Definition of Terms INTRODUCTION

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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter consists of four parts. The first part is a review of literary theories that consists of the theory of critical approaches, while the second one is the review of related principles such as the theories of culture and the theories of mother-children relationship. The theories of culture are divided into two parts, namely the definition of culture and the culture’s influence on someone’s behavior, while the theories of mother-children relationship are divided into two sections, namely the definition and the importance of mother-children relationship. The third part is the review on cultural background which consists of the separate reviews on Chinese and American cultures, whereas the last part is the theoretical framework which explains the contribution of the theories above in solving the problems of this study.

A. Review of Related Theories

1. Theory of Critical Approaches

Rohrberger and Woods 1971: 6-15 affirm that there are five approaches which can be used to analyze a novel. They are:

a. The Formalist Approach

The work is an abstraction. This approach focuses on the techniques and structure that the author uses in his work. This approach concentrates almost entirely on its esthetic value. It concerns with demonstrating the harmonious involvement of all the parts to the whole and with pointing out how meaning is 7 derived from structure and how matters of technique determine structure. This approach is the literary piece without any reference to the facts of the author’s life, the genre or in literary history, and its social milieu.

b. The Biographical Approach

This approach asserts the necessity for an appreciation to the author’s ideas and personality to an understanding of the literary object. The proponents attempt to learn as much as they can about the life and development of the author and then apply this knowledge in their attempt to understand the author’s writings. Biographical material provides useful facts that could put the reader in a better position to understand and appreciate the literary object. It is better to try to figure out what the author did say than to find out what the author’s intended to say.

c. The Sociocultural-Historical Approach

This approach insists that the only way to locate the real work is in reference to the civilization that produced it. It is necessary to investigate the social milieu in which a work was created and which it necessarily reflects on. Literature embodies ideas significant to the culture that produced it. The traditional historical approach to literature usually takes as its basis some aspects of the socio cultural frame of reference, combining it with an interest in the biographical as well as knowledge of and interest in literary history. Behind every art form there is also a philosophy of life which can be expressed and viewed in moral terms.

d. The Mythopoeic Approach

This approach seeks to discover certain universally recurrent patterns of human thought found in ancient myths and folk rites and are so basic to human