Review of Related Studies

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

In this Review of Related Literature, there are four main parts. They are review of related studies, review of related theories, review of social condition of South Africa, and theoretical framework. In the first part, review of related studies, the writer will attach what other researchers or writers have said about Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country and about his novels’ style. In almost all of his novels and writings, the racial inequalities become an important aspect. He was interested in writing about social experiences of South African, especially black people. In review of related theories, readers can read some theories about family and society, especially in South Africa. This study applies sociocultural-historical approach, so it is important to provide review about social condition in South Africa, as the setting of the novel. The last part, theoretical framework, will explain the contribution and why those theories and reviews are needed and applied in the analysis.

A. Review of Related Studies

Alan Stewart Paton is one of the South Africa’s greatest writers. He was born on January 11, 1903 in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Author Alan Paton was a white man in a country of oppressed blacks who 9 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI fought for their freedom and believed in their worth. Meet the man who brought the world face-to-face and heart-to-heart with the problem of race relations in South Africa http:www.oprah.comoprahsbookclubBasic- information-about-the-cultural-and-political-history-o. Nelson Mandela, president of South Africa 1994-1999, had a comment about the film of Cry, the Beloved Country based on Alan Paton’s novel. He said: Cry, the Beloved Country, however, is also a monument to the future. One of South Africa’s leading humanists, Alan Paton, vividly captured his eloquent faith in the essential goodness of people in his epic work. A goodness that helped manage this small miracle of our transition, and arrested attempts by the disciples to turn our country into a wasteland. http:www.obs-us.comobsenglishfilmsmxcryspeech4m.htm - Nelson Mandela commenting on the film Cry, the Beloved Country based on Alan Paton’s novel In Dominic Head’s The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English 2006, it is stated that: Alan Paton is South African novelist and short-story writer. Born in Pietermaritzburg, he became principal of Diepkloof Reformatory, Johannesburg 1935-48 and gained the insights into segregated black living conditions which illumine his first novel, Cry, the Beloved Country 1948 and Debbie Go Home: Stories 1961; as Tales from a Trouble Land in USA, 1965. The novel pricked white South African Christian consciences and alerted world opinion to the country’s long-established racial inequalities. Altogether more accomplished, Too Late the Phalarope 1953 explores the tragedy of Afrikaner racial and political inflexibility. Other publications include: two substantial biographies, Hofmeyr 1964 and Apartheid and the Archbishop 1973; Knocking on the Door: Shorter Writings 1975; Towards the Mountain 1981, an autobiography; and Ah, But Your Land is Beautiful 1981, an uneasy combination of ‘experimental’ fiction and 1950s history. He was president of the Liberal Party in 1958-68 2006: 855. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI Cry, the Beloved Country was published in February of 1948. This novel was written by Alan Paton when he studied in penal institutions in Europe, the United States, and Canada. Racial themes concerned Paton in almost all of his novels and short stories. Social and political situation in South Africa influenced his literary works very much. It contributed much to Paton’s literary works. Paton used societys experiences as the basis for writing his novels. Meriam Webster said in her Encyclopedia of Literature that after it was published, Cry, the Beloved Country 1948 brought international attention to the issue of apartheid 1995: 864. It is stated in the novel that before writing this book, Alan Paton wrote numerous articles on South African problems for national periodicals which he continues to do. In Cry, the Beloved Country, Alan Paton wanted to show the figure of Stephen Kumalo with the problem of his family. The system applied in South Africa influenced his family problem very much. Cry, the Beloved Country is set in South Africa in the 1940s. Its story unfolds against a backdrop of economic and political tensions that have a lengthy, complicated history http:www.sparknotes.comlitcrycontext.html. Some statements or comments about the novel and its author, Alan Paton are also said on cover page of the novel. ‘Cry, the Beloved Country approaches the racial problems of South Africa with an intelligence, a simplicity and a compassionate sincerity which make its reading an absorbing and deeply and impartially and has put his heart into his subject, but he has made it bigger than argument or emotion; I don’t think you will soon PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI forget the resigned sorrow of its closing pages’ – Observer ‘Mr Paton’s record of a simple Zulu parson’s search for his delinquent son in the maelstrom of Johannesburg is as moving in the biblical simplicity of its style and drama as it is imaginatively disinterested as an account of the problems of race relations. This is as remarkable a novel for its facts as for its truth’ - Guardian By reviewing the studies on Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country, the writer saw that the relation between the historical backgrounds in South Africa with the characters’ experience in this novel of Cry, the Beloved Country was described by the author of this novel. In this novel, it is told about family life in South Africa in their daily social life. Ross, in her book of The Support Network of Black Families in Southern Africa, stated: Family life must thus also be seen against the background of cultural diversity and extreme socioeconomic differences. Most families—primarily nonwhites—are poor and struggle to satisfy their daily needs. Contributing in complex ways to different types of family structures are traditional practices, historical events— especially the racially discriminatory and disruptive effect of apartheid laws, which placed restrictions on movement, provided inferior education and limited employment opportunities, and enforced compulsory shifting of families—and the demands of modern society Ross, 1995

B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theories of Family