ideology blinds us to our own participation in oppressive sociopolitical agendas 2006:68. Besides concerning with identical issues, including how a literary text
reveals truth and values on oppression and class conflicts, Marxist approach also promotes socialism Bressler: 1999.
C. Method of the Study
This research is a library research. The source that is primarily used was Kappa, a novel written by Ryunosuke Akutagawa. The secondary sources used are a
number of theoretical books, either related to capitalism theories, or literary theories, which are relevant to the topic discussed in this thesis. To analyze the essence of
capitalism, the books that were used were Capitalism and Modern Social Theory: An Analysis of the Writings of Marx, Durkheim and Max Weber; and Capitalism: A Very
Short Introduction. While in analyzing the relation between Marxism and literary works the writer used Marxism and Form: Twentieth-Century Dialectical Theories of
Literature and Critical Theory Today: A User-friendly Guide. The source the writer’s understanding on capitalism in Japan and its social,
historical, economy condition were A Historical Transformation from Feudalism to ‘Capitalism’, The Development Capitalism in Japan and Capitalism and Nationalism
in Prewar Japan: The Ideology of the Business Elite. The writer also used some books and articles to explain about allegory and its function as a literary devices such
as Allegory: The Theory of a Symbolic Mode, A Glossary of Cultural Theory, On Symbol and Allegory, and A Handbook to Literature.
While conducting this research there are some steps the writer took. Firstly, the writer conducted a close reading and re-reading of the main source. This step
including taking a close attention to the characters, including the main character, Inmate No.
23, and the Kappas to figure out what is each character’s contribution making the allegorical story. Then, the writer took a closer look on what kind of
position in society they belonged to —whether the proletariat, the bourgeoisie or
middle, upper, and lower class regarding their position in the relation and mode of production.
After that, the writer took notes of any events and issues raised in the story and figuring out from the historical context in which Kappa was produced. Observing
to what extent the setting of Kappaland points out a past scenario of utopia, observing whether the composition of the allegorical characters, events and settings that is
established deliberately made by the author to reveal or criticize some values towards certain ideological practice, especially the capitalist ideology; observing the link
between the issues and topics raised by the author with the events surrounding Japan in the early 20th century. Then, choosing a topic as the main focus of the research.
Secondly, the writer gathered some articles, books, and journals about Japanese situation around the beginning of the 20
th
century, including the social, politic, and economic conditions of Japanese society and other published materials on
allegory. These kind of readings and analysis were guided by the specific approach, Marxist literary approach, and relevant theories. Thirdly, the writer drew conclusions
based on the readings and analysis. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
39
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
This chapter describes the research application based on the method in the chapter three and the theories written in the chapter two on the object, Kappa.
Focusing on the problem formulation as the objective of this study, the writer of this thesis divides this chapter into two sub-chapters. Each sub-chapter mainly
consists of the analysis and discussion upon the problem suggested by the problem formulation.
The first sub-chapter provides the discussion upon the parallelism of Kappa and the Japanese society in 20
th
century Japan. Through the analysis on the element of Kappa such as the parallelism on characters, setting and significant
events, some similarities between Kapanese and Japanese are revealed. The second sub-chapter gives the portrayal of how Akutagawa, the author of Kappa,
employs the allegory as a device to criticize the system and ideology of capitalism in early 20
th
century Japan. The writer of this thesis believes that some elements in the story of Kappa
are deliberately made significant to target certain purpose. However, the intended meaning cannot be seen in the surface story. Thus, the writer of this thesis should
note some of the significant elements, including the allegorical characters, setting and significant events in the surface story.
