CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The main source of this study is Travel with a Donkey in the Cevennes, a kind of travel novel by Robert Louis Stevenson edited by R. E. C. Houghton,
M.A., a lecturer in English Language and Literature in King’s College, London. The book was first printed in English Literature Series in 1924. The edition used
in this study was reprinted at 1955 and published in London by Macmillan Co Ltd. The book consists of 128 pages in five chapters. Each chapter consists of
several parts. The five chapters are entitled Velay, Upper Gevaudan, Our Lady of the Snows, Upper Gevaudan continued, and The Country of the Camisards. The
novel Travel with a Donkey in the Cevennes is one of famous travel novels of Robert Louis Stevenson, besides An Island Voyage, Across the Plains, the
Amateur Emigrant , The Silverado Squatters, and other novels like Treasure
Island, Kidnapped, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide. The story of the novel Travel with a Donkey in the Cevennes is set in
Cevennes, French. It is about the travel of a Scotsman through Cevennes. The topography and scenery show that it is an uncomfortable place to live in. Most of
the areas are hills and valleys with rocky footpaths. People along the way show the occupation as farmers, peasants, shepherds or sellers who live in difficult
condition. Many places are passed in the journey; it includes The Trappist Monastery of Our Lady of the Snow. Its society has a narrow view on religion.
19 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
The society believes that everyone who arrives at The Trappists Monastery of Our Lady of the Snow should change his or her religion. The novel shows that the
Cevennes society has a kind of rule that obliges everyone to change his or her faith when arriving in that region. Meanwhile, the society in the south has a wide
view of religion by respecting others.
B. Approach of the Study
This thesis deals with the social condition in Cevennes, French. Therefore, the writer employs socio-cultural historical approach to do this analysis.
Rohrberger and Woods in their book entitled Reading and Writing About Literature
said that literature is not created in a vacuum, and literature embodies ideas significant to the culture that produced it 1971: 9.
The real world and the literary work have close relation based on sociocultural-historical approach. Rohrberger and Woods stated that:
Critics whose major interest is the sociocultural-historical approach insist that the only way to locate the real work is in reference to the civilization
that produced it. They define civilization as the attitudes and actions of specific group of people and point out that literature takes these attitudes
and actions as its subject matter. They feel therefore, that it is necessary that the critic investigate the social milieu in which a work was created and
which it necessarily reflects 1971: 9.
Literary work is not created only for pleasure, but it gives a reflection of the reality that produces it. Literary work presents the civilization as the reference.
Therefore, socio-historical background is suitable to help study the literary work. 20
C. Method of the Study
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