Violations of Address Terms and Their Relationship To Politeness in Langston Hughes' Play 'Mullato A Tragedy of The Deep South.
ABSTRACT
Dalam tugas akhir ini saya memilih sebuah drama berjudul MULLATO A
Tragedy of the Deep South, yang dikarang oleh Langston Hughes, pengarang pria
berkulit hitam, karena saya melihat banyak hal yang dapat saya analisis. Drama
ini dilatarbelakangi kehidupan seorang budak kulit hitam yang dinikahi oleh
seorang pria kulit putih yang juga mantan majikannya. Drama ini menggambarkan
situasi yang terjadi di Georgia, Amerika Selatan, di mana masih terdapat
diskriminasi antara kulit putih dan hitam. Orang-orang kulit hitam diperlakukan
seperti budak, sedangkan orang-orang kulit putih merasa diri mereka lebih tinggi
status sosialnya.
Drama ini kaya dengan pelanggaran-pelanggaran dalam sapaan dan ke
sopan santunan. Aspek linguistik yang saya gunakan adalah violation of address
terms and politeness. Aspek tersebut termasuk dalam ilmu sosiolinguistik, yaitu
ilmu yang mempelajari hubungan antara bahasa dengan masyarakat. Teori
tersebut sangat bermanfaat untuk menganalisis pelanggaran-pelanggaran yang
terjadi di drama tersebut dan faktor-faktor yang mendukung terjadinya
pelanggaran-pelanggaran tersebut. Faktor-faktor tersebut adalah partisipan, seting,
topik, dan fungsi.
iii
Maranatha Christian University
Setelah menganalisis data-data tersebut saya berkesimpulan bahwa faktor utama
yang menyebabkan pelanggaran-pelanggaran tersebut adalah diskriminasi antara orang
kulit putih dan hitam yang masih terjadi ketika penulis mengangkat drama ini untuk
mencerminkan kehidupan yang sebenarnya di Georgia, Amerika Selatan.
iv
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE ……………………………………………………………….
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………….
ii
ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………..
iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION …………………………………
Background of the Study …………………………………………
Statement of the Problem …………………………………….......
Purpose of the Study ……………………………………………..
Methods of Research ……………………………………………..
Organization of the Thesis ……………………………………….
1
1
3
4
4
4
CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ……………….
5
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF VIOLATIONS OF ADDRESS
TERMS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO THE POLITENESS IN
LANGSTON HUGHES’ PLAY MULLATO
A TRAGEDY OF THE DEEP SOUTH ………………………………..
8
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION …………………………………...
21
BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………….
25
APPENDICES …………………………………………………………...
26
ii
Maranatha Christian University
APPENDICES
Table 1. The violation of address terms between Cora and Norwood.
No
Data
Violation
of address
terms
Politeness
Social factors related
to the violations
sir Colonel
Tom
(TNN)
Negative
Participants and
function
1.
Cora: (Heard above)
Yes, sir, Colonel Tom.
2.
Cora: Yes, sir (she starts
upstairs)
sir (T)
Negative
Participants and
function
3.
Cora: (falling on the
body) Colonel Tom!
Colonel Tom! (Gazes
across the corpse at her
son) He’s yo father,
Bert.
Colonel
Tom
(TNN)
Negative
Participants and
function
4.
Cora: (scornfully)
Colonel Thomas
Norwood, runnin’ ma
boy through de fields in
de dark to lynch
him…Damn you,
Colonel Norwood!
Colonel
Thomas
Norwood
(TFullN)
and
Colonel
Norwood
(TLN)
26
Negative
Participants and
function
Maranatha Christian University
Table 2. The violation of address terms between Sallie and Colonel Norwood.
No
Data
Violation
of address
terms
Politeness
Social factors related
to the violations
Sallie: I just wanted tell
you goodbye Colonel
Norwood, and thank you
for letting me work here
in the house all summer
where mama is.
Sallie: Yes, sir, I been
taking up cooking and
sewing too.
Colonel
Norwood
(TLN)
Negative
Participants and
function
Sir (T)
Negative
Participants and
function
3.
Sallie: (Raising her eyes)
You reckon I can,
Colonel Tom.
Colonel
Tom
(TNN)
Negative
Participants and
function
4.
Sallie: Please, sir,
Colonel Tom. Let
brother work in here in
the house, or somewhere
else where Talbot can’t
mistreat him.
Sir
Colonel
Tom
(TNN)
1.
2.
Negative
Participants and
function
Table 3. The violation of address terms between Colonel Norwood and Robert.
No
Data
Violation
of address
terms
Politeness
1.
Norwood: (Springing
between his son and the
front door, pistol in
hand) You black bastard!
You black
bastard
Negative
Social factors related
to the violations
Participant and
function
Table 4. The violation of address terms between Talbot and Cora.
No
1.
Data
Talbot: Talk you black
bitch!
Violation
of address
terms
you black
bitch
27
Politeness
Negative
Social factors related
to the violations
Participant and
function
Maranatha Christian University
Table 5. The violation of address terms between Sam and Cora.
No
Data
1.
Sam: OH, Lawd, hab
mercy on me! I prays,
Lawd hab mercy! O, ma
Lawd, ma Lawd! Cora, is
you a fool? Is you a fool?
Violation
of address
terms
Cora (FN)
Politeness
Positive
Social factors related
to the violations
Participant and
function
Table 6. The violation of address terms between Robert and Norwood.
No
1.
Data
Robert: Oh! But I’m
not a nigger, Colonel
Tom.
Violation of
address terms
Colonel Tom
(TNN)
28
Politeness
Negative
Social factors
related to the
violations
Participant and
function
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Human beings are social creatures. They need to interact with one another
through language. Language is needed in interaction; however, language is not the
only means to make good interaction. In our daily interaction, politeness is an
important thing. Sometimes, we take politeness for granted. In order to be polite, we
may think that we just need to say ‘please’ or ‘thanks’. Actually, politeness is a
complicated business in any language because if we want to be polite, we have to
know about the sociocultural aspects of the community. There are many differences
of the sociocultural aspects in each community. So, politeness is hard to learn.
(Holmes, 1994:267)
One way to show politeness is the use of address terms. Communities in
the world have different ways in addressing someone. One person usually has more
than one address term. For example, a person can be called by the first name (FN),
last name (LN), title + last name (TLN), nickname (NN) and terms of endearment,
like ‘honey’, ‘sweetheart’, ‘dear’, etc.
1
Maranatha Christian University
Through address terms, we can know about someone’s social status, the speaker’s
feeling, the relationship between the speaker and the person addressed, whether the
situation formal or informal. For example, a subordinate addresses his or her superior with
the TLN. A mother always addresses her son with the FN or nickname, but when she is
angry with him, she may address him with his full name. A student addresses his
headmaster with TLN at school, but when they have a closer relationship and they are not
in a formal setting, the student may call the headmaster with the FN.
The subject of my research is the play MULLATO A Tragedy of the Deep South.
This play is an interesting story with the background of slavery in the South America in
1930s. In this story there are many violations in using address terms. It tells about a rich
man, Colonel Thomas Norwood, in Georgia in 1930s. He is a white plantation owner who
has many black slaves. One of his slaves becomes his mistress after his wife dies. The
mistress gives him four children. This is the root of all the complicated problems in the
play, which is clearly reflected in the address terms used.
There were enormous farms or plantations in South America, and Georgia was
one of them. Commonly, the owners of the plantations were white people while the black
people worked to grow cotton in Georgia. Black people were still regarded as slaves in
Georgia although legally they had gained their freedom after the Civil War in 1861 to 1865.
In Georgia, there was a strong racial discrimination between the black and white people. In
1954 until 1968, there was an African-American civil rights movement which aimed to
eliminate racial discrimination and got the equality status particularly in the South such as
Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama and Virginia.
2
Maranatha Christian University
(http://encarta.msn.com/text 7615716090/ Georgia (state). Html African-American Civil
Rights Movement (1955-1968)
I notice that there are violations in terms of address terms used in this play and
these violations reflect the situation and condition of slavery in America at that time. That
is why I am personally interested in discussing further the violations of address terms in
Langston Hughes’ play MULATTO A Tragedy of the Deep South for my thesis. In my
opinion the use of address terms in this play is very significant as it can reflect the social
condition of America during the slavery period. I would like to explain the violations in
terms of the social factors related to them.
The linguistic area of my topic is Sociolinguistics, which studies the relationship
between language and society”. (Holmes, 1994:1) I believe it is a suitable theory to explain
the violations that occur in this play because the violation of address terms has a close
relationship with social factors, such as participants, setting, topic and purpose; moreover, I
would like to make people more aware of the use of address terms. They need to know first
the social factors before selecting the address terms to use. Otherwise, it will be difficult for
them to make good interactions with one another.
Statement of the Problem
In this thesis, I would like to make a research on:
1.
What are the violations of address terms used in Langston Hughes’ play
MULATTO A Tragedy of the Deep South?
2.
How are the violations related to politeness strategy?
3.
How are the four factors related to the violations?
3
Maranatha Christian University
Purpose of the Study
By doing the research, I intend:
1.
To know the violations of address terms used in Langston Hughes’ play
MULATTO A Tragedy of the Deep South.
2.
To know the violations related to politeness strategy.
3.
To know the social factors that is related to each violation of address terms.
Methods of Research
First, I read the play and collect all the address terms used. Second, I select the
data, which have violated of the address term used. Third, I classify the data based on the
factors related to the violations. Finally, I analyze the data and write a research report.
Organization of the Thesis
My thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter One is the Introduction, which
contains the Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Purpose of the Study,
Method of Research, and Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two is Theoretical
Framework, which deals with the explanation of the linguistic area and the approaches used
in my thesis. Chapter Three presents the discussion on the violations of address terms in
Langston Hughes’ play MULLATO A Tragedy of the Deep South. And the last chapter,
Chapter Four, is the Conclusion, in which I write my personal comments and opinions of
the findings. The thesis ends with the Bibliography and Appendices.
4
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
After analyzing the data in the play, Mulatto A Tragedy of the Deep
South by Langston Hughes, with regard to the violations in address terms and
politeness, I arrive at the following conclusion.
First, in this play I find a lot of violations both in address terms and
politeness. From my analysis, I discover that address terms and politeness are
closely related. They have a relationship that positive politeness is used by people
to show their solidarity or minimize their status difference; therefore, people
address each other by using first name (FN), nick name (NN). While negative
politeness is used to make a distance between their relationships or respect the
others; as a result, they address the others by using title (T). People may use
different address terms for different purposes or functions.
Second, I notice that the violations occur between a husband and a wife,
a father and a daughter, a father and a son. Although they are members of a
family, they have a difference in status. The father is white but their children are
mulattos because the mother is a black woman. As a father, Colonel Norwood
21
Maranatha Christian University
feels that he is superior to his children and wife; as a result, he demands that they
should respect him by addressing him with title.
As a daughter from a white father, Sallie is aware that she has the same
status as her mother’s. Black people have a lower status than white; therefore, she
is obliged to respect Colonel Norwood by addressing him with title although,
actually, she is Norwood’s daughter and has very light skin that can pass for white
people.
Robert, who is the younger brother of Sallie, refuses to be regarded as
subordinate by Colonel Norwood because he knows and feels that he is the son of
Colonel Norwood, the owner of the biggest plantation in Georgia, South America.
He rebels and fights against the Colonel to get his status as Colonel Norwood’s
son. So, through address terms we can know about the relationship between their
families. They have known each other for a long time, yet there is still a distance
between them.
In addition, violations occur outside the family. I notice that there are
two cases of violation, namely between Talbot and Cora and the second is Sam
and Cora. They have a difference in status, superior and subordinate. From those
two cases, I notice that the violations occur because of the slavery, which causes
racial discrimination in Georgia, South America. Although Cora is superior to
Talbot in Norwood’s plantation, Talbot does not respect Cora because she is a
black woman while Talbot is a white man. The same thing happens to the
Undertaker’s helper, who is a white man, while Robert is the black man. Again
racial discrimination becomes the core of the violations in address terms. On the
other hand, it is interesting to see the case of Sam and Cora. Cora is higher in
22
Maranatha Christian University
status in Norwood’s plantation. Actually, Sam should respect Cora. Yet, due to
the social distance scale Sam addresses Cora only with her first name. He wants to
show to Cora about his social background. In fact, he has the same social
background with Cora as a slave in the plantation. I can see that in this case the
social distance scale is more emphasized than the status scale; on the other hand,
the solidarity dimension is given greater weight.
From my analysis, I find out that there are four social factors that
contribute to the violations. They are the participants, setting, topic and function.
In addition, the setting of place, Georgia, South America where discrimination
still prevails, the white people demand that the black people address them with
titles because they feel superior to the black. On the other hand, in this play we
can see that the racial discrimination can influence the way people address each
other. Besides that, we can reveal someone’s status by address terms. Commonly,
we address our superiors with their titles or occupations and address our
subordinate only with their first names. In this play, Robert, Sallie, and Cora are
considered to have a lower status than colonel Norwood, who is a white man.
Therefore, they have to respect the Colonel by addressing him with title.
Third, I get to know that someone expresses their feelings through
address terms and politeness. Furthermore, people do the violations in addressing
another by using swear words to express a message. For example, there are some
data in table 3 and 4 which contain swear words, like ‘you black bastard’, you
black bitch. They not only want to show their anger but also show their power and
superiority. Therefore, people often call the others by a variety of names
depending on how they feel towards them.
23
Maranatha Christian University
In this play, the use of address terms and politeness are often violated
because of slavery. The difference of skin colours can cause a different status,
which results in the racial discrimination. Although in some cases the violations
occur in the Colonel Norwood plantation, the social distance scale is more
emphasized than the status scale. Through address terms, we can know the
condition of Georgia, South America, which is greatly influenced by racial
discrimination between black and white people.
Finally, I get some advantages from doing my research on address terms
and politeness. The linguistic theories, especially politeness and address terms in
Sociolinguistics have given me deeper insight that politeness and address terms
can reflect the relationship between the occupation, participant, setting, topic, and
function. So, I become more aware of addressing another to make a relationship
either closer or to make a distance. I also realize that people can express their
feeling by using address terms, or by swear words.
24
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
References
Holmes, Janet. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Essex: Longman Group UK
Limited, 1994.
Wolfson, Nesa . PERSPECTIVE: Sociolinguistics and TESOL. Newbury House,
1989.
Encarta Online. 2006. African-American Civil Rights Movement (1995-1968).
12 October 2006
Primary Text
Hughes, Langston. MULATTO A Tragedy of the Deep South. Indiana University
Press, 1968.
25
Maranatha Christian University
Dalam tugas akhir ini saya memilih sebuah drama berjudul MULLATO A
Tragedy of the Deep South, yang dikarang oleh Langston Hughes, pengarang pria
berkulit hitam, karena saya melihat banyak hal yang dapat saya analisis. Drama
ini dilatarbelakangi kehidupan seorang budak kulit hitam yang dinikahi oleh
seorang pria kulit putih yang juga mantan majikannya. Drama ini menggambarkan
situasi yang terjadi di Georgia, Amerika Selatan, di mana masih terdapat
diskriminasi antara kulit putih dan hitam. Orang-orang kulit hitam diperlakukan
seperti budak, sedangkan orang-orang kulit putih merasa diri mereka lebih tinggi
status sosialnya.
Drama ini kaya dengan pelanggaran-pelanggaran dalam sapaan dan ke
sopan santunan. Aspek linguistik yang saya gunakan adalah violation of address
terms and politeness. Aspek tersebut termasuk dalam ilmu sosiolinguistik, yaitu
ilmu yang mempelajari hubungan antara bahasa dengan masyarakat. Teori
tersebut sangat bermanfaat untuk menganalisis pelanggaran-pelanggaran yang
terjadi di drama tersebut dan faktor-faktor yang mendukung terjadinya
pelanggaran-pelanggaran tersebut. Faktor-faktor tersebut adalah partisipan, seting,
topik, dan fungsi.
iii
Maranatha Christian University
Setelah menganalisis data-data tersebut saya berkesimpulan bahwa faktor utama
yang menyebabkan pelanggaran-pelanggaran tersebut adalah diskriminasi antara orang
kulit putih dan hitam yang masih terjadi ketika penulis mengangkat drama ini untuk
mencerminkan kehidupan yang sebenarnya di Georgia, Amerika Selatan.
iv
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE ……………………………………………………………….
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………….
ii
ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………..
iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION …………………………………
Background of the Study …………………………………………
Statement of the Problem …………………………………….......
Purpose of the Study ……………………………………………..
Methods of Research ……………………………………………..
Organization of the Thesis ……………………………………….
1
1
3
4
4
4
CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ……………….
5
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF VIOLATIONS OF ADDRESS
TERMS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO THE POLITENESS IN
LANGSTON HUGHES’ PLAY MULLATO
A TRAGEDY OF THE DEEP SOUTH ………………………………..
8
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION …………………………………...
21
BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………….
25
APPENDICES …………………………………………………………...
26
ii
Maranatha Christian University
APPENDICES
Table 1. The violation of address terms between Cora and Norwood.
No
Data
Violation
of address
terms
Politeness
Social factors related
to the violations
sir Colonel
Tom
(TNN)
Negative
Participants and
function
1.
Cora: (Heard above)
Yes, sir, Colonel Tom.
2.
Cora: Yes, sir (she starts
upstairs)
sir (T)
Negative
Participants and
function
3.
Cora: (falling on the
body) Colonel Tom!
Colonel Tom! (Gazes
across the corpse at her
son) He’s yo father,
Bert.
Colonel
Tom
(TNN)
Negative
Participants and
function
4.
Cora: (scornfully)
Colonel Thomas
Norwood, runnin’ ma
boy through de fields in
de dark to lynch
him…Damn you,
Colonel Norwood!
Colonel
Thomas
Norwood
(TFullN)
and
Colonel
Norwood
(TLN)
26
Negative
Participants and
function
Maranatha Christian University
Table 2. The violation of address terms between Sallie and Colonel Norwood.
No
Data
Violation
of address
terms
Politeness
Social factors related
to the violations
Sallie: I just wanted tell
you goodbye Colonel
Norwood, and thank you
for letting me work here
in the house all summer
where mama is.
Sallie: Yes, sir, I been
taking up cooking and
sewing too.
Colonel
Norwood
(TLN)
Negative
Participants and
function
Sir (T)
Negative
Participants and
function
3.
Sallie: (Raising her eyes)
You reckon I can,
Colonel Tom.
Colonel
Tom
(TNN)
Negative
Participants and
function
4.
Sallie: Please, sir,
Colonel Tom. Let
brother work in here in
the house, or somewhere
else where Talbot can’t
mistreat him.
Sir
Colonel
Tom
(TNN)
1.
2.
Negative
Participants and
function
Table 3. The violation of address terms between Colonel Norwood and Robert.
No
Data
Violation
of address
terms
Politeness
1.
Norwood: (Springing
between his son and the
front door, pistol in
hand) You black bastard!
You black
bastard
Negative
Social factors related
to the violations
Participant and
function
Table 4. The violation of address terms between Talbot and Cora.
No
1.
Data
Talbot: Talk you black
bitch!
Violation
of address
terms
you black
bitch
27
Politeness
Negative
Social factors related
to the violations
Participant and
function
Maranatha Christian University
Table 5. The violation of address terms between Sam and Cora.
No
Data
1.
Sam: OH, Lawd, hab
mercy on me! I prays,
Lawd hab mercy! O, ma
Lawd, ma Lawd! Cora, is
you a fool? Is you a fool?
Violation
of address
terms
Cora (FN)
Politeness
Positive
Social factors related
to the violations
Participant and
function
Table 6. The violation of address terms between Robert and Norwood.
No
1.
Data
Robert: Oh! But I’m
not a nigger, Colonel
Tom.
Violation of
address terms
Colonel Tom
(TNN)
28
Politeness
Negative
Social factors
related to the
violations
Participant and
function
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Human beings are social creatures. They need to interact with one another
through language. Language is needed in interaction; however, language is not the
only means to make good interaction. In our daily interaction, politeness is an
important thing. Sometimes, we take politeness for granted. In order to be polite, we
may think that we just need to say ‘please’ or ‘thanks’. Actually, politeness is a
complicated business in any language because if we want to be polite, we have to
know about the sociocultural aspects of the community. There are many differences
of the sociocultural aspects in each community. So, politeness is hard to learn.
(Holmes, 1994:267)
One way to show politeness is the use of address terms. Communities in
the world have different ways in addressing someone. One person usually has more
than one address term. For example, a person can be called by the first name (FN),
last name (LN), title + last name (TLN), nickname (NN) and terms of endearment,
like ‘honey’, ‘sweetheart’, ‘dear’, etc.
1
Maranatha Christian University
Through address terms, we can know about someone’s social status, the speaker’s
feeling, the relationship between the speaker and the person addressed, whether the
situation formal or informal. For example, a subordinate addresses his or her superior with
the TLN. A mother always addresses her son with the FN or nickname, but when she is
angry with him, she may address him with his full name. A student addresses his
headmaster with TLN at school, but when they have a closer relationship and they are not
in a formal setting, the student may call the headmaster with the FN.
The subject of my research is the play MULLATO A Tragedy of the Deep South.
This play is an interesting story with the background of slavery in the South America in
1930s. In this story there are many violations in using address terms. It tells about a rich
man, Colonel Thomas Norwood, in Georgia in 1930s. He is a white plantation owner who
has many black slaves. One of his slaves becomes his mistress after his wife dies. The
mistress gives him four children. This is the root of all the complicated problems in the
play, which is clearly reflected in the address terms used.
There were enormous farms or plantations in South America, and Georgia was
one of them. Commonly, the owners of the plantations were white people while the black
people worked to grow cotton in Georgia. Black people were still regarded as slaves in
Georgia although legally they had gained their freedom after the Civil War in 1861 to 1865.
In Georgia, there was a strong racial discrimination between the black and white people. In
1954 until 1968, there was an African-American civil rights movement which aimed to
eliminate racial discrimination and got the equality status particularly in the South such as
Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama and Virginia.
2
Maranatha Christian University
(http://encarta.msn.com/text 7615716090/ Georgia (state). Html African-American Civil
Rights Movement (1955-1968)
I notice that there are violations in terms of address terms used in this play and
these violations reflect the situation and condition of slavery in America at that time. That
is why I am personally interested in discussing further the violations of address terms in
Langston Hughes’ play MULATTO A Tragedy of the Deep South for my thesis. In my
opinion the use of address terms in this play is very significant as it can reflect the social
condition of America during the slavery period. I would like to explain the violations in
terms of the social factors related to them.
The linguistic area of my topic is Sociolinguistics, which studies the relationship
between language and society”. (Holmes, 1994:1) I believe it is a suitable theory to explain
the violations that occur in this play because the violation of address terms has a close
relationship with social factors, such as participants, setting, topic and purpose; moreover, I
would like to make people more aware of the use of address terms. They need to know first
the social factors before selecting the address terms to use. Otherwise, it will be difficult for
them to make good interactions with one another.
Statement of the Problem
In this thesis, I would like to make a research on:
1.
What are the violations of address terms used in Langston Hughes’ play
MULATTO A Tragedy of the Deep South?
2.
How are the violations related to politeness strategy?
3.
How are the four factors related to the violations?
3
Maranatha Christian University
Purpose of the Study
By doing the research, I intend:
1.
To know the violations of address terms used in Langston Hughes’ play
MULATTO A Tragedy of the Deep South.
2.
To know the violations related to politeness strategy.
3.
To know the social factors that is related to each violation of address terms.
Methods of Research
First, I read the play and collect all the address terms used. Second, I select the
data, which have violated of the address term used. Third, I classify the data based on the
factors related to the violations. Finally, I analyze the data and write a research report.
Organization of the Thesis
My thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter One is the Introduction, which
contains the Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Purpose of the Study,
Method of Research, and Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two is Theoretical
Framework, which deals with the explanation of the linguistic area and the approaches used
in my thesis. Chapter Three presents the discussion on the violations of address terms in
Langston Hughes’ play MULLATO A Tragedy of the Deep South. And the last chapter,
Chapter Four, is the Conclusion, in which I write my personal comments and opinions of
the findings. The thesis ends with the Bibliography and Appendices.
4
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
After analyzing the data in the play, Mulatto A Tragedy of the Deep
South by Langston Hughes, with regard to the violations in address terms and
politeness, I arrive at the following conclusion.
First, in this play I find a lot of violations both in address terms and
politeness. From my analysis, I discover that address terms and politeness are
closely related. They have a relationship that positive politeness is used by people
to show their solidarity or minimize their status difference; therefore, people
address each other by using first name (FN), nick name (NN). While negative
politeness is used to make a distance between their relationships or respect the
others; as a result, they address the others by using title (T). People may use
different address terms for different purposes or functions.
Second, I notice that the violations occur between a husband and a wife,
a father and a daughter, a father and a son. Although they are members of a
family, they have a difference in status. The father is white but their children are
mulattos because the mother is a black woman. As a father, Colonel Norwood
21
Maranatha Christian University
feels that he is superior to his children and wife; as a result, he demands that they
should respect him by addressing him with title.
As a daughter from a white father, Sallie is aware that she has the same
status as her mother’s. Black people have a lower status than white; therefore, she
is obliged to respect Colonel Norwood by addressing him with title although,
actually, she is Norwood’s daughter and has very light skin that can pass for white
people.
Robert, who is the younger brother of Sallie, refuses to be regarded as
subordinate by Colonel Norwood because he knows and feels that he is the son of
Colonel Norwood, the owner of the biggest plantation in Georgia, South America.
He rebels and fights against the Colonel to get his status as Colonel Norwood’s
son. So, through address terms we can know about the relationship between their
families. They have known each other for a long time, yet there is still a distance
between them.
In addition, violations occur outside the family. I notice that there are
two cases of violation, namely between Talbot and Cora and the second is Sam
and Cora. They have a difference in status, superior and subordinate. From those
two cases, I notice that the violations occur because of the slavery, which causes
racial discrimination in Georgia, South America. Although Cora is superior to
Talbot in Norwood’s plantation, Talbot does not respect Cora because she is a
black woman while Talbot is a white man. The same thing happens to the
Undertaker’s helper, who is a white man, while Robert is the black man. Again
racial discrimination becomes the core of the violations in address terms. On the
other hand, it is interesting to see the case of Sam and Cora. Cora is higher in
22
Maranatha Christian University
status in Norwood’s plantation. Actually, Sam should respect Cora. Yet, due to
the social distance scale Sam addresses Cora only with her first name. He wants to
show to Cora about his social background. In fact, he has the same social
background with Cora as a slave in the plantation. I can see that in this case the
social distance scale is more emphasized than the status scale; on the other hand,
the solidarity dimension is given greater weight.
From my analysis, I find out that there are four social factors that
contribute to the violations. They are the participants, setting, topic and function.
In addition, the setting of place, Georgia, South America where discrimination
still prevails, the white people demand that the black people address them with
titles because they feel superior to the black. On the other hand, in this play we
can see that the racial discrimination can influence the way people address each
other. Besides that, we can reveal someone’s status by address terms. Commonly,
we address our superiors with their titles or occupations and address our
subordinate only with their first names. In this play, Robert, Sallie, and Cora are
considered to have a lower status than colonel Norwood, who is a white man.
Therefore, they have to respect the Colonel by addressing him with title.
Third, I get to know that someone expresses their feelings through
address terms and politeness. Furthermore, people do the violations in addressing
another by using swear words to express a message. For example, there are some
data in table 3 and 4 which contain swear words, like ‘you black bastard’, you
black bitch. They not only want to show their anger but also show their power and
superiority. Therefore, people often call the others by a variety of names
depending on how they feel towards them.
23
Maranatha Christian University
In this play, the use of address terms and politeness are often violated
because of slavery. The difference of skin colours can cause a different status,
which results in the racial discrimination. Although in some cases the violations
occur in the Colonel Norwood plantation, the social distance scale is more
emphasized than the status scale. Through address terms, we can know the
condition of Georgia, South America, which is greatly influenced by racial
discrimination between black and white people.
Finally, I get some advantages from doing my research on address terms
and politeness. The linguistic theories, especially politeness and address terms in
Sociolinguistics have given me deeper insight that politeness and address terms
can reflect the relationship between the occupation, participant, setting, topic, and
function. So, I become more aware of addressing another to make a relationship
either closer or to make a distance. I also realize that people can express their
feeling by using address terms, or by swear words.
24
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
References
Holmes, Janet. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Essex: Longman Group UK
Limited, 1994.
Wolfson, Nesa . PERSPECTIVE: Sociolinguistics and TESOL. Newbury House,
1989.
Encarta Online. 2006. African-American Civil Rights Movement (1995-1968).
12 October 2006
Primary Text
Hughes, Langston. MULATTO A Tragedy of the Deep South. Indiana University
Press, 1968.
25
Maranatha Christian University