THE PRESERVATION OF CHINESE BELIEFS BY A CHINESE – AMERICAN IN AMY TAN’S THE KITCHEN GOD’S WIFE A Thesis Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree in English Language Education
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THE PRESERVATION OF CHINESE BELIEFS
BY A CHINESE – AMERICAN
IN AMY TAN’S THE KITCHEN GOD’S WIFE
A Thesis
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Tarsisius Joni Prasetya W
Student Number: 041214038
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2008
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
THE PRESERVATION OF CHINESE BELIEFS
BY A CHINESE – AMERICAN
IN AMY TAN’S THE KITCHEN GOD’S WIFE
A Thesis
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Tarsisius Joni Prasetya W
Student Number: 041214038
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2008
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A Sarjana Pendidikan Thesis on
THE PRESERVATION OF CHINESE BELIEFS
BY A CHINESE – AMERICAN
IN AMY TAN’S THE KITCHEN GOD’S WIFE
Prepared and Presented by Tarsisius Joni Prasetya W
Student Number: 041214038 Approved by:
Date Henny Herawati, S.Pd., M.Hum.
29 August 2008 Sponsor
THE PRESERVATION OF CHINESE BELIEFS
BY A CHINESE – AMERICAN
IN AMY TAN’S THE KITCHEN GOD’S WIFE
By Tarsisius Joni Prasetya W
Student Number: 041214038 Defended before the Board of Examiners
On 22 September 2008 and Declared Acceptable
Board of Examiners
Chairperson :
A. Hardi Prasetyo, S.Pd., M.A. ______________ Secretary : Made Frida Yulia, S.Pd., M.Pd. ______________ Member : Henny Herawati, S.Pd., M.Hum. ______________ Member : Dr. A. Herujiyanto, M.A. ______________ Member : Triprihatmini, S.Pd., M.Hum., M.A. ______________
Yogyakarta, 22 September 2008 Faculty of Teachers Training and Education
Sanata Dharma University Dean, Drs. Tarsisius Sarkim, M.Ed., Ph.D.
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STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY
I honestly declare that the thesis, which I wrote, does not contain the works or parts of the works of other people, except those cited in the quotations and the references, as a scientific paper should.
Yogyakarta, 29 August 2008 The Writer,
Tarsisius Joni Prasetya W Student Number: 041214038
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Dao ren shan, ji shi shan Ren zhi zhi, yu si mian Praising the good values is honorable behavior People being praised will be more motivated
(Anonymous) Let us create the harmony of life by respecting others, the nature, and God.
God bless us with luck and prosperity.
Amen.
Dedicated with love and gratitude to: My Lord Jesus, Mother Mary, and St. Tarcicius
My beloved family and my great lecturers My friends s
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am sure that I would not have been able to write this thesis and to finish it without the help and the support of others. First of all, I would like to convey my greatest gratitude to my Lord, Jesus Christ and Mother Mary, that due Their blessing, I could finally finish writing this thesis. Their blessing has been the greatest power to cope with my hard times.
I would like to sincerely express my deepest gratitude to my sponsor,
Henny Herawati, S.Pd., M.Hum., who had supported me and given me great
assistance. Thank you very much for her patience, advice, and beneficial suggestions for my thesis. May God bless her and her family with great happiness.
My gratitude would also go to my lecturers in Sanata Dharma University who shared their precious knowledge. I would like to express my great gratitude to
Triprihatmini, S.Pd., M.Hum., M.A., who had shared her knowledge in
teaching and Dr. A. Herujiyanto, M.A., who had helped me to gain the pleasure of reading a novel. I will always do my best and learn more to be a better teacher.
I would like to express my greatest gratitude to my beloved father, Am.
Suwardono and my wonderfull mother, Alphonsa Suharyanti for their endless
love, patience, and prayer. The same appreciation also goes to my brother and my sister, Hari and Ratri, for their great affection.
I am greatly indebted to Mr. Tjia Tjek Su from Tjen Ling Kiong Miao and my friends from Hok An Kiong Miao, who shared their knowledge on Chinese Beliefs and all its aspects.
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My gratitude also goes to my best friends; Poli, Wida, Anas, Sinta,
Ajeng, Heni, Titis, Santi, Ponco, Sigit, Edi, and Dito for the joke that they
shared with me, I will never forget them all. Thank you for Dias, Patrice, and
Fajar, who become my thesis reader. My gratitude also goes to my friends in
Cantus Firmus Choir, my beloved kids in Sunday school, Mr. Anton Jemadi, and the Karawitan Community in Boro.
Finally, I thank all of 2004 PBI students with whom I have struggled to gain the knowledge and my friends whose names I cannot mention one by one.
May God bless them for their kindness and contributions that they had shared in my life.
Tarsisius Joni Prasetya W
TABLE ON CONTENTS
10 2.1.1 The Sociocultural-Historical Approach to literature............
24 2.5 Theoretical Framework .....................................................................
23 2.4. Chinese-American in United States ................................................
21 2.3.3 Ancestor Worship.................................................................
20 2.3.2 Divination.............................................................................
20 2.3.1 Cosmology ...........................................................................
14 2.3 Chinese Beliefs ….............................................................................
14 2.2 Theory of Motivation .......................................................................
13 2.1.2 The Psychological Approach to Literature ..........................
7 CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 2.1 Theory of Critical Approach to Literature ........................................
Page
6 1.5 Definition of Terms...........................................................................
6 1.4 Benefits of the Study.........................................................................
6 1.3 Objectives of the Study .....................................................................
1 1.2 Problem Formulation ........................................................................
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of Study ........................................................................
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................................................ vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................ viii
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................. xii
ABSTRAK..................................................................................................... xiii
iv
TITLE PAGE .............................................................................................. i
APPROVAL PAGES .................................................................................. ii
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY.........................................25 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3.1 Subject Matter ...................................................................................
28 3.2 Approach ...........................................................................................
30 3.3 Research Procedures .........................................................................
31 CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS 4.1 Winnie Louie’s Ways of Preserving Chinese Beliefs .......................
33
4.1.1 Passing Down the Understandings on Chinese Beliefs to the Descendants..................................................................
35 4.1.1.1 Chinese Beliefs are the Symbol of Identity...........
35
4.1.1.2 Chinese Beliefs are the Ways of Respecting the Ancestors...............................................................
36
4.1.1.3 Chinese Beliefs Bring about the Harmony of Yin and Yang................................................................
38 4.1.2 Transferring Chinese Beliefs to the Descendants ..............
40 4.1.2.1 Worshiping the Kitchen God’s Wife ...................
41
4.1.2.2 Naming their Places Based on Chinese Beliefs’ Concepts ...............................................................
44 4.1.3 Strengthening her Family Relationship..............................
45
4.1.3.1 Having some Annual Meetings with other Families .................................................................
46
4.1.3.2 Having a Shop that Provides Chinese Beliefs’ Equipments ...........................................................
48 4.1.3.3 Celebrating their Chinese New Year Celebration.
50
4.2 Winnie Louie’s Motivation as a Chinese-American in Preserving Chinese Beliefs.................................................................................
52 4.2.1 The Self-Actualization Need of Winnie Louie..................
53 4.2.1.1 Showing the Chinese Identity ..............................
53 4.2.1.2 Expressing her Spirituality ...................................
55 4.2.2 The Aesthetic Need of Winnie Louie.................................
56 4.2.2.1 Maintaining the Harmony of Yin and Yang...........
58
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4.2.2.2 The Continuity of Blessing ...................................
59 4.2.3 The Cognitive Need of Winnie Louie................................
61 4.2.3.1 Understanding the Concept of Chinese Beliefs ....
62
4.2.3.2 Exploring the Implementation of Chinese Beliefs
63 4.2.4 The Self Esteem of Winnie Louie......................................
65 4.2.4.1 Showing off the Knowledge of Chinese Beliefs ...
65 4.2.4.2 Expressing her Pride as Chinese-American .........
67 4.2.5 The Belongingness and Love Need of Winnie Louie ........
69
4.2.5.1 The Implementation of her Belongingness to Chinese Beliefs .....................................................
69
4.2.5.2 Maintaining the Kitchen God’s Blessing for her Descendants ...................................................
71 4.2.6 The Safety Need of Winnie Louie .....................................
73 4.2.6.1 Maintaining the Minority of Chinese-Americans .
73 4.2.6.2 Feeling Secure in the Community.........................
74 4.2.7 The Physiological Need of Winnie Louie .........................
76 4.2.7.1 Maintaining Winnie Louie’s Business ..................
77 4.2.7.2 The Way of Surviving in America ........................
79 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION 5.1 Conclusions .......................................................................................
81 5.2 Suggestions .......................................................................................
85 5.2.1 Suggestions for the Future Researchers .............................
85 5.2.2 Suggestions for English Teachers ......................................
86 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................
89 APPENDICES .............................................................................................
92 Appendix 1 Lesson Plan for Teaching Intensive Reading II...................
93 Appendix 2 Syllabus of Intensive Reading II ...........................................
97 Appendix 3 Teaching Material ..................................................................
99 Appendix 4 Summary of The Kitchen God’s Wife .................................. 106
Appendix 5 The Biography of Amy Tan ................................................... 110
Appendix 6 The Pictures of Chinese-Americans’ Activities in Chinatown, San Francisco..................................................... 112PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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ABSTRACT
Prasetya, Tarsisius Joni W. (2008). The Preservation of Chinese Beliefs by a
Chinese-American in Amy Tan’s The Kitchen God’s Wife. Yogyakarta:
English Language Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.This study analyzes Amy Tan’s The Kitchen God’s Wife. One of the significant topics in the novel is the preservation of Chinese Beliefs in America. Chinese Beliefs are parts of Chinese Culture which are preserved by Chinese- American. Having great motivation, they preserve Chinese Beliefs in some ways continuously.
The aim of the study is to answer the two questions in the problem formulation. The first is the way how Winnie Louie as a Chinese-American preserves Chinese Beliefs. The second is what motivates Winnie Louie as a Chinese-American to preserve Chinese Beliefs.
The thesis employed the library research. There were two kinds of sources used in this study, primary and secondary sources. The primary source was obtained from the novel, The Kitchen God’s Wife. The secondary sources were gained from theory of the critical approach by Rohrberger and Wood, theory of motivation known as the Need Theory by Maslow, and theory of Chinese Beliefs by Hook. The writer applied two kinds of critical approaches. The writer chose two different approaches, since there were two different aspects of questions. The sociocultural-historical approach was the approach for the first question related to the culture, whereas the psychological approach was the approach for the second question related to one’s motivation.
There are two findings based on the analysis. The first finding states that Winnie Louie applies three major ways of preserving Chinese Beliefs. She begins with passing down the understandings on Chinese Beliefs to the descendants. It is the symbol of identity and the ways of respecting the ancestors. She continues transferring its implementations to the descendants by worshiping the Kitchen God’s Wife and naming the places. Then, she strengthens the family relationship to unite them in the community of preserving Chinese Beliefs in togetherness.
The second finding reveals Winnie Louie’s motivation in preserving Chinese Beliefs. There are some motivations directed by seven kinds of needs. The physiological needs are the basic motivation. Luck and prosperity motivates her to preserve Chinese Beliefs. Being the member of a minority group, who has the same beliefs, she feels secure in the community fulfilling her safety needs. Maintaining the Kitchen God’s blessing for the descendants and implementing her belongingness of Chinese Beliefs are the belongingness and love needs. Preserving Chinese Beliefs is also the expression of her proud of being a Chinese- American who receives Chinese Beliefs as heritages and life guidelines. Winnie Louie’s thinking capacity motivates her to understand and explore Chinese Beliefs, whereas the harmony of Yin and Yang fulfills her aesthetic needs. Finally, the self-actualization need in term of expressing her spirituality and respecting Chinese Beliefs as the identity answers her question about her existence in America which is applied by preserving Chinese Beliefs.
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ABSTRAK
Prasetya, Tarsisius Joni W. (2008). The Preservation of Chinese Beliefs by a
Chinese-American in Amy Tan’s The Kitchen God’s Wife. Yogyakarta:
Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.Skripsi ini membahas tentang sebuah novel karya Amy Tan, The Kitchen
God’s Wife. Salah satu topik yang penting adalah pelestarian kepercayaan-
kepercayaan China di Amerika. Kepercayaan-kepercayaan China merupakan bagian dari kebudayaan China yang dilestarikan oleh orang Amerika keturunan China. Dengan motivasi yang besar, mereka melestarikan kepercayaan- kepercayaan China dalam beberapa cara secara berkelanjutan.
Tujuan dari skripsi ini adalah menjawab dua pertanyaan dalam rumusan masalah, yang pertama bagaimana cara Winnie Louie sebagai orang Amerika keturunan China melestarikan kepercayaan-kepercayaan China, sedangkan yang kedua, apa yang memotivasi Winnie Louie untuk melestarikan kepercayaan- kepercayaan tersebut.
Studi ini menggunakan studi pustaka. Ada 2 macam sumber yang digunakan yakni sumber utama dan sumber kedua. Sumber utama didapat dari novel, The Kitchen God’s Wife sedangkan sumber kedua didapat dari beberapa teori, diantaranya; pendekatan kritik sastra oleh Rohrberger dan Wood, teori motivasi lebih dikenal dengan teori kebutuhan oleh Maslow, dan teori mengenai kepercayaan-kepercayaan China oleh Hook. Penulis memilih dua macam pendekatan yang digunakan untuk dua aspek yang berbeda. Pendekatan sejarah dan budaya masyarakat untuk menjawab pertayaan pertama tentang budaya, sedangkan pendekatan psikologi digunakan untuk menjawab pertayaan kedua mengenai motivasi seseorang.
Ada 2 hasil analisa berdasarkan analisis yang dilakukan. Hasil analisa pertama menunjukkan bahwa Winnie Louie menggunakan tiga cara pokok dalam melestarikan kepercayaan-kepercayaan China. Bermula dengan memberikan pemahaman tentang kepercayaan-kepercayaan China sebagai simbol identitas dan cara untuk menghormati leluhur, berlanjut dengan mewariskan penerapannya pada keturunan. Penerapan kepercayaan tersebut diterapkan dengan menghormati Istri Dewa Dapur dan memberi nama pada tempat-tempat mereka. Selanjutnya, dia mempererat hubungan kekeluargaan, untuk menyatukan mereka dalam komunitas yang melestarikan kepercayaan-kepercayaan China dalam kebersamaan.
Hasil analisa kedua menunjukkan motivasi Winnie Louie dalam melestarikan kepercayaan-kepercayaan China. Ada beberapa motivasi didorong oleh tujuh macam kebutuhan. Kebutuhan badaniah merupakan kebutuhan dasar. Keberuntungan dan kemakmuran memotivasi dia untuk melestarikan kepercayaan
- – kepercayaan tersebut. Sebagai anggota dari kelompok minoritas, sebuah komunitas telah memenuhi kebutuhannya akan keamanan.
Menjaga adanya berkat dari Dewa Dapur untuk keturunan dan menerapkan rasa memilikinya pada kepercayaan-kepercayaan China merupakan bagian dari kebutuhannya akan rasa memiliki dan mengasihi. Melestarikan kepercayaan- kepercayaan China juga merupakan ekspresi rasa bangga sebagai seorang
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Amerika keturunan China yang menerima kepercayaan-kepercayaan tersebut sebagai warisan dan panduan hidup. Kemampuan berpikir yang dimiliki Winnie Louie memotivasi dirinya untuk mengerti dan mempelajari lebih lanjut tentang kepercayaan-kepercayaan tersebut, sedangkan harmoni antara Yin dan Yang memenuhi kebutuhannya akan keindahan dalam harmoni hidup. Pada akhirnya, kebutuhan akan aktualisasi diri diterapkan pada pengekspresian kehidupan rohani dan penghormatan kepercayaan-kepercayaan China, sebagai identitas yang menjawab pertanyaan mengenai keberadaannya di Amerika, dan diwujud- nyatakan dengan melestarikan kepercayaan-kepercayaan China.
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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This chapter deals with the background of the study, problem formulation,
the objectives of the study, the benefits of the study, and the definition of terms used in this study. The background of the study describes the reasons why the writer chooses the topic of the study and literary works as the study. The objective of the study includes the writer aims of finding the answers to the questions stated in the problem formulation. The writer formulates two questions that become the focus discussed in this study. The next part, which is the benefits of the study, contains some advantages from this study. The last part of this chapter gives the description of some terms in order to avoid misconception in analyzing this study.
1.1 Background of the Study
Craig Storti in his book, Figuring Foreigners Out: A Practical Guide (7) defines that culture is the shared assumptions, values, and beliefs of a group of people, which result in characteristic behaviors. Culture consists of two essential aspects; the invisible dimension (assumptions, value, and beliefs) and the visible dimension (behavior). There are a lot of media that can be used as the transformation tools and accelerate the culture transformation such as the internet, television, and magazines. There are two mainstreams of culture based on the regional aspects; western culture and eastern culture. Each culture has some different characteristics.
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2 Recently, the western culture has evolved and has been widespread in the world. The western culture is gained and adapted more easily by people through the media transformation and technology. Undeniably, the western culture starts changing and shifting the eastern culture. It is a tragedy when our descendants tend to learn western culture than their own culture. How they can transfer their culture to their next generation if they do not know about their own culture deeply.
The United State of America is a multicultural country with many ethnic groups and races. Most of the citizens in the country are immigrants. They come from many different countries. Although they come from different countries, races and ethnics, they can live together. Their main purpose to come to America is to get a better life in the country. Chinese is one of the ethnics that live in America. Many Chinese and their generations have stayed for centuries in America. They are called Chinese-American.
Nevertheless America is a multicultural country. American Culture is categorized as Western Culture which takes a great influence in some aspects of life including the human characteristics. Americans tend to be individualistic. Self-reliance and independence are stressed and valued. Personal freedom is highly desired. They believe that people can alter nature and determine their life, not the destiny. They tend to be more concerned with material than spiritual matters.
Chinese Culture, which is categorized as Eastern Culture based on the geographic aspects, has different human characteristics. Chinese Culture applies
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3 the collectivist principles to live in the primary group. Family is the smallest unit of survival. The survival and success of the group ensure the well – being of the individual. They regard other’s needs and feeling. Harmony and interdependence of group are stressed and valued. Tradition must be preserved in the beliefs, rituals and customs. They believe in the destiny as the result of their attitude in life.
Therefore, spiritualism is very important to guide the people to the good destiny.
While the American Culture is widespread and influences other cultures, the Chinese Culture can still exist. Some Chinese, who become the immigrants in other countries, bring their culture. They can still preserve their culture even though they live in America as Chinese-Americans.
Belief as one of the culture’s invisible dimensions should also be preserved to support the preservation of Chinese Culture. Belief is a concept of a way of life and work, which people feel obliged to follow for the sake of proving their worth. It guides people to organize their life. Belief is applied in the visible dimension (behavior). Belief that contains universal behavior is easier to be preserved rather than particular behavior. When the behavior can be conducted for every generation in the group of people, it becomes a tradition. Preserving the Chinese Belief means preserving the Chinese Culture.
Hockett quoted in Byrne’s book, English Teaching Extracts (22) points out that literature is undisputedly a vital part of a nation’s culture. According to the statement above, literature can be a solution in gaining to know the culture along with learning the language. In literature, we can also perceive a portrait of life, a portrait containing values of truth and a process with all its problems.
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4 One of the literary works that can portrait the values of culture in life is
The Kitchen God’s Wife . This is a novel written by Amy Tan that wants to tell
about a Chinese immigrant who lives in America, who brings her identity and culture along her life. The novel was written in 1900s. It was the era of pre- communism. The Communist party in China expanded their authority. The story told that some Chinese had to go to the Formosa Island. They stayed under the democratic authority that was led by Chiang Kai Sek. In 1949 the communist party attacked the democratic authority. The Democratic could not stand against the communist expansion. Finally, they had no choice and had to flee from the communist party authority. It was stated in the Winnie Louie’s conversation obviously.
Eh,Mrs. Chiang Kai Sek, your husband finally knows how to solve all our problems. So simple, get foreign help. Hey, Mr. Roosevelt, Mr.Chuchill, here is my begging bowl. (Amy Tan 334) When the Communists came in 1949. He was too scared to run away, too scared to stay. He became so confused he walked with his own two feet all the way to the port at the north edge of the island, and there he sat down to think about his choices. (Amy Tan 72).
They had to go to the Formosa or Taiwan Island. Some of the Chinese went to other democratic countries, one of them was America. There were many Chinese immigrants who wanted to save their life from the communist. In that era, the Chinese still struggled to get a better life in America as immigrants. They lived in a community, called Chinatown. They built their business and kept their relation among other Chinese immigrants. Winnie Louie had also to go to America and opened a flower shop with her family in the Chinatown. In her daily
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5 life, Winnie Louie believed in Chinese traditions and beliefs. She used the principles of Chinese Culture in deciding what she should do in her life.
My mother and Auntie Helen co-own Ding Ho flower Shop on the Ross Alley in Chinatown (Amy Tan 7). She traces her finger down one, then the other. “Iye shiang ru yi”. The first word is “luck” this other is an other kind of luck, and these two mean’all that you wish.”All kinds of luck, all that you wish (Amy Tan 58). Based on the novel, it was revealed obviously that Winnie Louie as a
Chinese-American could still preserve Chinese Beliefs as a part of Chinese Culture in the States. The valuable things that can be observed are the ways of how Winnie Louie preserves Chinese Beliefs as a Chinese-American. Having finished analyzing the question about the ways of how Winnie Louie preserves Chinese Beliefs, it can be used as a basis for analyzing the aims of this study to find out what motivates Winnie Louie to preserve Chinese Culture as a Chinese American.
As stated by Hockett quoted in Byrne’s book (22), we can learn the aspects of life including culture from the portrait of life revealed in the literary works. By conducting this study, we can learn and use this study to enrich our knowledge of how Chinese-Americans preserve their culture. Without any doubt, the globalization era is happened in this country. Our responsibility as the future generations is to preserve our culture as identity and heritage in our life. This study can also be used as a comparative study and guideline of our thought, behavior, and effort to preserve our valuable culture; Indonesian Culture.
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1.2 Problem Formulation
In analyzing Amy Tan’s novel, the writer focuses on Winnie Louie’s motivation to preserve the Chinese Culture as a Chinese American. Therefore, the writer formulates two problems of this study that are stated as follows:
1. How does Winnie Louie as a Chinese-American preserve the Chinese Beliefs?
2. What motivates Winnie Louie as a Chinese-American to preserve the Chinese Beliefs?
1.3 Objectives of the Study
Based on problem formulation stated above, the objectives of this study are:
1. To find out how Winnie Louie as a Chinese-American preserves the Chinese Beliefs.
2. To find out what motivates Winnie Louie as a Chinese-American preserves the Chinese Beliefs.
1.4 Benefits of the Study
The study is expected to be able to give some benefits for the readers, students and researchers. The benefits of the study are formulated as follow:
1. For the readers The analysis of this study will be beneficial for the readers in gaining a better understanding related to the novel. It is also help the readers to enrich their knowledge about how Chinese-Americans preserve their beliefs in the
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7 globalization era. Through the literary works, they can adapt the concepts relied on the novel to be practiced in their real life.
2. For the students The writer hopes that this study will also be useful for the students. Reading this study, the students will gain a lot of information related to the way how the major character preserves the Chinese Beliefs. It can help the students analyze some extrinsic and intrinsic aspects of the novel.
3. For the researchers This study will give an important contribution to the future research related to sociocultural-historical and psychological approach. Hence, the researcher can observe and analyze some aspects of the novel with applying sociocultural- historical psychological approach. The writer hopes that this study will also inspire other researchers to analyzing this remarkable novel.
1.5 Definition of Terms
In the last part of this chapter, I will explain some significant terms used in this study. The definition of terms is aimed at avoiding misconception about this study.
1. Preservation
According to Webster Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English
Language, preservation is to keep something alive or in existences. For example;
we will preserve our liberties as free men. In this study, the significant things I
want to preserve and keep the existence are Chinese Beliefs.
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8
2. Culture
Craig Storti in his book, Figuring Foreigners out: a Practical Guide (7), describes that culture is the shared assumptions, values, and beliefs of a group of people, which result in characteristic behaviors. Culture consists of two essential aspects namely the invisible dimension (assumptions, value, and beliefs) and the visible dimension (behavior). Understanding the relations between the two dimensions is the key to preserving the culture. In this study, the writer focuses on beliefs as one of the invisible dimension of culture.
3. Beliefs
According to Craig Storti (8) Beliefs are concepts of a way of life and work which people feel obliged to follow for the sake of proving their worth. It guides people to organize their life so that individual can be typed of person. Belief is applied in the visible dimension (behavior). In this study, the writer focuses on Chinese Beliefs.
4. Chinese Beliefs
Eastern countries including China apply traditions in their life. Traditions have to be preserved in the beliefs, rituals, and customs. They believe in the destiny is the result of their attitude in life. That is the main principle of Chinese Beliefs. Therefore, spiritualism is very important to guide the people in the good destiny (Storti 19). There are three main concepts of Chinese Beliefs namely
Cosmology, Divination, Ancestor Worship ( Hook 288-294).
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9
5. Chinese-American
Based on Microsoft Encarta 2004, Chinese-American is the term for Chinese immigrants who lived in America since 1848 until their descendants now.
The Chinese is one of the ethnics that live in America. Many Chinese and their generations have stayed for centuries in America. According to America cencus, there are about 2.4 million Chinese-Americans lived in America. Many Chinese- Americans lived in the ethnic community known as Chinatown. Some business and tradition could be found in these Chinatown. The largest Chinatowns are in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and Honolulu.
6. Motivation
According to McConnel (259), motivation is defined in many ways. One of them is a series of questions that you ask about why people think, feel, and behave as they do. It stimulates one’s action. Motivation comes from human needs and desires. In this study, the researcher analyzes what motivates Winnie Louie as a Chinese-American, in her efforts to preserve Chinese Beliefs.
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CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE This chapter consists of four parts. Those are the theory of critical
approach to literature, the theory of motivation, the theory of Chinese Beliefs, and theoretical framework. The theory of critical approach to literature discusses the psychological approach to literature and the sociocultural-historical approach to literature. Theory of motivation explains the psychological aspects of human related to the character’s motivation in the novel. After that the writer employs the theory of Chinese Beliefs that are obeyed by the Chinese-American. In this study, the writer also provides some data on Chinese-American in United States. The last is the theoretical framework which the writer reveals the application of the theory to answer the research questions stated in problem formulation.
2.1. Theory of Critical Approach to Literature
The reading process of literary works produces within the readers an array of responses, taking the form of questions, statements, opinions, and feelings evoked by text. This process will lead to the discussion process in literary works. However, the readers need to comprehend the objective analysis in the form of formal literary criticism. By mastering the concepts of formal literary criticism, the readers can become critical readers who are able to understand and articulate their own reactions and those of others to any text (Bressler 4).
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11 According to Rohrberger and Woods (3–15), there are two kinds of approach to literary works. The first approach is impressionist approach. It refers to subjective responses to literary works. The readers response based on their feeling. The second approach is the critical approach. It refers to objective responses to literary works. In the literary research, the researcher applies critical approach to comprehend the literary works deeply. The critical approach is categorized into five approaches.
The first is The Formalist Approach. This approach focuses on the importance to comprehend the total integrity of the literary object. The esthetic value is the main concern. This approach tries to demonstrate the harmonious involvement of all the parts to the whole by pointing out how meaning is derived from structure and how matters of technique determine structure. The extreme formalist critics merely the literary work without reference to the fact of the author’s life, the genre of the places in which the literary object was created, and reference to its social milieu.
The second approach is The Biographical Approach. This approach is used when we want an appreciation of the idea and personality of the author to an understanding the literary work. The critics of this approach emphasize that a work of art is a reflection of a personality. Therefore, they attempt to learn as much as possible about the life and development of the author and to apply the knowledge to understand the literary work. It can be denied that biographical material provides useful facts that could put the reader in a better position to understand and appreciate the literary work.
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12 The third approach is The Sociocultural-Historical Approach This approach believes that it is necessary to investigate the social milieu in which a literary work was created and which is necessarily reflects. They assert two things that literature is not created in a vacuum and the literature embodies ideas significant to the culture that produce it. The examination is not only the literary works of art itself but also the work in relation to others by the same authors in the same periods. This knowledge might enrich the experience of reading.
The fourth approach is The Mythpoeic Approach. This approach is used to discover certain universally recurrent patterns of human thought, which they believe that they find some expression insignificant works of literary. The recurrent pattern, they assert are those that found first expression in ancient myths and folks rites and basic to human thought that they have meaning for all them.
The fifth approach is The Psychological Approach. This approach involves the effort to locate and demonstrate certain recurrent patterns. Unlike the mythpoeic, the psychological approach draws on a different body of knowledge. Sigmund Freud’s exploration area of the human mind came to a result. It is an area of the wellspring of man’s rich imagination. His capacity for the creation, the complexity of his thought, behavior, and the contents of this region of the mind found expression in symbolic words, thoughts and actions.
Since there are two aspects in my study; socioculture-historical and psychology aspect, the writer applies two different approaches in order to discuss the research question in the problem formulation. In this study, the writer would
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13 like to use the sociocultural-historical approach and the psychological approach to analyze the Amy Tan’s Novel The Kitchen God’s Wife.
2.1.1. The Sociocultural-Historical Approach to Literature
According to Welleck (94-109), Literature is really not only a reaction of the social process but also the essence in the abridgment and summary of all history. It represents life and a social institution which uses language as medium presenting a social creation.
Literature also has a social function to describe the influence of society, prescribe and judge the position of literature in society. It is an expression of society. It means that literature depicts some aspects of social reality. An author conveys historical and social truth through literary works.
However, the author is not only influenced by society. The author can influence the society. People may model their lives upon the patterns of character relied on the literary work. The characters of novel afford interesting indications of such social attitudes. Basically, literature occurs in a social context as part of a culture in a milieu.
There are three classifications of the relation between literature and society. First, it is obvious that there is sociology of writer which is included in the literary works. Second, there is a problem in the social content of literary works. At last, the problems of the readers and social effects of literature. The social effects involves the cultural integration happened in the literary works.
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2.1.2. The Psychological Approach to Literature
The theories and practices of Sigmund Freud provide the foundation for psychoanalytic criticism. He believes that a work of literature is the external expression of the author’s unconscious mind. The literary works must be treated like a dream, applying psychoanalytic techniques to the text to uncover the author’s hidden motivation and repressed desires (Bressler 149–153).
According to Freud, an author’s chief motivation for writing any story is to gratify some secret desire; some forbidden wish that probably developed during the author was suppressed and dumped in the unconscious. By using Freud’s psychoanalytic techniques as they are used in dream therapy, psychoanalytic critics believe the reader can unlock the hidden meanings contained within the story. Then the reader can have an accurate interpretation of the text (Bressler 159–160).
Basically, psychoanalytic criticism deals with a work literature primarily as an expression, in fictional form, of the state of mind and the structure of personality of the individual author. The work of literature is correlated with its author’s distinctive mental and emotional traits: (1) reference to author’s personality in order to explain and interpret a literary work; (2) reference to literary works in order to establish, biographically, the personality of the author; (3) the mode of reading a literary work specifically as a way of experiencing the distinctive subjectivity, or consciousness, of its author (Murphy 263).
According to Welleck (81), psychology and literature is the psychological study of the writer, as type and as individual, or the study of creative process, or
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15 the study of the psychological types and laws present within works of literature. It is also the study in the literature effect upon its readers.
Psychology obviously can illuminate the creative process. For some conscious artist, psychology may have tightened their sense of reality, sharpened their powers of observation or allowed them to fall into hitherto undiscovered pattern. Psychology help to uncover the author’s do with the literary works (Welleck 90–93).
2.2. Theory of Motivation
Amy Tan’s novel The Kitchen God’s Wife reveals Winnie Louie’s motivation as a Chinese-American to preserve her Chinese Culture. This part will describe the meaning of motivation based on some theories proposed by psychologists.