminist Theory is used to analyze and highlight female oppression and resistance found in the novels. The object which is discussed in their study and in this undergraduate thesis is the same. It is Fistful of Colours by Suchen Christine Lim. However, the topic and the focus are different. This undergraduate thesis focuses on the meaning of Suwen’s painting related to the idea of repression while the related study focuses on the attitude of the character as a woman character in the novel. Based on the review of the related studies above, this undergraduate thesis has something new to discover. The other studies which are provided above are related to this undergraduate thesis and have the same topic to discuss. However, no one of them discusses Suwen’s painting in Lim’s Fistful of Colours. This undergraduate thesis focuses on the revelation of the idea of repression that can be seen through a painting which is painted by Suwen.

B. Review of Related Theories