c. Authorship of the Text
Monika Fludernik argues that there is a new concept in literary research which concentrates to the author who becomes the original constructor of the
ideology in her work: Among literary specialists, there is currently a renewed interest in the
author. Roland Barthes’s contention that the author is dead did not prove particularly useful to British Cultural Studies and the New Historicism.
These approaches foreground the idea of the author as a conduit for ideologically charged discourses rather than as an individual responsible for
herhis text. At the present time, narratologists are also more immediately
concerned with the figure of the author Fludernik, 2009: 13.
The author of a text is not necessarily the person who composed that text. As Harold Love explains in his book on textual criticism, there are different types
of authorship: for example precursory authorship, executive authorship, declarative authorship and revisionary authorship Fludernik, 2009.
The first kind is precursory author, an author that has the authority to influence a text. The second type is executive author who responsible for the
creation of the text, we can say that these writers are the ones who write down the words on the page or composes text. The third type is declarative author, the person
who features as author on the title page, even if that person has had nothing whatsoever to do with producing the text. The last type is revisionary author who
is responsible for amendments to the text and is often the publisher or editor of a work.
2. Theory of Hypertextuality
The concept of hypertextuality can be ambiguous if it is compared to the concept of intertextuality. Intertextuality as a term was firstly used by Julia
Kristeva. The concept of intertextuality she initiated as a dynamic site in which relational processes and practices are the focus of analysis instead of the static
structure Alfaro, 1996. The interpretation of Bible already depended on an intertextual practice and, at a time in which literature was subordinated to Theology,
what was true of religious texts was also made extensible to secular ones. All literary works were seen as going back to the Bible and all could be read like it. The
production of art and literature during 1800s – 1900s has become an act of creation
based on a re-cycling of previously existing works. Sometimes it becomes ambiguous if we read some literary works, in this case is a text. Ambiguity exists
only as a stage in the reading process and serves to alert the reader to the presence of a
n intertext that will resolve the work’s difficulties. Such clues are enough to set in train an intertextual reading, even if the intertext is not yet known or has been
lost with the tradition it reflected. Alfaro also re-states Genette ’s ideas in
Palimpsestes
and offers five subcategories on the globality of the notion of transtextuality. They are:
a.
Intertextuality
: the relation of co-presence between two or more texts, that is, the effective presence of one text in another which takes place
by means of plagiarism, quotation or allusion. b.
Paratextuality:
the relations between the body of a text and its title, subtitle, epigraphs, illustrations, notes, first drafts, and other kinds of
accessory signals which surround the text and sometimes comment on it.
c.
Metatextuality
: the relation, usually called commentary, which links one text with another that comments on it without quoting it or, even,
without mentioning it at all. It is the critical relation par excellence.
d.
Archtextuality
: the generic category a text belongs to. The text may not recognize its generic quality, which should be decided by its readers,
critics. However, this generic perception determines to a great extent the readers horizons of expectation, and, therefore, the works reception.
e.
Hypertextuality
: the relation between the late come text hypertext and its pre-text hypotext. He defines hypertext as every text derived from
a previous one by means of direct or indirect transformation imitation, but not through commentary. In the former, direct or simple
transformation, a text B may make no explicit reference to a previous one A, but it couldnt exist without A Alfaro, 1996: 280-281.
Therefore, by seeing those definitions, there are major differences between intertextuality and hypertextuality. It is important to understand the meaning of both
terms because they are often revered in an ambiguous way. The ambiguous concept of them may create a confusion, however Riffaterre mentions that there are four
differences between intertextuality and hypertextuality Riffaterre, 1994: First, hypertextuality comes from the text in a concerted effort to summarize
the ideas, of the descriptive and narrative sign-systems, of the thematic material the text has appropriated to its own purposes, and, finally, of the texts social, cultural,
and historical backgrounds, while intertextuality comes from textuality which beyond the texts limits, the production of those formal features that make for the
texts unity. Second, hypertextuality is a metalinguistic tool for the examination and
interpretation of an existing text. This analysis may go beyond the text, while intertextuality is a linguistic network connecting the existing text with other
preexisting or future, potential texts.
Third, hypertextuality contextualizes the text, examining literature in the light of what is not literature but what may lead to the creation of it. Intertextuality
decontextualizes the text. Fourth, hypertextuality is open-ended analysis because it leads to a further
analysis, while intertextuality is a closed-circuit exchange between text and intertext. As this closed circuit defines the autonomy of the text and depends on
necessarily perceived signs.
3. Theory of Miracle
Humans are striving to comprehend the questions regarding chance and miracle as a natural desire for a broader and more thorough study of the perspectives
revealed by contemporary natural history. In everyday life, human sometimes misunderstands miracle as fate or chance. In common parlance, the word chance
means an event or occurrence, unexpected and unlooked-for, which we are unable to predict on the basis of either the known laws of nature or experience. It is
sometimes called coincidence, a twist of fate, or a stroke of luck;” nonetheless, Leucippus posited that nothing happens by chance, but everything arises from a
cause and an inevitability, while the successor of his thinking, Democritus of Abdera, believed that humans devise an illusory image of chance for themselves as
a cover for their powerlessness. The common understanding of chance was as the materialization of an event unintended by the causative factors, due to their inherent
nature or by conscious design Świeżyński, 2011.
Baruch Spinoza also argues that, in nature, nothing occurs by chance; everything, of natures divine necessity, is determined with a particular way of
existing and acting. Many persons believe, for instance, that the natural calamities visited upon us are a matter of chance. They believe so for no more reason than that
they know naught of the laws governing these matters. If they were to become familiar with those laws, if they were therefore to learn, that such-and such a
calamity is determined by such-and-such a previous event, on the strength of the laws of nature, they would no longer hold that calamity to be a matter of chance
Spinoza, 2001. It should be noted that chance can appear or disappear as soon as the
perspective from which we view a given event changes. Kazimierz Kloskowski considers that two types of event exist; that determined by circumstances, which we
are not always able to define, and the miracle, understood as phenomena that elude the laws of nature, phenomena that we fail to understand, and the role of which is
an affirmation of God Kloskowski, 1990. The understanding of the miracles itself is very various. There are some
definitions of miracle related to certain literatures. First, it is an unusual occurrence by means of which God gives humankind a sign, through which they are filled with
wonderment Léon-Dufour, 1977. Second, an event caused specifically by Gods intervention, stepping beyond the normal law of nature and bringing with it a
religious message for the people of today and later times OCollins, 1911. Third, a marvel act by God, who as a Creator is able to interrupt the operation of ordinary
natural laws Miller, 1998. Fourth, an event of an extraordinary kind, brought about
by God, and of religious significance Swinburne, 1970. Fifth, a miracle is Gods intercession in the natural order of things Kellenberger, 1968; and the last one, a
special or immediate act of God, as opposed to Gods continuous work of creating and sustaining the world. The result of this act will be beneficial and religiously
significant Corner, 2005. There are also some classifications of miracle by
Świeżyński related to the miraculous events. Those classifications are
Świeżyński, 2011: a.
The miracle in the wide sense, the relative miracle, where the empirical element can be considered as momentary chance.
b. The miracle in the strict sense, the absolute miracle, the empirical element
of which can be defined as constant chance, or as ontological chance.
C. Review of Related Background
Paulo Coelho ’s background contributes a lot in the analysis of this
undergraduate thesis. His role as the author also contributes in making his novel. He was born on August 24, 1947, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Coelho studied in Jesuit
school and was raised by his devout Catholic parents. He determined to be a writer but was discouraged by his parents, who saw no future in that profession in Brazil.
Coelhos rebellious adolescence made his parents to send him to a mental asylum three times, starting when he was 17. Coelho eventually got out of institutional care
and enrolled in law school, but dropped out to indulge in the sex, drugs and rock n roll of hippie life in the 1970s. He wrote song lyrics for Brazilian musicians
protesting the countrys military rule. He was jailed three times for his political activism and subjected to torture in prison. After drifting among several
professions, Coelho changed his lifes course while on a visit to Spain in 1986 at the age of 36. Coelho walked more than 500 miles along the Road to Santiago de
Compostela, a site of Catholic pilgrimage. The walk and the spiritual awakening he experienced inspired him to write
The Pilgrimage
in his native Portuguese. He quit his other jobs and devoted himself full-time to the craft of writing Hefner, 2016.
Paulo Coelho’s country, Brazil, was also affected by the global economic crisis in 1990s. Inflation is the primary reason of Brazil
’s crisis. Brazil’s central bank made an action during the 1990s to rein in inflation and public spending.
Investors, attracted by high interest rates, poured money into the Brazilian economy at unprecedented rates. In 1997, foreign direct investment grew by 140 over the
year before Evangelist, 2006.
D. Theoretical Framework
There are two problems in this undergraduate thesis. First, how are the Elijah’s miracles recreated in Paulo Coelho’s
The Fifth Mountain
? Second, what is the significance of recreating Elijah’s miracles for the novel’s readers?
The first problem is answered by applying the theory of narratology. The theory of narratology by Aristotle stands as the base and theory from Vladimir
Propp helps to identify the narrative structures in both literary works. They are very important in analysing narrative structure in the novel and in the Bible. The theory
from Aristotle sets the first concept of narrative structure and stands as the
foundation on which the further ideas are built; the theory from Vladimir Propp helps to conduct further analysis related to the narrative structure of both literary
works. Both theories support each other to make a clear stressing on the miraculous events. By comparing and analysing the narrative structure on miracle in the novel
and in the Bible, the question about how Elijah’s miracles are recreated in Paulo Coelho’s
The Fifth Mountain
is going to be answered. The answer of the first problem contributes a lot in answering the second
problem formulation. The review of hypertextuality creates a relation between the novel and the Bible, while the review of miracle will help us to see the difference
of the miracle in the novel if it is compared to the bible. The authorship of the text also stand as an important element. The review of author’s background and the
condition of Brazil in the late 1990s time when the novel was firstly published also help the writer to see the significance of the novel in the bigger scale. Such
differences become the significant things for novel’s reader in comprehending the
meaning of miracle itself.
19
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
This undergraduate thesis analyses a novel by Paulo Coelho, entitled
The Fifth Mountain
. It is a fictional novel which is similar to an event in the Bible Book of 1 Kings Chapter 17: 1-24. This novel is the eighth novel written by Coelho and
it contains of 245 pages. Those previous novels are
Eleven Minutes, The Alchemist, The Pilgrimage, The Valkyries, By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept,
Veronika Decides to Die,
and
Warrior of The Light: A Manual
. The novel itself,
The Fifth Mountain
, was originally published in Portuguese version in Brazil in 1998. It was translated later into English by Cliford E. Landers and internationally
published by HarperTorch in June 2004. The novel tells a story about Prophet Elijah in the ninth century B.C., when
the Phoenician princess Jezebel orders the execution of all the Israelite prophets who refuse to worship the pagan god Baal. Commanded by an angel of God to flee
Israel, Elijah seeks safety in the land of Zarephath, where he unexpectedly finds true love with a young widow. But this newfound rapture is to be cut short, and
Elijah sees all of his hopes and dreams irrevocably erased as he is swept into a whirlwind of events that threatens his existence. In what is truly a literary milestone,
Coelho gives a quietly moving account of a man touched by the hand of God who must triumph over his frustrations in a soul-shattering trial of faith.
Ejilah’s journey is not easy. He must face many obstacles in achieving his goal. Elijah, as the representation of humankind, put all of his life in God’s hand.
Instead of getting help from God, Elijah has to face never-ending tests in his life. Finally Elijah can see God’s grand design for him after overcoming those test. In
the hard times, God performs miracles through him. He can create a miracle. Humans, in a way, can do the miracle; therefore, it is essential to see how the
miracles are recre ated in Coelho’s novel to know its importance.
B. Approach of the Study
This undergraduate thesis uses theory of narratology as the literary approach to analyse the novel. Narratology is a study about narrative structures. It is a branch
of structuralism, but it has a certain independence from structuralism. Different from structuralism which relates narratives to some larger structure and interpreting
literature in terms of a range with the structure of language, narratology looks at individual narratives seeking out the recurrent structures which are found within all
narratives. Narratology also counteracts the tendency of conventional criticism to foreground character and motive by foregrounding instead action and structure
Barry, 2009. It seems appropriate that narratology is used as the approach in this under-
graduate thesis since the title is The Importance of Recreating Elijah’s Biblical
Miracles in Paulo Coelho’s The Fifth Mountain
.
Narratology helps the writer to see the narrative structure and the significance of miracles in the novel. The same
miracles are also found in the Bible and done by Elijah. The Bible has its own
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