11 Realist and naturalist novels began to be exposed since 19
th
century. In this era, Charles Dickens, Thackeray and George Elliot England, Tolstoy and
Dostoevsky Russia, Nathaniel Hawthorne America became journalistic references to reveal the hidden reality which was caused by hypocrisy of false morality and
decency aristocratic. During the 20
th
century and the consequences which was caused by the great events of World War 1 and 2 had made the characters in novels became
increasingly complex. The impact of World War had created two kinds of genre they are modernism and post-modernism
2.2 Sociology of Literature
Sociology of literature is derived from two terms “Sociology” and “Literature”. If we glance both terms, they seem different and have no any related
meaning. On the other hand, if we learn about both terms, we can find that sociology and literature cannot be separated because each of them is interrelated. Leenheardt
says in Lengyel’s journal entitled Sociology of Literary Creativity, “The expression sociology of literature covers two very different
types of research, bearing respectively on literature as a consumer product and literature as an integral part of social reality, or,
considered from another angle, bearing on society as the place of literary consumption and society as the subject of literary creation.”
Leenhardt qtd in Lengyel, 1967: 517
Sociology derived from two Latin words “Socio” and “Logos”. The first part of the term is a Latin, “Socio” that may variously mean society, association,
togetherness or companionship. The other word, “Logos”, is of Greek origin. It literally means to speak about or word. However, the term in generally understood as
study or science. Etymologically, the literal sense of sociology is a knowledge that learned about society. Rao says in his book entitled Sociology,
12 “Sociology is the study of individual in a social setting that includes
group’s organization, cultures and societies; and of the interrelation of individuals, groups, organizations, cultures and societies.” Rao, 2005:
6
Generally, sociology teaches us how to understand about social environment and social phenomenon in our society. The object of study of sociology is society. A
society is part of social environment. By using sociology, we can understand about society, its various institutions of human relationships and its manifestation of man’s
social interaction and socialization. From explanation above, it can be concluded that sociology is a knowledge that concerned with social relationships and studies
society, human interactions, inter-personal and intra-personal relations. It tries to study scientifically social institutions, organizations and systems.
Besides sociology, literature also discuss about the social condition in a society. Literature is considered as the social symptom. A literature was written in a
certain time and related to rule, norm and also culture at that time. An author changes their work as a part of society. It is a specific evaluative criterion to say that an
author should express the life of his own time fully, that he should be representative of his age and society Wellek and Warren: 1948: 91. Satre says in
his book entitled What is Literature, “Literature is, in essence, the subjectivity of a society in permanent
revolution. In such a society it would go beyond the antinomy of word and action. Certainly in no case would it be regarded as an act; it is
false to say that the author acts upon his readers; he merely makes an appeal to their freedom and in order for his works to have any effect,
it is necessary for the public to adopt them on their own account by an unconditioned decision.” Satre, 1948: 159
From explanation above, an author has their own vision about the social condition in their surroundings. Even though there are so many social phenomena in our society
that they should know, the society did not concern about it at all so that an author
13 tries to change their mind set to be more sensitive towards their environment because
we can learn many things from our social environment. Sociology and literature are discussing about social problem.
Damono says in his book entitled Sosiologi Sastra Sebuah Pengantar Ringkas
, “
Sebuah karya sastra di zaman modern ini, dapat dianggap sebagai usaha untuk menciptakan kembali dunia sosial ini: hubungan
manusia dengan keluarga, lingkungannya, politik, negara, dan sebagainya.” Damono, 1979: 8
It can be concluded that literature cannot be separated from sociology because Literature is an art that develops in human society throughout the ages quite
independently of sociology, whereas sociology is a science whose purpose is to discover the objective laws of social life in all its manifestations including creative
art Pospelov, 1967: 47. Thereby sociology of literature was created in order to analyze a social condition through literature.
Sociology of literature is a branch of literature study which discuss about the relation between literature and social condition through the text of a novel.
Obviously, the approach of sociology of literature is about the relation of literature and society. According to Wellek and Werren in his book entitled The Theory of
Literature, “Literature is an exspression of society, it means literature is mirrors
or expresses life is even more ambiguous. A writer inevitably expresses his experience and total conception of life but it would be
manifestly untrue to say that he expresses the whole of life or even the whole life of a given time—completely and exhaustively.” Wellek
and Warren, 1948: 91
It can be understood that literature is the reflection of its written time but it does not mean that the reader will understand about the society and social condition that was
14 reflected in the novel. So that by using sociology of literature we can find out what
kind of social condition that happened at that time. In sociology of literature there are 3 kinds of approaching, they are, the
sociology of author, the sociology of literary work, and the sociology of reader. Author and his work are like two sides of a coin that cannot be separated. In one side,
the author is part of society who lived among society itself so that it is not a surprise if there is an interaction between author and his society. Wellek and Werren says,
“First, there is the sociology of the writer and the profession and institutions of literature, the whole question of the economic basis of
literary production, the social provenience and status of the writer, his social ideology, which may find expression in extra literary
pronouncements and activities. Then there is the problem of the social content, the implications and social purpose of the works of literature
themselves. Lastly, there are the Literature and Society problems of the audience and the actual social influence of literature.” Wellek and
Warren, 1948: 90-91
2.3 Historical Approach Historical approach is an approach that emphasized the understanding about
