4. The Relation between Literature and Society
Literature is also constructed by society in the real world. The concept of the society is dragged by the author and it becomes the imitation in the literary
work. As stated by Elizabeth Langland in Society in the Novel, she expresses “society, as do all other aspects of novels, functions as an element in a structure
that is, at least in part, self- referential” Langland, 1984: 4. Society is the aspect
and element in the novel and other literary works. Literature is using some medium as the content in its work. Wellek and
Warren in Theory of Literature are depicting that “literature ‘represents’ ‘life’;
and ‘life’ is, in large measure, a social reality, even though the natural world and the inner or subjective world of the individual have also been objects of literary
‘imitation’ Wellek and Warren, 1956: 94. The society in the real world is the object as the imitation in literary work. Hence, literature and society are connected
to each other since it is the representation from the real world and becomes the inspiration that is used to create the literary work.
C. Review of Historical, Social, and Cultural Background
China has a long history and strong culture that become a pride for the Chinese. According to Herrlee Glessner Creel in Chinese Thought, he emphasizes
that “the Chinese had long considered themselves the most cultured, the most important, and indeed the only really important people on the face of the earth
” Creel, 1953: 235.
The history makes a great influence to the Chinese to become so proud of their heritage. It also strengthens their belief to the culture and norm to respect
their ancient.
1. Review on Chinese Arrival in USA and the Social Context
The movement of Chinese people to America is a long history. Since 1848, the Chinese moved to California, the gold mountain for them. May Paomay
Tung in her Chinese Americans and Their Immigrant Parents tells the history of the Chinese movement to America. Tung explains that the thousands of Chinese
were recruited for the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, then, by 1880, the population of Chinese people in America reached 105,000 Tung, 2000:
26. In her book, Tung explains that the Chinese were working long hours at
their jobs that were exhausting and physically dangerous because few white men were willing to perform such work, then, they were often subject to abuse, in
physical and verbal. In the 1882, The Exclusion Act was used to limit the Chinese in America. Thus, disrupted family life over several generations is a common
experience in Chinese-American families Tung, 2000: 27. The Chinese were discriminated at that moment. They lived in the China Town, created their own
residence and maintain the language and also the culture to make it still exist. As its history is so strong, the Chinese has a virtue that becomes their
standpoint. Tung describes about the virtue in Chinese as seen through the Mandarin word, the ultimate symbol for Chinese that has a deep meaning.
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