Figure 1. The Conceptual Framework Marxist Literary
Criticism
Marx’s Ideology
RQ 1: How does the Collins’ The
Hunger Games criticize repressive capitalist ideologies in the 21st
century of the U.S.? Material Conditions
as Fundamental Reality
Relations of Dominance and
Exploitation Base and
Superstructure
Suzanne Collins’ The
Hunger Games
RQ 2: What is the capitalist culture criticized in Collins’
the Hunger Games?
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CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD
A. Research Approach
This research used qualitative research design. According to Denzin and Lincoln in Creswell and Miller, 2007: 36, qualitative research consists of a set of
interpretive, material practices that make the world visible. It involves an interpretive, naturalistic approach to the world. This means that qualitative
researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret, phenomena, in terms of the meanings people bring to them, without
manipulation of phenomena or issues. Since the findings from qualitative research are resulted from real world settings, they cannot be measured through means of
statistical procedures Strauss and Corbin in Golafshani, 2003: 600. Qualitative research is used when the researcher need to explore a problem
or issue that happened to an individual or a society in a detailed manner Creswell and Miller, 2007: 40. It is a necessary approach to empower individuals to share
their stories, and minimize the power relationship between a researcher and participants, therefore the researchers will be able to hear the silenced voice in
groups or communities. The framework in qualitative research is often applied to conduct research that involves social and human issues such as feminism, post
modernism, LGBT, and other issues that involves marginalized communities. Hence qualitative research design was used by the researcher to analyze the
criticism towards capitalist ideologies and the corresponding culture in Collins’ The Hunger Games.
B. Data and Source of Data
The primary data source of the research was Suzanne Collins’ novel entitled The Hunger Games which was first published in 2008, with the paperback
edition published in 2009. The novel is comprised of 374 pages and three parts with 27 subparts. Therefore the data collected for this research were in the forms
of language features such as words, phrases, clauses, and sentences, taken from the primary data source. The data were collected based on the theoretical
framework used in this research, i.e. Karl Marx’ theory of ideology stemmed from his conception of historical reality discussed in Lois Tyson’s Critical Theory
Today: a User-Friendly Guide with the related discussion in Terry Eagleton’s Marxism and Literary Criticism. The researcher also used other sources from
printed materials and the internet including academic journals and other books that explains Marx’s theory of ideology such as Eagleton’s Ideology: an
Introduction.
C. Research Instrument
A research instrument is the equipment applied in a certain work, study, or research for a scientific purpose Hornby, 1995: 619. A researcher is the key
instrument in a research. The researcher gathers data through examining documents, observing behavior, and interviewing participants if necessary. In
