Institutional Repository | Satya Wacana Christian University: English Department Readers' Response Toward Two R. A. Kartini's Letters in Book, “Habis Gelap Terbitlah Terang”

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT READERS’ RESPONSE TOWARD TWO R. A.
KARTINI’S LETTERS IN BOOK, “HABIS GELAP TERBITLAH TERANG”
Eva Evina
Abstract
The influence of Dutch culture on the 19th –century made R. A. Kartini, a Javanese woman from
Jepara broke the traditions. She is an Indonesian heroine who wanted to get the same high education
as men. This thesis analyzes to find out the people opinions or thoughts about R. A. Kartini from the
book, Habis Gelap Terbitlah Terang. This book contains two letters of R. A. Kartini that I use to get
some perceptions or feeling from the readers. This thesis deals with the struggles of R. A. Kartini as a
heroine for Indonesian women to get gender equality and the same rights as men. Based on this idea,
Subjective Reader-response theory will be an appropriate tool to analyze the thought of the readers
about R. A. Kartini through her letters. 13 participants ED Students were selected to be the readers’
response. Subjective reader-response theory is a tool to analyze the response of participants’ thoughts.
Through this study, it reveals that the readers’ perception toward R. A. Kartini through her two letters
is that she had to give a real action for Indonesian women. The real action that shows her struggle for
Indonesian women. It is because in her letters, she only shared her own desire to get freedom of her
tradition. She did not mention any other Indonesian women’s thought or experiences in her two
letters.
Keywords: reader-response, subjective reader-response, tradition, culture, women emancipation