The representation of Mexican-American`s life stages through the models in Luis Valdez`s Los Vendidos - USD Repository
THE REPRESENTATION OF MEXICAN-AMERICANS’
LIFE STAGES THROUGH THE MODELS IN LUIS VALDEZ’S LOS
VENDIDOS
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
ADI PRASATYA CHRISTIANTO
Student number: 07 4214 007
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2011
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
THE REPRESENTATION OF MEXICAN-AMERICANS’
LIFE STAGES THROUGH THE MODELS IN LUIS VALDEZ’S
LOS VENDIDOS
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
ADI PRASATYA CHRISTIANTO
Student number: 07 4214 007
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis
THE REPRESENTATION OF MEXICAN-AMERICANS’
LIFE STAGES THROUGH THE MODELS IN LUIS VALDEZ’S
LOS VENDIDOS
By
ADI PRASATYA CHRISTIANTO
Student Number: 07 4214 007 Approved by Dewi Widyastuti S.Pd., M. Hum.
Advisor July 14, 2011. Tatang Iskarna S.S., M. Hum. Co-Advisor July 14, 2011.
A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis
THE REPRESENTATION OF MEXICAN-AMERICANS’
LIFE STAGES THROUGH THE MODELS IN LUIS VALDEZ’S
LOS VENDIDOS
By
ADI PRASATYA CHRISTIANTO
Student Number: 07 4214 007 Defended before the Board of Examiners
On July 26, 2011 And Declared Acceptable
BOARD OF EXAMINERS
Name SignatureChairman : Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd,. M.A. __________________ Secretary : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum. __________________ Member 1 : Drs. Fx. Siswadi, M.A. __________________ Member 2 : Dewi Widyastuti S.Pd., M. Hum. __________________ Member 3 : Tatang Iskarna S.S., M. Hum. __________________
Yogyakarta, July 29, 2011 Faculty of Letters
Sanata Dharma University Dean
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Anyone who thinks the sky is the limit, has limited imagination (Anonymous)
What is the use of book’, thought Alice, ‘without pictures and conversations
(“Alice in Wonderland”, Lewis Caroll)
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI This Undergraduate Thesis is dedicated to :
Manis Ramchand Irene Theresia Rian Egi Andrianto Fiola Felinsia Putri PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Adi Prasatya Christianto NIM : 074214007
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul: “THE REPRESENTATION OF MEXICAN-AMERICANS’ LIFE STAGES THROUGH THE MODELS IN LUIS VALDEZ’S LOS VENDIDOS” beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, dan mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lainnya untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal : 29 Juli 2011 Yang menyatakan Adi Prasatya Christianto
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I believe in every great success, there will be many people who support it. Therefore, I would like to appreciate mine. First, I would like to thank Jesus Christ for the unseen present and support in every rough moment. You are my ultimate support, I thank you, Lord.
I would like to thank my advisor, Dewi Widyastuti S.Pd., M. Hum. for the entire patience in guiding me until the end and for the enlightenment. I thank my co-advisor, Tatang Iskarna S.S., M. Hum. for the valuable corrections and suggestions. I would like to thank also all my lecturers in English Letters Department for every single knowledge I received in Sanata Dharma University that made me who I am now.
I would like to thank my family for the love and support. I thank my Mom for yelling at me when time was dull and unfriendly. I thank my Dad for the pray. I would like to thank also my sister for every joke and spirit to light me up.
I would also like to appreaciate my brother who is always there for me ever since the first semester.
Last but not least, I would like to thank also all my friends in English Letters Department for the friendship. I will treasure every moment I had with you all forever.
Adi Prasatya Christianto
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE.................................................................................................... i APPROVAL PAGE.......................................................................................... ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE..................................................................................... iii MOTTO PAGE................................................................................................. iv DEDICATION PAGE....................................................................................... v
STATEMENT PAGE........................................................................................ vi ACKNOWLEDMENTS.................................................................................... vii TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................. viii ABSTRACT...................................................................................................... x ABSTRAK........................................................................................................ xi CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION.....................................................................
1 A. Background of the Study.......................................................................
1 B. Problem Formulation............................................................................. 4 C. Objective of the Study...........................................................................
4 D. Definition of Terms...............................................................................
5 CHAPTER II : THEORETICAL REVIEW......................................................
8 A. Review of Related Studies....................................................................
8 B. Review of Related Theories..................................................................
12 1. Theory of Character, Characteristic and Characterization.............
12 2. Theory of Acculturation.................................................................
13 3. Theory of Race Interaction............................................................
17 C. Review of Mexican-American History.................................................
19 D. Theoretical Framework.........................................................................
23 CHAPTER III : METHODOLOGY.................................................................
25 A. Object of the Study................................................................................ 25
B. Approach of the Study........................................................................... 25 C. Method of the Study..............................................................................
27 CHAPTER IV : ANALYSIS............................................................................
29 A. Characteristic of the Models.................................................................
30 1. The Farm Worker...........................................................................
30 2. The Revolucionario........................................................................
34
3. The Mexican-American.................................................................. 36
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI a. The Mix Feature.............................................................................
36 b. The Ability to Adjust with American Life.....................................
40 B. The Representation of Mexican-Americans’ Life Stages from the
42 Characteristics of the Models................................................................
1. Early Period : The Migration 1900s...............................................
42 2. Second Period : Revolution and Movement After the 1940s ........
54 3. Final Period : Acculturation of Mexican and American................
59 a. Social Integrity...............................................................................
61 b. Social Structure..............................................................................
68 c. Marital Acculturation.....................................................................
72 CHAPTER V : CONCLUSION........................................................................
75 BIBLIOGRAPHY.............................................................................................
78 APPENDIX ......................................................................................................
81
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ABSTRACT
ADI PRASATYA CHRISTIANTO. The Representation of Mexican
Americans’ Life Stages through the Models in Luis Valdez’s Los Vendidos.
Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2011.Literature and history is interrelated. Literature, which commonly speaks about society and its life, can also reveal events in certain period of time that is the history of certain society in certain time. Thus, Los Vendidos, a work of literature by Luis Valdez, is an interesting example. The play talks about chronological history of Mexican-American, yet in the form of literature because of the satire element. Thus, this undergraduate thesis raises a topic on the representation of Mexican-Americans’ life stages through the models in the play.
The aim of this research is to reveal the characteristics of the Models in the play. Then, these characteristics are significant to analyze the life stages or history of Mexican-Americans. It is particularly crucial in revealing what happened to Mexican-American in the New World, their relation with Americans and their struggles as being represented by the Models of the play. It is expected that this research can contribute to the issue of Mexican-American’s life, identity and culture.
The research is conducted through socio-cultural historical approach because this approach is able to examine the close relation of society, culture and history, especially in literary work. The method of study conducted in this research was library research. All the materials were gathered from books, essays, journals, glossaries and information from the internet.
This research examines the life of Mexican-Americans and classified it into three sequential stages: The Migration period, The Revolution and Movement period and The Acculturation period. The Mexican-Americans’ journey started when they migrated to America and tried to interact with the Americans. The first period reveals the general occupation and life condition of Mexican workers at that time. Then, the second period reveals how these people began to fight for their rights in many events. This is the period when Mexican workers began to realize their rights and actually struggled to achieve that. However, the third period shows how these immigrants tried to be accepted in the new surroundings through many ways like involved in politics and adopted American values. This is the period of acculturation, a process where different cultures become similar and these people had consciously done that. These historical descriptions are described vividly through the models in Los Vendidos, and thus, it makes these models into the representation of actual historical events.
Therefore, through this research, it is obvious that there are three stages of life experienced by Mexican-American which are immigration, revolution and acculturation. Moreover, it is also obvious how Mexican-American is an important part of America in terms of history, economy and culture. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
ABSTRAK ADI PRASATYA CHRISTIANTO. The Representation of Mexican
Americans’ Life Stages through the Models in Luis Valdez’s Los Vendidos.
Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2011.Sastra dan sejarah memiliki hubungan yang erat karena sastra, yang umumnya membicarakan masyarakat dan kehidupan masyarakat itu, dapat juga memaparkan peristiwa di periode tertentu yang merupakan sejarah dari suatu masyarakat di waktu tertentu. Maka, Los Vendidos, sebuah karya sastra oleh Luis Valdez, menjadi sebuah contoh yang menarik. Drama ini membicarakan sejarah runtut dari masyarakat Meksiko-Amerika, akan tetapi dalam bentuk sastra karena adanya elemen majas sindiran. Oleh karena itu, skripsi ini mengangkat topik tentang representasi tahapan-tahapan kehidupan masyarakat Meksiko-Amerika yang dicermati dari model-model dalam drama tersebut.
Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk memaparkan sifat-sifat dari model-model dalam drama yang merupakan elemen penting dalam menganalisa tahapan-tahapan kehidupan atau sejarah dari masyarakat Meksiko-Amerika seperti masalah yang mereka hadapi di “Dunia Baru”, hubungan mereka dengan orang- orang Amerika dan perjuangan mereka yang direpresentasikan oleh model-model di dalam drama tersebut. Diharapkan bahwa penelitian ini dapat memberikan kontribusi dalam masalah-masalah yang berkaitan dengan kehidupan, identitas dan budaya masyarakat Meksiko-Amerika.
Penelitian ini dilakukan melalui pendekatan sejarah dan sosial budaya karena pendekatan ini dapat menelaah hubungan erat antara masyarakat, budaya dan sejarah, khususnya di dalam karya sastra. Metode dalam penelitian ini adalah studi pustaka yang mencakup buku, essai, jurnal, glosarium dan berbagai sumber informasi dari internet.
Penelitian ini menelaah kehidupan masyarakat Meksiko-Amerika melalui penjabaran tiga tahapan yaitu periode migrasi, periode revolusi dan pergerakan, serta periode akulturasi. Perjalanan masyarakat Meksiko-Amerika dimulai ketika mereka bermigrasi ke Amerika. Periode pertama memaparkan pekerjaan umum dan gambaran kehidupan pada waktu itu. Kemudian, Periode kedua memaparkan bagaimana orang-orang ini mulai berjuang dan melakukan perlawanan demi hak asasi mereka. Akan tetapi, periode ketiga menunjukkan bagaimana para imigran ini mencoba untuk diterima di lingkungan baru tersebut melalui berbagai cara seperti terjun ke dalam politik dan mengadopsi nilai-nilai Amerika melalui proses akulturasi. Pemaparan sejarah nyata dari masyarakat Meksiko-Amerika ini direpresentasi oleh model-model dalam Los Vendidos.
Oleh karena itu, melalui penelitian ini, sangatlah jelas bahwa ada tiga tahapan hidup yang dialami masyarakat Meksiko-Amerika yaitu migrasi, revolusi dan akulturasi. Lebih lanjut lagi, menjadi jelas pula bahwa masyarakat Meksiko- Amerika adalah bagian yang penting dari Amerika dalam hal sejarah, ekonomi dan budaya. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study There is an obvious line that connects literature and history. History is a
record of human’s past experiences, but beyond that, history can also be the written proof of what happened on certain time and place. The same idea also exists in literature. Literature also talks about what happened in certain society on certain period, for example what happened in the black community in the Great Depression. This is because literature often examines certain social condition as its background. It also portrays specific society within it, but not as a mere description but it can also be a reaction within those society like what happened on that society and how that society lived. Moreover, Sartre argued that:
As he is already on the outside, he considers words as a trap to catch a fleeing reality rather than as indicators which throw him out of himself into the midst of things. In short, all language is for him the mirror of the world. As a result, important changes take place in the internal economy of the word. Its sonority, its length, its masculine or feminine endings, its visual aspect, compose for him a face of flesh which represents rather than meanings (Sartre, 1988: 30).
expresses
It can be understood that, he [author] uses language to grab reality and presents it to the reader. Not only that, through language, people are able to see the world because language is the mirror of what happened in real world. Sartre even examines that actually, because language mirrored the world, it changes according to the world itself. Therefore, the contents, as Sartre mentioned like length, sonority, and visual aspect, will also reflect the true world itself. Sartre even added that the language itself serves as an image of our world (1988: 31). Thus, it
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is obvious that Language and Literature constitute an image and a mirror of real world. But, the next question emerged on how this is realized through direct literary work. An obvious example is Paradise by Toni Morrison which moved and evolved its plot within an all-black community who refused to socialize with Whites because of segregation. Here, Paradise tried to grab the essence and the issue on that period that there is a discrimination and segregation experienced by African-American. Paradise is the mirror of black community in the period of segregation and discrimination. Therefore, it is a conclusion that Literature should also be regarded as a historical record of certain society, “a mirror of the world”.
Starting from that point of view, the researcher tries to extract the history of Mexican-American by using Los Vendidos by Luis Valdez, but with a chronological sequences, or stages. So, the researcher will evaluate how the literary work portrays the history and what happened in each period of Mexican- American’s history. To begin with, Mexican-American is chosen as the subject of this research because obviously, this Hispanic descendant is an interesting figure to discuss, especially in terms of life experiences and position in the United States’ history. From the history, it is understood that Mexican-American faced many obstacles living in America. Similar to the African-American people who migrated long before them, the Mexican-American also dealt with such hardship, suffering, oppression, discrimination and prejudice. These Aztec and Maya descendants were also treated unfairly by the Whites. Unfairness like low payment, poor life condition, physical abuse and even social isolation forced them PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI to live as the low class and low labor community in the big continent, America.
However, just like the African-American, this community shared an unusual relationship with America. It is obvious that Mexican-American took a serious
part in making America’s history and economy. Because of these facts, the researcher decides to use Mexican-American as the subject of this research. Moreover, it should be realized that Mexican and Mexican-American are different in many ways. Although both of them shared the same original culture, Mexican-Americans have the unique feature of acculturation because they have adapted and lived in America. So, Mexican-American is a mixture of both cultures, American and Mexican, and this is what makes them different from the Mexican. Thus, it is interesting to explore more on their life.
Another thing that needs to be highlighted in this research is the stages of Mexican-American’s life. The stages are the most appropriate tool in order to describe the development or the change of Mexican-Americans’ life from the moment they migrated until they had settled there. It becomes an interesting issue because the researcher will be able to determine how they began their ‘journey’ in America and how they ended up at the end. This is the reason why the issue of Mexican-Americans’ life stage is chosen within the research.
In order to examine those stages of Mexican-Americans’ history, the researcher choose the model characters in the play. The models refer to the characters that pretend to be robot in the play such as the Farm Worker, the Revolucionario and the Mexican-American. These models are very interesting to be evaluated because they do not only describe certain characteristics but within PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
them, certain perception and condition can also be seen. Their characteristics are very rich and vivid to explain each historical stage. Therefore, the models are the most appropriate characters in the play to be used.
Therefore, Los Vendidos by Luis Valdez is chosen. Los Vendidos becomes the best choice of play script to be used because it is real, vivid and thoroughly in describing and portraying the condition dealt by Mexican- American. Los Vendidos does not stick within one period of their life, but it covers the whole life, the beginning, the middle and the end. It is revealed by presenting them through each model with distinctive description. In short, what is analyzed in this research is Mexican-American or Chicanos with their history, life struggle, sufferings and national identity that are introduced through stages or sequential periods of Mexican-American’s life.
B. Problem Formulation
In order to answer the problems presented previously systematically, the researcher formulates them as follows.
1. How are the models characterized?
2. How do the models’ characteristics represent the life stages of Mexican- American?
C. Objectives of the Study
This part deals with the researcher’s objective of the research. There are two points of objective here. The first objective of this research is to describe the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
life of Mexican-American in America. It will be described in the analysis on how these immigrants generally lived and how they struggled in certain kind of condition in America. The second objective is to construct or to classify their life into different stages. The research will classify the Mexican-Americans’ life into three different stages that refers to different era of their life. In short, the second objective will reveal what happened in their early migration and what happened after they had stayed long in America.
D. Definition of Terms
1. Representation
In the Glossary of Literary Terms by Henderson and Brown, representation is defined as “The idea that literature reflects a reality outside itself and that its function is to imitate that external realm of society, history, nature, action, and life” (http://www.library.utoronto.ca/utel/glossary/Representation.html). This concept reveals that actually representation deals with a reality, that this reality such as certain society, history, or life event is reflected within this representative thing. It can be concluded that this reality should always present because representation is intended as an imitation of something outside the literature. In short, representation will eventually relate itself with the image of reality outside the literature. Therefore, a literary work which tries to represent something will portray what happened in the real society, real history and real event or action. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
On the other hand, according to Vukcevich, representation is well defined as “medium or channel through which meaning production happens” (http://csmt.uchicago.edu/glossary2004/representation.htm). Moreover, this medium stands between the real and the spectators. This medium is the thing that bridges the reality to the human who perceive them and people can understand or see the reality through this medium that is representation. Thus, it is obvious that representation works as a medium for the reader to approach reality or representation applies as the manifestation of reality.
In short, it can be stated that the concept of representation actually lies on the idea that a certain thing might contain some meanings that construct certain image, perception, description in reality. So, actually representation is how something constructs a certain perception of reality. The key word is reality because representation has to have connection with reality and the presentation of this reality is perceived through another thing.
2. Mexican-American
The word of Mexican-American refers to the people of Mexican race who have been acculturating with or in America, resulting with a mixture of Mexican and American identity. Mexican-American often is referred as Chicanos in general speaking, but it becomes Chicana to refer a Mexican-American woman and Chicano for the Mexican-American man (http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Chicano/). However, Cortes argued that the terms used to refer to Mexican descents varies into regional terms like Hispano and Spanish American in northern New Mexico and southern PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI Colorado; Tejano, Latino, and Latin American in Texas; Mexican in Arizona.
Besides that, broader terms often used Hispanics, Hispanic Americans, and Mexicanos to refer this community. Cortes also added that the most common terms is Chicano, which refers to a multiracial group with Spanish and Indian roots (1980: 697).
However, the term Chicano covers beyond literal definition because it also explains the social definition. According to Aguirre, Chicano is defined as a Mexican-American with a non-Anglo definition of self, which ties in with the process of self-definition other racial minorities are also experiencing (1973:122).
3. Models
Models here are the term used by Valdez that refers to robots sold in a store called Used Mexican Lot. The models here refer to all Mexican robots with different characteristics, like The Farm Worker, Johnny, Revolucionario and The Mexican-American. Each of them stands for different stereotype of Mexican- American people.
In general, models are often defined as the physical figure or example that stands for certain meaning, but in literature terminology, models shares the same understanding like icon or iconology. Icon is defined as “a sign which refers to the object that it denotes merely by virtue of characters of its own, and which it possesses (...)anything whatever, be it quality, existent individual, or law, is an icon of anything, in so far as it is like that thing and used as a sign of it” (Makaryk, 1993: 555) PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies
is Luis Valdez’s reaction toward what happened in his
Los Vendidos
society, the Chicanos. As what its intention, that is to highlight the prejudice and unfairness experienced by Mexican-American in satirical way, Valdez tries to grab the real account into these characters, especially Farm Worker, that is what they experienced in real life were put inside the characters. As Valdez said, “The rang true to the reality of the Huelga”
actos
(http://www.chicano.ucla.edu/center/events/satirepgs31-51.html). Therefore, it is obvious that Los Vendidos has been admitted as one of the influential literary work that supported Chicano Movement. As a means of a movement for equal right against prejudice, it is not a surprise that the play itself contains many images of prejudice, discrimination and even stereotypes about Mexican- American. The play itself is very deep in portraying the unfairness and the harshness like how hard the job could be, how these people lived in a very rough surroundings. Thus, it is obvious that this point becomes the main issue of many researches, as what is implied in the following quotation.
In Los Vendidos, one of many stereotypes concerning Chicanos occurs when Honest Sancho (the salesman) is trying to sell one of the Mexican models to a customer. He uses satire, to convey humor, in describing the economic features of the farm worker model. The interaction between the salesman and the customer consisted of the following statement, in regards to the farm worker, "One plate of beans and tortillas will keep him going all day" (Vendidos 866). The stereotype refers to the traditional foods of Chicanos and their traditional work ethic (http://www.helium.com/items/229121- critique-luis-valdezs-los-vendidos-susan-glaspells-trifles-comparison). PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
From the quotation above, it is understood that the most prominent issue in Los Vendidos is the stereotypes of Mexican-Americans. Mexican-Americans were often regarded as the low class people in America because they were very poor and uneducated. Not only that, because most of them worked as cheap labors in plantation and mines, Mexican-Americans often got unfair treatment from the Whites. For example, they were placed to work in a very hard occupation, such as mining and farming, but in return, they received a very low payment. Moreover, these immigrant workers also did not get a good life facility. They had to face water shortage, inappropriate housing, and the heat in the plantation. Because of those things, they were stereotyped as the cheap hard worker labor that can be ‘used’ for any job by the Whites.
However, those are not the only issues in Mexican-Americans community as what can be considered from following quotation.
Written by Luis Valdez, "Los Vendidos" attempted to highlight Latino stereotypes and their effects on society and on those stereotyped. The Mexican characters in the play symbolized each label cast against the race, allowing readers to fully analyze and comprehend the prejudices they may very well hold against the race. By showcasing how Mexicans were treated by society through the Secretary's rejection of each representative, people might realize their own prejudices and understand how Latinos feel (http://hubpages.com/hub/Los-Vendidos-Using-stereotypes-to-end-racism).
It can be understood clearly that besides the treatment and the prejudice they received and the hardship they had to cope, social labeling was also a problem for them. Society labeled them as a different class of people with a segregated life from the common people of America. This is very obvious in Los Vendidos where social labeling is presented through the models in the play, like Farm Worker and
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Mexican-American. Both have different labels like Mexican-American is labeled as the educated and civilized version or Farm Worker. While, Farm Worker is labeled generally as the model with outstanding power to work in any field and condition with less cost.
These points are what often highlighted in many researches that Mexican-American had to face a great deal of suffering as an immigrant worker.
From Los Vendidos, most research evaluated the general life condition and stereotypes of Mexican America that are full of discrimination, prejudice, and extreme hard work. However, fortunately, there is another point that can be regarded as crucial in Los Vendidos as what is suggested in the following quotation.
In Los Vendidos, the play's setting is located in the East side of Los Angeles, California (Vendidos 864). The East Los Angeles setting fits historically, as many Chicanos inhabited that area in the late 20th Century. Also, in both plays the social injustices fit historically in their respective eras as women were oppressed in the early 20th Century and Chicanos were oppressed in the late 20th Century (http://www.helium.com/items/229121-critique-luis- valdezs-los-vendidos-susan-glaspells-trifles-comparison).
History is the aspect that cannot be excluded from Los Vendidos, that this Hispanic literary work contains valuable and precise historical events of Mexican-American life. Thus, this history value is evaluated in this research. Apart from the prejudice and stereotype, this research will describe the Mexican- Americans’ life history, how they migrated for the first time until they were accepted in America as part of the society. Unlike any other researches, this research tries to capture the whole life of the Mexican-American. After all, this is what Valdez actually tries to show his reader that “these reality reflected in an PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
acto is thus a social reality” (Valdez, 1994: 1413). Valdez stated that Chicanos is the idea about unity and group identity, and therefore “the usefulness of the acto extended well beyond the huelga into the Chicano movement, because Chicanos in general want to identify themselves as a group” (Valdez, 1994: 1413). Thus, it can be understood that there is a sense of group identity and this play tries to capture, not only movement or stereotypes but also the group’s life, identity and culture as whole. A more sufficient explanation comes from Valdez in the following quotation.
One character can thus represent the entire Raza, and the Chicano audience will gladly respond to his triumphs or defeats. What to a non-Chicano audience may seem like oversimplification in an acto, is to the Chicano a true expression of his social state and therefore reality (Valdez, 1994: 1413).
This quotation gives the researcher the true reason of using Los Vendidos to represents the history of Chicanos. This is because one character does not speak for a certain specific type of people but as a whole race identity, as what can be seen in Los Vendidos. Moreover the acto itself is the true reality of the group social states.
In short, the research will describe the early life of this Mexican- American community, the struggles in the form of riots and movements to gain equality and at the end, the acculturation. These are the focus of the research that is the whole stages of their life as a complete history as seen from characters in Los Vendidos . PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theory of Character, Characteristic and Characterization
In a very simple definition, Character is “A brief descriptive sketch of a personage who typifies some definite quality” (Holman and Harmon, 1986: 81).
Giving a broader idea, Holman and Harmon, in their book A Handbook to , added that a character includes the idea of the moral constitution of
Literature
human personality, the presence of moral uprightness, and the simpler notion of the presence of creature in art that seem to be human beings of one sort or another (1986: 81). Thus, the researcher may conclude that a character is the figure in a literary work that possesses certain virtue, value, personalities and trait. It can be inferred also that this character employs certain description or image that can be in the form of physical or psychological description. These physical and psychological descriptions are what Holman and Harmon referred as “convincing personality traits” or characteristic of a character (1986: 82).
However, in presenting these characteristics, there are three fundamental methods of characterization in fiction: (1) the explicit presentation by the author of the character through direct exposition, either in an introductory block or more often piecemeal throughout the work, illustrated by action; (2) the presentation of the character in action; (3) the representation from within a character, without comment on the character by the author, of the impact of actions and emotions on the character’s inner self (Holman and Harmon, 1986: 81). Thus, it can be understood that the characteristics of a character can be extracted from the direct description of the character, from how he or she reacted on certain problem or PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
dilemma and from his or her inner thought like his or her emotions. It is possible also to evaluate these characteristics through conversation or other character’s opinion on other. It is also mentioned that the reaction and the emotion of a character can also be a valuable clue of characteristics. This is particularly interesting because it is possible that through a reaction and direct emotion, one shows his or her honest and true characteristics, that this representation shows the real thing of what a person felt and think. Not only that, the direct exposition from other characters can also show more that it is said, like the relationship of each character and their closeness from one to another.
2. Theory of Acculturation
In his book Sociology, Schaefer explained that acculturation is “the process by which an individual forsake his or her own cultural tradition to become part of a different culture” (1986: 232). He also said that the phenomena of acculturation often happen in the minor culture that tries to be accepted by the major culture. So, it can be understood that acculturation is the result of interaction from two or more cultures in unequal condition. This definition, at the same time, explained the situation dealt by the Mexican-American immigrants where they had to adapt and mingle with new surroundings. In this case, the immigrants had to adapt themselves with the new culture that is American cultures. To conclude, acculturation is the result of the Mexican-Americans’ effort to be accepted and to be acknowledged.
Not only that, Acculturation is noted as part of cultural diffusion as was described in Anthropology by Barbara D. Miller and Bernard Wood. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
In each of these types of diffusion, the result is some degree of acculturation, or change in one culture as a result of contact with another culture. At one extreme, a culture may become so thoroughly acculturated that it is assimilated no longer distinguishable as having a separate identity (2006: 610).
One interesting point is that there is a contact between the cultures that make them acculturate. It is also stated that in an extreme level, one culture might lose its own identity, which is referred as assimilation. It can be understood that there is a significant difference between acculturation and assimilation. While assimilation might result in the absence of one culture because it was ‘replaced’, acculturation might show the existence of both cultures because of their mixture.
So, in acculturation, each feature in one culture that is still exist and it might be co-exist with the other culture. That is why, to understand the phenomena in Mexican-American’s life, the concept of acculturation are the most appropriate one. This is because in Mexican-American’s culture, in many cases, the traditional concepts are still used, such as kinship value together with their new American way of life or ideology. On the other hand, another expert on culture and race relation named Kitano argued that “Acculturation is only one of many kinds of assimilation” (1985: 17). He argued that actually acculturation is part of assimilation, and therefore both are similar in a way. This is because basically in both concepts, cultures are compromising each other and which one is neglected, mixed or transferred is another case depending on the existing society and condition.
However, beyond the concept of culture mix and culture transfer from the superior to the lower one, the analysis of acculturation reach on how such PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
process is recognized, that is how, from sociology point of view, acculturation exists in certain society, and the parameter of people who have acculturated. The answer to this can be extracted from Hazuda’s research on health service and epidemiological of Mexican-American. Hazuda analyzed that Acculturation should be recognized as a multi-dimensional process which covers language, culture beliefs and values, and structural assimilation, that is the integration of members of the minority group into the social structure of the majority group (http://www.rice.edu/project/HispanicHealth/Acculturation.html).
Emphasizing the same idea, Gordon (1964) also argued that assimilation or acculturation process can be identified from three stages. The first stage is cultural assimilation, which allows the newcomers to function within the host society by taking on many of its life ways without necessarily relinquishing their definitions of themselves as a distinct ethnic group. The mastery of the host society’s language is one of cultural assimilation where the newcomers are trying to blend themselves with the life ways by learning the language. Not only language, the way these people take the life way of the host society can also cover to the extent of believing the ideology and vision of the host society. This is because to function in the new society, one needs to understand the new society, by language, ideology and thought. The next stage (if it occurs at all) is structural assimilation, whereby newcomers seek entrance into cliques, clubs, and institutions of the larger society through personal contact with dominant group members. In this type of assimilation, Gordon stated that the form of assimilation can cover to social acceptance that is the effort to be accepted in the social structure of the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
majority group, like certain job fields and institutions. The idea of this assimilation is that there will be a contact between these two societies. Eventually, it may lead to marital assimilation, whereby some members of the subculture intermarry with members of the larger society. Gordon believes that, at this point, the subculture has become essentially a history entity with little influence on a person’s life. Basically, it is understood that the process of acculturation covers the process of how this minority group attaches itself with the majority or the mainstream. This process of attachment can be seen from language, ideology, occupation, or even marriage so that they [Mexicans] are accepted by the society and they have the sense as American also.
Moreover, Kitano also introduced the process of acculturation as “Anglo Conformity” (1985: 2). The basic idea is how one society tries to become white, or Americanized close to English ideal in manners, customs, and physical appearance. This concept of Anglo Conformity, or to be like whites can also exist in the form of adaptation, how this ethnic society tries to adapt with the new society so that there will be acceptance. This is also the process of acculturation. Kitano argued that there are many forms of acceptance in acculturation such as ritualistic behavior, superpatriotism, and the internalization of stress (Kitano, 1985: 70). This theory is particularly interesting because it introduces wider concept of acculturation. Kitano argued that when a society starts to go with whatever the mainstream believes in the hope of acceptance like voting, this is also acculturation in the form of ritualistic behavior. The patriotic attitude is also the sign of acculturation, either in an extreme level or just in the level of believing PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI