M akalah dalam Konferensi Int ernasional APNM E Asia Pasific Net work for M oral Educat ion ke-8 dengan t em a “ Learning from Diversit y and Commonalit y: Ways Forward for M oral Education in Asia
Pasific ” , Yogyakart a-Indonesia UNY Hot el Am barukm o, pada t anggal 26-30 Juni 2013.
M oral values in Satirical French Literature for Learning M aterials
by Dian Sw andayani
French Depart ment , Facult y of Languages and Art s, Yogyakart a St at e Universit y, Indonesia e-mail: diansw andayani_unyyahoo.co.id
Abstract
This paper aims t o describe t he essence of moral values in French roman, Les Cont es du Chat Perché
w rit t en by M arcel Aymé. As a sat irical French lit erat ure, Les Cont es du Chat Perché
has a collect ion of fable t hat sat irized human societ y by best ow ing human charact erist ic upon animals. It is filled w it h personal invect ive and angry moral indignat ion.
Furt hermore, t his fable, exposes t he w orld’s evil, i.e. injust ice, vanit y, avarice, hypocrisy, pedant ry, corrupt ion, w ile, and decept ion. Briefly, t his fable port rays animal charact ers
act ing as humans but unlike t he fable usually lacks a moral. Therefore, discussing t he moral values in t he sat irical French roman Les Cont es du Chat Perché w hich analyzed human being
about w ho and w hat human mat t ers means how t hey should behave and achieve t heir goals in living t heir lives in order t o be used as learning mat erials for reader.
Keyw ords : sat irical french lit erat ure, fable, m oral values
1. Introduction
People from mult i et hnic and mult i cult ure usually familiar w it h legend, and fairy t ales. Fable once a popular and spread w idely in t he w orld. The fable is a kind of st ory t ales
w here human being w as represent ed in animal charact ers. The m oral of people is w ell depict ed in animal. Fabel usually rich of m oral and charact er educat ions Abrams, 1981:17.
Fable is regarded as t he oldest t ales and has been know n heredit arily. It becomes favorit es for people especially t he children, as t hey oft en experienced w it h t he fairy t ales
and it s st ory. Through it s charact ers, such as cat s, t igers, lions, pigs, rabbit s, elephant s, donkeys, monkeys, dears, and so on, makes t his fable closer t o children. The children highly
pay at t ent ion t o t his kind of st ory, as if t he st ory in t his fable brings t hem t o t he fant asy, beaut iful, and at t ract ive w orlds. This fant asy drives t he imaginat ion of t he children. As if t he
children have t he similar journey as t hose charact ers from t he fables. In anot her w ord w e can say t hat as t he children absorb t he st ory from t he fable, so t hat t heir imaginat ive pow er
increase st rongly. M any animal charact ers in fables are w idely used as a symbol of human life. Act ually
t hrough t hese charact ers w e can find some didact ic values such as polit eness in speaking w it h ot hers, t hinking as human being does, and behave as a kind human being conduct s.
Bot h, explicit ly and implicit ly, t hose didact ics inside t he fables show some moral values. The st ory t ales about Cinderella is one of t he fam ous fant asy fairy t ales in t he w orld. Alt hough
t he main charact er in Cinderella, w hich is Cinderella herself, but t here are support ing charact ers represent ed by animals w ho alw ays loveable and ready t o help her. Those animal
alw ays around her t o cheer her up w hen she is so sad or encount er a bad sit uat ion. We also know about anot her fam ous st ory of Hat chiko from Japan. Hat chiko, t he
name of t he dog, show s us how very loyal he w as t o his mast er. Every day he alw ays w ait for his mat er com ing back home, w it hout realizing t hat his mast er already died. Hat chiko st ill
w ait ing for his mast er at t he same place and t ime unt il he himself die as w ell. Through a charact er like some animal around Cinderella and Hat chiko, w e found many human being
charact ers. It is t rue t hat in t erms of moral values in t he lit erat ure w ork, fables has t he st rong pow er t o voice t heir m oral values.
In Indonesia, t he fable like Kancil or a cunning m ousedeer is so w ell know n and full of m oral values along w it h it serials. Kancil’ life alw ays close t o danger, but as he is so smart
and cunning lit t le dear, he oft en be able t o escape from t hose dangers. Furt her, he even can cont inues his life w it hout any serious st raggles. Kancil is so blessed and even play some
t ricks over his enemies. Fort unat ely, he oft en become t he w inner. On t he ot her side, Kancil also face a difficult sit uat ion and hopeless. We can find t his st ory w hen Kancil have a run
compet it ion w it h a t urt le. As Kancil feels t hat he is st ronger and smart er t han t he t urt le, t hen he becomes arrogant and look dow n his rival. Unfort unat ely, as being underdog and
humiliat ed by Kancil, t he t urt le has more brilliant t hought about how t o beat Kancil. Turt le uses his st rat egy, and finally w in t he com pet it ion. We can also find some ot her versions
about t his Kancil fable. Somet ime Kancil act s as good Kancil, cunning Kancil, and a smart Kancil. All of t hose st ory alw ays symbolize human at t it ude in daily life. All t hese moral values
appeared from Kancil fable can be w ell accept ed, int ernalized, or even w ell reject ed. Good and bad is alw ays exist in t he fable, and so is, in t his real life.
2. Le Contes du Chat Perché
