A linguistic analysis of literature has caused debates among linguists and between linguists and literary critics. The debate among linguists occurs because they have different opinions regarding the nature of literary language, while the debate between linguists and literary scholars arises as literary scholars question the authority of linguistics to study literary writings. Therefore, in this paper I argue that the language of literature is similar to that of non-literary texts, and I also believe that because the centrality of language in literary writings, linguistics, as the study of language, has the authority to study literature. One linguistic approach to literature is stylistics, which studies the forms, functions, and meanings of literary language in a detailed and systematic way. Keywords: linguistics; literature; literary language; stylistics;
Communication within society comprises diverse linguistic choices influenced by social interaction. This study discusses how structures of utterances and types of directive illocutionary acts pertain to the characters’ qualities and non-linguistic factors in Amal Unbound (2018) by Aisha Saeed. This analysis aims to find out the connection between utterances the characters’ qualities such as age, occupation, education, relationship, social status, and non-linguistic factor like the topic or purpose. The underlying theory used in this study is Bach and Harnish’s directive speech act categorization. This study was conducted using qualitative method since it involves discussion on linguistic data (words, phrases, sentences, and utterances). The result of the analysis shows that the utterances of the novel’s characters are affected by the quality they possess and surrounding non-linguistic factors. In conclusion, understanding illocutionary acts open our eyes of the significance of appropriate uses of language in social practice.
In this article, I present a semiotic study of Dee’s novel Supernova, but the analysis is focused on the female character Diva or Supernova, which plays as the symbol of Dee’s struggle for gender equality. Following Chandler (2007), I made use of the Saussurean and Peircean semiotics, in which signs consist of inseparable signifiers and signifieds, and the modes of their relationships are icon, index, and symbol. In the succeeding discussion, I argue that the title of the novel functions as an index that directs the readers’ attention to the character Diva (Supernova). Supernova is a metaphor (iconic and symbolic) of an individual who is able to enlighten the life of others with wisdom. She also functions as a symbol of strong oppositions to patriarchy, in which good women are simplistically defined with reference to their marriage and family life. There are hundreds of reasons defining a good woman, including maturity, self-awareness, knowledge and compassion. Another metaphorical use of Supernova relates to the fact that she, because of all her qualities, serves as an Avatar, something uncommon in Indonesian context. Appointing a woman and a prostitute as an Avatar means a challenge to Indonesia’s religious patriarchy.Keywords: Supernova; semiotics; icon, index, symbol; gender equality
This article concerns point of view and the ideology of feminism in Ratih Kumala’s novel Tabula Rasa. Point of view is defined with reference to the angle of telling a narrative, whereas feminism is the belief that women and other minority groups suffer from violence, repression, and discrimination. Here, point of view is analyzed based on three different classifications, i.e. Fowler-Uspensky model, Simpson’s mode of narration or Al-Alami’s types of narrators, and Uspensky’s types of narration. The result suggests that Ratih Kumala uses first and third person points of view and internal type of narration to communicate her support for feminism.
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