Background of the Study

1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background of the Study

A proverb is a short sentence that is delivered in indirect or figurative way. This definition is stated by Mieder 2004:4; also in Mieder 1993:24 who argues that a proverb is a metaphorical, fixed and memorable short sentence. Proverb also represents a traditional value and contains wisdom, truth, and experience of the speaker. This is pointed by Mieder 2004:6 who states that a proverb contains wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional views. Kridalaksana 1982:131 stated that a proverb is a sentence or part of sentence which has traditional characteristics and standard form, meaning, and function in a society. Kridalaksana 1982:131 also states that a proverb is used for embellishing conversation, strengthening meaning, giving advice, teaching, or giving life directions in order to teach any actions and behaviors which are appropriate to the local norms and values. Kridalaksana definition shows that a proverb should have certain standards in its form, meaning, and function which are given traditionally. One of the communities which uses proverbs in their daily conversation is the Banjarese community. In Banjarese community, a proverb is a vessel to deliver the wisdom and experience of the old generation to the young generation. Hundreds of proverbs are compiled in the Dictionary of Bahasa Banjar Hapip, 2 2013, Dictionary of Banjarese Wisdom and Proverb Effendy et.al, 1994 and the Dictionary of Banjarese Proverb Ganie, 2013. In the present time the use of proverbs is slightly forgotten. There are several reasons why it is happened. First, many youngsters of Banjarese do not know much about the proverbs because they are rarely introduced to the proverbs. Second, there are only several literatures and books which are related to the proverbs since they are only taught through verbal language. Third, many elder of Banjarese who knew a lot about the proverbs have passed away, so they are rarely found and are used in a conversation nowadays. Based on the several facts about Banjarese proverbs above, this research tries to represent wisdom values of the Banjarese proverb and the Banjarese community. Therefore, the researcher is interested in answering three research problems below: 1. What parts of the Banjarese proverbs contain wisdom values? 2. What kinds of values are represented through the Banjarese proverbs? 3. What social contexts influence the producing and interpreting process of the proverbs? In studying the proverb, the researcher uses Fairclough ’s 2004 critical linguistics which consists of description, interpretation, and explanation steps as the method in analysing the data. The researcher also uses Sperber and Wilson’s 1995 concept of explicature and implicature. The results of the analysis will answer the problems of research which are stated above. 3

1.2. Purposes of the Study