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
the author’s biography, the background of historical event that underlie the time when the literary was created and how the development of the author’s life as well as
the life of the literary work from time to time generally. A literary work is created as the representation of its time because a literary work always related to the time when
it was created and also literary work is considered as documentation of historical event directly or not. According to Tyson in his book entitled Critical Theory Today:
A User-Friendly Guide Second Edition, “Historicism approach, the literary text and the historical situation from
which it emerged are equally important because text the literary work and context the historical conditions that produced it are mutually
constitutive: they create each other. Like the dynamic interplay between
15 individual identity and society, literary texts shape and are shaped by
their historical contexts.” Tyson, 2006: 291-292
Unni 2013 said in her article entitled Pendekatan Historis dalam Mengapresiasi Sastra that the basic principle behind the birth of this approach is the
assumption that literary work however is also the part of its time. In addition, the understanding of author’s biography is really important in order to understand the
content of literary work. Hence, historical approach priorities are context like social culture, situation or time as well as the life of the author. Historical approach is
related to general historical competencies that are considered relevant, old literature with large empires, modern literature with social movements, economics, politics,
and culture in general. In the study of literature through the historical approach, readers can take
advantage of variety of information about historicity addition, readers also can view the information about the biography of the author listed on the back as well as essays
about the life of the author contained in the books of a collection of essays as well as magazines and newspapers. In a historical approach, the center of this research is
how history is interpreted in a literary work in fact not how the history occurred. Tyson also says,
“Historicism approach is concerned not with historical events as events, but with the ways in which events are interpreted, with historical
discourses, with ways of seeing the world and modes of meaning. Indeed, as we saw earlier, historical events are viewed by new
historicists not as facts to be documented but as “texts” to be “read” in order to help us speculate about how human cultures, at various
historical “moments,” have made sense of themselves and their world.” Tyson, 2009: 294
16
2.4 Social Changes in Victorian Age
