The Representation Of Dominant Sri Lankan Culture In A Picture Book Entitled It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow.

Fitri Robiah, 2015

The Representation Of Dominant Sri Lankan Culture In A Picture Book Entitled It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu

ABSTRACT

The present study examines the representation of dominant culture in the picture book entitled It’sAmma’s Birthday Tomorrow by Janaki Sooriyarachi. This study aims to describe and reveal that there is a relationship between the images, the narrative and the culture that is depicted. Therefore, this study employs a descriptive qualitative method. Two main theoretical frameworks are used in this

present study. The first theoretical framework is Hall’s (1997) theory of cultural

representation that analyzes the representation of dominant culture. Furthermore, the second theoretical framework is Joyce and Gaudin’s (2011) theory of multimodal approach to the picture books which is used to investigate the illustrations and the written text in the picture book. The findings show that the culture that is represented in the picture book is the dominant culture of Sri Lanka. The dominant culture of Sri Lanka is depicted through the narrative and the images which belong to the grammar of design. The narrative includes character, setting and action. Additionally, the grammar of design covers book details and physical appearances of the main character. The conclusion asserts that the author of the picture book intentionally introduces the dominant culture of Sri Lanka through her work. In addition, this is the strategy that attempts to make Sri Lankan picture book is visible to the consumers as well as to fulfill a demand for learning further about traditional Sri Lankan lives and values.

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The Representation Of Dominant Sri Lankan Culture In A Picture Book Entitled It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow

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ABSTRAK

Penelitian ini meneliti representasi budaya yang dominan dalam buku berjudul It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow Janaki Sooriyarachi. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan bahwa ada hubungan antara gambar, narasi dan budaya yang digambarkan. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini menggunakan metode deskriptif kualitatif. Ada dua kerangka teoritis utama yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini diantaranya teori Hall (1997) mengenai representasi dari budaya yang dominan dan Joyce dan (2011) teori Gaudin tentang pendekatan multimodal untuk buku-buku bergambar yang digunakan untuk menyelidiki ilustrasi dan teks tertulis dalam buku bergambar. Temuan menunjukkan bahwa budaya yang direpresentasikan dalam buku tersebut adalah budaya dominan Sri Lanka. Budaya dominan Sri Lanka digambarkan melalui narasi dan gambar yang termasuk ke dalam tata bahasa. Narasi meliputi karakter, pengaturan dan tindakan. Selain itu, tata bahasa desain mencakup rincian buku dan penampilan fisik dari karakter utama. Kesimpulan menegaskan bahwa penulis buku yang menjadi objek penelitian tersebut sengaja memperkenalkan budaya dominan Sri Lanka melalui karyanya. Selain itu, ini adalah strategi yang mencoba untuk membuat buku cerita bergambar Sri Lanka dikenal oleh banyak pembaca serta untuk memenuhi permintaan belajar lebih lanjut tentang kehidupan tradisional Sri Lankadan nilai-nilai budayanya.

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The Representation Of Dominant Sri Lankan Culture In A Picture Book Entitled It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORIZATION ... i

PREFACE ... ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ... iii

ABSTRACT ... iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... v

LIST OF TABLES ... viii

LIST OF PICTURES ... ix

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ... 1

1.1Background ... 1

1.2Research Question ... 3

1.3Aim of the Study ... 3

1.4Scope of the Study ... 3

1.5Significance of the Study ... 3

1.6Research Methods ... 4

1.7Clarification of Key Terms ... 4

1.8Organization of the Paper... 5

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FOUNDATION ... 7

2.1 Children’s Literature ... 7

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The Representation Of Dominant Sri Lankan Culture In A Picture Book Entitled It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow

2.3 Picture Books ... 9

2.3.1 Definition of a Picture Book ... 9

2.3.2 Types of Picture Books ... 10

2.4 Multimodal Approach in a Picture Book ... 13

2.4.1 Characters ... 14

2.4.2 Actions ... 14

2.4.3 Settings ... 14

2.4.4 Book Details ... 15

2.4.5 Physical Appearances ... 15

2.5 Representation ... 16

2.6 The Dominant of Sri Lankan Culture... 17

2.7 Related Previous Studies ... 18

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 19

3.1 Research Design ... 19

3.2 Subject and Context of the Study ... 19

3.3 Data Collection... 20

3.4 Data Analysis ... 20

3.5 Data Presentation ... 21

3.6 Synopsis ... 25

CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ... 27

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4.1.1 The Representation of Dominant Sri Lankan Culture from the Narrative

... 27

4.1.2 The Representation of Dominant Sri Lankan Culture from the Grammar of Design ... 33

4.2 Discussion ... 38

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS ... 40

5.1 Conclusion... 40

5.2 Suggestions ... 41

REFERENCES ... 42 APPENDICES

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Tomorrow

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter revolves around the introduction of the research including the background of the study, theresearch question, the aim of the study, the scope of the study, the significance of the study, the research methods, the clarification of key terms and the organization of the paper.

1.1 Background

One of the primary ways to support children in developing the cultural awareness is through the use of literature. Children’s literature can be used to explore and develop appreciation for cultural differences (Creany, et.al, 1993) since they are made and created specifically for children for the sake of conveying messages on many themes of social issues such as their own culture and family, cultures around the world, geography, history, community and so on (National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2005). Furthermore, according to Hunt (1995) children’s literatureis inseparable from the phenomena or issues that are related to life and behavior of children. In order to convey a moral message to the children, children’s literature revolves around good behaviors that can be applied in their daily lives through particular phenomena, events and imaginative stories (Nodelman, 1996).

One of the genres on children’s literature is a picture book. Nodelman (1988) highlights that a picture book is considered as achildren’s book simply because it tells us about childhood experiences, for instance: enjoying birthday party, losing tooth for the first time, camping out and telling ghost stories, getting a new pet and dealing with family problems. Further, he says that in the picture book, the words say what the pictures cannot reveal and the pictures show what the words cannot tell. The verbal and the visual speak and show, andboth of them construct the new meaning (Nodelman, 1988). The new meaning produced by visual and verbal can either support or contradict each other (Chen, 2010). However, ideally, supported by the combination of words and pictures,apicture book helps children to understand and comprehendthe story easily. Thus, it enables children to obtain the message containing good lessons through the story presented.

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Moreover, a picture book can be used as a media to introduce one culture or stereotypes. Children’s picture books can convey values, reflect a culture, and provide children with another way of perceiving life (Stan, 1999). Understanding a country or culture through the perspective of a literary characterwho lives in different country can create a personal relationship with a place that is not possible through other media (Creany, et. al, 1993). This assumption is manifested in society for the purpose of making the interaction between children and around their society filled with the culture values and formed their characters as well. In this way, children as an object of educational processwhich guarantee the continuity in terms of social and culture.

In addition to the information encountered in the children’s picture book, compelling fictional stories also help children gain a deeper understanding of people and cultures (Tompkins, 2001).Thus, every children’s picture book, whether it is implicitly or explicitly contains ideology as the culture values. Furthermore, culture is the way of life of people such as the sum of their learned behavior patterns, attitudes and material things (Miranda, 1994). It means that culture as general patterns can distinguish among groups of people based on their characteristics.

There are several studies which investigated the representation of culture in children’s picture book. Creany, et.al (1993), for instance, conducted the study about the representation of culture in children’s picture books. He discovered that the representation of culture in the children’s picture book is revealed through the illustration, thus, the illustration in children’s picture book gives children the opportunity to see the similarity among people as well as to appreciate the differences. Furthermore, Roy (2008) whoinvestigated a critical discourse analysis of the representation of Asian Indian folktale in US American children’s literature found that Eurocentric imperial ideologies continue to inform the formulation of race, gender and nation in U.S children’s books, where the popular expectations about India are dictated by colonial stereotypes in approaching multiculturalism in the US. Additionally, Kuo (2005) adopted a postcolonial critique to represent Taiwanese culture in children’s picture books. His findings suggested that Taiwanese picture books offer the child reader of the postcolonial experience and introduce them the privilege regarding to the imperial center.

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The Representation Of Dominant Sri Lankan Culture In A Picture Book Entitled It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow

Inspired by those studies above, this present study attempts to analyze a picture book entitled It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow by Janaki Sooriyarachi (2008) using the theory of representation by Hall (1997). The reason employing Hall’s (1997) theory is because it deals with cultural representation that occupies the important place in the study of culture. Moreover, Joyce & Gaudin (2011) theory about multimodal approach is also used to analyze the narrative and grammar of design in the picture book.

1.2 Research Question

The study raises one question to be answered:

1. What kind of culture is represented in the picture book entitled It’sAmma’s

Birthday Tomorrow?

1.3 Aim of the Study

In line with the problem of the study above, this present study attempts to reveal therepresentationof culture in a picture bookentitled It’s Amma’s Birthday

Tomorrow.

1.4 Scope of the Study

This study is limited to investigate the culture which is represented in a picture book entitled It’sAmma’s Birthday Tomorrow.

1.5 Significance of the Study

Since this study focuses on investigating the cultural representation in the picture book entitled It’sAmma’s Birthday Tomorrow written by Janaki Sooriyachrachi, it is expected that theoretically the study aims to increase the knowledge of literature to children, particularly in terms of culture. Further, practically, this study can be used for teaching about culture to children of elementary school.

1.6 Research Methods

This present study employed a descriptive qualitative method because it aimed to describe and interpret the cultural representation in a picture book entitled It’s

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Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow by Janaki Sooriyachrachi. As suggested by Belk (2006, p. 15), a descriptive qualitative method is the method which is “interpretative and subjective”. Further, a descriptive qualitative method is a method that attempts to describe and investigate the particular phenomena and current situation (Sevilla, et. al., 1992; Gay, et.al, 2006). Hence, the descriptive qualitative method is an appropriate method for this present study.

The data were collected from the picture book It’s Amma’s Birthday

Tomorrow which was written by Janaki Sooriyachrachi. The data were presented in

the form of images and words which were critically analyzed using cultural representation that proposed by Hall (1997) and multimodal approach in the picture book by Joyce and Gaudin (2011).

1.7 Clarification of Key Terms

The followings are some of the terms used in this study that needs to be explained and clarified to avoid misinterpretation and ambiguity:

1. Children’s literature is inseparable from the phenomena or issues that are related to life and behavior of children. It is made and created specifically for children for the sake of conveying messages on childhood life (Hunt, 1995). In addition, it can be used to explore and develop appreciation for cultural differences (Creany, et. al, 1993).

2. Picture book is one of the genres in children’s literature. In the picture book, the words say what the pictures cannot reveal and the pictures show what the words cannot tell. The verbal and the visual speak and show, both of them constructs the new meaning (Nodelman, 1988).

3. Culture is the way of life of people such as the sum of their learned behavior patterns, attitudes and material things. It is considered as general patterns which can distinguish among groups of people based on their characteristics (Miranda, 1994).

4. Representation is an essential part of the process by which meaning is produced and exchanged between members of a culture. It involves the use of language, of signs and images which stand for or represent things(Hall, 1997).

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The Representation Of Dominant Sri Lankan Culture In A Picture Book Entitled It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow

1.8 Organization of the Paper

The organization of the paper is divided into five chapters and they are as follows:

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter focuses on the introduction of the research including the background of the study, the research question, the aim of the study, the scope of the study, the significance of the study, the research methods, the clarification of key terms and the organization of the paper.

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The chapter discusses related theories of the study which are used to analyze and interpret the data of the study. This chapter also presents some previous studies that are related to the issue.

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The chapter consists of the research design, the subject and context of the study, the data collection, data analysis, data presentation and the synopsis of the picture book.

CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

This chapter provides the findingsbased on the research question and discussions of the study.

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

Thisis the last chapter of the study. It presents the conclusion based on the findings and discussions in the previous chapter. Additionally, it also contains the suggestions for further study.

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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

This chapter focuses on the research methodology used in this present study to examine the cultural representation in a picture book entitled It’sAmma’s

Birthday Tomorrow by Janaki Sooriyachrachi. It revolves around the research

design, the subject and context of the study, the data collection, data analysis, data presentation and the synopsis of the picture book.

3.1 Research Design

The research design of the study was a descriptive qualitative method. It because the aim of the study was to describe and interpret the cultural representation in a picture book entitled It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow by Janaki Sooriyachrachi. This is in line with Belk (2006, p. 15) who suggests a

descriptive qualitative method is the method which is “interpretative and subjective”. Further, Sevilla, et. al., (1992) and Gay, et. al, (2006) add that a descriptive qualitative method is a method that attempts to describe and investigate the particular phenomena and current situation. Since the data in this study were used to develop concepts and theories that help people to understand the subject of the study, the descriptive qualitative method is an appropriate method for this present study.

3.2 Subject and Context of the Study

A picture book entitled It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow was the main subject of this study. The book was written by Janaki Sooriyarachchi, a children’s book author and illustrator. She has written and illustrated more than 195 story books for children. She also has won many international awards and prizes.

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The reason for choosing the picture book was because the word Amma in It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow is something unusual. The title of the picture

book is using the English language but the word Amma is not originally from English language. Hence, the writer is interested to analyze the intention of the author from the use of the word Amma as the title of the picture book.

Moreover, based on the type of picture book, itbelongs to the picture story book. The picture story book is the most common type of a picture book for children.Ithelps children to understand and comprehend the story easily. Thus, it enables children to obtain the message containing good lessons through the story presented.

3.3 Data Collection

The data were collected from the picture book entitled It’s Amma’s

Birthday Tomorrow by Janaki Sooriyachrachi. The data were presented in the

form of images and words which were critically analyzed using cultural representation that proposed by Hall (1997) and multimodal approach in the picture book by Joyce and Gaudin (2011).

3.4 Data Analysis

In analyzing the data, the present study conducted the stages of multimodal approach based onJoyce and Gaudin (2011). According to them, the representation of culture can be depicted through the narrative and the images which belong to the grammar of design. The representation of culture through the narrative covers the character, setting and the action. In addition, the representation of culture through the grammar of design includes book details and the physical appearances of the character.Furthermore, the present study also

employed Hall’s (1997) theory about cultural representation to support the previous stages. Then, the result of the analysis wasinterpreted into the narration.

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3.5 Data Presentation

To accomplish the data analysis of thestudy, the presentation of the data is formulatedin the form of table. The design of the table is as follows:

Table 3.1 Sample of Analysis in the Picture Book It’sAmma’s Birthday Tomorrow that Represents Sri Lankan Culture

The representation of Sri Lankan culture through narrative Picture 1

Non-human characters

Firefly

As can be seen in the picture 1, the use of firefly in this story represents the folktale of traditional Sri Lanka because Sudeshna (2008) asserts that firefly is usually used as the metaphor to represent the agricultural society in Sri Lanka. Further, firefly is often times seen in natural environment without pollution. Sudeshna (2008)

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also states that firefly is a popular type of insect

that is usually used in Sri Lankan children’s

picture book.

Rabbit

Rabbit is associated with the prosperity in Sri Lanka which portrays the richness and the soundness for the people of Sri Lanka (Miranda, 1994). Moreover, rabbit is also often used in children picture book in order to introduce to the children about the cuteness of the animal (Joyce & Gaudin, 2011)

Bird

Bird is depicted in the illustration. It can be seen in the picture 1 above. In relation to Sri Lankan culture, the term bird is often used in the Sri Lankan children picture book which indicates the loyalty (Miranda, 1994). Further she asserts that people in Sri Lanka hinterland often keep the bird as their animal pet as well as believe that bird is the symbol of loyalty.

Spider

The illustration of the spider in general hints never give up because Roy (2008) emphasizes that spider build its cobweb by their self without helped by other spiders. Hence, in this picture book, the spider does not represent the culture but it can be related to the main character’s personality who never gives up getting the precious gift for her mother in the story. It is different with the other animals which represent the Sri Lankan culture but the spider represents the characteristic of Nikini who is never gives up getting what she wants in her life which fits with general characteristic of Sri Lankan children in the current cartoon film entitled Little Krishna.

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The Representation Of Dominant Sri Lankan Culture In A Picture Book Entitled It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu Picture 2

Setting

The setting in the picture book also helps to represent the culture of Sri Lanka. Setting refers to the space in which the characters and the action are found (Joyce & Gaudin, 2011). According to Creany, et.al,. (1993), setting is one of the attributes of the culture because it can identify one culture or stereotype in the illustration. For instance, in this picture book, the setting of the story is mostly in the forest. It can be seen from the illustration that describes the trees and the grass. The existence of the grass and the trees are portrayed though the green color. Green color in the illustration is often related to nature and freshness (Wooten and Cullinan, 2009). Hence, green color describes the nature in the forest as well as contributes to the setting of the story. The illustration can be seen in the picture 2 below which describes the setting that the story takes place in the forest.

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The Representation Of Dominant Sri Lankan Culture In A Picture Book Entitled It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu Picture 3

Action

Another narrative element which supports the representation of Sri Lankan culture is the action. Based on Joyce and Gaudin (2011), a representation of certain culture can be seen from the way the character makes a choice for actions. For example, in this picture book, Nikini as the main character made a choice to choose sari as the gift for her mother’s birthday. She chose sari as suggested by

her animal friends based on the text. In the text, the animal friends considered sari as the precious gift for her mother. Therefore, from the choice of action done by the main character in the story, it can be said that Nikini chooses sari as the precious gift for her mother because the author of the picture book intends to introduce the culture of Sri Lanka into the dress which called sari. Moreover, sari

is a product of culture because Sudeshna’s (2008) idea states that sari is the

traditional dress for women in Sri Lanka. Hence, in this context, sari represents the Sri Lankan culture.

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3.6 Synopsis

The identity of the book below is written by following the steps that Joyce and Gaudin (2011) propose in examining a picture book as follows:

Book Title : It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow Author : Janaki Sooriyachrachi

Published : 2008, Sri Lanka Publisher : Tikiri Publisher

Story : It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow tells about a little girl named Nikini who really loves her mother. She lives with her mother and her father near the forest. Instead of human characters such as Nikini and her parents, there are non-human characters such as firefly, bird, rabbit and

spider. They become Nikini’s good friends and always help Nikini in journey to get the special gift for her mother’s birthday along the night in

the dark forest. The story began with her father who recalls Nikini about

her mother’s birthday tomorrow. He brings a big gift box for Nikini’s

mother. Nikini really loves her mother so she thinks about how to gift the very special gift for her mother. In addition, she goes to the forest in looking for the gift accompanied by her animal friends. She finally found the sari to be given as the precious gift for her mother. But then, the sari broke into the pieces by the rain. Nikini cries beneath the tree and her

mother found her crying. This story mostly tells about how hard Nikini’s

effort to get something precious for her mother. Even though, actually her mother does not ask anything from Nikini in her birthday.

Narrator : It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow is told from the first person narrator in the dialogue. Nikini as the main character uses the direct speech that described to the reader about what she does, experiences and remembers. This is often found in the text of picture book that written for very young children. So that the intended audience or the reader of this picture book is the age two to six years old. However, in the written

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context this picture book is using the third person narrator that is told by the author of the picture book.

Characters : The main character in the picture book is Nikini. Nikini is the main protagonist of the story. She has her own unique characteristics of a good daughter in her age and never gives up getting what she wants in her

life. Furthermore, Nikini’s physical appearance describes the characteristic

of people in Sri Lanka that always barefooted everywhere in the story. There are also minor characters in the story such as a firefly, bird, rabbit

and spider. They become the helpers of the main character’s goal.

Time : The story of It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow occurs over the short frame time of a single night. It is beginning in the evening when

Nikini is in the house that recalled by her father about her mother’s

birthday tomorrow. Then, it is ending when her mother found Nikini is crying beneath the tree in the morning because she found nothing to be given to her mother’s birthday.

Setting : The setting of this picture book is in the forest where it becomes the familiar location to be identified by the children. The setting is described by the illustration of trees and the grass in the forest. It also describes the condition of Sri Lanka hinterland which most of the district at that country is the forest.

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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

This is the last chapter of the present study. It consists of two parts. The first part presents the conclusion based on the findings and discussions in the previous chapter. The second part puts forward the suggestions for further studies.

5.1 Conclusion

The present study concerns with the representation of culture in the picture book entitled It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow. By using Hall’s (1997) theory of cultural representation and Joyce and Gaudin’s (2011) multimodal approach in the picture book, it is discovered that the culture that is represented in the picture book is Sri Lankan culture. It is represented through the narrative and grammar of design. In narrative, the representation of Sri Lankan culture can be seen from the character, setting and action. Additionally, in relation to grammar of design, the representation of Sri Lankan culture is also revealed through the book details as well as the physical appearances of the main character which belongs to the characteristic of people in Sri Lanka.

In terms of narrative, the culture is represented through the character particularly the non-human characters who act as the main character’s friends such as firefly, rabbit, bird and spider. In this context, firefly represents the agricultural society in Sri Lanka, rabbit is associated with the prosperity of the people in Sri Lanka, bird indicates the loyalty as believed by the people in Sri Lanka and spider represents the characteristic of Nikini who is never gives up getting what she wants in her life which fits with the characteristic of Sri Lankan children in the current cartoon film entitled Little Krishna.Hence, from those non-human characters, it can be said that the author puts the intentional meaning to represent the culture. Furthermore, from the setting of the picture book, it represents the geographical setting in a country which mostly depicts the forest. In addition, the action that is chosen by the main character that chooses sari as the

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precious gift for her mother’s birthday as an intention of the author to represent one culture.

Besides, the grammar of design contributes in representing the culture through the book details and the physical appearances of the main character. In book details, the representation of culture can be seen from the title of the picture book from the word Amma that is taken from Sinhales language which means mother because Sinhales is the language of Sri Lanka. Further, the physical appearances of the main character is depicted as a little girl who is always barefoot in the story, using bracelet on her hand and the style of her hair that reflect the characteristic of people in one country.

From all the findings above, it is suggested that the picture book entitled It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow represents a culture. The culture which is represented in the picture book is Sri Lankan culture. The author of the picture book intentionally introduces her culture into her work. Furthermore, this is the strategy that attempts to make Sri Lankan picture book is visible to the consumers as well as to fulfill a demand for learning further about traditional Sri Lankan lives and values.

5.2 Suggestions

Since this study only discusses the representation of Sri Lankan culture in the picture book, it will be more challenging if the further study investigates the representation of the comparison between two cultures in the picture books. A study of the culture in children’s literature would help us understand the ways in which a picture book may be judged to be an acceptable representation of the culture or culture it represents. So, it can make the further researcher learns and understands many cultures around the world that underlie in the picture books. Furthermore, by enlarging to learn so many cultures, it is expected that the further study will be more comprehensive and representative.

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Nodelman, P. (1988). Word about Pictures: The Narrative Art of

Children’sPicture Books. Athens: The University of Georgia Press.

Nodelman, P. (1996). The Pleasures of Children’s Literature (2nd Ed). New York:

Longman.

Roy, S. (2008). A Critical Discourse Analysis of Representation of Asian Indian

Folktales in US-American Children’s Literature. New York: Purdue University Press.

Sevilla, C. G., et. al. (1992). Research Methods. Quezon City: Rex Book Store, Inc.

Sipe, L. R. (2011). The Art of Picture Book. Handbook of Research on Children’s

and Young Adult Literature. 17 (2), 238-251.

Sooriyarachi, J. (2008). It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow. Sri Lanka: Tikiri Publisher

Stan, S. (1999). Going Global: World Literature for American Children. Theory

into Practice, 38 (3), 168-177

Sudeshna, M. (2008). The Evolution of an Ethnic Identity: The Tamils of Sri

Fitri Robiah, 2015

The Representation Of Dominant Sri Lankan Culture In A Picture Book Entitled It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu

Tompkins, G. E. (2001). Literacy fo 21 Century: A Balanced Approach. Upper Saddle River. NJ: Merrill Prentice HallPublishers.

Wooten, A, D. & Cullinan, E, B. (2009). Children’s Literature in the Reading

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The Representation Of Dominant Sri Lankan Culture In A Picture Book Entitled It’s Amma’s

Birthday Tomorrow 3.6 Synopsis

The identity of the book below is written by following the steps that Joyce and Gaudin (2011) propose in examining a picture book as follows:

Book Title : It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow Author : Janaki Sooriyachrachi

Published : 2008, Sri Lanka Publisher : Tikiri Publisher

Story : It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow tells about a little girl named Nikini who really loves her mother. She lives with her mother and her father near the forest. Instead of human characters such as Nikini and her parents, there are non-human characters such as firefly, bird, rabbit and

spider. They become Nikini’s good friends and always help Nikini in journey to get the special gift for her mother’s birthday along the night in

the dark forest. The story began with her father who recalls Nikini about

her mother’s birthday tomorrow. He brings a big gift box for Nikini’s

mother. Nikini really loves her mother so she thinks about how to gift the very special gift for her mother. In addition, she goes to the forest in looking for the gift accompanied by her animal friends. She finally found the sari to be given as the precious gift for her mother. But then, the sari broke into the pieces by the rain. Nikini cries beneath the tree and her

mother found her crying. This story mostly tells about how hard Nikini’s

effort to get something precious for her mother. Even though, actually her mother does not ask anything from Nikini in her birthday.

Narrator : It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow is told from the first person narrator in the dialogue. Nikini as the main character uses the direct speech that described to the reader about what she does, experiences and remembers. This is often found in the text of picture book that written for very young children. So that the intended audience or the reader of this picture book is the age two to six years old. However, in the written

Fitri Robiah, 2015

The Representation Of Dominant Sri Lankan Culture In A Picture Book Entitled It’s Amma’s

Birthday Tomorrow

context this picture book is using the third person narrator that is told by the author of the picture book.

Characters : The main character in the picture book is Nikini. Nikini is the main protagonist of the story. She has her own unique characteristics of a good daughter in her age and never gives up getting what she wants in her

life. Furthermore, Nikini’s physical appearance describes the characteristic

of people in Sri Lanka that always barefooted everywhere in the story. There are also minor characters in the story such as a firefly, bird, rabbit

and spider. They become the helpers of the main character’s goal.

Time : The story of It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow occurs over the short frame time of a single night. It is beginning in the evening when

Nikini is in the house that recalled by her father about her mother’s

birthday tomorrow. Then, it is ending when her mother found Nikini is crying beneath the tree in the morning because she found nothing to be given to her mother’s birthday.

Setting : The setting of this picture book is in the forest where it becomes the familiar location to be identified by the children. The setting is described by the illustration of trees and the grass in the forest. It also describes the condition of Sri Lanka hinterland which most of the district at that country is the forest.

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The Representation Of Dominant Sri Lankan Culture In A Picture Book Entitled It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

This is the last chapter of the present study. It consists of two parts. The first part presents the conclusion based on the findings and discussions in the previous chapter. The second part puts forward the suggestions for further studies.

5.1 Conclusion

The present study concerns with the representation of culture in the picture book entitled It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow. By using Hall’s (1997) theory of cultural representation and Joyce and Gaudin’s (2011) multimodal approach in the picture book, it is discovered that the culture that is represented in the picture book is Sri Lankan culture. It is represented through the narrative and grammar of design. In narrative, the representation of Sri Lankan culture can be seen from the character, setting and action. Additionally, in relation to grammar of design, the representation of Sri Lankan culture is also revealed through the book details as well as the physical appearances of the main character which belongs to the characteristic of people in Sri Lanka.

In terms of narrative, the culture is represented through the character particularly the non-human characters who act as the main character’s friends such as firefly, rabbit, bird and spider. In this context, firefly represents the agricultural society in Sri Lanka, rabbit is associated with the prosperity of the people in Sri Lanka, bird indicates the loyalty as believed by the people in Sri Lanka and spider represents the characteristic of Nikini who is never gives up getting what she wants in her life which fits with the characteristic of Sri Lankan children in the current cartoon film entitled Little Krishna.Hence, from those non-human characters, it can be said that the author puts the intentional meaning to represent the culture. Furthermore, from the setting of the picture book, it represents the geographical setting in a country which mostly depicts the forest. In addition, the action that is chosen by the main character that chooses sari as the

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The Representation Of Dominant Sri Lankan Culture In A Picture Book Entitled It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow

precious gift for her mother’s birthday as an intention of the author to represent one culture.

Besides, the grammar of design contributes in representing the culture through the book details and the physical appearances of the main character. In book details, the representation of culture can be seen from the title of the picture book from the word Amma that is taken from Sinhales language which means mother because Sinhales is the language of Sri Lanka. Further, the physical appearances of the main character is depicted as a little girl who is always barefoot in the story, using bracelet on her hand and the style of her hair that reflect the characteristic of people in one country.

From all the findings above, it is suggested that the picture book entitled

It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow represents a culture. The culture which is represented in the picture book is Sri Lankan culture. The author of the picture book intentionally introduces her culture into her work. Furthermore, this is the strategy that attempts to make Sri Lankan picture book is visible to the consumers as well as to fulfill a demand for learning further about traditional Sri Lankan lives and values.

5.2 Suggestions

Since this study only discusses the representation of Sri Lankan culture in the picture book, it will be more challenging if the further study investigates the representation of the comparison between two cultures in the picture books. A

study of the culture in children’s literature would help us understand the ways in

which a picture book may be judged to be an acceptable representation of the culture or culture it represents. So, it can make the further researcher learns and understands many cultures around the world that underlie in the picture books. Furthermore, by enlarging to learn so many cultures, it is expected that the further study will be more comprehensive and representative.

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The Representation Of Dominant Sri Lankan Culture In A Picture Book Entitled It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow

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Fitri Robiah, 2015

The Representation Of Dominant Sri Lankan Culture In A Picture Book Entitled It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow

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