Table of Contents

Vol. 1, No. 1, Oct. 1992

http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/efficient.html

FSU
in the Limelight
Vol. 1, No. 1
October 1992

Towards More Efficient

Classroom Instruction

J. Marcus Daely

Introduction

In spite of the increasing demand for working knowledge of English in various fields of
Indonesian society, the present English teaching situation in Indonesia such as in junior and
senior high schools as well as in higher education still cannot meet the expectation of society at
large. Of course there are a few enthusiastic teachers who are struggling to help their students
achieve a harmonious development and mastery of the four language skills in English. However,
the result is still a lot to be desired.

Efforts to change the present situation are still being done. A great deal of discussion has been
taking place; new English teaching methods and techniques are continually being developed and
teachers training and in-service training such as up-grading and workshops have occasionally
been carried out. Yet it seems that their efforts have not yet substantially yielded better and
desired results. Many scholars in national seminars on Teaching English as a Foreign Language
in Indonesia (TEFLIN) and even educated ordinary men criticize our English classes in junior
and high schools as well as in higher education for being unable to produce graduates competent
in speaking and writing English.
In this paper the writer would like to put forward some ideas to be reconsidered in order to
improve classroom instruction so that the English education program can somehow be improved
and gives way to the invention of new methods and techniques of teaching English as a foreign
language in Indonesia.

Scientific vs. Educational Theories

There have been a lot of teaching methods that have been developed so far, such as Grammar
Translation Methods, Direct Methods, Audio Lingual Methods and Oral Approach, Eclectic
Method, Natural Method, Total-Physical-Response Method, Natural Approach, Communicative
Approach and many others. Most of these methods are scientific-finding based and have been
tried out "Successfully" at least by those who claimed to have developed the methods. However,
it seems that there are no flawless methods: they have been criticized and, therefore, "new"
methods have been developed and used in our schools.

The methods which are still in vogue now in Indonesia is the Communicative Approach and the
Natural Approach. It seems foolproof to say that since these methods are based on scientific
findings through long painstaking and laborious researches they are the best methods and can be
imported to Indonesian schools to produce better and desired results of English classroom
instruction.

In her paper presented at the SEAMEO Seminar (1981), Dr. G.P. Sampson argues whether the
teaching methods belong to the social dimension of the technological dimension. She claims that
"any teaching methods is necessarily based on educational theory rather than on scientific theory;
it is logically impossible to have simply scientific approach to a subject such as a foreign
language." She further puts forward that "a scientific theory is either correct or incorrect. These
terms are neutral and value-free terms. On the other hand, an educational theory is judged as
good or bad. These terms are value-laden terms. Therefore, imported methods of teaching should
never be used without modification that suits Indonesian situation and condition. Besides,
teaching methods based on scientific researches, need justification from social and pedagogical
aspects. A method that has provide to be successful in certain society may yield different result
due to different social and cultural environment: the method applied in a certain school should
not contradict the social and cultural values of the learners and the teaching materials need to be
taken from the cultures of the learners too, so that they are not deprived from their own culture.

Speaking vs. Silence

Howatt quoted by Richards et al (1986) distinguishes between "strong" and "weak" version of
Communicative Language Teaching. The strong version advances the claim that 'language is
acquired through communication' i.e. using language to learn it. The weak version stresses the
importance of providing learners with opportunities to use language for communicative
purposes, i.e. learning to use the language. In both versions it is claimed that the learner uses
language in communication. This claim is supported by interlanguage theory that regards
mistakes as developmental mastery of the language. Therefore, the learners are facilitated and
encouraged to use language in communication as soon as possible because they learn by doing.

Dulay et al (1982:23), however, cited some results of studies conducted by Huang (1970),
Erving-Tripp (1974), Hakuta (1974) and Hatch (1972) that children acquiring a second language
typically exhibit a silent period for one to three months or so. It can be concluded that in our
teaching we have to allow learners a silent period before they are required to produce language in
communication. This period is needed by learners to internalize and form internal rules out of the
language materials they have been exposed to. Therefore, there is no hurry to make the learners
produce and manipulate language materials they have just listened to in order to communicate in
the language. The students should be allowed some period of silence and within this time they
may be required to show their understanding by using physical responses.

Oral production in foreign language situation is one of the most difficult aspect, even more
difficult that writing, in a sense, because the speaker is required to plan promptly what he want to
say, how to say it right away in actual situation, so that he may change the mental state of his
listener. This is even more difficult for adult learners who are accustomed to using compound
and complex sentences in their native language: they may find it difficult to simplify and use
simple easy sentences in the target language to express their ideas or opinions, which are
sometimes very complex. Therefore, it seems reasonable to believe that the teaching approach is
from listening to writing practice especially copying in the first stage, in the process of writing
they have time to think and re-think or adjust their ideas to be expressed and moulded to suit the
level of their knowledge of the language. This may be very effective for adult learners who
might develop lathophobic aphasia, that is, unwillingness to speak for fear of making mistakes.

Speaking vs. Reading

A child learning his language to communicate, can speak the language before he writes it.
Therefore, it is assumed that language primarily spoken . Based on this assumption it is taken for
granted that learning a second or a foreign language is to speak it, and that speaking should come
before reading.

West (1960) said, "There are many thousands of words in the Bible which we have never
spoken, and never will speak, yet we read it ...". This statement seems to mean that reading and
speaking can be taught separately. In my everyday life, I have some colleagues who can read
textbooks well, especially the ones in their own field of study, but they find it difficult to speak
it.

Phillip G. Hamerton, author of "The Intellectual Life" (1983) told about an Italian who came to
France as a young man who learned his profession there, as follows:

His French was so perfect that it was quite impossible for any one to detect the usual Italian accents. I used to count
him as a remarkable and almost solitary instance of a man speaking two languages in their perfection, but I learned
since then that his French had displaced his Italian so completely that he was wuite unable to speak Italian correctly
and made use of Frenceh invariable when in Italy.

The risk of this displacement is always greatest in cases where the native tongue is not kept up by means of
literature. Bron and Shelley, or our contemporary Charles Lever, would run little risk of losing English by
continental residence, but people can be accustomed to reading and writing often forge the mother tongue in a few
years, even when the foreign one which has displaced it is still in a state of imperfection.

From the above story we see that reading and writing are very important and they can be used to
learn the language and to maintain the mastery of the language we have learned. Therefore
reading and writing should be maintained in the teaching and learning process because reading
and writing maintain the language we have learned.

There are many language specialists who claim that reading aloud is a necessary evil and suggest
that we do away with it quickly, favoring the skill of silent reading as soon as possible, since it is
very useful to our pupils throughout their lives. They believe that reading aloud is 'parrot reading'
and it is used for pronunciation practice; besides the students cannot afford to grasp the meaning
of what they are reading aloud. I think, however, that asking a student to read aloud is to find out
whether he can vocalize the contents of the reading materials to the degree that the rest of the
class can comprehend him without looking at the printed pages. Reading aloud with good sense
groups and breath groups can show if the reader understands what he is reading. In this sense,
oral reading may well be called a communication skill. In this way it is a teaching and learning
strategy.

Learning for Examination vs. for Profession

In the syllabi of the Indonesian schools, the objective of learning English is the four language
skills, i.e. listening, speaking, reading and writing, with the emphasis on reading. This is meant
to enable the Indonesian school graduates to read scientific books written in English. This is
important for Indonesian especially in our efforts to develop tourism industries and foreign
trades.

Theoretically the objective of teaching and learning English in our Indonesian schools is all
right. In practice, however, it is different. The teachers teach English, and the students learn it in
order to pass the examination. In addition big classes, large numbers of students, fewer contact
hours for English classes do not facilitate learning to achieve the stipulated objectives. This is
intensified by the fact that students have far less motivation and limited facilities.

One possible way out is to use modules which requires the students to work individually at home
and in class. They have to read the theory and do the exercises. The results of the exercises can
be checked in class together. The teacher walks round to find out if each student has done the
assignment. The student who has not done the assignment should rewrite the exercises. By
rewriting them, he or she is forced to use his hands and other senses to pick up the language item
being taught. The more senses she or he uses in learning some skills or knowledge, the better he
learns and the longer he can retain it.

Another way is mimicry and memorization as well as pattern practice. By pattern practice the
students learn the sentence pattern, practice them, and manipulate them. These activities make
the learners internalize the pattern. Besides, this can be done in groups, unison or individual. So
it can be used for big classes. Through mimicry and memorization the students internalize the
patterns. Psychologists, such as George Miller, and Benton Underwood, view rote learning as
more complex. They regard it as similar to concept formation. W. Weaver asserts that "such
views reflect the idea that rote learning is more complex than previously thought."

In learning language, one should not only understand and internalize the rules governing the
language system, but he or she also has to practice to coordinate his or her brains and organs of
speech, and at the same time to synthesize his or her background knowledge, new ideas, feeling
and perception in order to enable him or her to express meanings in that language in a good,
well-formed discourse. Pattern practice and rote learning can become means to achieve those
various skills.

Conclusion

Teaching methods should not only be viewed from the scientific theories they are based upon but
they should also be viewed from the social and pedagogical theories. Theoretically, scientific
teaching methods may work well, but in practice they should be modified to include social and
pedagogical aspects. Therefore, new theories, new methods and approaches should be tried out
and experimented to find out the value they contribute to the success of teaching and learning.
What was once rejected on the base of scientific theory may work well socially and
pedagogically. Since teaching and learning process is social and pedagogical interaction, the
teaching methods and the material used for instruction should not contradict the social cultural
values of the learners.

References

Allen and Campbell. 1972. Teaching English as a Second Language: A Book of Reading. USA:
McGraw-Hill International Book Company.

Brown, D.H. 1980. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice
Hall, Inc.

Diller, K.C. 1971. Generative Grammar, Structural Linguistics and Language Teaching. USA:
Newbury House Publishers.

Dulay, H, Burt, M, and Krashen, S. 1982. Language Two. New York: Oxford Unvierstiy Press.

Krashen, S and Terrel, T. 1983. The Natural Approach Language Acquisition in the Classroom.
Oxford: Pergamon.

Logan, G.E. 1973. Individualized Foreign Language Learning: An Organic Process. USA:
Newbury House Publishers.

Musgrave, G.R. 1975. Individualized Instruction. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc.

Richards, J.C. and Rogers, T.S. 1986. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Richards, J.C. 1985. The Context of Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.

Rivers, W.M. 1968. Teaching Foreign Language Skills. Chicago: The University of Chicago.

________________________
J. Marcus Daely, lecturer at the Faculty of Letters, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/communicative.html

FSU
in the Limelight
Vol. 1, No. 1
October 1992

Teaching English Communicatively

Mirjam Heller

What do we want to achieve in foreign language teaching and how do we achieve what we want?
These questions should always be considered when teaching a foreign language. Why do people
learn a foreign language in the first place and what do they do with it?

Indeed, the reasons for wanting to learn a foreign language can vary and we should always keep
the learners' needs in mind. People learn a language e.g. for their work, out of interest or simply
because they have to in school. Also the use they will make of the foreign language may differ;
maybe people only need to be able to understand written texts for their study. Very often,
learners have to be able to communicate in the foreign language.

What exactly do we mean by the term communication? Many people seem to think that
communicating in a foreign language only means speaking i.e. a conversation between two or
more people. This, however, is only one way of communicating. People can communicate by
writing too which, inevitably, involves reading. In fact, all the skills can be involved in
communication. People hardly ever just read or just speak; usually something else precedes,
follows or runs parallel to it, e.g. when people talk to each other, they also have to listen. When
people read a newspaper article they may want to discuss it with somebody else. When people
write letters this is usually in response to something else: e.g. a letter from somebody else, a
newspaper advertisement or an article in a magazine. In each of these cases there is a two-way
process going on; somebody want to get a message across, want to find out information, want to
get things done or wants to socialize. In other words, communication takes place.

If we have determined that language is, above all, a means of communication, then why do we
often put so much emphasis on structure or on only one skill at a time. Especially in secondary
school, focus tends to be entirely on grammar, also in higher education. However, it is surprising
to see how many students have to (and can!) analyse sentences up and until the most complicated
labels for different sentence elements. As soon as it comes to really using the language however,
they are often at a loss.

It can be argued that grammar is, to a certain extent, needed, especially at higher levels. Maybe
this is particularly true for Indonesians who learn English since the native language is so
different in structure from English. The use of the verb 'to be' is a well-known example in this
respect. But, especially at low levels, if we focus entirely on grammatical correctness, students
may become reluctant to use the language for fear of making mistakes. If, on the other hand, we
focus on using the language from the very first beginning, this will give the students more
confidence. Even though mistakes will be made, at least they try to get the message across, they
try to make themselves understood.

The question of how important structure is arises here. When do learners need to know about
structure? And if they know all about structure, does it make them more independent, i.e. can
they really apply rules in other contexts? The example mentioned earlier, the of students who do
know how to label certain sentence elements but who cannot produce any English themselves,
illustrates the fact that just teaching grammar in itself is not exactly effective. Apart from this,
textbooks often contain very artificial sentences which are hardly used in real life situations. If
we want to teach structure, we should at least provide a realistic context and relate it to
communicative situations. The best thing to do is probably to integrate all different aspects of
language. It is all right then to introduce and explain grammatical rules as you go along, just
make sure grammar does not stand by itself; do not teach grammar simply for the sake of
grammar.

Now let us take a closer look at communicative language teaching in itself. How can we create
communicative situations in the classroom and at the same time make these situations resemble
real life? A classroom is, of course, not a rich linguistic environment: it can never replace a
learning situation in which the learner is surrounded by native speakers and is forced to use the
foreign language all the time. But since it is not feasible to send all our students abroad to learn
English we have to make most of the classroom situation. Wheat we have to do then is to provide
students with a linguistic and situational context. A situational context means that
activities/exercises are presented in such a way that students can imagine them to be realistic
activities.

Communication involves information gaps and opinion gaps. An information gap exists when
someone knows something which the other does not know. An opinion gap means that there is a
difference of opinion between two or more people. Communication then is filling an information
gap or solving an opinion gap. This can also be realized within the classroom. A few examples of
communicative activities are:

• Describing people; students work in pairs, one has pictures of six people in front of him/her, the other has
the description of three people. They have to imagine that they have to meet three pen pals (whom they
have not seen before) at the airport. One describes the people, the other chooses the right pictures.

• Describing a route; both have a map of a certain town, one tells the way from A to B, the other tries to find
out where this goes to or which route is followed.

• Putting jumbled sentences in the right order, individually, in pairs or in groups, e.g. a story, directions for
use or a recipe can be used for this.

• Guessing games: one describes an object or a person, the others guess who/what is meant.

• Writing a letter to the editor in response to an article they have read in a magazine.

• Matching exercises: e.g. letters on a problem page with the right answers or newspaper articles with the
right headlines.

• Gap filling: e.g. leave our certain words or leave out the middle or last bit of a text which the students then
have to provide.

• Letter writing: a correspondence between your students and students from another country can be initiated.

There are many more examples of communicative activities and games, both at elementary level and at advanced
level. In all of these, a certain language item-grammatical and/or functional-is practised in a more or less realistic
situation. Students are much more actively involved in such activities and will, therefore, remember things more
easily.
Indeed, quite some teacher-input is required, especially when new material has to be made (time-
consuming) or when the students work in pairs or groups. At the same time, however, the teacher
is put in a less-centered position: the students do not just listen and absorb but they have to be
really active. Once students have got used to group-work and pair-work (mind you: not all
communicative activities involve group- or pair-work) learning will become much more
effective.

Communicative language teaching, sometimes combined with some traditional language

teaching, has proved successful in many cases. It requires some courage maybe and definitely
some perseverance on the teacher's side. It is worth a serious try, though!

________________________
Mirjam Heller, lecturer at the Faculty of Letters, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/philosophi.html

FSU
in the Limelight
Vol. 1, No. 1
October 1992

Philosophical Mood
in To His Coy Mistress

Susie Chrismalia Garnida

Had we but world enough, and time

this coyness lady were no crime.
We would sit down, and think which way
to walk, and pass our long love's day.
Thou by the Indian Gang's side
shouldst rubies find: I by the tide
of humber would complain. I would
love you ten years before the Flood:
and you should if you please refuse
till the conversion of the Jews.
My vegetable love should grow
vaster than empires, and more slow.
A hundred years should go to praise
thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze.
Two hundred to adore each breast:
but thirty thousand to the rest.
An age at least to every part,
and the last age should show your heart.
For lady you deserve this state;
nor would I love at lower rate
(Andrew Marvell)
That is the first stanza of Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress". If we read it briefly, we
know that it is only about love. It shows how the speaker loves his lady, and his expression is
really exaggerated. However, if we read it deeply, we will find something philosophical, and the
love of the speaker has is not a common one, but platonic.

Platonic love is different from some love concepts which can be found in some poems. This
concept is Plato's concerning with the ladder of love consisting of four stages. The first stage is
the love of beauty of face, the second is the love of physical beauty, the third is the love of
spiritual beauty and the last is the love of universal beauty, that is God (Danziger, 1966:124).

Had we but world enough, and time,

this coyness lady were no crime.
We would sit down, and think which way
to walk, and pass our long love's day
(lines 1-4)

Marvell asks the lady to spend they love's day, but without knowing how to spend it. He then,
compares his lady, in line 5-6, to the Indian Ganges to make clear how grand a lady she is and
also how beautiful she is, as he says.

Thou by the Indian Ganges

Shouldst rubies find
(lines 5-6)

In the following lines, Marvell shows his deep love, that,

... I would
love you ten years before the Flood:
And you should if you please refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.
(lines 7-10)

He uses the words "Flood" and "the conversion of Jews" to show that his love will last forever.
From the Christian teaching, the Flood of Noah means the beginning of the world (Genesis, Holy
Bible), and the conversion of the Jews will take place before the Last Judgement, the is, the end
of the world.
As his love is lasting forever, and his lady is beautiful, he needs,

A hundred years should go to praise

Thine eyes, and on they forehead gaze;
(lines 13-14)

From this love of facial beauty, he proceeds to a higher step, that is, the love of physical beauty.

He says,

Two hundred to adore each breast,

But thirty thousand to the rest
An age at least to every part
(lines 15-17)

The above quotation shows the beauty of the lady's body he adores. He needs thirty thousand to
love it, "an age he needs to love every part of the body." Up to this part, the poet has proceeded
to the second step.

The third level he steps is illustrated in, "And the last age should show your heart" (line 18) that
the speaker loves her heart, her soul. He admires the lady's beautiful soul.

As a whole the lover proceeds from the love of the lady's facial beauty to the love of her physical
beauty and to the love of the beauty of the soul. The last stage is not illustrated in the poem, but
he poet here really wants to show his love to God.

Emerson asks to notice the traits of divine beauty in many souls, and to separate the divine from
the taint in each soul which has been contracted in the world. And the lover ascends to the
highest beauty, to love and knowledge of Divinity by stepping on this ladder of created soul
(Taylor, 1960:230).

Diotima says that only in the Communion, he beholds the beauty with the eye of the mind, he
will be able to bring not images of beauty but realities, and bring and nourish true virtue to
become the friend of God and be immortal, if man may be made mortal (Edman, 1956:379).

In expressing his love, the poet declares that he is not a vulgar lover, as it is found in the last line
of the first stanza, "nor would I love at lower rate" (line 20). Pausanias says that there are two
characteristics of the low form of love:

1. Its object may either sex,

2. What it loves in that object is the body rather than the soul, and this is why the vulgar lover prefers his
beloved to be an empty-headed and therefore an easy quarry (Taylor, 1960:214).

Relating to the word "complain" in line 7, the lady in the poem is not an empty-headed. The word "complain"
expresses that the speaker laments her love because of his difficulty in wooing her.

Because he is not a vulgar lover, his love is without passion. He uses the word "vegetable" in
"My vegetable love should grow" (line 11). Plato divided the behavior of organisms in the
following steps:

1. Plant which has the vegetable characteristics that are to breathe, to eat, to grow.

2. Animal, besides having the characteristics of the plant, has feeling and instinct.

3. Human which has the plant's and animal's characteristics and also logic.

The choice of the "vegetable love" in the poem foes not have the pejorative meaning. It means that the poet's love
has the power to grow, without passion, for passion is under the Sensible Soul which belongs to animals.

Conclusion

Love is a personal experience, and Marvell in "To His Coy Mistress" expresses his love for the
lady. In expressing it, he uses the philosophical teaching about love, that is, Platonic Love
consisting of four levels of love which the lover may pass through: from the lowest level to the
highest level, namely to love the absolute Beauty, that is God.

After having analysed this poem, it can be concluded that although this poem is a secular poem,
the poet's love is for God. He admires the Beauty Maker. The religious teaching influences him
very much as he lived in the Puritan Period.

Bibligraphy

Danziger, Marlies K. 1966. An Introduction to Literary Criticism. Boston: Neath & Co.

Dirgagunarsa, Singgih. 1978. Pengantar Psikologi. Jakarta: Mutiara.

Edman, Irwin. 1956. The Works of Plato. New York: Random House Inc.
Laurer, Armand A. 1962. Medieval Philosophy. New York: Random House Inc.

Willen. 1967. Literature for Writing. Belmont.

Tapan, E.M. 1946. A Brief History of English Literature. London: George G Harrap & Co. Ltd.

Taylor. 1960. Plato, the Man and His Work. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd.

________________________
Susie Chrismalia Garnida, lecturer at the Faculty of Letters, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945
Surabaya.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/creon.html

FSU
in the Limelight
Vol. 1, No. 1
October 1992

Creon's Tragedy in Antigone

Tri Pramesti

Introduction

In literature the term tragedy is dealt with sad event or situation. This term is conventionally
reserved for a type of drama in which the protagonists is defeated. Besides sad even or situation,
tragedy is also imitation. According to Aristotle's poetic "tragedy is the imitation of and action
with incidents arousing pity and fear, and to accomplish its catharsis of such emotion" (Locke
and Gibson, 1962). The result which is expected from tragedy is that the audience should be
purged of both pity and fear by the time the tragedy comes to an end. By suffering vicariously
with the tragic hero, the audience has a greater moral awareness and keener self-knowledge.

"Antigone" is one of trilogy Thebes presenting a chronicle of traditions centering on the house of
Thebes. Oedipus, King of Thebes has died at Colonus, but his two daughters and his son,
Eteocles, continue to live in the palace of their father. However, when a second son, Polynices,
makes war against Thebes to regain the kingdom both Eteocles and Polynices kill each other.
Creon, their uncle becomes a kind and announces his law hat Eteocles who has died in defending
his country will be given an honored burial, whereas Polynices who is regarded as an enemy will
be left unburied. Whoever breaks the laa will be stoned to death.

Antigone, one of the daughters of Oedipus flouts at the order of Creon and gives Polynices the
hurried burial; and act which affords the play in a tragic theme. Antigone buries Polynices
because she is sure that her act is innocent and will be blessed by God. Creon's decision to
execute Antigone is opposed by Ismene, Haimon and Teirresias.

Ismene is Antigone's sister. At first she refuses to help Antigone because she is afraid of Creon's
law. But when Antigone is going to be stoned to death, she decides to follow her against Creon.

Haimon is a son of Creon and betrothed to Antigone. He tries to change Crean's decision with
regard to Polynice's burial by telling that public, indeed, do not want to see Antigone being
punished. He reminds Creon, if Antigone dies, her death will be followed by another. Haimon
believes Antigone's action is honorable.

Teiresias is a blind soothsayer. He reminds Creon about his mistake. Creon rejects Teiresias's
advice to set Antigone free. At last Teiresias warns his prediction about calamity which will
happen.

Eurides is Creon's wife and Haimon's mother. When she knows that her son, Haimon, has died
by being stoned, she decides to follow him.

Besides these characters, there are several minor characters in this play: the guard assigned to
watch the unburied corpse of Polynices, the first messenger, the second messenger and the
chorus of Theban. The chorus is considered as society, and the narrator in this play comments of
the former and later acts.

The setting of the play is before the royal palace of Thebes at dawn of the day, after the repulse
of the Argive Army, the enemy, from the assault on Thebes.

The General Conception of Greek Tragedy

The general conception of Greek tragedy is described and defined as follows (quoted by Potter
from Aritstotle's "Poetic"):

1. A tragedy must have the central character with the particular "tragic flaw" (Aristotle's term "harmartia" is
often used). The central character or protagonist, usually called a tragic hero, is a person of high estate,
apparently a king or queen or another member of the royal family. The nature of tragedy is that the
protagonist must fall from power or happiness. His high estate gives him a place of dignity to fall. Besides
a person of high estate, he is also the symbol of man in general and capable enough against his enemy.
Because of his tragic flaw he is led to death despair or misery though some sort of mistake, either in
himself or in his action. The most cited flaw is "hubris" which means excessive, self-destructive pride. The
 action a tragedy is not accidental but logical and inevitable, and the hero is directly or indirectly responsible
for his fate (Potter, 1967).

2. The second conception of Greek tragedy is thematic significance. Thematic significance is a positive
element in tragedy. After suffering the hero has greater understanding of himself and the world. The
experience of suffering often leads him into new enlarged awareness of both himself and his existence.

Creon as a Tragic Hero

In "Antigone" there are two main characters who suffer: Creon and Antigone. The suffering of
Creon is more complex than Antigone's. Creon's struggle to rule his country according to the
absolute power is opposed not only by Antigone, but also by Haimon and Teiresias. He is also
the central character of the play. He appears from the beginning till the end of the play, whereas
Antigone appeared up to the middle of the play.

After reading the whole story, the writer suggests that the tragic hero is Creon, because he has a
flaw, self-destructive pride.

Creon: My voice is the one voice giving orders in this city! The state is the king. That much is sure!

As a King of Thebes, Creon thinks that his decision is right and is unable to understand that
anyone else can be right. Because of his pride and his wish to be a good King, Creon does not
realize that his decision is contrary to both custom and divine low. His struggle to rule the
country according to the human law is opposed by Antigone.

Creon's pride leads him onto suffering. He is failed from his power and happiness. He is failed to
acknowledge a higher good than that of his decision. The cause of Creon's downfall is his flaw,
so he is directly responsible for his fate.

Thematic Significance in Antigone

As mentioned above, thematic significance is a positive element in the tragedy. In "Antigone"

the thematic significance lies in the fact Creon realize his mistake, after which he has greater
understanding of both himself and the world. The experience of his suffering leds him onto a
new and enlarged awareness of both himself and his existence.

Creon: How dreadful it is when the right judge judges wrong.

Conclusion
In literature tragedy means a story with sad event or situation, in which the protagonist or tragic
hero is defeated because of his flaw. The most cited flaw is hubris or self-destructive pride.

"Antigone" can be classified as a Greek tragedy because we find the general conception of Greek
tragedy, a tragic hero, the cause of his downfall and thematic significance.

In "Antigone" the tragic hero is Creon. He suffers because of his flaw: pride. He cannot imagine
that anyone else can be right. He is too inflexible and narrow in outlook to heed criticism or
admit a mistake. At the close of the play, Creon recognizes and accepts his guilt, but the
consequences of his acts can no longer be changed.

"Antigone" suggests the conflict between the requirements of human and divine law. This
problem is crystallized in the dispute about the burial of Polynices, in which Creon's
understanding of the public welfare is opposed to Antigone's conception of her religious study.

The positions of Antigone and Creon are opposed, but both posses the same stubborn belief in
their own righteousness. On the issue of the burial one is right, and one is wrong, but both share
the blame for the tragic end of the play.

As a Greek tragedy, "Antigone" has a basic idea: man learns through suffering. Through his
suffering Creon learns his mistake. He has greater understanding about himself and the world.

Bibliography

Gassner, John. 1963. Introducing the Drama. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc.

Levin, Richard. 1960. Tragedy Plays, Theory and Criticism. New York: Harcourt, Brace and
World.

Lock, Gibson and Arms (Eds.). 1962. The Reader's Encyclopedia of the Drama. New York:
Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc.

MacGowan, Kenneth and Melnitz, William. 1959. The Living Stage a History of the World
Theater. New York: Prentice Hall, Inc.

Potter, James L. 1967. Element to Literature. New York: The Odyssey Press.
Reaske, C.R. 1966. How to Analyse Drama. New York: Monarch Press.

Roche, Paul. 1968. The Oedipus Plays of Sophocles. New York: Mentor Books.

________________________
Tri Pramesti, lecturer at the Faculty of Letters, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/romantic.html

FSU
in the Limelight
Vol. 1, No. 1
October 1992

Romanticism Seen in Some Poems

of Henry Wardsworth Longfellow

Indrani Dewi Anggraini

Introduction

The title of the paper suggests that there are romantic features in Longfellow's poems.
Nevertheless, Longfellow is regarded a Puritan poet by Cecil B. Williams (1962:195). The most
realistic opinion on Longfellow's verses to the writer is probably the one made by Perry Millers,
who stated that Longfellow is strongly influenced by the Romanticism, which made his poetry
acceptable to the readers of his time.

The romantic characteristics are shown through the use of common man and nature in his poems
as well as the use of poetry as personal self-expression (Foster, 1962:274-279). Due to this, the
nature of this brief paper is an analysis of the romantic feature seen in Longfellow's "The Village
Blacksmith," " A Psalm of Life," "Mezzom Cammin," "Seaweed," "The Sound of the Sun" and
"The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls."

The Use of Common Man

The democratic spirit, which was initiated by the American and French Revolutions embody
romanticism. The romantic poets believe that the common man is the natural and the earthly
man. To Whitman everyday man is the man of significance since "everything comes out of the
people, the people of everyday people" (Foster, 1962:279). The common man is the powerful
man. To Longfellow, the common man is the man who deserves admiration.
This admiration on the ordinary man is expressed through the sympathetic manners of the
blacksmith in "The Village Blacksmith." The smith as symbol of the common man is physically
and spiritually strong. This smith has large and sinewy hand with iron muscles and works very
hard. He works "Week in, week out, from morn till night" and "you can hear his ballows blow."
In accomplishing his daily toil, "He earns whatever he can and looks the whole world in the
face,/for he owns not any man." The smith is a self-sufficient and independent hard-working
man. This proves that the smith leads not only a simple but also a humble as well as a vigorous
life.

Another positive trait is given to this ordinary man as he is religious and sensitive. He dilligently
goes to the church to pray for his passed-away wife. As a responsible father, he supports his
daughter's activities in the church. However, the manners and life of the smith five deep
realization of being equal to other common men. To every man, life is full of strife and "toiling-
rejoicing-sorrowing" come all the time.

The Use of Poetry as Personal Self-expression

The romantic poets love freedom in composing their work. They reject the classical ideas, which
regards poetry as moral teaching. This classical literary concept is too rigid for the romantic
poets. The freedom of the romantic poet in composing his work is shown though the application
of poetry as his "verbal externalization of his inner life, his feelings" (Foster, 1962:281). This
belief is applied by Longfellow in his poems "A Psalm of Life" and "Mezzo Cammin."

These two poems convey Longefellow's introverted and personal feelings at the time when he
was relieving his depression of two great sorrows-the death of his first wife and the long trying
courtship of his future second wife (Cady, 1965:525). Longfellow's individual regret, sadness,
love, longing, fear and hope are shown in these two poems. The depression of the two great
sorrows lead him to the experience of a gloomy and somber life. He states regretfully that "Life
is but an empty dreams," as his ideal to be with his first wife cannot last long. The death of his
first wife ceases him to see life as something meaningless. Nevertheless, he realizes that death is
normal for human being as every human being is mortal. Yet, Longfellow believes that eternal
life after death. To him, the death of his wife is only physical death, nut her soul is eternal.

"Mezzo Cammin" also reveals Longfellow's emotion. This sonnet was written at the Rhine,
August 25, 1824-seven years after his first wife died (Cady, 1965:526). It is seen here that
Longfellow suffers and cannot forget his first wife. Apart from this sadness, he also repents his
unfulfilled dreams. He feels that half of his life has gone by and those years slip away from him
without accomplishing any worth masterpiece. This is not because of "idolence," "pleasure" or
"fret or restless passion," but because of being left by his first wife. The deep grief keeps him
away from what he should accomplish as a poet. He feels regret that he-as a poet-has not been
able to compose any good poetry which is appropriate to be dedicated to his wife.

The Use of Nature

To romantic poet nature is not merely a natural and beautiful scenery that should be admired but
nature is also "a personality, a divine friend, that sympathizes with man's sorrow, works upon his
feeling, speaks to him of beauty, freedom, peace, happiness, touches him with intimations oh
high truth" (Foster, 1962:278). This perception of nature is also adapted by Longfellow in his
poems: "Seaweed," "The Sound of the Sea," and "The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls."

To Longfellow the "Seaweed" reflects his poetic emotion. Therefore, "when storms of wild
emotion/Strike the ocean/Of the poet's soul," some verses come out from his inner mind. They
convey the spirit of youth. This condition by connotation suggests strength, vigour, and
optimism. The seaweed comes from the reefs, whereas his poems come "from the strong Will
and Endeavor." Those poems give the poet spiritual response and satisfaction, because his poems
are recorded in books.

In "The Sound of the Sea" and "The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls" nature brings self-realization of
the limitation of man. The sound of the tides "rush onward with uninterrupted sweep," and "a
voice out of silence deep and a sound mysteriously multiplied." This condition bring the
realization of the "Inaccessible solitude of being" that may refer to the Supreme Being.

The limitation of man is emphasized in "The Tide Rises, the Ride Falls." The refrain of the
phrase "The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls" serves as an emphasis to the perpetual movement of the
tides. By this, we have the picture that nature is eternal. On the other hand, man is mortal--
compared to nature. This can be traced though the condition of the traveler in the poem. Adter
passing the beach, the traveler hastens to the town, and nevermore he returns to the shore.
Nevertheless, the tides keep on rising and falling.
Conclusion

The romantic features of using the common man in "The Village Blacksmith" serves indirectly
as a medium of conveying the admiarion of the ocmmon people . This shows also Longfellow's
democratic spirit of his time. The next trend (self-expression) gives keen and touchy
impressions. Apart from this, the personal self-expression reveals an immense of emotion. As the
result, the poems become confessional, personal, and even autobiography. The poems may serve
also as an outlet of personal emotion.

Nature has deep and various meanings to Longfellow. It seems to him that nature is a divine
friend, that gives him peace, calmness and self-realization of man's mortality as well as the idea
that nature is more powerful than human being.

Bibliography

Bradley, Sculley, 1975. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: WW Norton
& Company Inc.

Cady. Edwin Harrison. 1965. The Growth of American Literature. New York.

Fosters. 1962. American Poetry and Prose. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Millers, Perry. 1966. Major Writers of America. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc.

Williams, Cecil B. 1964. Henry Wardsworth Longfellow. New York: Twayne Publisher.

________________________
Indrani Dewi Anggraini, lecturer at the Faculty of Letters, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945
Surabaya.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/future.html

FSU
in the Limelight
Vol. 2, No. 1
October 1993

A Sketch for Futuristics

Samsuri

Historians are fond of saying that the study of the past can help us to understand the future. We
agree and point out that all our ideas about the future necessarily come from the past, not the
future itself, for the very simple reason that the future, by definition, has never existed. What has
happened in the past is our only source of guidance to what may happen in the future.

Futuristics might even be defined as "applied history". It picks up where history leaves off.
Futurists are not content with just understanding what has happened in the past; they want to use
their knowledge to develop an understanding of future possibilities. Futurists emphasize that the
future, not the past, is the focus of human action, and that the value of the past is that it can be
used to illustrate the future.

But how can the past be used to study the future? One way is to assume that conditions that have
existed in the past will continue into the future. This is the "Principle of Continuity". If we
follow this principle, we anticipate that the future will remain the same or it will continue to
change in the same way it now observed to be changing. The Principle of Continuity allows us to
believe that the Java Sea will be in its customary place in the year 2050 and that the world's
population in the year 2050 will be far higher that it is now.

The second principle, which may be called the "Principle of Analogy," is based on our
observation that certain patterns of event recur from time to time. If we observe an event that we
believe is like a certain preceding event, we may forecast that the new event will be followed by
certain other events similar to those that occurred after the similar, previously observed event.
When the mercury in a barometer falls, we forecast that a storm may be coming. There are also
"leading indicators" in the business cycle. The Principle of Analogy can also be applied in
politics; for example, a new situation may be described as a "G 30 S", thereby suggesting that it
may be followed by consequences similar to the appeasement of the Indonesian communists in
1966.

Knowledge of the past does not automatically become knowledge of the future. Knowledge of
the future must be created by using data obtained in the past as raw material for fashioning ideas
about the future. In fashioning such ideas, we use a number of mental tools as well as our
experience with using the tools. The tools are concepts and theories that "work" for us. In our
thought processes we also use our own desires, because a primary purpose of our thoughts is to
decide what would really please us, so that we can take action to achieve it.

Our desires are not the only force affecting our choice of the memories that fill our thoughts. We
also are exposed to an incredible barrage of sensory data from our present environment. These
external stimuli have an immediacy and urgency that is generally lacking in the data stored in our
brains. Sensory data also help shape the ideas that we have about the future. For example, if we
happen to overhear someone say something interesting we may quickly decide to say something
in response.

When we try to think seriously about what might happen in the future, we face a certain
dilemma. Everything that we know is derived from the past. If we wish to think about what
might please us in the future, we find that the only happen situations we can readily imagine are
variations on those that we experienced in the past or that we have heard about someone else
experiencing. It is very difficult to do much more than try various combinations of images stored
in our memory; we cannot easily leap outside our memories and seize something truly new.
There is one way, however, to develop ideas that are not based simply on memories and logical
connections: We can exploit the chance connection of thought that ordinarily are kept separate.
Two memories that normally reside in separate compartments in our minds can--through the
operation of chance--come together and form a new idea. Chance allows to develop concepts that
are beyond the power of memory, logic and desire. The importance of chance events may seem
strange, yet human beings owe their very existence to the operations of chance. We are the result
of billions of years during which chance combination of events, even of atoms and molecules
and genes were seized upon and utilized.

Chance is an essential element in creativity. In trying to develop a new idea that might be used in
writing a poem, developing a scientific theory, or imagining a new business, a person needs to do
two things: (1) provide his mind with the needed structure, that is, familiarize himself with the
problem and information that might be used in fashioning useful solutions and (2) introduce into
his thinking an element of chance. Normally, this element of chance is provided by the events of
everyday life. Unrelated events push the conscious mind in new directions so that a new
connection is made and a new idea is born. The new idea is tested mentally; if it seems to work
well, the person becomes exalted: he has just had "a good idea."

Creativity allows us to generate ideas about what might be in the future--things that otherwise
would be unimaginable. With creativity, we can fashion possible future worlds that have never
existed, but that we might choose to build. Read D.S. Halacy's work, Science and Serepindity:
Great Discoveries by Accident, 1967, and you will be amazed how many scientific discoveries
were done just by the operation of chance! Creativity cannot give us knowledge about the future,
but it can help us to discover new concepts about things that might be possible. In effect,
creativity helps us to use the past in new ways to discover the possibilities of the future.

Few people think of themselves as forecasters, yet all of us are constantly making forecasts. If
we did not do so, our lives would be impossible. If we want to talk to someone, we dial a certain
sequence of numbers, because we believe that we do so we may soon a reasonable chance of
accomplishing our purpose by following a certain series of actions.

Much of our everyday forecasting is so routine that we do not even recognize that it involves a
constant series of exercises in futuristics, that is exploration of the future aimed at helping us
decide what to do. But when we move beyond our everyday situation into the more distant
future, we become less sure of ourselves and more self-conscious about our "futurizing."

Forecasting may be viewed as the purest form of futuristics, but there are other activities that are
closely related and often intertwined with forecasting. Once such activity is goal-setting--
deciding which possibilities we want to realize rather that those that are likely to occur. Another
related activity is planning--setting forth the steps needed to reach our goals. Futuristics logically
precedes goal-setting, that is, we identify possible goals before deciding which to try to realize.
Planning logically follows goal-setting: After a goal is determined, we set forth cost effective
series of steps to realize it. In actual practice, however, futuristics, goal-setting, and planning
tend to become highly intermingled, and many of the same tools are used in all three. Among the
tools are mechanical devices like computers as well as procedures like Delphi polls. Confusing
the situation further is the fact that one class of forecasting techniques--the so-caled "normative
methods"--is goals as basis for forecasts, thus reversing the "normal" sequence of moving from
futuristics to goal setting to planning (Consider our PJPT's!).

Trends Extrapolation: A Method Everyone Uses

The simplest assumption about the future that we can make is that the future will be exactly like
the past: things will remain as they are. The next simplest assumption is that things will change
in the same ways they have changed in the past, that is, a change that has been observed in the
past will continue into the future. If the population of a city is known to be increasing at the rate
of 2% a year, we assume that it will continue to do so in the future, and we can use simple
arithmetic to calculate what the population will be in five years. In other words, we can generate
a forecast by observing a change through time in the character of something and projecting
(extrapolating) that change into the future. In making a forecast, we naturally disregard shrot-
term changes or fluctuations, such as the swelling of city's population each morning as people
come to work. What is important is the longer-term change, that is, the trend.

Trend extrapolation is one of the most commonly used ways to generate a forecast. City
planners, economists, demographers, and many other specialists constantly extrapolate trends--
consciously or unconsciously--when we think about the future. So, too, do ordinary people.
Assuming that the future will be like the past or the past changes will continue in the same
direction and rate is a perfectly sensible way to begin trying to understand the future. It should
not, however, be the end of our endeavors, because trend extrapolation can be very misleading.
For example, we might estimate that a child aged four has grown at the rate of five inches a year,
and then calculate that this rate of growth means he will be more than 13 feet tall at the age of
34! We would not accept this forecast, because we know that human beings--of which the child
is an example--never grow that tall. Long before he reaches the age of 34, we forecast, his rate of
growth will slow and eventually halt at a height that will probably be somewhere between five
feet and six and a half feet. In making this forecast, we have, of course, shifted from the Principle
of Continuity to the Principle of Analogy.

This slowing down of growth is frequently encountered among living things: an organism or a
colony of bacteria will grow rapidly for a time and then its growth will slow and eventually stop.
If growth did not stop, the organism or bacteria would eventually become bigger than the world
itself--and extrapolating still further, bigger than the solar system and universe!

A new technology may exhibit a growth curve strikingly similar to those found in biology. When
railroads were first developed in the early 19th century, they found many customers eager for
rapid, inexpensive transportation. Railroads developed rapidly during the 19th century, but the
20th century their growth slowed because they began to saturate their market and because new
competition appeared in the form of automobiles, trucks, and airplanes.

But sometimes growth does not follow the pattern we expect. Just when we expect growth to
slow--or even when it has actually started to slow--it suddenly picks up again. Such situations
have occurred in the history of technology, and when we consider the nature of technological
development, we can understand why, in most technologies, many technical approaches are tried.
Each approach encounters limitations, but just when the technology itself might seem to be
encountering an insurmountable obstacle, a new technology arrives to keep the technology
improving.

But will technology really improve fast enough? No one knows for sure, since the factors that
control the development of technology are not clearly understood. Optimists can point to the
steady improvement of technology--and with technology the standard of living. Pessimists can
stress the ominous parallel to the growth of biological system. A practical policy-maker might
take account of both positions by adopting measures aimed at (1) reducing the rate of population
growth, (2) developing new technology that will be less harmful to the environment, (3)
encouraging the development of life-styles that are not costly in environmental terms, and (4)
encouraging technology that can raise the standard of living without also damaging the
environment. Fortunately, the four points. Fortunately, the four points above have been adopted
by the Indonesian Government.

Scenarios: Making Up Stories about the Future

A scenario may sound exotic in our discussion of futuristics, but in its simplest form, it is very
common. It is simply a series of events that we imagine happening in the future. Our everyday
thinking is filled with little ventures into the mysterious world of tomorrow, or next week, or
next year. And those ventures are scenarios, though rarely as well developed as the elaborate
scenarios prepared by professional researches working for government agencies, the military,
and commercial enterprises.

A scenario begins when we ask: "What would happen if such-and-such occurred?" For example,
"What would happen if we went to the theater on Saturday night?" Once this question is posed,
we can begin to imagine the various consequences of the event. First, certain preparations would
be necessary for this event to occur; for example there would be the need for transportation to the
theater. In addition, if the event does occur, there will be additional consequences, such as being
absent from home at a time when we anticipate that a relative might come.

In our minds, we may develop a large number of scenarios in an effort to decide whether or not
to go to the theater on Saturday night. We develop these scenarios intuitively, however, discuss
them with each other and with friends.

What Does a Scenario Do for Us?

First, it makes us aware of potential problems that might occur if we were to take the proposed
action. We can then (1) abandon the proposed action or (2) prepare to take precautions that will
minimize the problems that might result.

Second, the scenario gives us an opportunity to escape from a potentially disastrous action--or to
realize a tremendous opportunity. Either eventuality may be tentatively identified by developing
a number of scenarios. For example, as we develop a scenario we begin to think about how to get
to the theater and how to get back. As we review in our minds the various alternative means of
transportation, we recognize that the brakes on our automobile are defective. If we rake the car to
the repair shop today, it will be ready in time for our excursion to the theater. Otherwise, we
might find ourselves using it on Saturday despite its unsafe condition, and possibly having a fatal
accident.

Third, the scenario can mobilize others--get them involved in assessing a situation and planning
action. People tend to become more involved in a situation when they are faced with a concrete
choice. At hat point, they must think about consequences and are led into the various aspects of
the problem.

The act of developing a scenario in a think-tank may differ very little in essence from the
scenario-preparation that all of us do in our minds everyday. However, a policy analyst generally
prepares his scenario more carefully and writes it down so that other analysts can review and
comment on it. Moreover, unlike the fiction writer, the police analyst is generally not concerned
with literary embellishments, but simply with identifying potential events that could have an
impact on the situation he is studying.

Writing a scenario is not a difficult task. All that is required is imagination and familiarity with
the situation for which one wishes to write a scenario. A person wishing to probe the future of
the political and energy situation in Indonesia and its possible consequences might begin by
assuming that the Indoensian Government's energy/political policies will not remain essentially
unchanged from that they were in the first PJPT (Long Term Planning) and then proceed to
imagine what might happen on the basis oh known trends. Here is how a scenario might look.

Indonesian Political/Energy Scenario Based on Known Trends (1985-1990)

• Consumption of petroleum and other fossil fuels continues to rise. Indonesian resources continue to
decline, and imports may have to be envisaged.

• Wealthy nations like the U.S. suffer some decline in living standards as the cost of energy rises, but finds
themselves unable to develop the political will required to halt the continuing rise in energy consumption.

• Poorer nations are increasingly priced out of the market. They no longer can pay for fuel and fertiliser
needed in their agriculture.

• Millions in the poorer nations begin starving to death, but the world food suplies are inadequate to prevent
the calamity without politically unacceptable consequences to reach national living standards.

• Indonesia may start looking for alternatives in anticipating the energy crisis by exploring the use of coal of
which the country has vast supplies.

• A great advantage has been acquired by Indonesia in accepting leadership of the non-alligned nations for
the tern 1993-1995 which give Indonesia the chance of correcting the economic balance between the rich
and the poor nations.
The foregoing scenario suggest how a government policy (or-non-policy) can have constructive or disastrous
consequences that may not be anticipated by the policymakers. Putting all the facts together gives us a rather hopeful
or terrifying scenario that suggests alternative series of consequences of decisions being made today. By identifying
the possible consequences now, we can take action to make them less likely.

When we develop a scenario, we free ourselves from strict bondage to the past. No longer are we
assuming that the future will be like the past except more so (as in trend extrapolation). Instead,
we have begun to see the future as offering a wide variety of possibilities. Furthermore, the
realization of these possibilities may hinge on dicision that we ourselves make. The future now is
realm of infinite possibilities, may of which may never have occurred in the past. The scenario is
not just a means of exploring possible interactions of various events, but a way that we can shape
the future. The typical scenario indicates, in fact, a number of points where human decisions will
be made, and how these decisions will affect later events.

Scenario-writing introduces imagination and creativity into the toolbox of futuristics, and the
creativity enlarging techniques, discussed earlier, may legitimately be used in developing
scenarios. If we are seriously interested in exploring the future we must make a special effort to
look at "far-out" possibilities, because one of the few things that we can be sure about is that the
future will be filled with them.

References

Bell, Daniel. 1973. The Coming of Post-Industrial Society: A Venture In Social Forecasting.
New York: Basic Books.

De Jouvenel, Bertrand. 1964. The Art of Conjecture. New York: Basic Books.

Helbroner, Robert L. 1974. An Inquiry into the Human Prospect. New York: W.W. Norton.

Kauffman, Draper L., Jr. 1976. Teaching the Future: A Guide to Future Oriented Education.
Palm Springs: ETC Publications.

LaConte, Ronald T. and La Conte, Ellen. 1975. Teaching Tomorrow Today: A Guide to
Futuristics. New York: Bantam.

Naisbitt, John. 1986. Megatrends. New York: Warner Books, Inc.

Schumacher, E.F. 1973. Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered. New York: Harper
and Row.

Shane, Harold G. 1974. The Educational Significance of the Future. Bloomington: Chi Delta
Kappa Foundation.

Djojohadikusumo, Sumitro. 1977. Science, Resources and Development Selected Essays. Jakarta:
Intermasa.

Dolman, Anthony J. 1976. RIO: Reshaping the International Order, a Report to the Club of
Rome. New York: Dutton.

Toffler, Alvin. 1970. Future Shock. New York: Random House.

Toffler, Alvin. 1980. The Third Wave. London: Pan Books.

________________________
Samsuri, lecturer at the Faculty of Letters, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/linguis.html

FSU
in the Limelight
Vol. 2, No. 1
October 1993

The Utility of Linguistic Theory

to the Language Teacher

Pininta Veronica Silalahi

Introduction

This paper discusses about the utility of linguistic theory to the language teacher. The linguistic
theory discussed in this paper will be limited to Transformational Generative Grammar which is
first introduced by Chomsky in his book entitled "Syntactic Structures" (1957). The investigation
of generative grammar described in Syntactic Structure was motivated in part by an interest in
the capability of a native speaker of a language to provide and understand an infinite number of
sentences which have never been heard or read before (Chomsky, 1976). This limitation is
intended to focus the discussion on more specific things that generative grammar might
contribute to the language teacher. The reason to limit the discussion to generative grammar is
because it is not really clear whether linguistic theory especially generative grammar gives
contribution to the language teacher. However, this does not mean that this paper will contain a
thorough discussion on generative grammar, it will be limited to some extent of the aspects that
might contribute to the language teacher or language teaching. This paper is intended to give a
bird's eye view, it does not discuss about the details.

What is Linguistic Theory?

Let us begin with what is meant by theory. Hjelmselv (1973) says that theory can mean as a
system of hypothesis and every theory is freed with a methodological requirement. Linguistic
theory is a meta-theory dealt with the properties of linguistic description of natural languages
(Fodor and Katz, 1964:19). SO we can infer that the aim of linguistic theory is to provide a
procedural method in order to comprehend a given text through self-consistent and exhaustive
description (Hjelmslev, 1973:206). In a simpler way, Corder (1973) says that linguistic theories
are made to do two things, i.e. to explain language and to make descriptions of languages.

The description of the definition itself does not promise that it can be directly applied to
elaborate how the linguistic description might be useful to language teaching. SO it is reasonable
if one raises a question like, "Does linguistic theory--generative grammar--contribute something
to language teacher or language teaching?"

Generative Grammar

If one talks about generative grammar, it means that it is sufficiently explicit to determine how
sentences of the language are in fact characterized by the grammar (Chomsky, 1980a:220, in
Cook, 1988:24). He further says that generative means that the description is rigorous and
explicit. Allen (1974:63) says that Chomsky's grammar is generative in the sense that it
constitutes a procedure for testing any combination of words in order to decide whether it is a
sentence or not in a certain language. He added that the generation of sentences must be present
in the rules themselves, the rules must be fully explicit.

Nevertheless, many teachers of English as a second language assume that generative grammar is
pedagogically unadaptable to the needs of a secondary curriculum, it means that it is not
applicable to language teaching. There are two important reasons for this, the first reason is that
the explication of the theory is directed more towards linguists, psychologists and
mathematicians than toward teachers of English. The second reason is that the criticism of this
theory by other linguists made the concept more complicated.

The reasons might be plausible, but Thomas (1976) does not agree with the assumption that
generative grammar is not applicable to language teaching. He conducted a summer course at
Indiana University in 1961; the material is concerned with linguistic theory and the participants
are teachers of various length of experience in teaching.
At the end of the course the thirty students are hoped to answer the question: "What do
secondary school teachers--not professional linguists--think of generative grammar?"

The answer is positive, the students were convinced that certain deductions from Chomsky's
theory could be applied to the teaching of grammar. The students have some strong reasons for
this: The students found that the traditionalists were not united, even on basic definitions, and
they concluded that there was no single traditional grammar, but they agreed that it provides a
useful terminology. Their common on structural grammar was not much different from the
traditional grammar, they said that the structuralists were as divided as the traditionalists.
Structural grammar was far too complex to be readily adapted to the needs of secondary school.

At this point they realized that they were ready for any theory that would justify traditional
grammar or simplify structural grammar.

The Contribution of Generative Grammar to Teaching Grammar

There are still some controversies when we are talking about the contribution of generative
grammar to language teaching as it is explicitly stated by Allen (1974:63), "It is far from clear
what contribution transformational grammar (Generative grammar) is likely to make to language
teaching methodology."

There might be still many other linguists who are in the same position with Allen, but I would
concentrate more on the opinions which can see the contribution of generative grammar to the
teaching of grammar.

Saporta (1973:271) claims that the main contribution of generative grammar is to provide
relevant data which enables textbook writers to base their material on the most adequate
description. If one wants to apply this generative grammar, there should be a clear difference
between scientific grammar and pedagogical grammar.

A scientific grammar enumerates the grammatical sentences of a language and provides each
with a structural description and a semantic interpretation. It is based on a formal theory of
language (Allen, 1974). He further defines that a pedagogic grammar is a collection of material
extracted from one or more scientific grammar and used as the basis for language teaching. It
attempt to develop the native speaker's ability to recognize and produce sentences. The
explanation can be interpreted that it is possible to elaborate and apply generative grammar in the
form of pedagogical grammar. Daily experience says that when we study grammar, we study
how to construct grammatically correct sentences.

Related to the above description, Thomas (1976:412-413) who is convinced with he contribution
of generative grammar, suggests that we teach the use of kernel sentence first (simple,
declarative, active with no complex verb or noun phrase). Later on the students are taught to
construct passive, negative sentences.

If we relate the proposition suggested by Thomas concerning the application of Chomsky's

theory to the teaching of grammar, it seems that it meets the requirement of the goal of linguistic
theory formulated by Hjemslev (1973:208):

Linguistic theory end by constructing several possible methods of procedure, all of which can provide a self-
consistent and exhaustive description of any given text and there by of any language whatsoever, then among those
possible methods of procedure, that on shall be chosen that results in the simplest possible descriptions.

The Utility of Linguistic Theory According to Chomsky

Chomsky (1973) wrote and article which discusses about the utility of linguistic theory to the
language teacher. From the beginning he frankly confesses that he is not an expert on any aspect
of the teaching of language; he is an expert on the structure of language and the nature of
cognitive processes. According to him, linguistics and psychology play important roles related to
language teaching; although the two subjects or disciplines are in a state of flux and agitation.

Within psychology, the view which has been long accepted i.e. principles of association and
reinforcement, gestalt principles, the theory of concept formation are nowadays sharply
challenged in theoretical as well as experimental work. And Chomsky himself could not accept
the view that linguistic behavior is a matter of habit which is slowly acquired by reinforcement,
association, and generalization. Chomsky has a strong reason not to agree with this theory. This
theory does not account for the creative aspect of normal language use. He added that there is no
obvious analogy between the experimental results obtained in studies of concept formation and
the actual processes that seem to underlie language learning. His point in case is that the
relevance of psychological theory to language acquisition is a questionable matter; nevertheless,
teachers can certainly draw what suggestions and hints they can, with a constant realization that
the principles are fragile and tentative.

The same situation happened to linguistics which had its share in retaining myth that linguistic
behavior is habitual and that a fixed stock of patterns is acquired through practice and used as the
basis for analogy. He said then, anyhow, it must be recognized that well established theory, in
fields like psychology and linguistics is extremely limited in scope.

So, he is always sure and claiming that one of the qualities that all languages have in common is
their creative aspect which provides the means for expressing indefinitely many thoughts
(Chomsky, 1965:6). And language teaching cannot be separated from linguistic theory and
language acquisition; so according to him there are some tendencies and development within
linguistics and psychology that may have some potential impact on the teaching of language.
They can be summarized under four headings: (a) the creative aspect of language use; (b) the
abstractness of linguistic representation; (c) the universality of underlying linguistic structure; (d)
the role of intrinsic organization in cognitive  process.

According to him, generative grammar can give explanations to the four tendencies. The first
step is to recognize whether the native speaker of a language has internalized a generative
grammar--a system of rules that can be used in new and untried combinations to form new
sentences and to assign semantic interpretation to new sentences.

The first tendency has been discussed above, now we turn to the second and third tendencies. It
is the task of linguists to discover the rules of the generative grammar and the underlying
principles on the basis of which it is organized. And it must be remembered that in order to be
universal, any theory of language must be in close combat with the fundamental property of
normal language.

The last heading is supposed to be one of the most important, the reason is that even a native
speaker has internalized a generative grammar, he is not aware of the facts or properties of the
language. The problem facing the linguist in this case is to discover what constitute unconscious,
latent knowledge or the speakers' intrinsic linguistic competence. It is claimed by Chomsky as
the generative grammar, the theory of speaker's competence.

This shows that the underlying principles of generative grammar are not acquired through
experience and training. Chomsky argues that it must be part of the intellectual organization
which is a prerequisite for language acquisition. It can be inferred that they must be universal
properties of any generative grammar.

Teacher's Attitude

Concerning the teacher's attitude, Chomsky has the opinion that teachers have the responsibility
to make sure that any ideas and proposals of theories are evaluated on their merits and not
passively accepted on grounds of authority, real, or presumed. He has the reason not to say what
the teachers should do dealt with any theories as many people claimed that language teaching has
been going on a long time quite satisfactorily without teachers knowing about linguistics
(Corder, 1975:275).

Another thing that he thinks important is that principles of linguistics and psychology may
supply insights useful to the teacher, but this must be demonstrated and cannot be presumed. The
conclusion is that it is the teacher's decision to validate or refute any specific proposals as they
are directly involved in the application of those.

If Chomsky does not talk explicitly about the direct relation of generative grammar to language
teaching. Newmark (1964:70) suggested that ordering rules in a transformational grammar has
implications for the ordering of material in a teaching syllabus which may be different from
conventional principles of grading.

Viewed from the concepts of scientific and pedagogic grammar, I have the opinion that any
theory of language can be transferred into practical teaching material. The problem is, "Do
teachers of language have a strong will and capability to grasp the whole idea of the theory?"
Perhaps, the perception and recognition of the concept of the theory and the enumeration of the
theory is the most difficult thing to grasp. If an understanding of a theory is well established,
teachers will be able to decide what hints they can draw from it.

For instance, I have the experience that the teacher training college will not focus the curriculum
on linguistics. Linguistics is given very little, only the surface, so when they become teachers
another question might be raised, "how many of them will do their best in understanding a theory
by their own effort?"
This situation might be found in any teacher training colleges, not only in Indonesia. It is clearly
known that the teacher training colleges educate their students to be teachers, not to be linguists.
Maybe the best way to do is to carry out an intensive cooperation between linguists applied
linguists, and language teachers. But, in the meantime, I could not propose the real form of
cooperation.

I believe that it will be more valuable if every teacher is provided with a clear concept of theories
of language which are already known up to the present time. And the last decision remains on
theory hands as the language teachers.

References

Allen, J.P.B. 1974. "Pedagogic Grammar" in J.P.B. Allen and S. Pit Corder (Eds.). Techniques in
Applied Linguistics. London: Oxford University Press.

Chomsky, Noam. 1965. Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press.

-------------. 1973. "The Utility of Linguistics Theory to the Language Teacher." in J.P.B. Allen
and S. Pit Corder (eds.), Readings for Applied Linguistics. London: Oxford University Press.

-------------. 1976. "Some Methodological Remarks on Generative Grammar." in Harold b. Allen

(ed.), Readings in Applied Linguistics. New Delhi: Amerind Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd.

Cook, V. 1988. Chomsky's Universal Grammar. New York: Basil Blackwell.

Corder, Pit. 1973. "Linguists and the Language Teaching Syllabus." In J.P.B. Allen and S. Pit
Corder (eds.), Readings for Applied Linguistics. London: Oxford University Press.

Fodor, Jerry A. and Katz, Jerold J. 1964. The Structure of Language. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice
Hall Inc.

Hjemselv, L. 1973. "The Aim of Linguistic Theory". In J.P.B. Allen and S. Pit Corder (eds.),
Reading for Applied Linguistics. London: Oxford University Press.

________________________
Pininta Veronika Silalahi, lecturer at the Faculty of Letters, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945
Surabaya.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/electra.html

Again with O'Neill on Tragedy:

Hate-Revenge as a Tragic Reality
in Mourning Becomes Electra

Gatut Lestari
"Mourning Becomes Electra" is a play by Eugene O'Neill. It was written in France where O'Neill
was living between September 1929 to April 1931. It was published on 2 November 1931 by
Horace Liveright, New York and in 1932 by Jonathan Cape London.

"Mourning Becomes Electra" consists of three parts or plays, those are HOMECOMING, THE
HUNTED, and THE HAUNTED. Most of the action takes place in or outside the Mannons
residence in New England, in either spring or summer of 186501966 after civil war, except for
act IV of THE HAUNTED; its action occurs in the sea port.

HOMECOMING refers to Ezra Mannon who is coming from the civil war. The play begins with
a conversation among several town people who tell the audience that the war is coming to an
end, and Ezra will come home that the Mannons will soon be reunited. They also reveal who
Ezra is: a judge, a general, and a successful businessman. Yet, tension has already existed within
the family. Christine, Ezra's wife, is often left and neglected by the husband, does not love him
anymore and has got another lover. Lavinia, the daughter who has been rejected by Christine
since she was born, hates her mother. Hatred soon develops between mother and daughter,
especially when Lavinia finds that Christine's new lover is Adam Brant, is the son of David, one
of the Mannons who was expelled because he took a servant (Brant's mother) as his wife. The
situation becomes more complicated as Lavinia actually also loves Adam Brant. Then, with he
reason of defending her father's honor and trust, Lavinia wants a promise from Christine that
Christine will not see Adam Brant anymore. Christine does not keep her promise; she even plots
Ezra's murder with Adam Brant. Tension between the two women becomes less when Ezra
comes home; but suspicion becomes more. And the pitch of violence comes when Christine
murder Ezra, and Lavinia, having know that her mother is a murderess, want to take a revenge.
THE HUNTED refers to Lavinia's effort to involve Orin, her brother and the second child of the
family, in her plot against Christine. Orin, being separated from his mother and sent to the war
by his father for two years, now comes home to see his mother. Yet, Lavinia believes that Orin
will not tolerate the idea of his mother having a love affair with Adam Brant. Therefore, Lavinia
is going to deceive Orin to satisfy her desire to take revenge upon Christine. But Christine has
tried to convince Orin not to believe in what Lavinia has said to him. However, Lavinia has
succeeded in proving to Orin what Christine has done with Adam Brant by taking Orin to the
ship where Christine meets Adam Brant and plans to go away with him. Soon after Christine
leaves Adam Brant, Orin kills him At home, then, Orin tells his mother what he has done
towards Brant. Not withstanding with the fact that Brant and Orin has already known her affair
with Adam, Christine commits suicide.

In the third part, THE HAUNTED, Orin, burdened with his feeling of guilt, has committed
suicide since he feels that his mother committing suicide is because of his misdeed. None of the
Mannons but only Lavinia who is still alive, having no one beside her except for the heaps of the
family shattered apart. Then she comes to separate herself from the outside world of the
Mannons.

By the doom challenging the characters, the play can be regarded as a tragedy. Generally,
tragedy involves suffering, failure and death (Halten, 1967:26). It is obvious that O'Neill has put
those things of tragedy as the ingredients for the main issue of the play with the death as the
utmost end. But, death never really matters in tragedy. Tragedy assumes that death is inevitable
and that its coming is of no importance compared with what man does before his death (Krutch,
1976:129).

Due to the significance of what man does before his death in Mourning becomes Electra, Eugene
O'Neill has put forth a family affair with its complexities in which each member is facing some
conflicts with others and his own self, having failure and suffering, all of which are the tides of
what man does before his death. So, the presented issue is not trivial since what the Mannons has
experienced is what one might be encountered with and that leads one aware of a living being's
problem.

Beyond all the above, obviously there is something hidden behind the Mannons' honor and
greatness. That is hate and revenge of which the family is doomed to a ruin. Further, such hate
and revenge is going about within the family's love ties.

In the case of husband and wife relationship, one would see that Christine never receives warm
love, attention from her husband Ezra. She is often left by Ezra who only pursues his ambition
and prestige. Consequently she feels lonely, rejected and disgust towards her husband as she
admits to Lavinia:

Lavinia : You...then you've always hated Father?

Christine: I loved him once--before I married him-incredible as that seems now! He was
handsome in his lieutenant

uniform! He was romantic! But marriage soon turns his romance into disgust...He always
leaves me alone

(O'Neill, 1969:249).

And that is the hints of trouble in the Mannons' love affection.

Apart from her loneliness, as a wife, Christine has an instinctive urge to devote herself to her
husband to give happiness to her husband physically and spiritually. She says to her daughter:

Christine: Well ... I want you to know what I've felt .... I love him ... giving all I have to him

(O'Neill, 1969:251).

Yet, whenever her husband does not pay attention on her devotion, Christine certainly wonder
what is wrong with herself. Her mind will be shadowed with the questions of what her
weaknesses are. However, since she cannot stand with this burden of her mind, she will find fault
with Ezra as the source of the 'bad'.

For Ezra's personality, a background of his existence as a New Englander is influential. Being a
New Englander, Ezra has got a feature of life which is puritanical. According to the puritanism,
marriage is something pure and sacred; it cannot be mixed with other feelings of love which give
passion, sensuousness and warmth. Besides, man should work hard to get private prestige
(Jovanovich, 1973:16). Being conditioned by the principle, Ezra would feel guilty when he
should give passionate love to his romantic wife, somehow such love is actually needed. And
nothing but he urge of working hard to reach a prestige has always directed Ezra's motives in his
life. If he cannot do, he will lose his pride as a Mannon. But this very situation gives some
troubles to his relationship with this wife.

Moreover, on the parents-children relationship, one will acknowledge a kind of Electra and
Oedipus Complex. Electra and Oedipus Complex is a form of love which is expressed within the
intimate attachment of a daughter towards her father, and a son towards his mother (Freud,
1962). Further, Freud has said that such phenomenon seems to be a sexual deviation, meaning
that sexual satisfaction is aimed to find the attachment to other persons, instead of the
satisfaction of the genial urge (Freud 1979). Thus, the adulthood sexuality is not aimed to pursue
the satisfaction of genial urge, instead it is tuned to the childhood sexuality which is noted by the
attempt to deal with the objects outside of him. From this point, Electra and Oedipus complex
develops with its intricate emotional entanglement. Such a case is experienced by Lavinia who is
closely attached to her father Ezra, and Orin who is closely attached to his mother Christine. This
attachment will form a kind of two opposing forces--son-mother and daughter-father--whenever
the relationship of the parents becomes worse. Besides, the feelings of jealousy comes together
with such attachment. And this love complex is internalized into Lavinia and Orin's personality.

The above phenomena prompts hate-revenge in the Mannons. One reason is that the children
both daughter and son, feel that they have a great responsibility for their parents who devoted
themselves fort the sake of the children's happiness. This feeling of responsibility influences the
children's deed in which emotionally they are determined to pay their respect to their parents.

In the case of Lavinia's complex love the role of Ezra Mannon is cultivating such feeling of love
is great. Having a problem with Christine, Ezra then turns his attention to this daughter. As a
consequence, she feels responsible for her father as a kind of return for her father's love to her.
That is why she always defends her father against her mother.
Getting into such complex, not only does a daughter love her father but she also considers her
mother as a rival and she is jealous of everything her mother has got (Coleman, 1969). Lavinia is
jealous of her mother, especially when her mother has a new lover, Adam Brant, whom Lavinia
also loves. This jealousy brings further conflict and complication.

As if being an Electra, Lavinia stands herself as a defender of her father and family's honor. She
is trying to get rid off her mother. She is doing so without realizing that her deeds will bring any
disturbances either against others or herself. And at last, she should have nothing but a bitterness
of the shattered past and her own guilt.

For Orin's complex love, the role of Christine in stimulating it is dominant. Not getting
satisfaction in her love with her husband, and often being left by Ezra, Christine turns her love
and devotion to Orin. Inevitably Orin always feels that he will lose his loved mother if he cannot
protect her and sacrifice himself for her. And he is jealous of other person winning his mother's
love, including his father. Such feeling always haunts him. The feelings, responsibility, and
jealousy turn to hate whenever he knows that his mother has Adam Brant with her.

So, it is obvious that the play is exposing the real reality--a tragic reality--behind the reputation
of the great family. Hate and revenge, mixing with the bias of love affection, is the core of
troublesome and ruin in the Mannons. As O'Neill gives a comment that an inside turmoil behind
the mask of human's nature seems to be a tragic reality which someday will come out to the
surface (Wood, 1977). The members of the Mannons have their own inside turmoil which later
comes out to be destructive behavior against the others or themselves. Not only the ruin of the
characters is interesting to point out, but also the life in which they are going on with any
challenging waves is essential. And that will mark the play worthy for further study as the
audience will feel involved with he problem presented, and getting awareness of "that is life."

References

Coleman, James C. Psychology and Effective Behavior. California: Scott Foresman and
Company.

Freud, Sigmund. Civilization and Discontents. New York: WW Norton and Company, Inc.

Freud Sigmund. 1979. Memperkenalkan Psikoanalisa. Jakarta: Gramedia.

Jovanovich. 1973. Adventure in American Literature. New York.

Krutch, Joseph Wood. 1977. Five Approaches of Literary Appreciation: Tragic Fallacy. New
York: new York University Press.

O'Neill, Eugene. 1969. Desire under the Elm, Strange Interlude, Mourning Becomes Electra.
New York: Alfred A Knof Inc and Random House.

________________________
Gatut Lestari, lecturer at the Faculty of Letters, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/voice.html

The Voices of the Survivals

in the Poetry of
Contemporary Native-American Women

Indrani Dewi Anggraini

Tri Pramesti

The contemporary Native-American poems written by women have been attracting more and
more attention in recent years for several reasons. First, these poems are growing. Second, they
are considered to be tremendous asset to American Literature. Third, they create and interactive
understanding with the main stream literature. The cross-cultural understanding between a minor
and the major groups leads to a better appreciation to the indigenous American Peoples,
especially the experiences of the female poets whose poems have been published since the 1979's
to the present.

Based on the above reasons, this paper intends to analyze some poems written by eight
contemporary Native-American female poets, such as Paula Gunn Allen, Wendy Rose, Linda
Hogan, Mary Tallmountain, Roberta Hill Whiteman, J. Ivalvoo Volbroth, Joy Harjo, and Leslie
Silko. Their poems are worth studying because they are showing specific characteristics of the
contemporary Native-American poems written by women. Al of these poets are expressing their
ideas on preserving tradition in the written verses. Besides, their poems also reveal common
themes on the experiences of the breeded native American women.

These significant themes relate to the paradoxes of searching for self-identity. This redefinition
of self is experienced through the dichotomy of the past and present phenomena of the native-
American women.

The first paradoxical phenomenon is shown through the traumatic historical event-the genocide
of the ancestor of the contemporary native-American poets. This brutal holocaust is encountered
with the process of Americanization. This paradox brings pain, suffering, and alienation, as well
as depression to the contemporary native-American. Nevertheless, they are innovative and
creative in expressing their wail. The native-American were dispossessed of much of their land
in the early 17th century to the 19th century by the European settlement. Yet, they have survived
and have succeeded in retaining their identity. This survival needs great appreciation as the
native-American become the victims of genocide assented by Legters (in De Bryn and Jordan,
1995:348).

The genocide was conducted inhumanly. The members of the native-American were killed.
Apart from this, they were harmed physically and mentally. Deliberately inflicting on the
conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in the whole was another
effort to abolish the native-Americans. Forcibly transferring their children to another group was
another form of the European inhuman deeds to the Native Americans. These young people were
forcefully Americanized. Further generation were put into reservations (Legters, 1995:349).

The above inhuman assimilation leads the contemporary Native-American female poets to be in
pain and suffer. Furthermore, the contemporary Native-American female poets lose their
certainty on their identity. Paula Allen Gunn states that "The breed is an Indian who is not an
Indian." "That so breeds are a bit of both worlds, and the consciousness of this makes them seem
alien to Indians while making them feel alien among whites" (Lincoln, 1983:214-215). To regain
their self-identity Wendy Rose pleads the Americans to admit the existence of indigenous oldest
minor ethnic by remarking it in "American":

give me a color
to step in
a color for my
table a color to trash
my hand in
my inner swirls
are gray with yesterday's promises
becoming today's raining wail.

The poem reclaim the existence of the Native American people shows unrestrained inner lament
outlet as being a discarded ethnic. The speaker cannot forget the past lament that is caused by the
broken treaties of "yesterday's promises." In fact, the survival of the Native-American People
sublimates their traumatic historical events through paradoxical creativity, as it is seen in
"becoming today's raining wail."

Furthermore, as breeded women, thought they reclaim their self-identity by referring their
memories in the past, they face a contrary situation. As it is seen in Rose's "The day I was
conceived," "so my origin is one":

of rocks and badgers; I sing

..................
but do not carve. My origin is one
of moondust and medicine;
I dance but do not pray
My origin is one of maize and mesquite; I grow but do not live.

As half breed, the speaker is put into two different worlds; she dance the Pow Wow and yet at
the same time she does not pray in traditional religious ritual. The paradoxical life of the breeded
women is also seen from the last line of the poem. This line proves that the speaker grows as a
Native-American among the white society. Because of this, alienation haunts her because she
does not live with their original community.

Roberta Hill gains her identity by looking back the painful experience of the Native-American
abolishment. In her poems, she sees the holocaust in Wounded Knee as "Bones flash like
shells/in salt green grass." Further, she "Dreams of Rebirth" so that "some of us (Native-
American) may wake ashamed" as native-Americans who were stereotyped as killers,
uneducated people, and rapers. "Some will rise that clear morning like the swallows," instead, "If
I (the speaker) could only full or change this slow hunger" of recognition "this midnight
swallowed four hundred years." In fact, this is a dream that will not be fulfilled. To release this
disappointment "We (Native-American) need to be purified by fury."

Instead of dreaming of rebirth, Mary Tall Mountain alludes the sweet memories of hunting
"Good grease" in the traditional life of the Native-American. The activities of obtaining good
grease reveal Native-American traditional values of gathering, sharing, pride, and victory as well
as communal enjoyment. These values are shown in the following lines:
The hunters went out with guns
at dawn.
We had no meat in the village,
no food for the tribe and the dogs.
No carribow in the cashes.
All day we waited.
At last!

As darkness hunt at the river

we children saw them far away.
Yes! They were carrying carribow!
We jumped and shouted!
By the fires that night
we feasted.
The old one chucked,
sucking and smacking,
sopping the juices with sourdough bread.

The grease would warm us

when hungry winter howled.

Grease was beautiful

oozing,
dripping and running down our chins.

Brown hands shining with grease.

We talk of it
when we see each other
far from home.

Remember the marrow

Sweet in the bowls?
We grabbed for them like candy
Good.
Gooooooooood
Good grease
(Tall Mountain in Keyses, 1991:71-72).

The good grease also provided secure feeling for the future food storage "when hungry winter
howled." This good plan created peaceful life for the community in the Native-American tribal
system. This positive image of the traditional live of the Native American is needed to be voiced
to counter the negative image of the Native-American given by the white.

Nevertheless, the pain, suffering, anger, and alienation as well as depression caused by their
efforts to redefine their self-identity can be recognized as they have experienced the assimilation
to become "American." They cannot deny the advantages of Americanization. Because of this,
they are able to give voices and make eternal their paradoxical situation of regaining their
identity as the indigenous American people. Paula Gunn Allen need to contemplate this paradox
of redefinition of self by being alone and optimistic to approach the future as it is depicted in the
"Transformation."

Out in the light on sitting alone.

Sorting, straightening tangled skins.
(They're always trying lives in knots.)
I would like to be sleeping. Not
dreaming, just black out:
no one bumping, around in my brain-
no angels, no deaths, just quite
empty nests, just threads
lying straight and ordered and still.
outside the window I can see
sweet winter birds
Rise up from tall weeds
chattering. They fly
into sunrisen sky that holds them
in light.
(Allen, 1992: 1989)

The other conflicting circumstance is the ginocratic tribal system encountered with the
partriarchal system. The Native-America traditional beliefs inform us that the first people of the
American continent comes from those first women-Itayatiku or Is'its'tsinako (Thought Women,
White Buffalo Calf Woman or Mother Raven.) It is believed that the creation of he Native-
American people intimately involved with the femine. This is shown in Silko's opening lines of
Ceremony:
Ts'its'tsinako, Thought-Women,
is sitting in her room
and whatever she thinks about
appears.
She thought of her sisters
Naw' Ts'ity'I and Itcts'ity'I
and together they created the Universe
this world and four world below.
Thought-Women, the spide,
Named things and
as she named them
they appeared.
(Silko, 1997:1)

Some anthropologists and sociologists, such as Maria Braveheart Jordan and Lemira de Bruin
assert that "American Indian women were powerful figures in Indian culture and were
instrumental in the creation of the Lakota and many other tribes (Jordan and De Bruin,
1995:354). Because of this belief, the traditional Native-American women were highly respected
and honored. Furthermore, the traditional Native-American people applied the genocratic tribal
system as it is noted by Paula Gunn Allen in her book The Sacred Hoop, as she states that
"Traditional tribal life styles are more often genoratic than not, and they are never patriarchal"
(Allen, 1992:2).

That is why Joy Harjo want to "Remember" the glorification of women as the creator of the
Native-American people and the universe. This creator can be in the form of moon, sun, wind, or
even water as they are shown in the following lines:

"Remember the moon, know who she is.

Remember the sun's birth at dawn, that is the
strongest point of time. Remember sundawn
and the giving away to night.
Remember your birth, how your mother struggled
to give you form and breath. You are evidence of her
life, and her mother's and hers.
.....
Remember the wind. Remember her voice.
She knows the origin of this universe.
(Harjo in Lauter, 1994:3054)

Paul Gunn Allen refers "He Nas Tye Woman" or water woman to describe the admiration on
woman as /"the essence of you (Native-America). So, /"He na Tye (Woman) this is recognition
and remembering"/"Gentle. Soft. Sure"/ flows through /"Lakes and rivers/in the universe. Water
is an important source of life for human beings since/"After a lifetime of draught / water /finally
cleanses the air"/"making everything new'/. Nevertheless, water is something very significant to
every object either animate or inanimate in this universe because:

Water in Falls, misting and booming on the rocks

below.

Tall pines in the mist, the deep craved caves.

Water in rivulets. Gathering speed, drops joining
in headlong flight.
Unnamed rivers, flowing eternally underground,
unchanging, unchanged.

Water thundering down long dry arroyos, the

ancient causeways
of our faith. Draught over, at last. Carrying silt,
bits of broken glass, branches, pebbles, pieces,
of abandoned cars.
Parts of lost houses and discarded dreams. Downstream,
storms of water and we
deluged
singing
hair plastered to our aesthetic skulls,
waving wild fists at the bolts hurled at us from
above
teeth shimmering in the sheets of rain (the sheem)
eyes blinded with the torrents that fall from throughout them:
rain. The rain that makes us new.
That rain is you.
How did I wait so long to drink.
(Allen, 1992:123-124).
Apart from being divine figures, the traditional Native-American women possess other important
roles as tribal leaders, governmental heads, decision makers of the people, preserver of the
tradition, keepers of stories, medicine people, gatherer of food. The last four roles are shown in
the following lines:

Some make potteries

some weave and spin
remember
the woman /celebrate
webs and making
out of own flesh
earth
(Allen, 1992:112)

Potteries are important reservoirs either for food or for rain water. In a land of little rain, like
Laguna, those potteries prove very useful cradle and carrier of rain and food to meet the people's
daily and basic needs; as it is shown in the following lines:

Brown hand shaping

earth into earth
food for bodies
water for fields
they use
old pots
broken fragments
cast away
bits.
to make new
mixed with clay
it makes strong
bowls, jars
new
she brought
light
we remember this
as we make
the water bowls
(Allen, 1992:113)

The high status and roles of the traditional Native-American women were undermined by the 16th-century Anglo
European male. Jo Whitehorse Cochran states that the Anglo-European men insistence on only men being in power
changed Native-American societies from matriarchal to patriarchal. Further she writes:

This first interaction and assumption was

to change the role and status of Native women for
over four hundred years in Native
country. It was to lead to the total
disappearance of Native women as the
policy and political leaders.
(Cochran, 1991:197).

To accomplish the above mission, some tactical endeavors were implemented by the Anglo-
European male. The introduction of alcohol was an effort to intoxicate leaders to facilitate the
signing of treaties done by the federal was practised with Indian men alone. Women were
excluded. Those treaties were imposed upon lands of the Native-American that was considered
as "mother earth." Smallpox infested blankets were traded deliberately as an attempt to abolish
the population. Apart from those tactics, the federal policy of forced assimilation was enacted to
erase the originality of the Native-American. All those tactics lead to devastate the role and
status of the Native-American Women.

The devastation of the role and status of the Native-American women is so depressing. Their role
as a mother who is regarded as a very honored and respected role was abolished by the forced
assimilation. This brain-process was executed through the boarding schools designed by the
Anglo-European society. Because of this, the Native-American younger generations have been
sterilized form their own tradition, as is shown in "Laguna Ladies Luncheon."

Gramma says it's so depressing

all those Indian women
their children ever to be born
and they didn't know
they'd been sterilized
(Allen, 1982:126)

In the boarding school the children are forcefully taught, halfstarved, dipped in sheepdip, shorn,
redressed in the western way. Apart from these, they are renamed with Christian names, instead
of their traditional names. They are not allowed to see their families for years. Giving half-rotted
and barely digestible alien food is another effort to separate them from their original meal.
Besides this, they are shamed and humiliated publicly, and forbidden to speak their own
language, except English. Furthermore, they are indoctrinated to believe that their loved ones are
naked, murderous, shameful savages, hardly on a par with the beast (Wiget, 1990:12).

The status of the traditional women are no longer paid attention to by men since these men are
addicted to alcoholic drink and gambling. These addictions lead the women to be ignored by the
men /"gambled everything, no matter how":

their sister pleaded

and hid in the Kivas
so the women couldn't nag
and they wouldn't even do
the necessary dancing
("Suiding Indian Women")

(Allen, 1982:128) The lamentation of massacre on the ancestors, the abolishment of the roles of
mother and the ignorance of the men effectuate the Native women in confusion. Further Allen in
her poem "Suiding Indian Women" expresses her worries and sympathy towards the depressing
condition of the native-American women by forwarding unanswered question:

How can you escape the ties

of brutal drunken father
gossipy sisters/aunts
scolding uncles/brothers
who want you to buy and
cook their food
you eat little yourself
you say. Why must
you in your strong toothed beauty
huddle helpless on the edge
laugh mocking your own terrible
pain, why are you things so rotten
that you can't see another world
around you like the lamps
soft and comforting
around this room?
(Allen, 1982:129)

Instead of enjoying the light of the room, some Native-American women cannot stand any longer
the effects of partriarchal system on them because the men:

... abandoned you (Native-American Women)

defied the women
gambled and lost
they don't tell how
they put women
out of the sacrifice
except in your emblem
and death and
destruction
have followed them
the people lost
the beautiful first home
to the raging war golds
they have taken your name
(Allen, 1992:131)

It is seen from the above extract that there are some Native-American women preferring to
commit suicide than facing the devastation of their status and their role in gynocratic tribal
system.

The last paradox analyzed in this paper relates to the meaning of nature to the contemporary
native American women. The paradox is shown through the ecological interdependency that is
contradicted to pollution. It is believed that nature is not only a place where the Native American
live but it is also their "mother." The other objects of nature such as flora, fauna, and stars,
stones, seas, lakes are considered as brothers and sisters. Tessie Naranjo, Chair person of the
Native-American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act asserts that the Native Americans are:

... part of an organic world in which interrelationships at all levels of life are honored. Our relationship to the place
where we live, which includes the land, water, sky mountains, rock, animals, and plants are tangible and extremely
important (Naranjo, 1994:5)

This belief is clearly stated in Silko's poem written in the final part of her story "Lullaby." The
short poem shows the attitude of the Native-Americans towards nature. Their relationship to the
earth or nature is in term of a family. The earth is not something to be bought and sold,
something to be used and mistreated. The earth is the source of their lives. They believe that the
Earth is their Mother, and the rest of creation, all around, shares in that family relationship. Thus,
the sun is the Father, while the animals are their brothers and sisters. The Native Americans see
the role on this Earth, not as conquerors of nature, but as beings entrusted with a very special
mission that is to maintain the natural balance, to take care of their mother, to be keepers of the
Earth. So to the Native-American the earth does not belong to man. On the other hand, man
belongs to the earth since:

The earth is your mother,

she holds you
The sky is your father,
he protects you.

Sleep,
sleep.
Rainbow is your sister,
she loves you.
The winds are your brothers,
they sing to you.

Sleep,
sleep.
We are together always
We are together always
There never was a time
when this
was not so.
(Silko in Lauter, 1994:2738-2739).

The brothers and sisters can also be animals such as humming birds, or coyotes. These can be
seen in some poem in Silko's Ceremony:
Hummingbird looked at all the
skinny people
he felt sorry for them.
He said, "You need a messenger.
Listen, I'll tell you
what to do.
Bring a beautiful pottery jar
painted with parrots and big
flowers
Mix black mountain dirt
some sweet corn flour
and a little water.
Cover the jar with a new buckskin
new buckskin
and say this over the jar
and sing this softly
above the jar:
After four days
you will be alive
After four days
you will be alive
After four days
you will be alive.
(Silko, 1997:72).

The Hummingbird as a brother guides the Laguna People to survive during the draught. He
advises the people to bring a pottery jar filled with some sweet corn flour and a little water and
have ritual songs so that the corn will grow. Corn is very important plant for the Laguna people
since this is the only plant that provides them sufficient food. As the Laguna area is a dry place,
jars are also playing an important role in their life because the pottery is the place where they can
keep water and dry seed corn during the rainy season.

Coyote is also another animal that is respected as clever protector and ludicrous creature as
shown in J. Ivaloo Volburth's poem "Animal Thirst":

Molten Moon
drips down into the pine needles
Coyote tracks embers.
all along the embankment.
(Volborth in Houston, 1982:132).

Because of Coyote's smartness he is able to protect the Native-American from the attack of the
other wild animals. Its cunningness leads its enemy to failure in ambushing them.

Nevertheless, the sacred earth is seized by the white. The earth is no longer respected as
"mother" as it is littered by the /"broken beer bottles, cracked"/pow wow drumsticks'/ (Rose,
1992:175). Apart from this, the earth is also polluted by the smoke of the native-American
women who are assimilated with the western, are influenced to manipulate nature by their use of
cars, littering the earth after the Pow Wow dance, consuming the flora and fauna.

The paradoxes faced by the contemporary Native-American women reveal the continuance of the
Native-American culture. This continuance results shift-from pessimistic to optimistic, from
despair to hope as Linda Hodan asserts in "The Women Speaking": "We love/"that belong to us
all"/ (Allen, 1992:172), including the bitter experience of holocaust.

Bibliography

Allen, Paula Gunn. 1985. The Sacred Hoop. Boston: Beacon Press.

Allen, Paula Gunn. 1982. Shadow Country. Los Angeles: University of California Press.

Bruyn, Lemyra de and Jordan, M.B. 1985. So She May Walk in Balance. In Adteman, M.A. and
Gloria Enguidanus (Eds.), Racism, Sexism Jeanne. New York: Haworth Press, Inc.

Cochran, Jo Whitehorse. 1991. Steadily, One-by-one Pulling Ourselves Out. In Jo Whitehorse

Curchan Dubuque (Ed.), Changing Our Power. Kendall/Hunt Publishing.

Lincoln, Kenneth. 1985. Native American Rennaisance. Los Angeles: University of California
Press.

Tall Mountain, Mary. 1991. Good Grease. In Jenny Keyser (Ed.), Braided Lives: An Anthology
of Multicultural American Writing. Minnesota.

Naranjo, Tessie. 1994. Native People. Spring.

Rose, Wendy. 1994. America: The Day I was Conceived. In Paul Lanter (Ed.),The Heath
Anthology of American Literature Vol II. Toronto: Heath, Co.

Silko, Mormon Leslie. 1979. Ceremony. New York: Penguin.

Silko, Mormon Leslie. 1994. Lullaby. In Paul Lanter (Ed.), The Heath Anthology of American
Literature Vol. II. Toronto: Heath Co.

Whiteman, Roberta Hill. 1994. Dreams of Rebirth. In Paul Lanter (Ed.), The Heath Anthology of
American Literature Vol. II. Toronto: Heath Co.

_____________ Indrani Dewi Anggraini and Tri Pramesti are lecturers at the Faculty of
Letters, University of 17 Agustus 1945 in Surabaya, Indonesia.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/gender.html

Bahasa Indonesia Bahasa Lelaki?

Telaah Ketimpangan Gender dalam Bahasa Indonesia

D. Jupriono
dijadikan alam pria dan wanita
dua makhluk dalam asuhan dewata
ditakdirkan bahwa pria berkuasa
adapun wanita lemah lembut
manja ...
wanita dijajah pria
sejak dulu
(Ismail Marzuki, 1959?)

Pendahuluan: Masyarakat, Kebudayaan, dan Bahasanya

Benarkah bahasa Indonesia (BI) berjenis kelamin lelaki? Beragam jawaban bisa disodorkan,
sesuai dengan sudut pandang dan kepentingan masing-masing. Di sini, BI akan dibedah dari
perspektif gender, sebagai matra sentral Feminisme. Dengan perspektif gender, nanti akan
dibuktikan bahwa BI lebih memihak penutur lelaki ketimbang perempuan biarpun jelas sekali
bahwa BI juga dituturkan oleh separuh masyarakat wanita. Singkat kata, senang atau tidak, BI
bias maskulin.

Mengapa BI memihak lelaki, inilah soalnya! Dengan sedikit penyederhanaan, boleh dikatakan
bahwa pembiasan gender itu terjadi karena masyarakat Indonesia juga meletakkan lelaki pada
tataran lebih tinggi di atas perempuan. Mengapa masyarakat "menjunjung" lelaki dan
"menjinjing" perempuan? Mengapa tidak sebaliknya? Atau, mengapa pula keduanya tidak
diletakkan dalam garis egaliter? Karena, kebudayaan yang dihasilkan dan diikuti masyarakat pun
memihak lelaki!
Kebudayaan? Di sinilah kita mendudukkan kebudayaan sebagai terdakwa, seakan-akan yang
salah memang budayanya. Dalam pengertian yang luas, apa yang disebut kebudayaan mencakup
seluruh aktivitas noninstingtif masyarakat tertentu. Pengertian bahwa kebudayaan adalah
kesenian, seperti yang banyak dipahami orang selama ini, merupakan pengertian yang sempit
dan disempitkan. Aktivitas noninstingtif--yang hanya bisa diperoleh dengan belajar--berwujud
gagasan, tindakan, dan benda karya budaya. Yang termasuk di dalamnya adalah peralatan dan
perlengkapan hidup, sistem ekonomi dan mata pencaharian, sistem kemasyarakatan, sistem ilmu
pengetahuan dan teknologi (iptek), kesenian, sistem religi, dan bahasa (Koentjaraningrat, 1964:
79). Untuk diskusi ini, kenyataan bahasa sebagai salah satu unsur bagian dari budaya perlu
digarisbawahi.

Di samping sebagai bagian, bahasa juga merupakan wahana budaya. Sebagai wahana budaya,
bahasa akan merekam semua aktivitas masyarakatnya. Bahasa adalah cermin budaya. Maka,
bahasa pun tidak dapat dipisahkan dari unsur-unsur budaya lain di masyarakat itu.1) Itulah
sebabnya, jika ingin mengetahui unsur-unsur budaya suatu masyarakat secara keseluruhan, orang
harus mempelajari bahasa masyarakat yang bersangkutan sebagai konteksnya. Ingat, "bahasa
menunjukkan bangsa". Dalam hal ini, menarik diungkap di sini keyakinan J.H. Greenberg
(Samsuri, 1986) bahwa: "Language may no longer be conceived rather be viewed as part of the
whole and functionally related to it."

Telaah Interdisipliner: Metode dan Rumusan Masalah

Telaah ini menerapkan ancangan (approach) kualitatif etnografis. Dengan ancangan ini, data
yang diambil tergolong data lunak (soft data), berupa tuturan bahasa, dan bukan angka-angka
(Kirk dan Miller, 1986). Sumber data dalam telaah ini diambil dari latar alami (natural setting),
yakni tuturan alamiah keseharian. Instrumen yang dipakai adalah kemampuan penelaah itu
sendiri. Sebagai human instrument, manusia dapat menghasilkan data berketerpercayaan cukup
tinggi sebab hanya manusia sendirilah yang sanggup memahami keseluruhan konteks dan
perilaku kehidupannya. Dilihat dari kemurniannya, telaah ini bersifat interdisipliner, antara
Linguistik dan Studi Perempuan (Women Study). Dengan ini, akan dipersoalkan perihal
tersubordinasinya perempuan oleh dominasi lelaki, keterpurukan nasib perempuan dalam
bayangan cengkeraman kekuasaan lelaki--sebagai cermin paling mencolok dari apa yang biasa
disebut sebagai ketimpangan gender, sebagai kaki tangan ideologi patriarki.2)
Bagaimana cara mencandra semua masalah di atas--inilah soal metodologisnya. Soal-soal sosial-
politik, hukum, interaksi manusia, kekuasaan (termasuk kekuasaan lelaki atas perempuan),
lazimnya disoroti dengan pendekatan perilaku (behavioral approach). Dengan pendekatan ini
yang dicandra adalah perbuatan, tindakan, kekerasan, dst. masyarakat. Untuk telaah ketimpangan
gender pun, ini tidak keliru.3) Akan tetapi, jelas sekali bahwa dengan begitu ketimpangan ini
lebih banyak disoroti dari sisi perilaku masyarakatnya saja, yang membentuk realitas
sosiobehavioral, Padahal, survei membuktikan bahwa ketimpangan gender juga dapat disorot
dari segi kebahasaannya, yang akan membentuk realitas simbolis. Dari segi kebahasaan,
penyorotan akan dilakukan dengan pendekatan verbal (verbal approach), yang sebenarnya sudah
sering diterapkan orang.4) Pendekatan verbal bisa membuktikan bahwa "lelaki menang,
perempuan kalah" dapat dilihat dari bahasanya.Dengan pendekatan verbal, data verbal yang
masuk akan dikaji dengan analisis isi (content analysis). Teknik ini akan dilengkapi dengan
domain analysis, terutama dalam menyusun kategorisasi data. Topik bincang dalam tulisan ini
adalah "Bagaimana saja wujud ketimpangan gender yang terungkap dalam bahasa Indonesia?".

Wujud Ketimpangan Gender Masyarakat dalam Bahasa Indonesia

Ketimpangan gender dalam bahasa Indonesia terungkap dalam wujud: nama penanda status
keluarga/perkawinan, penyebutan keberadaan atau tindakan, keniscayaan struktur, dan inisiatif
pengucapan. Masing-masing akan dibahas dalam bagian berikut.

Pemakaian Nama Penanda Status Keluarga/Perkawinan

Sejak lahir dari guwagarba sang ibu, manusia sudah dikotak-kotakkan ke dalam gender: "lelaki"
dan "perempuan". Setiap anak harus tunduk pada orang-tuanya. Untuk melanggengkan eksistensi
keluarga, pada beberapa suku, etnis, dan kelompok sosial lain, terdapat adat mencantumkan
nama ayah--dan bukan nama ibu!--di belakang nama anak. Atau, jika pada komunitasnya tidak
mengenal adat itu, saat dewasa yang dipilih sebagai nama tambahan adalah nama ayah dan
bukan ibu. Misalnya seorang anak lelaki bernama Bambang dan anak perempuan bernama Linda,
berayahkan Notosusanto dan beribukan Juminten. Jika Bambang dan Linda sudah dewasa, dan
ada keinginan untuk melanggengkan nama orang-tua, yang dipilih untuk ditambahkan adalah
Notosusanto dan bukan Juminten. Maka, terbentuklah nama Bambang Notosusanto dan Linda
Notosusanto. Rasanya betapa ganjilnya jika dipilih *Bambang Juminten dan *Linda Juminten.
Alih-alih dengan itu, seorang artis yang bernama Lisa A. Riyanto, misalnya, hampir bisa
dipastikan ia anak dari komponis A. Riyanto yang sudah almarhum itu.

Setelah berumah tangga, nasib lelaki dan perempuan masih tetap tidak sama. Seorang istrilah
yang lazim menambahi namanya dengan nama suaminya, dan bukan sebaliknya: suami
menambahi namanya dengan nama istrinya--sungguh mustahil! Maka, yang ada Tien Soeharto
dan bukan *Soeharto Tien.

Penyebutan terhadap Keberadaan dan Tindakan

Nasib perempuan dan lelaki tidak sama, termasuk dalam hal menerima sebutan, predikat, atau
julukan untuk suatu tindakan atau keberadaan. Ketimpangan tersebut dapat dipilah-pilah lagi ke
dalam ketimpangan sebutan berikut.

Sebutan yang Maskulin dan Feminin

Beberapa kosakata sebutan klasik juga membelah manusia menjadi sebutan yang bersifat
feminin dan sebutan yang berbau maskulin. Untuk sebutan yang feminin kita kenal, misalnya,
"ibu kota, induk semang, nenek moyang, dewi malam ('bulan'), putri malu (sejenis bunga), ibu
pertiwi, dan ratu adil, dan bukan *bapak kota, *jago semang, *kakek moyang, *dewa malam,
*putra malu, *bapak pertiwi, dan *raja adil". Dengan memakai ibu, induk, nenek, dewi, putri,
dan ratu, nuansa kesan yang memancar adalah kedamaian, kepasifan, ketenangan, kesabaran.
Agaknya sudah menjadi "kodrat", bahwa kata-kata ini diciptakan khusus buat yang serba pasif,
diam, dan damai.

Sebutan yang bercorak maskulin berkesan menguasai, agresif, garang. Dalam khasanah kosakata
BI klasik kita temukan misalnya raja hutan ('singa, macan'), raja siang ('matahari'), dewa maut,
dewa perang. Dalam kosakata BI kontemporer, untuk sesuatu yang bersifat garang, pemberani,
dan agresif itu, kita pakai raja jalanan ('suka mengebut'), raja judi, raja copet, bapak
pembangunan, bapak koperasi, bapak pendidikan nasional, jago matematika, jago nggambar, dan
jelas bukan *ratu judi, *ratu copet, *ibu pembangunan, *ibu koperasi, *ibu pendidikan nasional,
*babon matematika, *babon nggambar.

Layak dipertanyakan kebenaran ini, memang. Siapa pun tahu, harimau atau singa yang disebut
raja hutan tadi belum tentu berjenis kelamin jantan, dan memang tidak harus jantan; siapa pun
sulit menolak realitas bahwa seorang siswa yang dipredikati jago matematika belum tentu
berkelamin lelaki. Pak Harto disebut-sebut sebagai "Bapak Pembangunan", Bung Hatta "Bapak
Koperasi", dan Ki Hajar Dewantara "Bapak Pendidikan Nasional". Semua setuju. Masalahnya,
andai saja--memang hanya andai--pelopor pembangunan itu Mbak Mega, perintis koperasi itu
Mbak Tutut, dan tokoh pendidikan itu Bu Toeti Heraty, apakah kita sportif menyebut ketiga
beliau itu sebagai "*Ibu Pembangunan", "*Ibu Koperasi", dan "*Ibu Pendidikan Nasional"? Saya
tidak berani berspekulasi. R.A. Kartini pun belum pernah disebut "Ibu Pendidikan" atau sebutan
lain yang tidak menuansakan bias gender lelaki.

Sebutan Pelecehan Martabat

Gejala penghalusan pengucapan sesuatu--biasa disebut eufemisme--kadang memang

menerbitkan kesan sopan, tenang, indah, anggun. Seseorang yang sedang makan siang bersama,
dan tiba-tiba perutnya mules, misalnya, ia toh tak mungkin mengatakan "Maaf, saya mau berak"
jika ia belum siap dituduh tidak sopan. Ia mesti menghaluskan pengucapannya: "Maaf, saya mau
ke belakang". Tentu saja, semua yang makan siang itu benar-benar menyadari bahwa acuan
berak dan ke belakang adalah kurang lebih sama saja. Akan tetapi, konotasi yang muncul
berbeda. Dalam konteks seperti ini eufemisme menemukan tempatnya untuk diterapkan.p>
Bagaimana eufemisme dalam pemartabatan lelaki-perempuan dalam dunia "kerja"? Masih
tepatkah digunakan? Tidak semuanya. Kata pelacur, karena dipandang vulgar, norak,
menjijikkan, harus "dihaluskan", diganti dengan wanita tunasusila atau WTS--dan justru
singkatannya inilah yang lebih populer. Jadi, orang bisa menepuk dada, seakan di Indonesia tak
ada pelacur lagi, yang ada hanyalah wanita-wanita tuna susila saja. Perasaan menjadi lega.
Bahwa kebanggaan ini baru berada dalam tataran slogan, dan dalam realitasnya tetap saja
"emangnye gue pikirin", itu soal lain.

Sehubungan dengan kajian ini, jika kata WTS digencarkan dan pelacur dihapus, apakah ini
berarti bahwa yang nakal perempuan saja, sedangkan lelaki tak ada yang tunasusila? Padahal,
adalah fakta bahwa "pria penghibur", "bawon", "gigolo", "teko", "bandot", memang ada. Inilah
cermin paling buruk dari pelecehan gender yang menempatkan perempuan pelacur pada posisi
yang lebih terlecehkan, sekalipun lakon yang dijalani sama persis dengan lelaki pelacur. Dengan
demikian, layak sekali jika perempuan Indonesia tersinggung.5) Ini diskriminasi perlakuan
seksual.
Lalu, bagaimana? Jika istilah WTS tetap dipertahankan, harus ada kata khusus untuk menunjuk
pada lelaki pelacur. Jika boleh, saya akan mengusulkan istilah "pria tunasusila" atau PTS untuk
yang satu ini. Masalahnya, jika PTS dipilih, mahasiswa perguruan tinggi "luar negeri" se-
Indonesia akan memprotes keras. Dan, saya belum siap diprotes. Maka, ganti lagi dengan yang
lain, semisal "lelaki tunasusila" atau LTS. Dengan ini pembagian kerja secara seksual benar-
benar ada dan adil. Lain lagi jika dipandang tidak usah ada tambahan istilah semacam LTS itu,
WTS pun mesti dihapus, dan diganti dengan kata baru lagi yang netral, yang mampu mewadahi
baik WTS maupun LTS. Atau, barangkali kembali ke pelacur lagi. Untuk ini, bagaimana kalau
saudara-saudara kita yang masih menderita itu kita sebut saja "manusia tunasusila" (MTS).
Masalahnya lagi, ini jelas memerahkan telinga saudara kita yang belajar, mengajar, atau alumni
madrasah tsanawiyah. Begini saja: orang tunasusila (OTS)?

Degradasi Konsep Martabat

Dengan degradasi, makna kata menjadi enteng, remeh, bahkan ujung-ujungnya bisa melenceng
dari konsep dasarnya. Degradasi terhadap perjuangan kerja perempuan, misalnya, akan sering
muncul di sekitar kita, yang memang merupakan masyarakat patriarkis. Karena beban kondisi
ini, saya sering melihat kekikukan ibu pekerja ("wanita karier", WK) berpenghasilan tinggi,
bahkan sebagian dari mereka melebihi gaji suaminya, manakala saya tanyakan berapa gajinya.
Mengherankan, gaji tinggi melebihi suami kok malu. Apa salahnya? Perhatikan kutipan
wawancara berikut!

Saya: Wah gajinya besar dong. Cepet kaya, Bu, nanti.

WK : Ah, nggak juga. Itu kan menurut situ.

Saya: Gaji segitu besar lho, Bu. Ini kan di atas gaji suami. Hebat.

WK : Ah, saya kan cuma istri. Jadi, hanya sekadar membantu suami saja.

Pernyataan "cuma istri, hanya sekadar membantu suami" merupakan pantulan dari rasa kikuk mereka. Pernyataan
ini melemahkan realitas yang sesungguhnya: bahwa mereka benar-benar menolong suami dari banting tulang
mencukupi kebutuhan, jadi tidak sekadar melengkapi, tetapi benar-benar menyelamatkan ketahanan ekonomi
keluarga, sebagai survival strategy. Mereka malu mengakui. Toh mereka merasa hanyalah figuran pendamping
belaka, semantara suami tercinta adalah aktor utama kepala keluarga. Padahal, mereka banar-benar bekerja! Itu
memang hak dan buah kegigihan mereka.

Kebanyakan dari mereka mengidap semacam "sindrom takut sukses" (fear of success syndrom),
khawatir menyaingi dan menyinggung suami. Aneh, tapi bukti berbicara bahwa tidak sedikit
suami merasa terusik cengkeraman hegemoninya menerima kenyataan ini. Adalah bukti juga
bahwa biarpun bergaji lebih kecil, jadi memang hanya sekadar membantu--dalam arti yang
sesungguhnya--seorang suami memilih berkelahi ketimbang harus mengakui: "*Ah, saya ini 'kan
cuma sekadar membantu penghasilan istri?"

Sebutan Pembatasan Berkebebasan

Jika orang percaya bahwa lelaki dan perempuan diciptakan sama-sama dari tanah, sama hak dan
kewajibannya sebagai hamba Tuhan, semestinya tak ada lagi pemasungan gender satu dan
pemerdekaan gender lain. Dengan standar ganda ini, perempuan dipaksa oleh kulturnya untuk
selalu diam, patuh, mengalah, sebab ramai, melawan, dan sifat agresif lainnya hanya boleh
dilakukan oleh sesamanya yang bergender lelaki. Berikut ini cuplikan obrolan ibu dengan anak
perempuannya (AP) yang hendak menuntut Pak Lurahnya yang telah memotong kiriman duit
dari suami di perantauan (Malaysia) perempuan itu, perhatikan!

Ibu: Kamu nggak bisa begitu. Bagaimanapun dia itu wong dhuwur lho. Lurah kok mau dilawan.

Kita ini orang kecil, Nduk. Lagipula, kita itu kan perempuan to. Dipikir ..., Nduk!

AP : Mbok, tapi ini kan duit laki saya. Jadi ya termasuk duitku juga. Aku kan bininya.

Di Malaysia dia kan kerja keras. Apa dikira di sana dia cuma kluyuran tok. Siang

malam dia kerja keras kayak kuda. Ee ... kok di sini dipotong orang seenaknya.
 Emangnya duit kakeknya!

Ibu: Kamu itu dinasihati kok sukanya ngeyel. Nduk, ingat kamu itu perempuan lho. Cuma

perempuan. Nggak ada ceritanya, perempuan bisa menang. Perempuan saja kok macem

-macem. Mbok tunggu saja nanti kalau lakimu sudang pulang. Biar dia yang ngurus.

Ini urusan lelaki. Sementara diam dan nerimo saja.

Dalam fragmen wacana di muka dipertentangkan soal apa yang pantas dan apa yang tabu dilakukan oleh perempuan.
Soal gugat-menggugat--menggugat pak lurah lagi--bukan kawasan garapan perempuan. Ini urusan lelaki. Dalam
kasus ini AP dan Ibu tidak hanya menderita karena mereka wong cilik (rakyat jelata), tetapi juga karena gender
mereka yang bukan lelaki. Maka, sempurna sudah kekalahan mereka. Masyarakat luas menerima pandangan ini
sebagai kebenaran. Maka, lelaki di sekitarnya akan memandang AP sebagai perempuan aneh, bahkan tak tahu diri.
Malahan, ibunya sebagai sesama perempuan pun tidak berpihak kepadanya. "Perempuan saja kok macem-macem,"
katanya. Inilah dampak nyata hegemoni ideologi patriarki.

Tentu saja, Ibu ini tak salah. Dia memang hidup dalam penjara budaya masyarakat yang
patriarkis, yang secara tegas menempatkan perempuan sebagai perawat sektor domestik, sedang
lelaki sebagai penguasa sektor publik (Budiman, 1981), dengan imbangan penghargaan yang tak
sama. Inilah produk paling diskriminatif dari pembagian kerja secara seksual (sexual division of
labour) (Beneria, 1979: 205). Ungkapan bahwa soal menggugat pak lurah, ini urusan lelaki,
dalam wacana di atas, merupakan fakta yang tak terbantahkan dalam pembagian yang tak adil
ini.

Sebagai bandingan, perhatikan dialog rekayasa berikut. Pada masyarakat yang kebudayaannya
berada dalam cengkeraman hegemoni lelaki, seperti lingkungan kita ini, mungkinkah dialog
antarlelaki berikut dapat kita temui?

*Gede: Sudahlah kita mengalah saja. Apa sih jeleknya orang ngalah. Ingat kita ini kan lelaki.
Masak mau menuntut pak lurah. Kan nggak pantas.
*Bejo: Iya ya, ... kita 'kan lelaki. Lelaki saja kok macam-macam.
Pembagian kerja secara seksual juga menempatkan citra (image) apa yang selayaknya pantas muncul dan apa yang
haram nongol dalam wacana, percakapan, atau peristiwa tutur lainnya. Realitas citra ini begitu kuatnya sehingga
melembaga ke dalam berbagai matra kehidupan, salah satunya dalam dunia pendidikan, khususnya dalam buku-
buku bacaan. Di sini masyarakat membangun stereotipe apa yang pantas untuk lelaki dan apa yang boleh dilakukan
oleh perempuan. Oleh karena itu, yang paling sering kita baca dalam buku adalah contoh-contoh kalimat berikut.6)

• Ayah memperbaiki mesin mobil.

• Ibu menjahit baju.

• Ibu memasak di dapur.

• Adikku yang manis menimang boneka.

• Aku bermain layang-layang.

Gelegar sadar kemitrasejajaran membahana membubung tinggi saat ini. Semua pihak menyadari bahwa pembagian
kerja secara seksual itu tidak adil dan hanya membuang sia-sia energi perempuan yang sebenarnya sangat
bermanfaat bagi pembangunan. Akan tetapi, tindakan dalam wilayah semantis kultural misalnya bahasa yang
mendukung perobohan tembok ketimpangan gender itu belum muncul juga. Malahan, kalau boleh menduga,
pembakuan bahasa Indonesia lewat penerbitan buku Tata Bahasa Baku Bahasa Indonesia (TBBBI) pada 1988 (edisi
II 1993), entah sadar entah tidak, boleh jadi justru merupakan upaya melanggengkan kemapanan status quo
hegemoni patriarki di masyarakat kita. Kalimat-kalimat yang dicontohkan, misalnya, tampak benar tidak bebas
muatan politik gender maskulin. Perhatikan kutipan dari TBBBI berikut.

1. Ayah sudah berangkat ke kantor. (hal. 427)

2. Siti masih sering pulang malam, atau malah pagi buta. (438)

3. Ibunya terus menjahit sampai tengah malam sungguhpun dia telah merasakan adanya kelainan dalam
dadanya. (460)

4. Ibu sedang memasak, sedangkan ayah sedang membaca koran. (463)

5. Suami Lastri baru pulang dari Amsterdam. (473)

6. Dokter H. Kamaruzzaman (52 tahun), Direktur RSU Dr. Zainal Abidin, Banda Aceh, Jumat malam
meninggal secara mendadak. (477)

7. Aku suka kepada wanita itu sebagai sekretaris, dan dia sangat menyenangkan sebagai kawan, tetapi jelas
akan menyusahkan sekali sebagai kawan hidup. (478)

Contoh-contoh ini diambil secara acak dari dua bab terakhir, yang memang membahas kalimat dan wacana. Akan
tetapi, jika bab-bab lain ditelaah, hasilnya sama saja. Kalau dicermati, tampak benar bahwa kalimat-kalimat ini
memang bias gender: memihak lelaki, menohok perempuan. Pada kalimat (1), apakah yang bekerja di kantor hanya
dimonopoli ayah? Kalimat (2) pembaca pasti menarik kesan negatif pada Siti yang pasti perempuan itu. Coba
diandaikan, jika Siti diganti Suto (ini pasti lelaki) apakah yang muncul tetap kesan minor? Mengapa hanya lelaki
yang pantas begitu? Kalimat (1), (5), (6), dan (7) mengukuhkan lelaki melenggang di sektor publik (public sphere),
sedangkan pada kalimat (2), (3), dan (4) perempuan dipaksa berkutat di kesumpekan kawasan domestik (domestic
sphere).

Bahwa contoh-contoh kalimat itu ditulis hanya secara kebetulan, itu mungkin saja. Akan tetapi,
semua penulis TBBBI adalah masyarakat Indonesia, hidup bergumul dengan masyarakat yang
mendominankan nilai lelaki dan mensubordinasikan nilai perempuan. Jadi, jika mereka
terperangkap dalam budaya patriarki seperti itu, ini bukan barang aneh. Apalagi--harap tahu
saja--92% dari tim penyusunnya lelaki tulen, hanya seorang yang perempuan.7) Sebutan Negatif,
Sebutan Positif Berdasarkan kategori ini, kesan remeh, sepele, kecil, yang hanya mengganggu
saja, pantas dikenakan pada perempuan. Sementara, mitos soal-soal besar, penting, yang
menentukan segalanya, hanya layak untuk lelaki. Padahal, dalam kenyataan lelaki pun sama saja,
bahkan mungkin lebih negatif, dari perempuan. Begitulah, karena yang distereotipekan cerewet
adalah perempuan, muncullah ungkapan "dasar mulut nenek-nenek" atau "dasar mulut
perempuan", dan bukan "*dasar mulut kakek-kakek" atau "*dasar mulut lelaki". Padahal,
menurut pengamatan D. Spender (1980), lelakilah yang mendominasi pembicaraan, melontarkan
interupsi, sementara perempuan dicatat lebih banyak bertanya menanggapi lelaki.

Kenyataan yang menguntungkan diterima oleh kaum lelaki. Jika ungkapan mulut perempuan,
dasar betina, misalnya, menempati kesan buruk, tidak demikian halnya dengan bersikap jantan.
Bahkan, meskipun dasar laki-laki sebenarnya juga minor, posisinya terkesan lebih "mahal" di
atas dasar betina, misalnya. Sebutan Penstandaran Gender Adalah realitas kehidupan bahwa di
dunia ini selalu ada sesuatu yang berada dalam garis kontinum. Kontinum standar "besar",
misalnya mencakup dari sangat besar, agak besar, agak kecil, sampai sangat kecil; demikian juga
"berat", "tinggi", dan "banyak", dll. Dalam kontinum tersebut, lazimnya yang dipakai sebagai
ukuran (standar) adalah posisi yang mayor (berat, tinggi, besar, banyak, tebal) dan bukan yang
minor (ringan, rendah, kecil, sedikit, tipis). Oleh karena itu, dalam percakapan tentang berat
badan dan tebal papan, misalnya, kalimat yang mungkin muncul adalah "Berapa berat
badanmu?" dan "Tebal papan kayu ini 0,15cm", dan pasti bukan "*Berapa ringan badanmu?" dan
"Tipis papan kayu ini 0,15cm." (biarpun 0,15cm itu memang tergolong relatif tipis). Mengapa
demikian? Ya, memang begitu: bahwa yang ditetapkan sebagai standar pasti yang mayor, bukan
yang minor!

Bagaimana dalam ranah pergenderan? Ini baru masalah! Seperti diketahui, hakikatnya, hanya
ada dua kontras gender: lelaki >< perempuan, feminin >< maskulin, jantan >< betina. Oleh
karena itu, tidak bisa konsep dasar dikotomi gender ini ditempatkan pada garis kontinum;
hakikatnya, memang tidak ada "*sangat lelaki", "*agak perempuan", "*lebih betina", misalnya.
Akan tetapi, lain konsep, lain fakta. Dalam realitas empiris, kelompok gender lelaki/maskulin
selalu dijadikan ukuran, rujukan, bandingan, standar. Maka, untuk memandang gender
perempuan/feminin pun, standar bakunya juga kebakuan lelaki/maskulin.

Barisan lelaki dianggap superior, tegar, dan rasional, sedangkan perempuan selalu ditempatkan
pada stereotipe emosional, sentimentil, cengeng, malu-malu. Barangkali, inilah sebabnya
mengapa yang ada adalah "putri malu" dan bukan "*putra malu". Oleh karena itu, jika seorang
perempuan terlihat malu-malu, itu sudah semestinya, sudah "kodrat".8) Maka, yang pantas
menduduki posisi kepala keluarga adalah ayah dan bukan ibu.

Sebagai standar, segala perilaku lelaki yang distereotipekan masyarakat harus diikuti, jika ingin
disebut jantan atau lelaki sejati. Seorang lelaki harus bersikap laki-laki. Lelaki yang terkesan
klemar-klemer, lamban, pasif, kewanita-wanitaan akan dipandang negatif: "Lelaki kok begitu".
Sebaliknya, seorang perempuan yang "tomboy", yang kelaki-lakian--asal tidak terlampau jauh
saja, asal masih mau dandan dan berparfum--menerima nasib yang berbeda, yang tidak negatif.
Maka, kesan apa yang muncul mendengar/membaca kalimat-kalimat berikut?

8. Doni mengenakan rok mini.

9. Dina memakai celana.
10. Cowok atletis itu malu-malu, grogi, keluar keringat dinginnya.
11. Cewek seksi itu tampil yakin dan penuh percaya diri.

Lelaki pakai rok? "Ah, yang bener aja!" Bisa-bisa yang bersangkutan dianggap miring.
Umumnya orang, entah lelaki entah perempuan, akan berkonotasi negatif terhadap kalimat (8)
dan (10). Sebab, "rok mini, malu-malu, grogi" bukan standar. Itu 'kan khas perempuan. Jangan
lupa, yang berbau perempuan itu nonstandar. Bukankah standarnya selalu "celana, yakin, PD",
sebagai akibat dari penetapan gender lelaki sebagai standar? Sebaliknya, terhadap Dina dan
cewek seksi itu pada kalimat (9) dan (11), orang akan mempersembahkan konotasi positif, sebab
ciri-ciri yang disosokkan kedua perempuan itu sudah maskulin, artinya sudah standar.

Inilah biang kerok persoalan realitas simbolis bahasa: bahwa jika disebut mahasiswa, yang
dimaksud adalah baik mahasiswa lelaki maupun mahasiswa perempuan, tetapi jika yang disebut
mahasiswi, yang dimaksud pastilah hanya mahasiswa perempuan. Maka, orang pun latah, dan
khawatir: jika hanya disebut "wartawan", "sastrawan", "polisi" saja, apakah orang sudah paham
pasti; ini harus ditegaskan lagi, jika yang dimaksud adalah oknum perempuan, sehingga menjadi
wanita wartawan , sastrawan wanita, dan polisi wanita (polwan). Realitas simbolis ini
memantulkan anggapan diam-diam bahwa jurnalistik, sastra, dan kepolisian itu seakan-akan
sektor garapan lelaki, bukan kodratnya perempuan. Dalam kebudayaan Barat, bahkan lebih gila
lagi; ini tercermin dalam bahasanya juga.9)

Lelaki memang menjadi standar. Dalam bahasa Inggris, misalnya, untuk menyebut manusia pada
umumnya, orang meminjam kata man, dan bukan woman. Artinya, kalau disebut man, yang
dimaksud adalah 'baik lelaki maupun perempuan', akan tetapi jika disebut woman, yang diacu
pastilah 'hanya perempuan'. Sebab, sekali lagi, lelaki itu standar, sedang perempuan substandar,
"belum manusia utuh". Maka, layak saja, ketika D. Spender bermaksud menggambarkan bahwa
manusialah pencipta bahasa, sebenarnyalah tersirat juga anggapan bahwa yang lebih banyak
menentukan adalah lelaki. Denggan kondisi ini, Spender mesti meminjam dulu kata man, dan
bukan woman, untuk konsep manusia. Maka, ia menjuduli bukunya Man Made Language
(1980), dan bukan *Woman Made Language.10)

Keniscayaan Struktur akibat Konvensi Kebudayaan Masyarakat

Dalam kebudayaan kita, ada kesepakatan legal membudaya bahwa yang bisa "mengawini" dan
"menceraikan" adalah lelaki, sedangkan perempuan, sabar atau tidak, hanya bisa "dikawin" dan
"diceraikan" saja. Dalam keadaan terpaksa, pihak perempuan yang merasa sudah tidak percaya
lagi pada lelaki, akan bertindak aktif dan menuntut. Biarpun begitu, tetap saja, dia hanya bisa
"minta dikawin" dan "minta diceraikan". Undang-undang perkawinan (katanya sih) begitu.
Maka, langsung bisa ditebak siapa yang diacu "saya", "aku", "kamu", dan "dia" dalam kalimat-
kalimat berikut.

1. Saya mau mengawinimu asal kamu tidak menuntut macam-macam.

 2. Seandainya sekadar boros dan cerewet saja, aku masih bisa menerima. Tapi, masalahnya dia itu selingkuh.
Maka, tak ada pilihan lain, aku akan menceraikannya, meskipun sebenarnya aku masih cinta.

Bagaimana seandainya pihak perempuan yang lebih kaya, berkuasa, berkedudukan, lebih tinggi statusnya daripada
lelaki? Selama jarum sejarah budaya masyarakat masih berputar pada lingkaran ideologi patriarki, obsesi perempuan
untuk dapat mengawini dan menceraikan lelaki benar-benar bagai menunggu tenggelamnya perahu gabus atau
terapungnya batu. Sungguh utopis!

Dalam tuntutan struktur bahasa, sepanjang ada fungsi gramatikal subjek (S), predikat (P),
kemudian juga objek (O) dan keterangan (K), dengan pola urutan ketat P-O dengan letak S dan
K manasuka, kalimat "*Leli mengawini Joko" atau "*Joko dicerai Leli", apa salahnya. Tetapi,
soal bahasa bukan hanya struktur, melainkan juga realitas kultur. Dalam kultur masyarakat kita,
seorang perempuan dapat "kawin dengan", "minta cerai dari", "bercerai dari", dan "diceraikan
oleh", tetapi tidak dapat "mengawini" atau "menceraikan" lelaki (Moeliono & Dardjowidjojo,
1988; Alwi dkk., 1993). Maka, kalimat semacam "Joko mengawini Leli" atau "Leli diceraikan
Joko" berada dalam keniscayaan struktur. Kepastian struktur ini mengukuhkan dirinya karena
kultur, bukan karena struktur.

Inisiatif Ekspresi dalam Komunikasi

Entah sampai kapan, kebiasaan yang dianggap wajar dan baik adalah lelakilah pengambil
inisiatif pertama, sedang perempuan hanya pantas menunggu dan merespon inisiatif sang lelaki
pujaan. Tugas masing-masing terbelah tegas: lelaki beraksi, perempuan bereaksi. Oleh karena
itu, dalam dunia komunikasi (pergaulan, perpacaranan, perkencanan), misalnya, yang sering
terjadi adalah lelaki yang mengungkapkan cinta lebih dulu, lelakilah yang mengirimi surat cinta
lebih dulu. Ini menunjukkan bahwa inisiatif ekspresi atau prakarsa pengucapan berada di tangan
lelaki. Mustahilkah perempuan menyatakan perasaan cintanya terlebih dahulu? Tidak juga.
Memang terjadi dan tidak hanya satu dua. Tetapi, jelas bahwa yang oleh masyarakat dianggap
wajar dan pantas memulai, memprakarsai, dan berinisiatif adalah pihak lelaki. Bahwa setelah
mereka resmi pacaran, atau resmi nikah, perempuan mendahului "menyergap" itu soal lain.
Perempuan yang "kebelet" nekat terus terang menyatakan perasaannya terlebih dahulu ("Aku
cinta kamu") harus siap disoroti dengan nada minor: Perempuan kok begitu! Tetapi, makhluk
Tuhan yang satu ini tak kehabisan taktik. Dia menyiumpan sebuah rekayasa simbolis: tetap lebih
dahulu menyatakan perasaannya, tetapi tidak transparan, "tidak langsung buka kulit, tampak isi".
Biasanya, ia akan menyelubungi gejolak perasaan yang diekspresikan dengan kata-kata samar,
dibantu dengan sikap sedikit malu-malu, isyarat dan perhatian, dan pilihan konteks situasi yang
tepat. Repotnya kalau sang lelaki tidak segera menangkap isyarat itu, entah karena memang
lelaki ini tergolong tidak mengerti, bebal, goblog, atau mungkin sebenarnya mengerti, tetapi
pura-pura tidak tahu: sungguh celaka!

Inisiatif ekspresi semacam ini merupakan sebuah konvensi budaya. Maka, pembaca atau
pendengar mana pun segera dapat menarik implikasi konvensionalnya (Samsuri, 1996): siapa
yang dirujuk oleh kata aku (ku) dan dia (ia) dalam kutipan berikut. Aku sangat mencintainya.
Jika nanti sudah menjadi milikku, akan kusayangi dia. Akan kucium keningnya. Kubelai
rambutnya dan kuremas jarinya yang lentik itu. Tetapi, aku ragu, apa dia mau. Meskipun tidak
disebut eksplisit siapa "aku" dan "dia" dalam kutipan ini, orang tidak akan salah menangkap
siapa "aku" dan "dia" tersebut: "aku" pasti lelaki dan "dia" niscaya perempuan, lain tidak.
Mengapa? Ya itu tadi, budaya masyarakat telah memagari simbol dan mempedomani interpretasi
terhadap simbol-simbol bahasa itu.

Simpulan: Mau ke mana Bahasa Indonesia?

Ketimpangan gender masyarakat Indonesia tercermin ke dalam BI berwujud:

(1) penambahan nama sebagai penanda status keluarga/perkawinan;

(2) penyebutan keberadaan dan tindakan, meliputi:

(a) sebutan kemaskulinan dan kefemininan,

(b) sebutan pelecehan martabat,

(c) sebutan degradasi konsep dasar martabat,

(d) sebutan pembatasan berkebebasan,

(e) sebutan kenegatifan dan kepositifan, dan

 (f) sebutan penstandaran gender;

(3) keniscayaan struktur akibat konvensi kebudayaan, dan

(4) inisiatif ekspresi dalam komunikasi.

Quo vadis ketimpangan gender ini? Dari keempat deskripsi ketimpangan gender dalam BI ini,
tampaknya yang mungkin bisa berubah adalah penambahan nama penanda status, sebagian
penyebutan keberadaan dan tindakan, dan inisiatif ekspresi. Perubahan ini akan terjadi sejalan
dengan perubahan masyarakat berikut nilai, pandangan hidupnya, khususnya terhadap eksistensi
gender. Ada gejala sebagian perempuan karier tidak lagi menambahi namanya dengan nama
ayah atau suaminya. Sebutan pelecehan martabat gender, semacam WTS, bisa jadi akan tergeser
sejalan dengan kesadaran perempuan bahwa yang bisa bertuna susila bukan hanya monopoli
perempuan. Apalagi inisiatif ekspresi, sekarang rasanya bukan aneh jika perempuan lebih dulu
menyatakan cintanya. Sekalipun yang terakhir ini lebih merupakan kasus parsial sporadis belaka,
bisa diprediksikan pada masa-masa mendatang fakta ini akan berkembang, sejalan dengan
semakin samar dan relatifnya nilai moral masyarakat, terutama dalam menyikapi gender, dalam
arus globalisasi budaya yang kian "nyah-nyoh" (permisive) ini.

Konvensi budaya menempatkan bahasa Indonesia sebagai bahasa yang mendudukkan lelaki di
atas segala-galanya. Dengan begini, konvensi masyarakat memposisikan lelaki sebagai standar
mutu, baik dalam memandang lelaki maupun perempuan. Konvensi ini juga telah menarik garis
tegas stereotipe lelaki dan stereotipe perempuan dengan hasil yang sudah jelas sama-sama kita
sadari: ketimpangan gender. Dalam posisi yang serba timpang ini, lelaki mendominasi, sedang
perempuan tersubordinasi, ke dalam peran-peran yang dikontrol oleh cengekeraman hegemoni
lelaki.

Karena bahasa mewadahi realitas masyarakat yang timpang seperti itu, bahasa Indonesia berada
dalam genggaman lelaki. Dengan demikian, bahasa ini mungkin bergender lelaki. Sampai
kapankah bahasa kita berkelamin lelaki? Sampai kapankah dendang lagu "... wanita dijajah
pria ... sejak dulu" terus kita nikmati? Kita tak mungkin menjawabnya "Belum tahu dia!" sebab
persoalan ini menyangkut semua segi kehidupan masyarakat, tempat BI digunakan dan peluang
BI mewahanai kehidupan itu.
Catatan

1. Dengan begini, pada sisi satu bahasa merupakan bagian budaya, sedangkan pada sisi lain ia menjadi
wahana, wadah, dan alat budaya. Keunikan ini membuktikan bahwa bahasa itu "bermuka dua". Periksa:
Samsuri, ". Kebudayaan, masyarakat, dan bahasa Indonesia. Buletin Yaperna, Berita Ilmu-ilmu Sosial dan
Kebudayaan, 1975: 14--23; juga dalam "Kebudayaan dan Bahasa Indonesia", Kertas Kerja Seminar Bulan
Bahasa di FPBS IKIP Malang, 28 Oktober 1986.

2. Ideologi patriarki memandang bahwa wanita itu inferior, lemah, bodoh, tak berdaya, dan hanya bisa
bergantung pada lelaki, maka demi kelangsungannya mereka harus "dibimbing" (baca: dikuasai!) terus-
menerus oleh lelaki yang dianggap lebih superior, kuat, pintar. Lihat Arief Budiman, Pembagian Kerja
Secara Seksual (Jakarta: PT Gramedia, 1981). Konsep ini dekat dengan seksisme, ketimpangan gender,
dominasi lelaki, subordinasi perempuan, supremasi kekuasaan lelaki, dan hegemoni pria.

3. Banyak sekali kajian yang menerapkan pendekatan perilaku, sekadar contoh: Mies Grijns dkk., "Gender,
Marginalisation and Rural Industry", Warta Studi Perempuan, Vol. No. , 1994; Muh. Asfar, "Wanita dan
Politik: antara Karir Pribadi dan Jabatan Suami", Prisma XXV/5, Mei 1996.

4. Dengan pendekatan verbal, ketimpangan gender dalam bahasa Inggris dikaji oleh Victoria Fromkin dan
Robert Rodman, An Introduction to Language, Edisi V, Cet. V (Fort Worth: Holt, Rinehart and Winston,
Inc., 1993), khususnya bab "Language in Society", subbab 'Language and Sexim' (hal. 306--312); tinjauan
sekilas terhadap ketimpangan gender dalam bahasa Inggris dan Indonesia, lih. Siusana Kweldju, "Penelitian
Seksisme Bahasa dalam Kerangka Penelitian Stereotipi Seks", Warta Studi Perempuan, Vol. 4, No. 1, hal.
7--18, 32; juga Kweldju (1991).

5. Inilah salah satu tajuk bincang Samsuri dalam orasi ilmiahnya pada Rapat Senat Terbuka Universitas 17
Agustus 1945 Surabaya dalam rangka dies natalisnya yang ke-38, 24 Agustus 1996, dimuat dalam jurnal
FSU in the Limelight, Vol. 5, No. 1, Oktober 1996, hal. 1--14.

6. Dalam hal ini saya (dkk.) pernah mengadakan penelitian tentang ini berjudul "Ideologi Gender-Patriarki
dalam Buku Teks Bahasa Indonesia Sekolah Dasar" (Divisi Pemberdayaan Perempuan, LPK2I, 1994).
Temuan penelitian itu adalah bahwa 74% dari semua buku teks pelajaran Bahasa Indonesia untuk SD,
terbitan dari 17 penerbit penerbit di Jawa Timur dan jawa Tengah, selalu menempatkan pelaku lelaki
(bapak, abang, aku) pada sektor atau tindakan yang secara stereotipis layak dilakukan oleh maskulin
(memperbaiki mesin, bermain layang-layang), sebaliknya selalu memposisikan perempuan terpuruk dan
berkutut dalam sektor dan tindakan yang stereotpe feminin (memasak, bermain boneka). 7) TBBBI edisi I
(1988), dari 11 penyusun, hanya 1 orang saja yang perempuan (W.H.C.M. Lalamentik, Ph.D.). TBBBI
edisi II (1993), dari 14 pakar bahasa yang memberikan saran penyempurnaan, hanya 2 orang yang
perempuan. Inilah sumber kecurigaan bahwa gender lelaki mendominasi perempuan dan itu membayangi
contoh-contoh kalimat pada buku itu.
 7. Bagi pejuang Feminisme Liberal dan Feminisme Radikal, hanya ada tiga hal yang bisa dikategorikan ke
dalam "kodrat wanita", yaitu menstruasi, melahirkan, dan menyusui--sesuatu yang memang hanya bisa
"dilakukan" oleh perempuan. Lih. S. Harding, The Science Question in Feminism (Ithaca, New York:
Cornell University Press, 1986). Dalam pandangan kelompok ini, mengasuh anak, memasak, merawat
rumah bukan monopoli perempuan, merupakan peran-peran yang bisa berubah sesuai dengan budaya
masyarakat (nurture), dan bukan kodrat (nature) perempuan, sebab lelaki juga (harus) bisa.

8. Sebagai contoh, berikut ini dikutipkan beberapa saja. The American College Dictionary (1947)
mendefenisikan bahwa "doctor, n, ... a man of great learning". Graduate School of Management UCLA
(The Balloon XXII, 6) menulis: "A businessman is agressive; a businesswoman is pushy .... A businessman
is good on details; she's picky ... He follows through; she doesn't know when to quit ... He stands firm; she's
hard .... He is a man of the world; she's been around .... He isn't afraid to say what is on his mind; she's
mouthy .... He exercises authority diligenttly; she's power mad .... He's closemouthed; she's secretive. He
climbed the ladder of success; she slept her way to the top. Bahkan, lebih tegas lagi, Fromkin dan Rodman,
Opcid., hal 307, mengutip: "When I asked 'What walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three
in the evening', you answerd, 'Man'. You didn't say anything about women. When you say Man, ... you
include women too. Everyone knows that." Lihat juga konsep gender dalam Crystal (1985: 133-134).

9. Lih. D. Spender, Man Made Language (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1980).

Daftar Pustaka

Bhasin, K. 1990. What is Patriarchy. New Delhi: Kali for Women.

Budiman, A. 1981. Pembagian Kerja secara Seksual. Jakarta: PT Gramedia.

Coates, J. 1986. Women, Men and Language: A Sociolinguistic Account of Sex Differences in
Language. London: Longman.

Forum Komunikasi Mahasiswa Surabaya. 1997. Masalah dominasi gender dalam

Developmentalisme. Tempo Interaktif, II/16, 23 Juni.

Frank, F. dan F. Ashen. 1983. Language and the Sexes. New York: State University of New
York Press.

Jupriono, D. 1995. Kamus Kecil Istilah Studi Perempuan. Malang: Divisi Pemberdayaan
Perempuan, LP3K Multimatra.

Kirk, J. dan M.L. Miller. 1986. Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research. Beverly Hills:
Sage Publication.

Kweldju, S. 1993. Penelitian seksisme bahasa dalam kerangka penelitian stereotipi seks. Warta
Studi Perempuan 4/1: 7--18.

Samsuri. 1996. Bahasa Indonesia, pemakaiannya, dan implikasi kemasyarakatannya. FSU in the
Limelight, V/1, Oktober 1996, hal. 1--14.

Spender, D. 1985. Man Made Language. London: Routledge & K. Paul.

Sudaryanto. 1993. Metode dan Aneka Teknik Analisis Bahasa: Pengantar Penelitian Wahana
Kebudayaan secara Linguistis. Yogyakarta: Duta Wacana University Press.

Sukesi, K. 1991. Seksisme. Warta Studi Perempuan Vol 2, No. 1: 40 Wullur, V. 1991. Beberapa
catatan tentang Feminisme. Warta Studi Perempuan Vol 2, No. 1: 35--39.

_________________
D. Jupriono, lecturer at the Faculty of Letters, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/gundik.html

Gundik dalam
Burung-Burung Manyar

Lis Sunaryo
Susilo Mansurudin

"Burung Burung Manyar" adalah karya Y.B. Mangunwijaya atau banyak yang menyebut sebagai
Romo Mangun. Roman ini terbit tahun l981. Banyak yang menyebut roman ini sebagai roman
yang sarat dengan pengungkapan sejarah perjalanan nusantara sampai pada orde baru.

Roman ini bisa dikatagorikan sejarah karena menyingkap tiga kurun waktu perjalanan sejarah
Republik Indonesia. Dimulai dari bagian pertama, dari periode l934-l944; yang menceritakan
tokoh Setadewa yang lahir pada saat Indonesia dijajah Belanda. Selain tokoh Setadewa, Roma
Mangun juga menampilkan tokoh yang mengiringi perjalanan Setadewa --meski berseberangan--
hingga di akhir cerita, yakni tokoh penting bernama Larasati.

Kemudian dilanjutkan pada bagian kedua, dimulai periode l945-l950; yang melukiskan saat
Indonesia dijajah Jepang, diceritakan tokoh Setadewa lebih memilih dijajah Belanda daripada
Jepang. Romo Mangun mencoba meng-antagoniskan tokoh Setadewa dengan Larasati. Setadewa
yang dalam masa penjajahan Belanda lebih memilih menjadi anthek Belanda dengan memilih
menjadi tentara NICA. Sementara Larasati lebih memilih kemerdekaan Indonesia, dan berjuang
di pihak gerakan Indonesia. Bertolak belakang dan berseberangan. Sedangkan pada bagian ketiga
atau pada bagian pungkasan, yakni periode l968-l978, dikisahkan oleh Mangun wijaya situasi
Indonesia pada jaman pemerintahan Orde Baru yang sangat lain situasinya dengan periode-
periode sebelumnya. Pada bagian ketiga inilah dilukiskan konsep berfikir dua tokoh yang
berseberangan yakni antara Larasati dengan Setadewa. Meski kedua tokoh yang tersebut di atas
sebenarnya saling mencintai tetapi tidak dapat bersatu dalam perkawinan karena bertentangan
dan sangat berlawanan.
Dalam penulisan ini tidak akan mengungkap secara gamblang bagaimana cerita maupun kupasan
mendalam mengenai perjalanan roman yang dimulai dari pertama hingga periode ketiga. Akan
tetapi penulis mencoba menganalisa sudut terkecil dari kehidupan tokoh-tokoh yang ada dalam
roman "Burung Burung Manyar" karya Romo Mangun.

Roman ini secara realitas bisa mengungkapkan mengenai banyak hal kehidupan dalam
perjalanan dari awal hingga periode ketiga. Banyak hal yang diungkap; mulai kehidupan batin
hidup zaman Jepang--termasuk didalamnya keadaan tak menentu zaman Jepang. Kemudian
mengungkap juga moralitas kaum pejuang Republik Indonesia, dan yang akan dikupas dalam
analisis kali ini berupa kehidupan batin orang yang hidup sebagai gundik orang-orang Jepang.

Gundik

Gundik, banyak yang menyebut sebagai istri tak resmi, perempuan simpanan, atau yang lebih
ekstrem istri yang difungsikan sebagai pelepasan nafsu birahi. Artinya, perempuan ini hanya
sebagai the second women atau istilah yang fenomental sekarang disebut dengan Wanita Idalam
lain (WIL) setelah ada istri utama.

Kalau raja-raja Jawa dahulu banyak pula mempunyai gundik perempuan pedesaan. Meski para
raja sudah mempunyai istri utama atau pertama, seringkali masih mencari perempuan lain yang
dijadikan sebagai perempuan lain dalam melanggengkan kursi kerajaannya. Ada semacam
perasaan tabu manakala seorang raja hanya mempunyai satu istri utama. Kenapa? Karena ada
pemahaman yang dinamakan 'lanang temenan' kalau sudah bisa mempunyai Turonggo--simbol
laki-laki--sudah bisa mencapai tahta dan mempunyai banyak wanita.

Maka untuk kalangan raja-raja jaman dulu sudah bukan hal yang tabu kalau mempunyai
perempuan sampai lebih dari tiga. Inilah yang disebut sebagai selir. Sedangkan istri utama
banyak yang menyebut sebagai permaisuri yang notabene keturunan dari permaisuri inilah yang
akan melanggengkan kerajaannya.

Bahkan cerita-cerita dari India Utara pun dalam tokoh-tokoh pewayangan seperti Arjuna
mempunyai lebih dari satu istri, mulai dari Wara Srikandhi, Gandawati, Dewi Ulupi, Dyah
Manuhara dan Sembodro.

Adanya laki-laki yang mempunyai lebih dari satu istri atau gundik ini karena banyak faktor.
Salah satunya karena faktor superior laki-laki dibanding perempuan waktu itu. Karena lemahnya
perempuan, rendahnya pendidikan, ketidakberdayaan wanita karena fungsi wanita hanya sebagai
pengasuh anak dan berkutat pada apa yang dinamakan sumur, kasur dan dapur.

Bahkan beberapa waktu yang lalu di Sumatra akibat ulah seorang datuk--banyak yang menyebut
sebagai Datuk Maringgih--42 perempuan meninggal hanya sebagai tumbal kesaktian ilmu hitam
(murder magic). Itu semua merupakan ilustrasi ketidakberdayaan menghadapi superior laki-laki.

Pembangkangan Terselubung

Dalam roman "Burung-burung Manyar" karya Romo Mangun diilustrasikan bagaimana

terjepitnya posisi perempuan saat menghadapi para tentara Jepang waktu itu. Bagaimana Romo
Mangun menceritakan liciknya perwira-perwira Jepang menawan wanita istri tentara Belanda
yang berhasil ditangkap Jepang. Lihat kutipan di bawah ini:

"Suami tante Pauline (dulu) sersan KNIL Totok yang ditawan di Burma. Dan kini tante Pauline menyambung
hidupnya dengan cara menjadi gundik perwira Jepang itu. Saya jijik melihat Tante Pauline, yang sebetulnya
tergolong perempuan manis juga ... (BBM: 26).

Ilustrasi di atas, kiranya tidak hanya wanita Jawa saja yang mengenal adanya gundik. Seperti
halnya tulisan di atas, tante Pauline yang sebelumnya sebagai istri sersan KNIL-Belanda, akibat
masuknya Jepang di Indonesia, maka wanita Belanda pun menjadi korban menjadi gundik para
perwira Jepang.

Ada beberapa faktor yang menyebabkan saat itu wanita harus menjalani kehidupannya sebagai
gundik. Paling tidak dalam alam kehidupan Burung Burung Manyar. Pertama, seseorang
(wanita) ingin hidup layak pada zaman yang sulit, dan demi menyambung hidup. Kemudian
yang kedua, karena kesetiaan pada suami atau saudaranya agar tidak dibunuh oleh para perwira
Jepang maka dengan keterpaksaan mereka memilih menjadi gundik Jepang. Seperti digambarkan
oleh tokoh Marice (ibu Teto).

"Pokoknya mami mendapat ultimatum dari Kepala Kenpetai yang berwewenang atas nasib Papi. Mami boleh pilih:
Papi mati atau mami suka menjadi gundiknya. Mami memilih yang terakhir. Dan mami tidak mau segala kenyataan
dirinya ditutup-tutupi. Setadewa anaknya harus tahu segala-galanya beserta mengapanya. Disertai cium cinta
seorang ibu dan permintaan doa ... serta maaf ... (BBM: 34).
Dari kutipan di atas tampak pada zaman itu memang nyata ada kehidupan wanita-wanita yang
dijadikan gundik Jepang. Seorang wanita sampai menjadi gundik tentara Jepang, secara naluri
sebenarnya tidak menginginkan akan perbuatan untuk menjadi gundik. Hanya karena
keterpakasaan semua itu dijalani.

Ini sama dengan konsep Jawa yang "Inggih-inggih ora kepanggih" atau pembangkangan
terselubung oleh wanita saat menjadi gundik perwira Jepang. Faktor keluarga merupakan hal
yang penting untuk diselamatkan meski harus menjadi gundik yang notabene secara emosi
nalurinya mengatakan tidak menginginkan. Karena posisi yang lemah dan ditambah ultimatum
menjadikan lebih terjepitlah posisi wanita. Meski dalam hatinya--dalam konsep Jawa--
mengatakan semua yang dijalaninya untuk menuruti kemauan perwira Belanda itu hanya sekedar
ucapan Inggih-inggih ora kepanggih tadi.

Daftar Pustaka

Darma, B. 1982. Moral dalam sastra. Basis 31(2), Februari: 42--70.

--------- 1990. Perihal studi sastra. Basis 39(8): 337--348.

Mangunwijaya, Y.B. 1981. Burung-Burung Manyar. Jakarta: Djambatan.

Rampan, K.L. 1984. Warna dasar novel-novel Indonesia mutakhir. Horison 1.

Sastrowardoyo, S. 1992. Sekilas Soal Sastra dan Budaya. Jakarta: Balai Pustaka.

Wardhana, V.S.P. 1984. Burung-burung Manyar: Simbol dan bukan simbol. Horison XVIII.

__________________
Lis Sunaryo, lecturer at the Faculty of Letters, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya.
Susilo Mansuruddin, lecturer at the Faculty of Letters, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/betina.html

Betina, Wanita, Perempuan:

Telaah Semantik Leksikal,
Semantik Historis, Pragmatik

Sudarwati
D. Jupriono

Marilah Kita Dudukkan Masalahnya

Perbedaan makna kata betina dengan wanita atau betina dengan perempuan itu sudah jelas bagi
kita. Akan tetapi, apa beda antara wanita dan perempuan ini yang belum jelas!

Telaah ini memang mencoba mendudukkan posisi tiap kata, kapan orang harus menggunakannya
sesuai dengan kandungan semantisnya dan maksud yang diinginkan. Dengan demikian,
diharapkan segera bisa dijawab saat harus memilih manakah yang tepat: "Darma Wanita"
ataukah "Darma Perempuan", "Pemberdayaan Perempuan" ataukah "Pemberdayaan Wanita",
misalnya.

Telaah dilakukan berdasarkan arti kata leksikal dasarnya, menurut kamus (semantik leksikal) (cf.
Hurford dan Heasley, 1984). Lalu, penjelajahan arti akan dilengkapi dengan memanfaatkan
beberapa hasil penelitian yang ada, terutama tentang sejarah perubahan makna kata (semantik
historis) (Palmer, 1986: 8-11). Kajian ini juga akan melihat bagaimana arti kata dalam
pemakaian (pragmatik). Data dijaring dengan teknik dokumentasi acak dari kamus dan teknik
studi pustaka terhadap tulisan yang relatif lama serta teknik rekaman tuturan keseharian. Dengan
metode deskriptif, data akan dianalisis dengan teknik eksplanatori-komparatif, yang akan
menjelasan perbandingan arti kata antarwaktu.

Apa Arti Betina?

Kata betina diduga kuat berhubungan dengan kata batina dalam bahasa Kawi (Jawa Kuno)
("Kamus Jawa Kuno Indonesia", Mardiwarsito, 1986). Bahasa Kawi sendiri kemungkinan besar
menyerapnya dari bahasa Sanskrit (Sanskerta). Relasi fonis batina dengan betina beranalogi
dengan relasi fonis mahardika-mardika-merdeka 'bebas'. Mungkin ini juga analog dengan
saksama-seksama (?).

Menurut "Kamus Dewan" (KD) (Iskandar, 1970: 114), kata betina merupakan antonim jantan.
Dalam pemakaiannya, betina cocok dilekatkan sebagai pemarkah jenis (gender) binatang atau
benda yang tidak hidup. Misalnya dalam bahasa Indonesia (Melayu) kita temui ayam betina,
singa betina, bunga betina, dan embun betina.

Tidak jauh berbeda dengan KD, "Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia" (KBBI) (Tim, 1988: 111)
menambahi satu makna lagi untuk betina, yakni 'sanak keponakan dari istri'. Ada dua hal yang
dapat dicatat dari tambahan acuan di sini. Pertama, istilah "sanak keponakan" menunjukkan
posisi generasi lebih muda. Sebagai yang lebih muda, tentu dia tetap berada di bawah generasi
lebih tua. Kedua, pernyataan "dari istri" berarti bahwa yang dipandang bawah, yunior, itu karena
istri, dan istri selalu perempuan! Oleh karena itu, ini juga menyiratkan muatan semantis bahwa
apa yang datang dari istri (bukan suami) akan ditempatkan di bawah suami.

Sebagai nama jenis kelamin binatang, betina tidak mengundang persoalan; netral saja. Tidak ada
muatan nuansa apa pun. Bagaimana seandainya kata ini dipakai untuk manusia? Ini baru
masalah! Jika dikaitkan dengan aktivitas, keberadaan, dan sifat manusia, artinya menjadi tidak
netral lagi. Peribahasa Melayu "Baik jadi ayam betina sepaya selamat" (Iskandar, 1970: 114),
misalnya, berarti 'kita tak usah menonjolkan keberanian sebab hanya mendatangkan kesusahan
belaka'; dengan kata lain, 'sebaiknya kita diam, tak usah macam-macam, hindarilah tantangan'.
Dengan demikian "bersikap betina" justru dinilai positif dalam pandangan lama.

Bisa dimengerti, sebagai peribahasa Melayu Kuno, kandungan nilai peribahasa ini juga
tradisional, konvensioanl, dan feodal. Dalam pandangan tradisional, sikap individualistik mesti
dihindari (cf. Dananjaya, 1984). Ini jelas bertolak belakang dengan pandangan modern, yang
menempatkan eksistensi individu pada tempat yang diakui. Oleh karena itu, penonjolan individu
tidak selalu jelek, bergantung pada konteks kepentingannya.

Dalam pemakaiannya sekarang, kata betina yang dikenakan pada manusia akan menemukan
makna buruk. Misalnya pada wacana berikut:

(1) Kamu ini kok cerewet banget sih. Urus saja diri sendiri. Ngapain tanya urusan orang segala. Dasar betina!
(2) Winda benar-benar betina, yang nafsunya terlampau besar, hingga tak pernah puas hanya dengan satu lelaki
suaminya itu.

Dalam wacana (1), kalimat "Dasar betina" bermakna negatif: 'cerewet, usil, mau tahu urusan
orang saja'. Dalam kalimat (2), pernyataan "benar-benar betina", berdasarnya konteks
kalimatnya, berarti "minor" juga: 'nympomania'. Di sini Winda digambarkan sebagai perempuan
yang bernafsu menggebu-gebu, selingkuh dengan lelaki lain. Pada konteks inilah betina
menemukan makna buruknya. Harus diakui bahwa semua pandangan ini tidak pernah bebas dari
stereotipe gender perempuan dari masyarakat kita (Kweldju, 1993). Maka, dalam kondisi apa
pun tak pernah ada yang senang disebut betina. Dengan demikian, yang muncul adalah Darma
Wanita (organisasi ibu-ibu pegawai) dan Bukan Perempuan Biasa dan tentulah tentu bukan
"*Darma Betina" atau pun "*Bukan Betina Biasa".

Singkat kata, kata betina memuat makna (1) 'jenis kelamin binatang', (2) 'cerewet, usil, dan (3)
'haus seks', serta (4) 'generasi yunior dari garis istri'.

Apa Arti Wanita?

Sejarah kontemporer bahasa Indonesia, ya sekarang ini, mencatat bahwa kata wanita menduduki
posisi dan konotasi terhormat. Kata ini mengalami proses ameliorasi, suatu perubahan makna
yang semakin positif, arti sekarang lebih tinggi daripada arti dahulu ("Kamus Linguistik",
Kridalaksana, 1993: 12).

Menurut KD (1970: 1342), kata wanita merupakan bentuk eufemistis dari perempuan. Pada
halaman yang sama, dicontohkan frase wanita-wanita genit. Contoh ini paradoksal. Sebab, jika
wanita berupakan bentuk halus, mengapa ada kata genit-nya, sesuatu yang jelas tidak halus.
Tetapi, ini juga menyiratkan pandangan bahwa kata itu memang khas untuk manusia
(perempuan), bukan lelaki, binatang, demit, ataukah benda lain.

Kata kewanitaan, yang diturunkan dari wanita, berarti 'keputrian' atau 'sifat-sifat khas wanita'.
Sebagai putri (wanita di lingkungan keraton), setiap wanita diharapkan masyarakatnya untuk
meniru sikap laku, gaya tutur, para putri keraton, yang senantiasa lemah gemulai, sabar, halus,
tunduk, patuh, mendukung, mendampingi, mengabdi, dan menyenangkan pria. Dengan kata
wanita, benar-benar dihindari nuansa 'memprotes', 'memimpin', 'menuntut', 'menyaingi',
'memberontak', 'menentang', 'melawan'. Maka, bisa dimengeri bahwa yang muncul dipilih
sebagai nama organisasi wanita bergengsi nasional adalah "Darma Wanita", sebab di sinilah
kaum wanita berdarma, berbakti, mengabdikan dirinya pada lembaga tempat suaminya bekerja.
Maka, program kerjanya pun harus selalu mendukung tugas-tugas dan jabatan suami,1) jangan
bermimpi bisa independen memang bukan itu misinya.

Dalam KBBI (1988: 1007), wanita berarti 'perempuan dewasa'. Sama seperti halnya KD, meski
dengan redaksi lain, KBBI pun mendefinisikan kewanitaan (bentuk derivasinya) sebagai "yang
berhubungan dengan wanita, sifat-sifat wanita, keputrian". Muatan makna aktif, menuntut hak,
radikal, tak ada dalam arti kata ini.

Berdasarkan "Old Javanese English Dictionary" (Zoetmulder, 1982), kata wanita berarti 'yang
diinginkan'. Arti 'yang dinginkan' dari wanita ini sangat relevan dibentangkan di sini.
Maksudnya, jelas bahwa wanita adalah 'sesuatu yang diinginkan pria'. Wanita baru
diperhitungkan karena (dan bila) bisa dimanfaatkan pria. Sudut pandangnya selalu sudut pandang
"lawan mainnya", ya pria itu. Jadi, eksistensinya sebagai makhluk Tuhan menjadi nihil. Dengan
demikian, kata ini berarti hanya menjadi objek (bagi lelaki) belaka. Adakah yang lebih rendah
dari "hanya menjadi objek"?

Makna wanita sebagai 'sasaran keinginan pria' juga dipaparkan oleh Prof. Dr. Slametmuljana
dalam "Asal Bangsa dan Bahasa Nusantara" (1964: 59--62). Kata wanita, dalam bahasa aslinya
(Sanskerta), tulisnya, bukan pemarkah (marked) jenis kelamin. Dari bahasa Sanskerta vanita,
kata ini diserap oleh bahasa Jawa Kuno (Kawi) menjadi wanita, ada perubahan labialisasi dari
labiodental ke labial: [v]-->[w]; dari bahasa Kawi, kata ini diserap oleh bahasa Jawa (Modern);
lalu, dari bahasa Jawa, kata ini diserap ke dalam bahasa Indonesia. Setelah diadopsi bahasa Jawa
dan bahasa Indonesia, kata ini mengalami tambahan nilai positif.

Ada juga pandangan lain, yang cukup "menyakitkan", yakni bahwa kata wanita bukanlah produk
kata asli (induk). Kata ini hanyalah merupakan hasil akhir dari proses panjang perubahan bunyi
(yang dalam studi linguistik sering disebut gejala bahasa) metatesis2) dan proses perubahan
kontoid3) dari kata betina. Urutan prosesnya demikian. Mula-mula kata betina menjadi batina;
kata batina berubah melalui proses metatesis menjadi banita; kata banita mengalami proses
perubahan bunyi konsonan (kontoid) dari [b]-->[w] sehingga menjadi wanita. Maka, memang
aneh bin ajaib, bahwa kata yang demikian kita hormati, bahkan kita letakkan pada tempat tinggi
di atas kata perempuan ini, maksudnya ya wanita itu, ternyata berasal dari kata rendah betina.

Mungkin karena itulah, organisasi "Ikatan Wanita Pengusaha Indonesia" (Iwapi) sering
dipelesetkan artinya tentu saja, oleh pria menjadi "Iwak-e Papi-papi", "Dagingnya bapak-bapak"
atau "Lauknya Bapak-bapak" seakan wanita itu tak lebih dari "daging" atau "lauk-pauk" yang
bisa dikonsumsi oleh pria. Dalam karier militer pun, dipakai wanita. Misalnya saja "Korps Polisi
Wanita" (Polwan, 1948), "Korps Wanita Angkatan Darat" (Kowad, 1961), "Korps Wanita
Angkatan Laut" (Kowal, 1962), "Korps Wanita Angkatan Udara" (Wara, 1963). Meskipun
begitu, pelecehen keterlibatan dan kemampuan wanita dalam tubuh ABRI pun masih terjadi.
Terang-terangan memang tidak, tetapi ada dalam bentuk ungkapan humor di masyarakat
(Dananjaya, 1984), misalnya berikut ini.

Seorang komandan serdadu pada suatu front peperangan memerintahkan penarikan mundur khusus serdadu wanita.
Alasannya, mereka melanggar disiplin medan. Serdadu-serdadu wanita, yang merasa tidak membuat kesalahan
disiplin militer, memprotes ramai-ramai. "Kesalahan??? Kesalahan apa itu, Komandan? Ini tidak adil!" Jawab
Komandan dengan kalem, "Kamu sih, setiap diberi komando  'tiaraaap ...', ee kamu malah terlentang."

Ini merupakan pantulan realitas bahwa apa pun yang dilakukan wanita tetaplah tak sanggup
menghapus kekuasaan pria. Wanita berada dalam alam tanpa otonomi atas dirinya. Begitulah
inferioritas wanita akan selalu menderita gagap, gagu, dan gugup di di bawah gegap gempitanya
superioritas pria.

Berdasarkan etimologi rakyat Jawa (folk etimology, jarwodoso atau keratabasa, kata wanita
dipersepsi secara kultural sebagai 'wani ditoto'; terjemahan leksikalnya 'berani diatur'; terjemahan
kontekstualnya 'bersedia diatur'; terjemahan gampangnya 'tunduklah pada suami' atau 'jangan
melawan pria'. Dalam hal ini wanita dianggap mulia bila tunduk dan patuh pada pria. Sering ada
ungkapan "pejang gesang kula ndherek" (hidup atau mati, aku akan ikut suami), "swargo nunut,
neraka katut" (suami masuk surga aku numpang, suami masuk neraka aku terbawa). Ternyata
anggapan Jawa ini merasuk kuat dalam bahasa Indonesia. Kesetiaan wanita dinilai tinggi, dan
soal kemandirian wanita tidak ada dalam kamus. Karenanya, dalam bahasa Indonesia kata wanita
bernilai lebih tinggi sebab, kata Ben Anderson (1966), bahasa Indonesia mengalami "jawanisasi"
atau "kramanisasi": kulitnya saja bahasa Melayu yang egaliter, tetapi rohnya bahasa Jawa yang
feodal itu.

Dalam persepsi kultural Jawa pulalah, kata wanita menemukan perendahan martabat ketika ia
"dipakai" salah satu barang klangenan (barang-barang untuk pemuasaan kesenangan individu).
Jargon lengkap populernya adalah harta, senjata, tahta, wanita. Lelaki Jawa, menurut persepsi
Jawa ini, baru benar-benar mampu menjadi lelaki sejati, lelananging jagat, bila telah memiliki
kekayaan berlimpah (harta), melengkapi diri dengan kesaktian dan senjata (senjata), agar dapat
memasuki kelas sosial yang lebih tinggi, priyayi (tahta), dan semuanya baru lengkap bila sudah
memiliki banyak wanita, entah sebagai istri sah entah sekadar selir atau gundik4). Di sini tampak
benar bahwa manusia wanita disederajatkan dengan benda-benda mati semacam degradasi harkat
martabat salah satu gender5), sekaligus dehumanisasi.

Dengan demikian, untuk sementara bisa segera ditarik kata simpul: wanita berarti 'manusia yang
bersikap halus, mengabdi setia pada tugas-tugas suami'. Suka atau tidak, inilah tugas dan lelakon
yang harus dijalankan wanita. Apakah memang demikian?

Apa Arti Perempuan?

Dalam pandangan masyarakat Indonesia, kata perempuan mengalami degradasi semantis, atau
peyorasi, penurunan nilai makna; arti sekarang lebih rendah dari arti dahulu (Kridalaksana,
1993).

Di pasar pemakaian, terutama di tubuh birokrasi dan kalangan atas, nasib perempuan terpuruk di
bawah kata wanita, sehingga yang muncul adalah Menteri Peranan Wanita, pengusaha wanita
(wanita pengusaha), insinyur wanita, peranan wanita dalam pembangunan, dan pastilah bukan
*Menteri Peranan Perempuan, *pengusaha perempuan (*perempuan pengusaha), *insinyur
perempuan, *peranan perempuan dalam pembangunan.

Dalam KD (1970: 853), kata perempuan berarti 'wanita', 'lawan lelaki', dan 'istri' . Menurut KD,
ada kata raja perempuan yang berarti 'permaisuri'. Dengan contoh ini kata ini tidak berarti
rendah. Sementara itu, kata keperempuanan berarti 'perihal perempuan', maksudnya pastilah
masalah yang berkenaan dengan keistrian dan rumah tangga. Dalam hal ini, meski tidak terlalu
rendah, tetapi jelas bahwa kata ini menunjuk perempuan sebagai 'penunggu rumah'.
KBBI (1988: 670) memberikan batasan yang hampir sama dengan KD, hanya ada tambahan
sedikit, tetapi justru penting, untuk kata keperempuanan. Menurut KBBI, keperempuanan juga
berarti 'kehormatan sebagai perempuan'. Di sini sudah mulai muncul kesadaran menjaga harkat
dan martabat sebagai manusia bergender feminin. Tersirat juga di sini makna 'kami jangan
diremehkan' atau 'kami punya harga diri'.

Dalam tinjauan etimologisnya, kata perempuan bernilai cukup tinggi, tidak di bawah, tetapi
sejajar, bahkan lebih tinggi daripada kata lelaki. Ah, masa?!! Ya. Jelasnya begini.

• Secara etimologis, kata perempuan berasal dari kata empu yang berarti 'tuan', 'orang yang mahir/berkuasa',
atau pun 'kepala', 'hulu', atau 'yang paling besar'; maka, kita kenal kata empu jari 'ibu jari', empu gending
'orang yang mahir mencipta tembang'.

• Kata perempuan juga berhubungan dengan kata ampu 'sokong', 'memerintah', 'penyangga', 'penjaga
keselamatan', bahkan 'wali'; kata mengampu artinya 'menahan agar tak jatuh' atau 'menyokong agar tidak
runtuh'; kata mengampukan berarti 'memerintah (negeri)'; ada lagi pengampu 'penahan, penyangga,
penyelamat', sehingga ada kata pengampu susu 'kutang' alias 'BH'.

• Kata perempuan juga berakar erat dari kata empuan; kata ini mengalami pemendekan menjadi puan yang
artinya 'sapaan hormat pada perempuan', sebagai pasangan kata tuan 'sapaan hormat pada lelaki'.

Prof. Slametmuljana (1964: 61) pun mengakui bahwa kata yang sekarang sering direndahkan,
ditempatkan di bawah wanita, ini berhubungan dengan makna 'kehormatan' atau 'orang
terhormat'. Tetapi, yang dilihatnya di masyarakat lain lagi. Maka, ia pun tidak mampu
menyembunyikan keheranannya berikut:

"... Yang agak aneh dalam tjara berpikir ini ialah apa sebab perempuan tempat kehormatan itu semata-mata
diperuntukkan bagi wanita, sedangkan hormat dan bakti setinggi-tingginya menurut adat ketimuran djustru datang
dari kaum wanita, terhadap suami."

Itulah sebabnya, tidak sedikit aktivis gerakan perempuan baik yang di bawah payung lembaga
pendidikan formal maupun yang lebih suka malang melintang di alam bebas Lembaga Swadaya
Masyarakat (LSM) lebih suka memilih kata perempuan daripada wanita untuk organisasi
mereka. Misalnya Solidaritas Perempuan (Jakarta), Yayasan Perempuan Merdika (Jakarta),
Asosiasi Perempuan Indonesia untuk Keadilan (APIK, Jakarta), Lembaga Studi Pengembangan
Perempuan dan Anak (LSPPA, Yogyakarta), Sekretariat Bersama Perempuan Yogya
(Yogyakarta), Forum Diskusi Perempuan Yogya, Suara Hati Perempuan, Kelompok Perempuan
untuk Kebebasan Pers (KPKP), dan Gerakan Kesadaran Perempuan--sekadar menyebut beberapa
contoh. Menarik untuk dicontohkan di sini bahwa nama jurnal keperempuanan terbitan LIPI
adalah "Warta Studi Perempuan" dan bukan *Warta Studi Wanita. Sementara itu, jika dahulu
"Women Study" diterjemahkan menjadi "Kajian Wanita", sekarang muncul saingan baru, "Studi
Perempuan".

Dari sudut sejarah pergerakan nasional pun, kata perempuanlah yang telah menyumbangkan
kontribusi historisnya. Kita ingat, kongres pertama organisasi "lawan tanding lelaki" ini
dinamainya "Kongres Perempoean Indonesia Pertama, yang berlangsung pada 22 Desember
1928 di Yogyakarta (Rahayu, 1996).6) Dalam Kongres I ini disepakati bahwa persamaan derajat
hanya dapat dicapai bila susunan masyarakatnya tidak terjajah. Langkah organisasi pertama yang
dilakukan adalah membentuk "Perserikatan Perkoempoelan Perempoean Indonesia" (PPPI).
Bahwa dalam perjalanan sejarah lahir Kowani, Perwari, Perwani, KNKWI, BMOIWI, Ikwandep
perhatikan, selalu ada huruf /W/ setidaknya itulah jejak-jejak historis lingual bahwa kita lebih
memilih "wanita", dan bukan "perempuan", sebab yang kita kehendaki bukan perempuan
mandiri, melainkan perempuan penurut. (Silahkan pembaca menjawab sendiri, apakah setelah
lebih dari setengah abad kemerdekaan ini kaum perempuan telah mencapai persamaan derajat,
seperti impian Kongres I).

Sejak kemerdekaan, seperti disebut di atas, derap Kongres Perempoewan Indonesia sudah
(di)musnah(kan) dari peredaran. Muncul pengganti-penerusnya: Kongres Wanita Indonesia
(Kowani) sejak menjelang kemerdekaan, yang relatif lunak, umumnya terdiri atas para istri
pegawai. Mungkin sejak inilah wanita secara resmi menggeser perempuan. Sejak saat itu setiap
partai-partai politik di Indonesia juga mempunyai anak organisasi wanita, bukan perempuan,
misalnya Wanita Demokrat dan Gerakan Wanita Marhaen (PNI), Gerakan Wanita Indonesia
(Gerwani, PKI), dan pasca-1965 ada Persatuan Wanita Republik Indonesia (Perwari), serta
Dharma (1974) (Rahayu, 1996: 30-31).

Perempuan Disembah-sembah, Itu Dulu ...

Dahulu sesuatu yang bersifat perempuan dihormati, dijunjung tinggi. Dalam hal ini kita tak lagi
mempersoalkan perbedaan istilah wanita, perempuan, betina, atau pun ibu, bunda, mbaktu,
biyung, mama, dewi, putri, ratu. Kita bicarakan hal itu secara global saja. Dahulu kaum ibu
dikatakan sebagai "tiang masyarakat", diluhurkan sebagai "ratu kehidupan", dan dimitoskan
sebagai "danyang kesuburan alam semesta", serta disembah-sembah  sebagai "penentu awal
kehidupan manusia di bumi".

Zaman sekarang kaum ibu selalu dituding sebagai sumber kesalahan, terutama berhubungan
dengan kenakalan anak-anak. Bukankah mendidikan anak itu tugas seorang ibu, bukan bapak?
Karena perempuan mengalami domestifikasi peran, bila terjadi kericuhan keluarga, ibulah yang
layak dikorbankan sebagai kambing hitam. "Ini gara-gara terlalu kau manja," atau juga "coba,
kalau kamu mendidiknya benar, anak kita tidak binal seperti ini," begitu kata ayah. Dahulu, nasib
ibu tidak seburuk ini, tidak dituding sebagai biang kerok perkara. Dia sangat dibela, dibersihkan
dari tuduhan. Posisinya sebagai peletak awal kehidupan manusia sangat menentukan, karena dari
guwagarba rahimnyalah, manusia di bumi ini berasal. Oleh karena itu, jika ada anak yang nakal,
ibu akan dibela, sehingga ungkapan yang muncul adalah "Bukan salah bunda mengandung" dan
bukan ungkapan "*Bukan salah ayahnda menghamili" atau "*Bukan salah ayahnda membuahi".
Ini bukti pengakuan bahwa mengandung itu lebih bernilai tinggi daripada menghamili (Kweldju,
1991). Karena yang mengandung itu biasanya ibu, ibulah yang lebih diharga.

Pelesetan-pelesetan di masyarakat terhadap kata-kata tertentu juga menggambarkan seberapa

jauh nilai dominasi pria terhadap wanita ini hendak menandingi pemahaman masyarakat
terhadap hakikat suatu kata. Semula, berdasarkan etimologi rakyat (jarwodosok, keratabasa)
Jawa, kata "garwo", misalnya, dipersepsi sebagai "sigaraning nyowo" (belahan jiwa). Di sini,
kedudukan seorang istri cukup terhormat, sejajar, sama, segaris, dan komplementer dengan
suami; tidak ada nuansa dominasi dan subordinasi antargender. Memang, garwo adalah kata
yang netral, egaliter, tidak memihak salah satu jenis kelamin (bias gender). Ia bisa mengacu baik
kepada "garwo jaler" (suami) maupun "garwo estri" (istri). Akan tetapi, selanjutnya inilah kurang
ajarnya pemahaman terhadap kata garwo telah dipelesetkan sebagai "sigar tur dowo" (terbelah
dan lagi panjang), sesuatu yang bisa mengundang kesan porno dan pelecehan. Tidak sulit ditebak
siapa pelaku pemelesetan ini: pastilah dari barisan pria.

Tidak hanya persepsi kultural masyarakat, agama pun meletakkan ibu pada posisi sangat
terhormat. Dalam Islam, misalnya, ada hadis yang sangat terkenal berkenaan dengan ini, yakni
"Surga itu di bawah telapak kaki ibu". Maka, menurut pandangan ini, tempat berbakti adalah ibu,
ibu, dan ibu, kemudian baru ayah. Mungkin karena kecemburuan religiusitas-gender, di
masyarakat kami pernah mendengar pelesetan sinis terhadap ini tentu saja dari kaum bapak.7)
Surah paling Al-Fatihah, saripati dari semua surah dalam Kitab Suci Quran, misalnya, disebut
"Ummul Qur'an" dan bukan "Abul Qur'an" (Nadjib, 1996). Dalam agama lain pun kurang lebih
sama. Begitulah ...

Perempuan Indonesia, Akan ke Manakah Anda?

Di sini jelas sekali bahwa jika yang kita maksudkan adalah sosok yang mengalah, rela menderita
demi pria pujaan, patuh berbakti, maka pilihlah kata wanita. Maka, yang tepat tetaplah "Darma
Wanita" memang dimaksudkan untuk berbakti. Tetapi, jika kita berbicara soal peranan dan
fungsinya, soal pemberdayaan kedudukan, soal pembelaan hak asasi, soal nasib dan martabatnya,
tidak ada jalan lain, gunakan kata perempuan, semisal "peranan perempuan dalam perjuangan",
"gerakan pembelaan hak-hak perempuan pekerja". Setuju?

Bisa dipastikan siapa pun akan ragu, jika hati harus lebih berpihak pada perempuan daripada
pada wanita. Justru, itulah bukti hebatnya hegemoni patriarki dalam masyarakat mana pun,
sehingga jangankan yang menguasai, yakni pria, yang dikuasai pun, yaitu wanita, merasa takut,
khawatir, bahkan merasa menikmati "penguasaan" itu. Bagi kelompok terakhir ini, hegemoni
kekuasaan pria akan dinikmatinya sebagai "perlindungan" dan "kasih sayang". Ditindas kok
tidak melawan. Mengapa? Sulit menjawabnya. Mungkin kaum wanita tergolong makhluk ajaib,
yang suka menyiksa diri, menyimpan samudra kesabaran luar biasa, suka berkorban, memang
karena tak berdaya, atau jangan-jangan mereka berjiwa masokistis, suatu jenis kenikmatan dalam
penindasan. Jiwa mereka berada dalam situasi terpenjara (captive mind). Akhirnya, Perempuan
Indonesia, terserah saja, Anda mau ke mana ...?

Catatan

1. Orde Baru merumuskan peran kaum wanita ke dalam lima kewajiban (Pancadarma): (1) wanita sebagai
istri pendamping suami, (2) wanita sebagai ibu pendidik dan pembina generasi muda, (3) wanita sebagai
pengatur ekonomi rumah tangga, (4) wanita sebagai pencari nafkah tambahan, dan (5) wanita sebagai
anggota masyarakat, terutama organisasi wanita, badan-badan sosial, dan sebagainya yang
menyumbangkan tenaga kepada masyarakat. Perhatikan, di sini yang dinomorsatukan adalah kewajiban
istri sebagai istri mendampingi sang suami tercinta. Sementara, urusan bergerak di sektor publik (di luar
rumah) menduduki nomor bungsu, artinya tidak dipentingkan. Ini terjadi sebab ada anggapan bahwa di luar
rumah itu urusan lelaki, sedang di dalam rumah (sektor domestik) inilah tempat tepat wanita. Periksa:
 Binny Buchori & Ifa Soenarto, "Mengenal Dharma Wanita". Mayling Oey-Gardiner dkk. (ed.), Perempuan
Indonesia: Dulu dan Kini (Jakarta: PT Gramedia, 1996) hal. 172-193); juga: Ruth I. Rahayu, "Politik
Gender Orde Baru: Tinjauan Organisasi Perempuan Sejak 1980-an. Prisma XXV/5, Mei 1996: 29-42.

2. Metatesis adalah gejala perubahan (pertukararn) letak huruf, bunyi, atau sukukata dalam suatu kata
(Kridalaksana, 1993:136). Misalnya rontal menjadi lontar, sapu<-->usap; dalam bahasa Jawa misalnya
kelek<-->lekek 'ketiak'. Dalam bahasa Inggris ada flim<-->film, brid<-->bird (Jack Richards, John Platt,
dan Heidi Weber, 1987: 176), aks<-->ask (Crystal, 1985: 194).

3. Proses perubahan bunyi konsonan (kontoid) dalam bahasa-bahasa di Nusantara dirumuskan dalam hukum-
hukum perubahan bunyi. Salah satunya adalah perubahan [w] dalam bahasa Jawa atau Jawa Kuno menjadi
[b] dalam bahasa Melayu (Indonesia) (Slametmulyana, 1964; Wojowasito, 1965; Keraf, 1987). Misalnya
awu-->abu, watuk-->batuk, sewelas-->sebelas, wulan-->bulan.

4. Raja, sultan, adipati, bangsawan, pada zaman dahulu umumnya memiliki banyak istri dan selir. Misalnya,
Paku Buana IV (Surakarta) mengumpuli 25 istri dan selir; Hamengku Buwono II (Ngayogyakarta
Hadiningrat) menyimpan 33 istri dan selir. Tujuan memiliki banyak wanita adalah menghindari kejahatan
seksual dan mencapai konsolidasi kekuasaan politik untuk mengesankan bahwa pemimpin itu lelaki luar
biasa sakti mandraguna (super human). Periksa: G. Moedjanto, "Selir", Basis, Januari 1973; juga Konsep
Kekuasaan Jawa: Penerapannya oleh Raja-raja Mataram (Yogyakarta: Kanisius, 1987).

5. Tentang konsep degradasi harkat martabat gender feminin, baca: D. Jupriono, "Bahasa Indonesia Bahasa
Lelaki", FSU in the Limelight edisi nomor ini juga.

6. Lih. Ruth Indiah Rahayu, Opcit., hal. 29-42. Dalam artikelnya, dijelaskan bahwa perempuan dan
gerakannya telah lahir jauh sebelum kemerdekaan RI. Aktivitas pergerakan perempuan terus berjalan
hingga mencapai puncaknya pada 1965. Sejak itu berlakulah proses domestifikasi (pe-rumah-an)
"perempuan" di segala bidang, menjadi "wanita". Tetapi, bersamaan dengan itu, bermunculan juga berbagai
organisasi "keras" perempuan bergabung dalam Lembaga Swadaya Masyarakat (LSM).

7. Pelesetan itu demikian. "Surga ada di bawah kaki ibu", katanya, "berlaku bagi seorang anak". Bagi seorang
ayah, lain lagi, yaitu "Surga itu ada di antara kedua kaki ibu"; "Ooo ... itu sih nerakanya. Setannya ya kita-
kita ini. Ha ha ha ...". Bahwa itu hanya kelakar, itu jelas. Tetapi, di sisi lain, ini mungkin saja juga karena
tidak tahu (menyadari) bahwa yang mereka pelesetkan adalah sabda Rasul.

Daftar Pustaka

Buchori, B. & I. Soenarto. 1996. Mengenal Dharma Wanita. Hal. 172-193. Mayling Oey-
Gardiner dkk. (ed.), Perempuan Indonesia: Dulu dan Kini. Jakarta: PT Gramedia.

Hurford, J.R. 1984. Semantics: a Coursebook. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.

Iskandar, T. 1970. Kamus Dewan. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kementerian
Pelajaran.

Kweldju, S. 1983. Penelitian seksisme bahasa dalam kerangka penelitian stereotipi seks. Warta
Studi Perempuan 4(1), 7-18.

Mardiwarsito, L. 1986. Kamus Jawa Kuno-Indonesia. Cet. III. Ende: Nusa Indah.

Nadjib, E.A. 1966. Ibu Qur'an, bukan Bapak Qur'an. Padang Mbulan, 2, April: 29-38.

Noerhadi, T. 1991. Studi Wanita di Indonesia. Makalah Seminar Nasional Wanita 11--13 Juni
1991, di Wisma Kinasih, Bogor.

Palmer, F.R. 1986. Semantics. Edisi II, Cet. V. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Rahayu, R.I. 1996. Politik gender Orde Baru: tinjauan organisasi perempuan sejak 1980-an.
Prisma 15(5), Mei: 29-42.

Richards, J., J. Platt, dan H. Weber. 1987. Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics. Cet. II.
Harlow: Longman Group UK Limited.

Slametmuljana. 1964. Asal Bangsa dan Bahasa Nusantara. Jakarta: PN Balai Pustaka.

Suryochondro, S. 1996. Perkembangan gerakan wanita di Indonesia. Hal. 290-310. Oey-Gardiner

dkk. (ed.), Perempuan Indonesia: Dulu dan Kini. Jakarta: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama.

Tim Penyusun Kamus Pusat Bahasa. 1988. Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia. Edisi I. Jakarta:
Balai Pustaka dan Depdikbud.

Wojowasito, S. 1965. Linguistik: Sedjarah Ilmu (Perbandingan) Bahasa. Djakarta: Gunung

Agung.

Zoetmulder, P.J. 1982. Old Javanese--English Dictionary. 's-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff.

________________
Sudarwati, lecturer at the Faculty of Letters, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya.
D. Jupriono, lecturer at the Faculty of Letters, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/nature.html

Nature as The Inspiration Source

in Herman Melville's Moby Dick

Ambar Andayani

Great literature, if we read it well, opens us up to the world. It makes us more sensitive to it, as if we acquired eyes
that could see through things and ears that could hear smaller sounds. (Donald Hall)

Literature and Nature

Literature is an expression of the deepest mind of an author. By his sensitive thinking, he brings
out colorful and profound words that can make readers become astonished to what reflects on it.
We as the reader can not neglect that by reading and understanding a poem, we can find the
richness and the beauty of life that usually we do not find in daily life. Instead of that, when
problems come to us, our mind is full of hate, anger sadness and disappointment. After reading
literature, however an author wants the reader to realize that problems happened to human being
are not without any meaning.

In bringing out his idea, an author of a novel expresses characters, setting, and plot to be the
imitation of life that afterwards problems in society accompany it. Understanding literature
means we want to get the answer of our life problems. With his sensitive mind, an author creates
an imitation of life, giving a judgement and a solution to the problems of the characters of his
work, in consequence he tries to explain to us the meaning of life. The process of literary work is
an author to be the witness of many and endless problems faced to human being while he feels it,
too. He always has many questions for the curiousity of the events in nature and the life of
human being. Kirkpatrick and Goodfellow in his book "Poetry With Pleasure" (1968) explains
about this case:

You will remember how necessary it is, if they are to be fine poets, that they become especially good observers of
life. Their deep, profound thoughts of this life, however, have caused many of them to examine certain basic, age-
old questions: Why are we born? Is there a higher power which shapes our lives? If there is such a power, how much
or how little does it rule us. What is truly a "good" or "bad" action? What is the purpose behind our being alive in
this world? (p. 124).

They are such questions loading in thoughtful people, and particularly happens to authors. They
are interested in life and they want to know about the mystery of life. In examining life an author
has a desire to present his idea in literature. He must have a high imagination in his mind. He
does not want to tell merely unmeaningful statements to the reader. In composing a poetry that,
whether or not it reflects exactly the personal beliefs we realize to be true. As a keenly sensitive
person, it is common to a poet, as we see in many literary works, loving of nature. With the
beauty and unlimited expression of nature he finds much and big inspiration from that endless
source. Then from there the readers can notice great creations of literary work as the reflection of
his idea.

Some poets have been so impressed with the beauty of nature that they found in it glorious evidence of a divine
force behind creation (Kirkpatrick and Goodfellow, 1965: 125).

There is unlimited source we get from nature. Nature gives us the shower that clear our mind and
clean our thinking. While society means many things deal with busy life, a chaos, competition,
anger, sadness, disappointment; nature, however can present happiness, equality, brevity,
encouragement, peace, dignity, hope and honour. If we see nature, it means we feel the creation
of God, there is a Mighty of God in it. There is no lying and we do not find hypocrisy in nature.

Herman Melville's Moby Dick

Herman Melville's Moby Dick is one of the greatest novels in the world. It was published in
1851, in London and New York. It tells about American whaling, an interesting job but also a
dangerous one for man, which was popular in America in the 1840's. Here are some of many
appreciations about Herman Melville's Moby Dick from the quality readers:

Moby Dick has "the power to entrance young readers and old so that, as we turn the pages, our hands close about an
imaginary harpoon and in our ears rings the cry: 'Thar she blows!'" writes Clifton Fadiman in his afterword.
(Melville, 1962).

My first encounter with Moby Dick was when I was in high school. I read the story then for its adventure and I
wasn't disappointed. On rereading Melville's book, I discovered a lot in it that I had missed or overlooked in my
earlier reading (Robert Shore, the illustrator of Herman Melville's Moby Dick).
The imaginative unity Melville achieves is most directly observable in the texture of his prose. Arvin speaks of the
language of Moby Dick as describable only as we describe the language of Milton or Shakespeare it must be called
"Melvillean." He goes on to define the properties of this language in a very interesting way (Anderson, 1966).

In the Encyclopedia Americana it is stated that the work of Moby Dick is really made up of three
elements. One of these is a fairly full and accurate account of American whaling customs in the
1840's and the natural history of the sperm whale. The second is an exciting narrative depicting
the hunt for a particular white whale, Moby Dick, by mad Captain Ahab, who has previously lost
one leg to its ferocious jaws. The third element is a philosophical commentary upon human life
and fate.

Nature as The Inspiration Source in Herman Melville's Moby Dick

Nature is an inspiration source for human being. Great creation needs a big inspiration that can
be the power to achieve a high imagination. Literary work is an expression of idea of an author.
Unlike most of the great nineteenth-century novels of England and the Continent, in this case, to
bring out his idea, Melville focuses his view to nature, instead of plunging into the life of society.
Most of his works are about his adventures and Moby Dick is one of his on his wanderings in the
sea. The sea as nature is the main source of inspiration to answer his curiousity of life. From
nature, as Melville mentions there is a reflection of the image of the ungraspable panthom of life:
"But the same image, we ourselves see in all rivers and oceans. It is the image of the ungraspable
phantom of life; and this is the key to it all" (Meville, 1962: 3).

In explaining the story, Meville does not give merely simple description. He always tries to
present an event concretely and emotively. Melville takes his reader to his high imagination with
his broad horizon which refers to the view in all over the world:

Why did the old Persians hold the sea holy? Why did the Greeks give it a separate deity, and own brother of Jove?
(Melville, 1962: 3).

Go and gaze upon the iron emblematical harpoons round yonder lofty mansion, and your question will be answered.
Yes; all these brave houses and flowery gardens came from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans (Melville, 1962:
35).

For Lima has taken the white veil; and there is a higher horror in this whiteness of her woe. Old as Pizarro, this
whiteness ... (Melville, 1962: 204).
There is a freedom of expression in nature. Melville shows an extraordinary one to create his
words in every side as well as elements of this novel. Nature brings a power to him to tell the
amazing story. As a matter of fact, he had read a tale of "Mocha Dick", a fabulous whale known
to the South Sea fishery, and the narrative of the whale ship Essex. His triumph was to find the
fable which united them (comment by Quentin Anderson). He reveals incredible description in
each event:

The wind increased to a howl; the waves dashed their bucklers together; the whole squall roared, forked, and
crackled around us like a white fire upon the prairie, in which unconsumed, we were burning; immortal in these jaws
of death! (Melville, 1962: 241).

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago-never mind how long precisely-having little or no money in my purse, and nothing
particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. (Melville,
1962: 1).

People say that life is complicated. Many philosophical commentary expressed in this novel
show that there are many questions in the mind of Herman Melville. He wants to answer the
questions that always bother his mind. We usually find many problems in life and there is no
answer for the unreasonable questions. By the appearance of the sea Melville gets the inspiration
to explain the mystery of life. What the meaning of life is, why there is a competition in life,
what the purpose of it is. There is a contemplation on his wanderings in the sea. From the beauty
and the fresh of nature, it can reflects the hospitality. Then from the dark blue and the depth of
the sea, it can show the violence of life.

Should you ever be athirst in the great American desert, try this experiment, if your caravan happens to be supplied
with a metaphysical professor. Yes, as every one knows, meditation and water are wedded for ever (Melville, 1962:
2).

What of it, if some old hunks of a sea-captain orders me to get a broom and sweep down the decks? What does that
indignity amount to, weighed, I mean, in the scales of the New Testament? Who is not a slave? Tell me that
(Melville, 1962: 5).

I concluded that this harpooner, in the course of his distant voyages, must have met with a similar adventure. And
what is it, thought I after all! It's only his outside; a man can be honest in any sort of skin (Melville, 1962: 22).

..., praying God for annihilation until the fit be passed; and at last amid the whirl of woe he feels a deep stupor steal
over him, as over the man who bleeds to death, for conscience is the wound, and there's naught to staunch it; so,
after sore ... (Melville, 1962: 47).

Conclusion

Nature is an inspiration source for human being particularly it happens to an artist. Why must an
author or a painter go to a remote place or a mountain area to create their works. They need
solitary place where there is fresh air with no pollution and shows good panorama. The beautiful
atmosphere that can not be found in our busy life in a city, gives big inspiration to them. The
unlimited source reflected in nature make an artist to bring out his idea in free expression with
his sensitive mind.

Great literature is achieved through high imagination which needs big inspiration. Nature can be
the power to create such great creation. Most of Melville's works are his works on his
wanderings in the sea. Moby Dick is the famous one which tells about American whaling, that
was popular in the 1840's. In his novel of Moby Dick, Melville reveals an extraordinary one
which are full with emotive words and poetic language. His closeness with nature is reflected on
Moby Dick. The sea gives him a power to reach universal idea for human being. As we find
many philosophical commentary in this novel which conceives the truth for us. From the
description and the explanation in this discussion, I can conclude that nature is the inspiration
source in Herman Melville's Moby Dick.

Bibliography

Abrams, M.H. 1953. The Mirror And The Lamp. New York: Oxford University Press.

Andayani, A. 1997. Existentialism on Ahab in Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Research Report.
Surabaya: Faculty of Letters, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945.

Anderson, Q. 1966. Introduction. In Herman Melville, Moby Dick. Second printing. New York:
The Macmillan Company.

Guth, H.P. and G.L. Rico. 1993. Discovering Literature. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall
Incorporation.

Kirkpatrick, L.A. and W.W. Goodfellow. 1968. Poetry With Pleasure. New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons .
Melville, H. 1962. Moby Dick. New York: The Macmillan Company.

The Encyclopedia Americana. 1977. New York: Grocier Limited.

________________________
Ambar Andayani, lecturer at the Faculty of Letters, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/maleoriented.html

Wanita, Male Oriented, dan Perkosaan

Susilo Mansuruddin

Dalam teori Edward Lison, dijelaskan pada dasarnya komposisi tubuh manusia 30% adalah
animal. Dari runtutan sejarah, manusia adalah primata atau kera. Sedangkan 70% menyangkut
dari sisi karakter pribadi, sosial, budaya, dan yang paling tinggi adalah religius (Warta Utama,
1996).

Kalau merunut dari teori Lison, seorang laki-laki melihat wanita cantik, secara naluri air liurnya
akan keluar. Itu artinya ada daya tarik tertentu dalam tubuh wanita. Kalau tidak ada tatanan nilai-
nilai sosial, budaya, religius maka komposisi 30% manusia sebagai primata akan cenderung
untuk selalu memperlakukan lawan jenisnya seperti halnya (Red. maaf) jago dengan pithik), dan
orang cenderung akan memenuhi lampiasan nafsunya. Akan tetapi dari komposisi ini ada hal lain
yang mengikat sebagai manusia yakni aspek konvensi tertulis dan tak tertulis berupa tatanan-
tatanan atau norma masyarakat untuk membentuk karakter manusia menjadi terarah.

Perkosaan ini merupakan hal yang tabu; sesuatu yang harus disingkiri karena dilarang (Loebis,
1979 : 36). Meski tatanan-tatanan yang sudah berlaku dan diterapkan pada lingkungan sosial pun
masih terjadi perkosaan di sana-sini, dan yang menjadi sasaran adalah kaum hawa yang notabene
kaum lemah.

Definisi Perkosaan

Definisi perkosaan sendiri masih rumit. Masih banyak perbedaan pandangan tentang definisi
perkosaan. Artinya bila laki-laki dengan paksa memasukkan kemaluannya ke vagina perempuan
dan meninggalkan sperma didalamnya, itu baru dinamakan pemerkosaan. Namun bila sesama
jenis, homo, lesbi, melakukan dengan paksa bukan pemerkosaan lagi, akan tetapi mengarah pada
perbuatan cabul. Intinya seorang laki-laki dengan agresifitas memaksa memasukkan
kemaluannya dan meninggalkan sperma di dalamnya, itu yang namanya diperkosa. Kalau alat
vitalnya sama dan sejenis dan dilakukan dengan paksa, itu perbuatan cabul.

Dalam visi medis pun, seorang dokter juga tak akan dengan mudah mengklaim pasien yang
melapor kemudian diperiksa, telah atau baru saja diperkosa. Dokter akan memeriksa vagina sang
korban, apakah ada perobekan didalam vagina--menurut searah jarum jam, misalkan jam 12.00,
09.00 atau 15.00--kemudian dicari apakah ada luka-luka memar dalam tubuhnya.

Dan bila ternyata dalam vagina terdeteksi ada sperma yang tertinggal dan terjadi perobekan,
dokter akan mengeluarkan visum dengan kata-kata: pada diri pasien ini telah terjadi perobekan
akibat benda kenyal sebesar sekian dalam vagina dan tertinggal cairan sperma disertai luka-
luka memar di wajah atau badan, tanpa langsung memberikan kesimpulan bahwa si korban telah
diperkosa.

Male Oriented

Kalau kita mencoba mencermati kilas balik raja-raja Jawa, akan kita dapatkan bahwa seringkali
seorang raja mempunyai satu permaisuri untuk melanggengkan tahta kerajaannya sekaligus
untuk memenuhi keturunan silsilah. Artinya, permaisuri adalah istri yang sah. Namun, bukan
merupakan rahasia lagi manakala seorang raja di Jawa mempunyai gundik, selir atau istilah
sekarang menjadi wanita idaman lain (WIL).

Dari sisi antropoligi sendiri dalam tingkatan stratifikasi perolehan martabat sudah lain. Laki-laki
mendapat martabatnya karena bekerja dan membantu. Perempuan mendapat martabatnya dengan
mendapatkan pria. Pra berbuat, wanita menarik (Haviland, 1988:87).

Kalau kita menarik sejarah masa lampau, ada semacam dominasi laki-laki sebaai manusia
superior dibandingkan dengan kaum hawa yang notabene lemah dan butuh perlindungan. Ini
berkaitan dengan adanya budaya masyarakat kita yang sangat male oriented, yang selalu melihat
segalanya dari selera laki-laki. Wanita secara kultural dilihat sebgaian orang kedua. Dalam
seuatu penilaian yang memuliakan atau meremehkan, laki-laki melihat wanita sebagai obyek
seks. Entah itu sebagai gundik atau selir. Bahkan sekarang istilah yang paling memasyarakat
munculnya para WIL.

Hal ini membuat wanita selalu dalam keadaan terancam baik itu secara fisik atau secara
psikologis. Dalam male culture Jawa, laki-laki selalu memingit wanita atau sering disebut
dengan pagar ayu. Di pedesaan Cina tradisional, gadis sering tidak melihat suaminya sebelum
perkawinan, karena perkawinan diatur oleh orang tua. Sedangkan dalam Islam atau dalam tradisi
perkawinan Jawa, laki-laki diperbolehkan untuk menikah lebih dari satu. Istri yang sudah ada,
bisa diwayuh (Kodiran, 1990 : 338). Ini merupakan indikasi dari kekuatan atau superior laki-laki
dibandingkan perempuan. Artinya sisi lain sangat tabu sekali seorang perempuan menikah lebih
dari satu atau mempunyai laki-laki lebih dari seorang.

Bahwa pemerkosaan dimungkinkan terjadi karena adanya benturan antara male oriented dengan
kondisi wanita yang makin menjunjung emansipasi. Di satu pihak wanita itu menjadi semakin
bebas, sementara di pihak lain laki-laki tetap memandang wanita sebagai obyek. Ini akhirnya
bisa disinyalir dengan munculnya atau timbulnya kasus-kasus perkosaan. Kalau melihat kelas
tertentu, masyarakat kelas menengah ke atas male culture mulai terkikis. Bukannya memuliakan
atau meremehkan, laki-laki melihat wanita sebagai obyek seks. Entah itu sebagai gundik atau
selir. Bahkan sekarang istilah yang paling memasyarakat munculnya para WIL.

Hal ini membuat wanita selalu dalam keadaan terancam baik itu secara fisik atau secara
psikologis. Dalam male culture Jawa, laki-laki selalu memingit wanita atau sering disebut
dengan pagar ayu. Di pedesaan Cina tradisional, gadis sering tidak melihat suaminya sebelum
perkawinan, karena perkawinan diatur oleh orang tua.

Sedangkan dalam Islam atau dalam tradisi perkawinan Jawa, laki-laki diperbolehkan untuk
menikah lebih dari satu. Istri yang sudah ada, bisa diwayuh (Kodiran dalam Koentjaraningrat,
1990:338). Ini merupakan indikasi dari kekuatan atau superior laki-laki dibandingkan
perempuan. Artinya sisi lain sangat tabu sekali seorang perempuan menikah lebih dari satu atau
mempunyai laki-laki lebih dari seorang.

Bahwa pemerkosaan dimungkinkan terjadi karena adanya benturan antara male oriented dengan
kondisi wanita yang makin menjunjung emansipasi. Di satu pihak wanita itu menjadi semakin
bebas, sementara di pihak lain laki-laki tetap memandang wanita sebagai obyek. Ini akhirnya
bisa disinyalir dengan munculnya atau timbulnya kasus-kasus perkosaan.

Kalau melihat kelas tertentu, masyarakat kelas menengah ke atas male culture mulai terkikis.
Pria-pria pada golongan menengah ke atas untuk kondisi sekarang memandang wanita sebagai
obyek seks, seringkali memakai cara-cara yang lebih sesuai dengan aturan hukum. Seperti kawin
cara poligami karena bisa membiayai dua istri atau lebih. Bisa juga mereka ke pelacuran.
Sedangkan pada pria-pria dari kelas bawah, seringkali melampiaskan keinginannya itu dengan
cara-cara yang kasar.

Pada akhirnya masalah pemerkosaan seringkali dilihat dari sisi dominasi laki-laki terhadap
perempuan. Seperti juga yang tercantum dalam hukum di Indonesia, bahwa pengertian perkosaan
itu berlaku bila pelaku perkosaan tersebut laki-laki dengan korban wanita.

Hukum Tak Menjangkau?

Pernah terlontar di media massa Menteri Urusan Peranan Wanita Mien Sugandhi akan
menghukum mati bagi pemerkosa. Saat itu statemen muncul manakala peristiwa naas menimpa
keluarga Acan. Sungguh tragis seorang gadis diperkosa. Dari sisi keluarga jelas akan tercemar.
Faktor psikologis dari si Anak sendiri akan 'terbayang-bayang' dalam mengarungi masa depan.

Statemen Mien Sugandi itu, ternyata tak membuat jera bagi pelaku. Bahkan tingkat perkosaan
pun kian hari kian tak memandang sasaran yang dijadikan obyek aksi pencabulan. Mulai dari
wanita yang lebih tua, pembantu, anak kecil bahkan anak kandung sendiri. Bahkan sudah
keberapa ratus kali TKW kita mengeluh, merintih dan meronta karena di negeri orang hanya
dijadikan pelampiasan nafsu kaum laki-laki. Dari data LBH tahun 1995 sangat banyak variasi
tingkat perkosaan, mulai keterikatan antara orang tua, karyawan, bahkan sampai pada orang
terdekat sendiri (teman) (lihat tabel).

Tabel: Data Kasus Perkosaan di Jawa Timur pada tahun 1995

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hubungan antara korban dan pelaku Jumlah %

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Orang tua (baik kandung atau tiri) 12 8,9

Saudara laki-laki (kandung/tiri) 7 5,6

Majikan/boss 8 6,4

Guru/dosen/pemuka agama 4 3,2

Teman 44 39,5

Orang asing/orang tak dikenal 30 29,0

Tidak terindentifikasi 9 7,2

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total 124 100

Sumber: Diolah kembali dari data LBH Surabaya, 1996

Secara teoritis, dalam pasal 285 KUHP ada ancaman hukuman bagi pelaku perkosaan maksimal
12 tahun. Hanya saja kalau terbukti, sangat susah dan rumit untuk membuktikan tersangka
sebagai pelaku pemerkosa kalau jelas tidak tertangkap basah. Undang-undang warisan
kolonialpun masih memandang laki-laki superior, ada aturan yang melarang perempuan yang
sudah menikah untuk melakukan perbuatan-perbuatan hukum. Misalnya perempuan dilarang
melakukan transaksi jual beli dsb, karena dianggap tidak berkemampuan hukum, tidak cakap
hukum.

Jadi meskipun Mien Sugandhi akan menghukum mati pemerkosa, namun realitanya pemerkosa
masih meraja lela. Bahkan dalam prakteknya di pengadilan seringkali pemerkosa hanya dijatuhi
hukuman beberapa bulan saja. Karena memang sulit untuk membuktikan si A adalah pemerkosa.
Paling tidak harus ada tiga hal utama untuk membuktikan. Yaitu bukti otentik materi, tuntutan
dari korban dan adanya saksi. Salah satu cara lain untuk membuktikan lewat analisa DNA. Tapi
analisa ini pun membutuhkan biaya mahal.

Pada akhirnya yang menjadi sasaran adalah kaum hawa yang notabene lemah dari segalanya.
Aparat hukum sendiri belum punya batasan ukuran kurungan bagi si pelaku pemerkosa. Masing-
masing punya ukuran-ukuran relatif. Bisa pemerkosa terhukum dipenjara selama 5 tahun namun
terkadang bisa hany bebebapa bulan dan sudah itu keluar.

Antisipasi Dini

Masalah perkosaan adalah masalah kesempatan. Artinya jangan beri kesempatan pada
pemerkosa. Ada beberapa cara untuk menghindari perkosaan. Plaing tidak, wanita yang menjadi
sasaran sedapat mungkin ada pihak yang mendampingi saat bepergian sendiri, jangan
menimbulkan rangsangan-rangsangan, baik itu dalam bentuk perilaku, pakaian, atau gerakan,
pada lawan jenisnya. Terhadap anak-anak harus diajarkan untuk berteriak sekeras mungkin bila
ada orang yang 'mengganggunya'.

Yang paling mungkin pada wanita dewasa perlu diingat bahwa meskipun alat 'pemerkosa' itu
disebut alat perusak, namun sekaligus alat yang paling lemah . kalau mengetahui itu alat yang
paling lemah, saat akan diperkosa, diremas saja dengan keras. Oke?

Daftar Pustaka

Kodiran. 1990. Masyarakat dan Kebudayaan Jawa. Dalam Koentjaraningrat (ed.), Manusia dan
Kebudayaan di Indonesia. Jakarta: Djambatan.

Loebis, Ali Basja. 1979. Azas-azas Ilmu Bangsa-bangsa. Jakarta: Erlangga.

Suryani W., Lidya. 1997. Perkosaan dan Perlindungan Hukum bagi Korban. Hal. 180-201. Eko
Prasetyo dan Suparman Marzuni (ed.), Perempuan dalam Wacana Perkosaan. Yogyakarta:
Perkumpulan Keluarga Berencana Indonesia Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta.

Suyanto, Bagong & Emy Susanti Hendrarso. 1996. Wanita dari Subordinasi dan Marginalisasi
Menuju ke Pemberdayaan. Surabaya: Airlangga University Press.

Warta Unair. 2(12), Mei 1996.

________________________
Susilo Mansuruddin, lecturer at the Faculty of Letters, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/disney.html

Walt Disney, Disneyland, and the Western Myth

Chantal Ahobaut

The American West has not only been a part of geography but the mind, the spirit, and the
concept of nation for generations. For years it was a place to go. Somewhere out there lay the
possibility of endless resources and the west functioned as a symbol of freedom and the
opportunity for conquest. For that reason, movement towards west has always been encouraged.
Even during the times of depression there was a constant urge to move towards west with hope
which was nourished by the mass media that west offered fertility, richness, comfort and
vastness. In the early nineteenth century Alexis de Tocqueville remarked: "This gradual and
continuous progress of the European race towards the Rocky Mountains has the solemnity of a
providential event; it is like a deluge of men rising unabatedly, and daily driven onwards by the
hand of God." Jefferson understood the impulse when he bought Louisiana and when he
dispatched Lewis and Clark on their mission. Whitman addressed west "lands of the Western
shore, to the new culminating men, to you, the empire new." Emerson recognized the importance
of the West "Luckily for us, ... the nervous, rocky West is intruding a new and continental
element into the national mind, and we shall yet have an American genious." Henry David
Thoreaue added to this saying, "Eastward I go only by force; but westward I go free."

The nation, however, had to wait Frederick Jackson Turner for a full-blown theory on the
meaning of the frontier. In 1893 in a historical convention he proclaimed the primary
significance of the American frontier, "this existence of an area of free land, its continuous
recession, and the advance of American settlement westward explain American development"
(Annals 11:463). Then he went on describing the characteristics of the frontier, that coarseness
and strength combined with acuteness and inquisitiveness, that practical, inventive turn of the
mind, quick to find expedients; that masterful grasp of material things...; that restless, nervous
energy; that dominant individualism, working for good and for evil, and with all buoyancy and
exuberance which comes from freedom-these are traits of the frontier, or traits called out
elsewhere because of the existence of the frontier" (Annals, 11:478).

No other words can better describe the frontier spirit in Walt Disney. Born into a lower middle-
class family in Chicago on December 5,1901, Walt Elias Disney went through all the difficulties
in life in order to build his Disney empire with a kind of frontier spirit. Fortunes and the
misfortunes caused Disney to move from town to town. While attending McKinley High School,
Walt enrolled at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts as a night student and had the opportunity to
work with the famous cartoonist of the day, Carey Orr.

During World War I, he volunteered for Red Cross. On his return from France, he obtained
employment as a commercial artist in Kansas City, working for a film company that made
animated commercials for showing in city cinemas. In the same company, there was another
apprentice named Ubbe Iwerks. Walt Disney respected his talent and was grateful for his help
since it was Walt who acted out the scenario and provided the rough drawing and brilliant ideas
and it was Ubbe who took them in hand and smoothly executed them. However, Walt found it
difficult to resist the temptation to play tricks and make fun of his fellow apprentice.

With ups and downs in his career, Walt Disney managed to form his production company called
Laugh-O-gram Film, Inc., and asked Ub to work with him. He made films based on well-known
fairy tales. They were Puss in Boots, Red Riding Hood, and Alice's Adventure in Wonderland. In
all of them, he used live actors and added cartoon characters drawn directly into the film. Though
the films did well, they could not save Walt from bankruptcy.

At this point of his life, Walt, left penniless, decided to go West in 1923 to start a new life. He
was aware of promising opportunities of the West. His brother, Roy, joined him in his adventure
and handled the money matters of Walt Disney from then on. Walt also wrote Ub to suggest that
he would move to Los Angeles and work with them. Ub accepted the offer and his arrival had a
revolutionary effect on the operations of Disney Productions.

Meanwhile, Alice's Series and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit won considerable fame to the company.
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Series brought also money to Walt Disney Studio which enabled both
brothers who were married by that time to erect houses for themselves and raise Ub's salary to
$120 a week and give him a block of shares in the studio. However, when time came for the
renewal fo the contract, Universal Studio claimed the copyright of the Oswald character and
Walt was to create a new character. Thus, Mickey Mouse came into life.

When Walt Disney showed his preliminary sketches, Ub's first comment was that the tiny rodent
"looks exactly like you-same nose, same face, same whiskers, same gestures, and same
expressions. All he needs now is your voice" (Mosley, 101). Walt Disney admitted that though
he swore the character was based on actual mouse that had one prowled his tiny office in Kansas
City. In any case, Mickey Mouse was accepted to be Walt Disney's alter ego by everybody
around the studio. He had the same habits, the same outlook, the same mischievous sense of fun,
and the same tendency to take foolish risks. The addition of Walt's own voice to be the cartoon
character completed the conception.

In 1931, Walt Disney suffered from a nervous breakdown, partly because of his trustworthy
friends, Ub Iwerks and Pat Powers, had betrayed him partly because he was longing for a child
of his won for nearly six years. In order to keep Walt away from the business atmosphere, he and
his wife took a long trip and upon their arrival in California, Walt Disney started a new project,
Flowers and Trees. It became the first Disney cartoon to win Walt Disney an Oscar. He was also
given a special award for his creation of Mickey Mouse.

To celebrate his wife's pregnancy he created Three Little Pigs. Suddenly radio stations began to
play "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" Since the United States was still in depression, the
Big Bad Wolf became a symbol of hard times and the survival of the little pigs, a message.
Three Little Pigs eventually became one of the most popular and profitable cartoon Disney films
of the 1930s. The two animators, Norman Fergusson and Fred Moore, who created the wolf and
the pigs became famous inside Hollywood as masters of their craftmanship. Fergusson and
Moore proved that they could do more than fill Ub's gap.

Having introduced all the technical novelties to the cartoon industry, Walt Disney was satisfied
with creating animal characters and wanted to change the formula. Thus, he produced his first
feature-length cartoon Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which became one of the most
successful films of all times. It has made a profit of 41 million dollars for the Walt Disney Studio
so far.

Soon after that, the company suffered a strike and witnessed the return of Ub Iwerks. One of the
cartoons on which Walt was working when the studio went on strike was a sentimental story
about a baby elephant named Dumbo. In 1941 Dumbo was a hit and became so popular that it
subsequently made the Disney Studio a profit over a million dollars.

Then, he produced films like Bambi, True-Life Adventure, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland,
Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone and live
action like Treasure Island, The Story of Robin Hood, The Sword and the Rose, 20,000 Leagues
under the Sea, Davy Crockett, Polyanna, Absent-Minded Professor, and Mary Poppins.

When he got bored with the cartoons and the movies, Walt had another idea: to build a fun park.
Although he had considred building an amusement park near the Burbank Studio. When it was
being constructed, the idea had first occurred to him years before. As Disney could alter recall:
"Disneyland really began when my two daughters were so young.... Saturday was always
Daddy's Day, and I would take them to the merry-go-round and sit on a bench eating peanuts
while they rode. And sitting there alone, I felt that there should be something built, some kind of
a family park where parents and children could have fun together" (Bright, 33).

When Walt Disney first mentioned to his wife his desire to build an amusement park, she was
astonished, indicating that amusement parks were always dirty and unpleasant for grown-ups.
Her husband corrected her, indicating that his would not be like that. Roy Disney share his sister-
in-law's opinion. Unlike Walt who was always original and challenging, Roy wanted Walt to
play safe. One of the former employees said, "Roy was against Disneyland, Disney World, and
against Epcot, all of them. It was Walt who finally drummed up the money for them-and he got it
from outsiders" (Mosley, 228).

With the passage of time, Disneyland became an obsession and Walt Disney swore he would
never do another thing at the studio until he had enough financing to get the project going. In an
interview that he gave to the Hollywood Citizen-News at that time he said:

The park means a lot to me. It's something that will never be finished, something I can keep developing, keep
"plussing" and "adding" to. It's alive. It will need changes. When you wrap up a picture and turn it over to
Techinicolor, you're through. Show White is a dead issue with me. It's gone. I can't touch it. There are things in it I
don't like, but I can't do anything out it. I want something alive, something that would grow. The park is that. Not
only I can add things to it, but even the trees keep growing. The thing will get more beautiful year after year. And it
will get better as I find out what the public likes. I can't do that with a picture. It's finished and unchangeable before
I find out if the public likes it or not (Mosley, 230).

As time passed, the concept of the park began take shape in Walt Disney's mind. In a memo
dated August 31, 1948, Walt presented the plans for what he tentatively named Mickey Mouse
Park:

The Main Village, which includes the Railroad Stations is built around a village green or informal park. In the park
will be benches, a bandstand, drinking fountains, trees, and shrubs. It will be a place for people to sit and rest;
mothers and grandmothers can watch over small children at play. I want it to be very relaxing, cool and inviting.

Around the park will be built the town. At one end will be the Railroad Station; at the other end the Town hall. The
hall will be built to represent a Town Hall, but actually we will use it as our administration building. It will be the
headquarters of the entire project.

Adjoining the Town Hall will be the Fire and Police Stations. The Fire Station will contain practical fire apparatus,
scaled down. The police Station will also be put to practical use. Here the visitors will report all violations, lost
articles, lost kids, etc. In it we could have a little jail where the kids could look in. We might even have some
characters in it (Thomas, 225-226).

Essentially, Walt Disney envisioned the creation of a miniature town. Elizabeth Leeron and Lynn
Gartley in their preface to Walt Disney: A Guide to References and Resources, refer to
Disneyland and Disney World as "attempts by Disney to control the environment of an audience,
not in a film theatre, but in a fantasy community" (ix).

Even at the early stage of planning, he understood that the building of his park would be
expensive. He began to raise money, by borrowing against his life insurance and later by selling
a piece of property he owned. In December 1952, as his park was becoming a more and more
tangible idea, he founded WED Enterprises, a personal corporation (named after Walt Disney's
initials) designed to handle the business of planning and building the park.

By this time, the idea of the park, renamed Disneyland, had been defined. Based on drawing and
plans, Disney's staffer, Bill Walsh, described it this way:

The idea of Disneyland is a simple one. It will be a place for people to find happiness and knowledge.

It will be a place for parents and children to share pleasant times in one another's company: a place for teachers and
pupils to discover greater ways of understanding and education. Here the older generation can recapture the
nostalgia of days gone by, and the younger generation can savor the challenge of the future. Here will be the
wonders of nature and man for all to see and understand.

Disneyland will be based upon and dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and hard facts that have created America.
And it will be uniquely equipped to dramatize these dreams and acts and send them forth as a source of courage and
inspiration to all the world. Disneyland will be something of a fair, an exhibition, a playground, a community center,
a museum of living facts, and a showplace of beauty and magic.

It will be filled with accomplishments, the joys and hopes of the world we live in. And it will remind us and show us
how to make those wonders parts of our own lives (Thomas, 257-258).

Walt Disney's obsession with Disneyland is truly a reflection of Walt Disney-the man with
unlimited imagination, effort, and novelties, the man of the West. Every detail in the park, in this
respect, is carefully planned. Walt Disney conceived Disneyland not as a fun park but as a theme
park, so as to convey and symbolize his ideas about the Western myth. It shows the creative
spirit of the people who have lived and conquered the virgin, semi-populated, and semi-tamed
land with their never-ending efforts and being a Westerner, Walt Disney designed the park
accordingly.

Disneyland was opened on July 17, 1955 and the final cost was 17 million dollars. Despite
unfavorable reviews and various misfortunes on the opening day, a million visitors visited
Disneyland within he first seven weeks. The success of Disneyland had an important impact on
Walt Disney's career and its popularity has continued to grow.

Disneyland has four main divisions: Fantasyland, Adventureland, Frontierland, and

Tomorrowland. What is significant about the park is the locations of these different divisions:
Frontierland is situated on the western part of the park and states the geographical situation and
the difficulties migrants had encountered during the westward expansion. This idea and the spirit
of the west is also given to the visitors by the train ride which encircles Disneyland and reflects
the long-dreamed joy of Walt Disney. Another way to make the visitors feel the atmosphere of
Frontierland is through different settings which revive the different aspect of that time. Some of
the attractions are Big Thunder Ranch, Mark Twain Steamboat, Sailing Ship Columbia, Rafts to
Tom Sawyer Island.

As opposed to the Frontierland, Tomorrowland with its various and exciting attractions, is
situated on the eastern side of the theme park. Tomorrowland is the place where Walt Disney
tried to force the boundaries of his imagination to fulfill both his dream and expectations of the
visitors. Young or adult, all the visitors take pleasure in experiencing the various challenges
offered by Tomorrowland. It is also a place where people try to orient themselves to the
opportunities and dangers of he coming age. Space Mountain, Star Tours, Starcade, and People
Mover are some of the attractions of the division which is also a display of the latest technology.

Disneyland, is not only significant from a historical perspective but also important from literary
point of view in which all the different divisions can be interpreted as subtexts. As Bill Walsh,
Disney's staffer had mentioned in his description of Disneyland, it is "a place for teachers and
pupils to discover greater ways of understanding and education." When Walt Disney set forth to
build a park, he insisted on the idea that this should be a theme park, not a fun park solely.
Though Disneyland is perceived as an entertainment place, and on the surface it is, it is, on the
other hand, a spot for people to be educated. At this point it is wise to draw attention to the
different meanings of "education" defined in Webster's International Dictionary. One of the
meanings of the verb "to educate" is to "make willing to accept (as by providing with knowledge,
information, or experience)." Thus, different divisions of the park stand for different literary
genres and try to instruct the visitors while having fun.

In this respect, Fantasyland exposes the elements of fantasy as a literary genre which disregards
the principle that literature should present not the possible but the probable. Fantasy includes the
things hat are impossible under ordinary conditions or in the normal course of human events. As
this genre defined by Joseph Shipley in Dictionary of World Literary Terms, "only purely
imaginary phenomena, accepted as such by the author and his intelligent readers, constitute the
characteristic matter of fantasy" (117). In that respect, Submarine Voyage which was inspired by
the film 20,000 Leagues under the Sea gives the visitors the opportunity to board the submarine,
Nautilus, and explore the lost undersea worlds. Storybook Land Canal Boats take the quests to
different types of fairy tale atmosphere created by famous children story book writer, Anderson,
whereas a different section, Alice in the Wonderland, reflects the adventures of here of
sophisticated children's book, Alice's Adventure in the Wonderland where below a surface of
attractive adventure lay rich patterns of parody, irony, sentimentalism, and analytic criticism.
Thus, they children visiting Fantasyland are invited both to the realms of joy and literacy.

Frntierland is the Disneyland version of the westerns and Tomorrowland is the science-fiction. In
Frontierland, the atmosphere of the westerns is revived though different settings like Big
Thunder Ranch. The visitors experience and feel the code of honor and justice and the image of a
hero as portrayed in typical westerns. I is a mythical place where a person, or society can
regenerate and begin again. There, the West is shown as a place to prove manhood as Virginian
did in Owen Wister's Virginian. In Frontierland, The Western myth which might as well be the
combination of emotional, romantic and idealistic truth, comes to life.

On the other hand, the visitors are invited to the world of science-fiction as soon as they enter
Tomorrowland. Tomorrowland is the exhibition of the kind of prose fiction that explores "the
probable consequences of some improbable or impossible transformation of the basic conditions
of human existence." This transformation is brought about by technology in Tomorrowland
where time travel is the mostly exploited theme. For example, Star Tours give the opportunity to
the visitors to experience the ultimate thrill while being seated in a space ship designed for that
purpose. As defined by Chris Baldrick in The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms,
"Science fiction is a form of literary fantasy or romance that often draws upon earlier kinds of
utopian and apocalyptic writing" (xxx). In fact, Tomorrowland combines those two elements,
fantasy and romance within its borders. The author of 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, Jules
Verne, who is considered to be the fore-runner of sciene-fiction, gave inspirations to the
Submarine Voyage in Tomorrowland. Another meaningful connection between science-fiction
and fantasy is obtained through the attraction Skyway to Fantasyland. Though it is in the era
allotted to Tomorrowland, it offers the visitors to enjoy a bird's eye view on a one-way trip to
Fantasyland. Similarly, Skyway to Tomorrowland originating in Fantasyland is again a one-way
journey to Tomorrowland. Thus, the strong existence of fantasy in science-fiction is emphasized
through different attractions.

To conclude, Walt Disney, who created a legendary business out of his imagination, can be
studied as an entrepreneur, as Wester figure, and as an industrialist. He combines these different
characteristics in Disneyland which originated in Anaheim, has expanded to Florida, Europe,
Japan, and imitations throughout the world. His original concept of Disneyland derived from
specific aspects of the Western culture: the idea of expansion, idealism, and optimistic belief in
technology. A product of popular culture, representative of American life and consciousness,
Disneyland can also be interpreted as a macronarrative where different sub-texts follow a certain
time pattern guiding the participants from past to future. Thus, Disneyland, being on the one
hand a by-product of the popular culture, on the other hand reflects the spirit of the western
culture in its multi-dimensional functions.

Bibliography

The Annals of America. Vol. 12. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 1976.

Baldrick, Chris. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1990.

Bright, Randy. Disneyland: The Inside Story. New York: N. Abrams, 1987.

Jackson, Kathy Merlock. Walt Disney: A Bio-Bibliography. Connecticut: Greenwood Press.

Leebron, Elizabeth and Lyn Gartley. Walt Disney: A Guide to References and Resources.
Boston: G.K. Hall & Co., 1979.

Mosley, Leonard. Disney's World. New York: Stein and Day, 1985.

Shipley, Joseph, ed. Dictionary of World Literary Terms. Boston: The Writer, Inc., 1970.

Sinyard, Neil. The Best of Disney. New York: Portland House, 1988.

Thomas, Bob. Disney's Art of Animation. New York: Hyperion, 1991.

______. Walt Disney: An American Original. New York: Pocket Books, 1976.

_________________
Chantal Ahobaut is the chairperson of American Studies Department, National University of
Cote D'Ivoire.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/frederick.html

Frederick Douglass' Search for Identity

S.Ita Farida

Introduction

There are good reasons for choosing Douglass' search for identity as the subject matter to be
discussed in this essay. A principle reason is that in the course of Douglass' search for identity
readers can find one of the central themes of White American ideology, that is the self-made
man's rise to fame and fortune (Elliott, 359-360). What is more interesting is that the person who
reiterates the theme is an ex-slave who is once considered as a piece of property, a chattel
personal by his masters.

Frederick Douglass was born a slave in Maryland. He taught himself to read and write, escaped
to Massachusetts by disguising himself as a sailor, and become one of the most effective orator
of his day, an influential newspaper editor, an abolitionist, a reformer, and a respected diplomat.
What he finally achieved in his life did not automatically fall from the sky. Instead, it was a
series of hard work which was finally rewarded by "success." He started from the lowest level of
a human existence and ended up as a respected diplomat. Therefore, his achievement seems to
confirm what has been believed by many Americans to fabulous wealth and fame through his
own effort.

In this essay, Douglass's struggle from bondage to freedom and fame will be analyzed to show
that his achievement is indeed a result of years of hard work. Furthermore, to support some ideas
being discussed, some important figures in American history will be included in the analysis.
Since there are differences in the life and treatment of slave on the plantation and in the city,
Douglass' experience as plantation slave, urban slave, and free man will be discussed separately.

Frederick Douglass as Plantation Slave

The plantation environment forced the two races-Black and White-to live in close proximity.
This kind of circumstance could rise every sort of human relationship. Had their relationship
been based on mutual need and understanding life on the plantation might have been more
agreeable for both of them, but history had proved differently. The whites, who were the owners
of the plantations, masters or overseers, felt themselves superior to the blacks, who were merely
considered as plantation chattels; therefore, they treated them very brutally, inhumanly. As a
child Douglass have witnessed his master's cruelty in punishing his aunt Hester. He wrote, "...he
used to tie up to a joist, and whip her naked back till she was literally covered with blood.... The
louder she screamed, the louder he whipped; and where the blood ran fastest, there he whipped
the longest" (Quarles,28).

"As slaves, Blacks were systematically deprived of all citizenship rights and priviliges and
subjected not merely to prejudice and ethnic discrimination but an attrocious racism that declared
them virtually subhuman" (Thomson, 3). Early in his childhood young Douglass had sensed this
injustice. Whenever he wanted to know about his identity-his date of birth, his parentage, etc.-he
would never get satisfactory answers. He never knew for sure who his father was; some said that
his master (Captain Anthony) was his father, but he never knew about the correctness of that
opinion. "A want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even
during childhood" (Quarles, 23).

The Blacks were considered as property. When Douglass was about ten or eleven years old, his
old master, Captain Anthony, died, leaving only his son Andrew and daughter Lucretia to share
his estate. Douglass, who served in town at that time, was immediately sent for, to be valued
with the other property. "We were all ranked together at the valuation. Men and women, old and
young, married and single, were ranked with horses, sheep, and swine ... all holding the same
rank in the scale of being, and were all subjected to the same narrow examination" (Quarles, 74).

The teenage Douglass, who had gained a prospect on life in the city that changed him and made
him forever 'unfit' to be a slave, became a refractory field hand. Therefore, his new master,
Thomas, deemed the services of a "nigger breaker" essential. Thus, Douglass was hired out to
Mr. Covey, a stern trainer of young slaves. The cruel treatment of Mr. Covey made him
contemplate again and again about his fate. As a man, he did not want to be treated as a brute. He
wrote, "O, why was I born a man, of whom to make a brute! Why am I a slave? O God, save me!
Let me be free!" (Quarles, 96). Eventually, he couldn't stand his condition anymore. At one
occasion he knocked Mr. Covey down. This fight was a proof of his revolt against the unjust
treatment he had experienced. He wanted to be a man and he didn't want to be treated as an
animal.

His triumph over Mr. Covey became the turning point in his career as a slave. It revived his
sense of manhood. It recalled the departed self-confidence and inspired him again with a
determination to be free. This even brought Douglass to the resolution which he recorded as
follows: "I now resolved that, however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed
forever when I could be slave in fact" (Quarles, 105). Physical liberty and spiritual dignity
became his goals. In the year 1835 he made a dangerous and unsuccessful attempt to escape
bondage. As a consequence he was returned to the service of Hugh Auld in Baltimore.

Frederick Douglass as Urban Slave

Slavery was a cruel institution whether on the plantation or in town or city, whether for the field
hand or for he skilled black artisan. Even so, there were noteworthy variations in the life and
treatment of the slave from plantation and also some striking differences in the lot of farm and
city slaves (McPherson, 56). In the narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass, an American
Slave it can be seen clearly that slavery underwent significant alterations when it moved to the
city.

Frederick Douglass was only seven when he was sent to Baltimore for the first time to serve Mr.
Hugh Auld. He had for a long time the strongest desire to see Baltimore; therefore, he left the
plantation without regret, and with the highest hope of future happiness. He believed that God
had chosen him to serve in town from among the other slaves. His removal to the city not only
enabled him to escape brutalizing field labor that would have been his fate if he had remained on
the Lloyd plantation but also provided him with a vision of human possibilities and opportunities
for improvement that would not have come his way in the plantation. His life in Baltimore laid
the foundation, and opened the gateway, to all his subsequent prosperity.

Despite legal restrictions, black slaves were receiving education in various part of the South.
Some masters themselves taught their slaves. This was what happened to Douglass. Mrs. Sophia
Auld, his new mistress, taught the young Douglass the basic knowledge of literacy and thus
became the agent of his discovery of what he called 'the pathway from slavery to freedom.' Mr.
Auld, upon learning what was going on, forbade his wife at once to instruct him further. He
scolded his wife severely by saying: "Learning would spoil the best nigger in the world. Now ...
if you teach that nigger ... how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit
him to be a slave" (Quarles, 58).

Nevertheless, Douglass was well on his way to becoming the literate slave, whose vast readings
convinced him that liberty was the natural condition of human being. He also realized that
education was the only way to improve the status of his race. White people considered that
Negroes could not absorb educative experiences because they were not fully human. That was
why Douglass wanted to prove that Negroes were also human, that they could also learn as well
as the Whites, that "the slave's literacy testified to his humanity" (Elliot, 359). Since there were
no schools or teachers for negro children in Baltimore, Douglass had to find a way to educate
himself. He often tricked white boys or girls by giving them some cookies in exchange for some
lessons. Besides, when his masters were away he would take his master's son's book and imitated
what he learned at school. Whenever he had time he would read whatever book he could get hold
of. In this way he learned how to read and write.

During his residence in town Douglass observed a marked difference, in the treatment of slaves,
from what he had witnessed in the country. A city slave was almost a freeman, compared with a
slave on the plantation who was treated like a brute. He was much better fed and clothed, and
enjoyed priviliges altogether unknown to the slave on the plantation. In short, it could be said
that a city slave was treated as a human being. A city slaveholder was anxious to give his slaves
enough to eat and moreover he was afraid of having the reputation of being a cruel master.

"An important feature of urban slavery was the leasing of slaves, which released them from the
immediate control of their owners and enabled them to save part of the wages they earned toward
purchase of their own freedom" (McPherson, 57). Even though being treated as a human being, a
city slave was still far from being a free man. He was still a slave who had no rights and
therefore was subjected to a good deal of injustice treatments. A city slave was exploited by his
master in different ways.

After an absence of three years and one month, he was once more permitted to return to his old
home in Baltimore. He was once again an urban slave. His master, Hugh Auld, in his attempt to
make Douglass a more valuable property, oversaw the young slave's instruction; therefore, he
hired him to Mr. William garner, an extensive ship-builder. There he was forced to fight to
defend his self-esteem. As a human being he didn't want to be treated tyrannically, that was why
he fought the white men. Even though it was not his fault there was nothing he could do to
defend himself because no white man would volunteer his testimony on his behalf, and against
white man. Here it could be seen how injustice was the law at that time. A negro had no voice in
the law court; he could not testimony. "If I had been killed in the presence of a thousand colored
people, their testimony combined would have been insufficient to have arrested one of the
murderers" (Quarles, 131).

Slaves were without rights, Slaveholders would rob them of all they got, as soon as they got it.
As a coulker, Douglass earned a lot of money, about 6-9 dollars a week. He was a good coulker;
therefore, he was paid as high as the most experienced one. But, as a slave, he didn't have the
right to possess the money he got out of his own hands. He had to give all his earnings to his
master. "I was now getting, as I have said, one dollar and fifty cents per day. I contracted for it; I
earned it; it was paid to me; it was rightfully my own; yet, upon each returning Saturday night, I
was compelled to deliver every cent of that money to master Hugg (Quarles, 133).

It was true that Douglass' ability to read and write had made him unfit to be a slave. He was
getting more and more restless. He always though of the injustice of his enslavement. He could
see no reason why he should give all the money he earned to his master. Sometimes Mr. Hugh
would give him some money to encourage him, but the effect was the opposite. Finally, he
determined to hire his time, during which he worked hard in order to be able to save some money
to buy his freedom.

Frederick Douglass as Free Man

Disguised as a free black seaman, he caught a train from Baltimore to Philadelphia and then
continued his journey to New York. On the third day of September 1838 he gained his liberty.
On his arrival in New York he felt very excited, he felt "like one who had escaped a den of
hungry lions." This state of mind, however, very soon subsided; and he was seized with a feeling
of insecurity and loneliness. He had no home, no friend, and no money. Fortunately this
distressing situation didn't last long; Mr. David Runggles helped him out of that situation. Not
long after that he married his fiancee, Anna Murray, a free woman of Baltimore. They moved to
New Badford, Massachusetts, immediately after their wedding and quickly became respected
members of black community. One important thing which should be noticed after his freedom
was that he immediately changed his name from Frederick bailey to Frederick Johnson. He
seemed to do that not simply to avoid nay suspicion that he was a runaway slave but also to show
his new acquired freedom. He was free to change his name as he liked because he was master of
himself. But when he reach New Bedford he felt the necessity to change his name again into
Frederick Douglass. What was interesting here was the fact that he wanted to keep using the
name "Frederick" in order "to preserve a sense of my identity" (Quarles, 148).

It seemed that his willingness to preserve the name "Frederick" which was given by his mother
indicated that Douglass did not want to completely change his identity and became a "new
person." He realized that he was once a slave and he did not deny that. He wanted to be accepted
as he was, but it seemed that his expectation was still far from being the reality. A negro was a
negro. Society could not accept him as a full human being yet. That was why he still had to
struggle for equality.

Having escaped slavery, Douglass devoted a long and productive life to the service of human
liberty. He was attending black abolitionist meeting in new Bedford and soon he became a
famous anti-slavery orator. Being public speaker was really something for Douglass because his
ability to express his thought publicly meant freedom for him. He was free to say whatever he
wanted to say. In the summer of 1841, he delivered a stirring address to a white abolitionist
convention at Nantucket. Unfortunately, speaking to white people distressed him; he could not
help feeling himself a slave. Of course his feeling of inferiority was understandable. It was a
result of years of enslavement and he needed time to get rid of that feeling. Moreover, he learned
the truth that even the best-disposed white man regarded the black as a cause than as a man. He
wrote, "was generally introduced as a 'chattel'-'thing'-a piece of southern property-the chairman
assuring the audience that it could speak" (Killian, 28).

In fact being abolitionist orator Douglass did not have freedom to speak what he wanted to-his
own piece-instead, his abolitionist friends insisted him to give them the facts. Douglass could not
pay attention to their command for long; he became increasingly independent. When he
eventually became his own man, with his own philosophy of abolitionist, which conflicted with
his friends, it led to a separation with his first friends in the North, Garrison. Douglass was not
satisfied with what the white abolitionist had done because it still reflected their tendency to
regard the slave as a cause. He wrote "I felt that the work of the society was not done and that it
had not fulfilled its mission which was not merely to emancipate, but to elevate the enslaved
class" (Killian, 29). Douglass wanted to make the blacks equal members of American society. He
insisted that freedom for blacks required not only emancipation but full equality, social and
economic as well as political (Garraty, 225). But he constantly tested the limits of the freedom
and dignity that white Americans allowed black. Since he was never willing to accept anything
but full human dignity, his life was filled with a series of high hopes and bitter disappointments.

Douglass seemed o consider that all human beings were equal, regardless of race and color. He
proved this by marrying a white woman for his second wife, despite his family's and friend's
disagreement. It clearly showed his strong will and his freedom. He as free to do what he would
like to do. Nobody dictated him what he should or should not do. If he could only marry a black
woman it meant that he was not free, because freedom meant open to alternatives.

Conclusion

Slavery was indeed a cruel institution whether on the plantation or in town or city, whether for
the field hand or for the skilled black artisan. Its injustice needed no proof. Less obvious was the
fact that slavery had a corrosive effect on the personalities of the blacks, slave and free alike. The
system bore heavily on all slaves' sense of their own worth. Some found the condition absolutely
unbearable and attempted to release themselves from slavery. But most of them seemed to accept
their fate; they attempted to resist oppression and injustice while adjusting to the system
(McPherson, 56).

Frederick Douglass, who was born a slave, was one of the representatives of those who rebelled
against the injustice inflicted on his race by the white people. As a self-educated person he
realized that slavery had dehumanized the blacks. That was why he made great efforts to
improve the conditions of his race, One of his efforts was to educate the slaves because their
literacy would testify to their humanity. He himself learned the alphabet not merely in response
to the abolitionists' propaganda needs but also out of his own desire to establish the origins of the
only identity he had in front of his white audience-that which his literacy gave him (Elliot, 359).

All human beings were essentially equal. Either black or white had the same brain structure and
there was no real scientific proof which declared that the brain of the white was better that that of
the black. No single race in the world was considered higher than the others. What was different
was simply physical. Therefore, if the blacks were equipped with good education they would be
as smart as the whites. Besides, individual effort also determined one's success. Frederick
Douglass and Booker T. Washington were examples of the blacks who finally achieved names in
history through their own effort.

In a way Douglass' experience was similar to Franklin's. Both started very low and ended up with
a name in history. Franklin had proved that being the fifteenth child of a poor candlemaker was
no obstacle to becoming a wealthy publisher, writer, inventor and respected diplomat through his
habit of self-discipline and industry (Marsden, 41). Washington seemed to adopt the same
ideology. Since most blacks could neither escape not conquer white society, he insisted on self-
help as one of the alternative routes to improvement. Washington himself was the son of a slave
woman and a white man who he never knew. He worked his way through school and in 1881
founded Tuskgee Institute, a vocational school for blacks (Norton, 589). He did so in his attempt
to improve the condition of his race.

Indeed, negroes could be certain of an improved status only in the field education. That was why
the pursuit of education came to be one of the great preoccupations of negroes. Besides, many
viewed enlightenment as the greatest single opportunity to escape "the increasing prescription
and indignities that whites were heaping upon black" (Franklin, 268). Both Douglass and
Washington realized this; therefore, they worked hard to educate themselves in order to achieve
success-to be somebody-and finally to become pathfinder for their race.

Bibliography

Bailyn, Bernard. 1985. The Great Republic: A History of the American People Vol. 1. Toronto:
D.C. Heats and Co.

Baym, Nina and Gottesman, Ronald. 1989. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 3rd
ed. New York: Norton & Co.
Elkins, Stanly M. 1976. Slavery. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Elliott, Emory. (Ed.). 1988. Colombia Literary History of the U.S. New York: Colombia
University Press.

Franklin, John Hope. 1980. From Slavery to Freedom: A History of Negro Americans. New
York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

Garraty, John A. 1979. A Short History of the American Nation. New York: Harper & Row
Publishers, Inc.

Killian, Lewis M. 1975. The Impossible Revolution. Washington: University Press of American,
Inc.

McPherson, James M. 1971. Blacks in America. USA: Doubleday & Company, Inc.

Marsden, Madonna. 1978. The American Myth of Success: Visions and Revisions. In The
Popular Culture Reader. Ohio: Bowling Green University Press.

Norton and Katzman. 1982. A People and a Nation. Boston: Houghton and Mifflin Co.

Quarles, Benjamin. (Ed.). 1960. Narrative of the Life of F.D.: An American Slave.
Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Stratton, Madeline Robinson. 1965. Negroes Who Helped Build America. Massachusetts: Ginn
and Company.

Thompson, Daniel C. 1974. Sociology of the Black Experience. London: Greenwood Press.

Weld, Theodore. 1979. Slavery as It Is. In Annals of America, 4. USA: Encyclopedia Britannica,
Inc.

____________
S. Ita Farida is a lecturer of Faculty of Letters, Airlangga University in Surabaya, Indonesia.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/british.html

Introducing British Images through Popular Music

Diah Kristina

Introduction

The first day I entered my class of British Studies I learned that Britain to my students, who are
at their early twenties and in the fifth semester, is identical with Princess Diana and Mr. Bean.

The illustration above inspired me to find a way to, first, locate Britain in the mind of my
students before providing the list of topics for discussion. It is believed to be necessary because
by having the object as close as possible to our imagination any discussion about the object
would be more concrete.

Different ways might be used for this purpose. However, finding the closest way to the nature of
the target audience will probably be most beneficial. Since participants of the course as stated
above are young people at their early twenties I have the assumption that popular music is
generally familiar to them. In addition. this paper is believed to be relevant to the effort of
rebranding Britain for more convenient perceptions and image. It will therefore try to explore
how popular music is used as a means of introducing British image and see its effectiveness.

The Britishness of Britain

Britain under Tony Blair is a nation that tries hard to create her new image in the fast changing
world, a grandma who wants to reincarnate as a young, fresh, beautiful girl. The English rhetoric
of national pride Rule Britannia and Britons Rule the Waves were too ancient to identify Britain
with. Besides, it is no longer relevant. Only the long history of freedom and democracy inherited
from the Anglo Saxons most probably remains impressive to Indonesian students in line with the
spirit of reformation nowadays. Cool Britannia is the new slogan attached to modern Britain,
hopefully the best place to live, the best place to bring up children, the best place to lead a
fulfilled life and the best place to grow old (Newsweek:1998).

In terms of technology, Britain, the trend-setter for technological innovation since the Industrial
Revolution is acknowledged by the students only after the teacher explains elaboratively the
historical background of Britain. The reality seems to suggest that they are more familiar with
Mitsubishi, Suzuki or Daihatsu than with any products of Britain. In fact, many British
companies have found the British image so damaging that they have dropped the British from
their names. The largest British consumer electronics retail chain, Dixons, even calls its own
brand Matsui to make it sound Japanese (Time:1998).

Economically, the role Britain plays needs to made more active, especially during the crisis
which is taking place right now. Otherwise, our students will only recognize Britain as an
expansionist that received good profit from the occupied countries in the past.

In the field of sport, Indonesians idolized David Beckham and his team during the World Cup.
However, something that is attached closely to the mind of the students is the Hooligans who
bring terror and are frightening. Mc Kibin argued that the culture of football was still aligned to
the ruling civic culture in which public violence was strongly deprecated (ibid:29) and it will
certainly contradict with the myth of order of the upper English. The international and highly
reputated tennis championship in the Wimbledon stadium and the Thomas Cup are expected to
balance the previous image though.

Politically, the popularity of Britain is getting down. People will generally see the much greater
roles played by the United States, Japan and Australia.

In the university where I teach the only access to Britain is provided by a course on Cultural
Background to British Communities that we try to redefine and reconstruct to be as close as
possible to British Studies and it weighs 2 credits. The limited number of resources in terms of
books and audio-visual aids has made the teacher to be creative. Her literature background has
taken some time to adjust after some trial and error in the syllabus construction. Only after
attending the first seminar on Teaching British Studies in Indonesia in Bandungan, Semarang
(1995) that the teacher gained a solid ground to establish the course in the department, through
reconstruction of the history by focusing on Contemporary Britain, employing various methods
of identity formation and cultural analysis, providing themes/topics, applying various modes of
communication in the form of texts, films and songs (adapted from Kramer:1995). A certain
degree of confidence is gained after knowing that the goal of British Studies is:

To develop a sense of richness and diversity of British culture through an examination of some of the keys texts-
written, spoken, musical, visual-that reflect and produce the social, economic and political realities of contemporary
Britain, but with due recognition of the significance of history (Bassnett & Mountford, 1994:64).

Popular Music: A Means of Understanding and Enjoyment

Historically, the emergence of popular culture was triggered by a great leap in population growth
in Europe and the United States and the subsequent concentration of people into cohesive urban
or near urban units with common social, economic and cultural characteristics. Since then what
is called the entertainment industry came into being and that was sometime in 1750 when
marketable cultural goods began to be manufactured in great quantity to meet the need of the
mass community and for the profit of the producers (Nye in Hammel, 1977:8).

Popular art confirms the experience of the majority, in contrast to elite art, which tends to
explore the new. For this reason, popular art has been an unusually sensitive and accurate
reflector of the attitudes and concerns of the society for which it is produced.

The popular audience expects entertainment, instruction or both rather than an aesthetic
experience. The relation of the popular artist to his audience is unique. Consequently, a popular
artist cannot disturb or offend any significant part of his public, though the elite artist may and
should be a critic of his society, a popular artist cannot risk alienation.

Popular music, one form of popular culture is a product of modern technology and its new
techniques for duplicating and multiplying materials. The twentieth century, however, has
opened other channels of cultural communication to even larger audiences by introducing
revolutionary methods of reproducing and transmitting sound and image, namely the
phonograph, film, radio, television and internet.

Instead of providing a chronological study of musical development in modern Britain I propose a

comparative study between two leading musical groups, each of which has played a significant
role as the representative of the musical movement in each of its age, though an address to other
musical groups with their musical products will be unavoidable.
The Beatles, a popular music group established in the 60s is recognized as the Swinging Britain
who revolutionized many facets of young people's lives, namely their musical taste, fashion,
lifestyle and even their beliefs. Indonesians will normally identify those love poets, an image
drawn at their early musical carrier, as nice and dandy performers with a particular hairstyle
copied all over the world who devote a fun loving type of life with lively, romantic and easy
listening type of music.

It's been a hard days night

And I've been working like a dog
It's been a hard days night
I should be sleeping like a log
(#Hard Days Night - The Beatles)

The lyrics suggest an image of young British people as hard workers, though like a dog is a bit
disturbing because this animal portrays a lazy type of pet and to Indonesian setting a water
buffalo or a horse would be more appropriate. The habit of working hard itself will be interesting
if it is presented to the students as a concept inspired by the puritan ethics where working hard is
highly appreciated in British culture. In addition, another part of the song suggests similar
situation to Indonesian context, especially with the lower class and less educated people who
strictly follow after patriarchal social system where males are expected to function as bread
winners and females as financial organizers (or unfortunately money-spenders).

You know I work all day

To get you money to buy you things
And it's worth to just hear you say
You're gonna give me everything

The music reflects a lively, energetic and optimistic nature of the young people, a temporary nice
escape from the chaotic situation outside the campus. The romantic image that the Beatles
brought has been strongly accomplished by Koes Plus, an Indonesian popular music group of the
60s (#Pagi yang Indah Sekali - Koes Plus).

In his work, a musician extrapolates the spirit of his age and community. Being sensitive to the
concerns of the community and an accurate reflector of the people's attitude, a product of musical
work can be used as a factual record of the actual issues.
John Lennon who is reaching maturity after two decades of his career has brought a global cry of
longing for peace into attention in his Imagine, a reaction against America's involvement in
Vietnam war. This is certainly a wise advice going directly to the heart without losing one's face.

Nothing to kill all guys for

And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Livin' life in peace, yoo hoo...
You may say I am a dreamer
But I am not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world would be as one
(#Imagine - John Lennon)

A completely different contextual setting of the 90's has triggered the establishment of Spice
Girls, a female pop music group from Britain. Virgin Records argues that, "No pop group has
had such a major impact globally since the Beatles" (Time:1997). This group has been
recognized as having female aggresiveness, eroticism, positive messages with a famous slogan:
girl power who idolizes Margaret Thatcher. They mix rap (a typical music associated with
youngsters) soul and attitude in Wannabe, the first single released in Japan (#Wannabe - Spice
Girls).

A group with a certain attitude is the image close to Spice Girls, an attitude showing
commitment to the young generation as a highly motivated generation who are supposed to avoid
the NATO (No Action Talk Only).

Let me tell you 'bout a thing, gotta put it to the test

It's a celebration, motivation generation next
Well sow me the seed, every colour every creed
Teach never preach, listen up and take heed
#(More Over - Spice Girls)

Spice Girls might have come at the right time to respond to the forecast that the 90s is the
beginning of female leadership era when many women are having crucial positions in public
lives. The information era that we have now is perceived as an era where knowledge and
information industries play signification roles (Newsweek:1998). Those spirits are best
represented in Spice's songs, either the lyrics that describe a life full of optimism, high spirit and
lively-identical to the spirit of the young, and the melody that is full of gayness and enthusiasm
in the form of rap, house music or soul with a touch of classic (#Viva Forever-Spice Girls).

In Indonesian context, AB Three might have a similarity in terms of gayness, popularity and
achievements in their musical career. The native culture however does not lead them to the
image of being aggressive or playing the role of girl power symbol (#Lagi-AB Three).

Conclusion

British Studies will certainly get enthusiastic response from the students if it is not only
theoretically demanding but also entertaining. The geographical distance can be made shorter
indeed by the availability of sufficient resources with the back up of professional human
resources. It is high time therefore to take an action in terms of providence of the teaching aids
(aural and audio visual) and the training for the teachers in genuine British setting. The learning
and teaching process will certainly take place not only in the class but also in the SAC (Self
Access Centre) located at the Language Centre, a dual process of understanding and enjoyment.

Bibliography

Bassenett, Susan. 1994. Teaching British Cultural Studies. Journal for the Study of British
Cultures, 1(1) : 63--74.

Kawanku. 1998, 26 July. 28 (3).

Kawanku 1998, 26 August. 28 (6).

Kramer, Jurgen. 1995. British/Cultural Studies: Ideas for a University Syllabus. Leipzig:
University of Leipzig.

Mooney, H.F. 1977. Popular Music since the 1920s: The Significance of the Shifting Taste in
Popular Arts in America. (William Hammel, ed.). New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc.

Newsweek., 1998, May 18.

Newsweek. 1998, July 6.

Nye, Russel. 1977. The Popular Arts and the Popular Audience in Popular Arts in America.
(William Hammel, ed.). New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc.

Time. 1997, February 3.

Time 1998. July 6.

__________________
Dra. Diah Kristina is a lecturer at Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/bindonesia.html

The Study of Bahasa Indonesia in Western Australia

Natasha Kepert

I apologise for the informal and "un-scholarly" style of this essay. I was invited to write an
article for this journal by Raras Kusuma, who teaches at the University and who has been my
"email-pal" for several months. I hope this topic may be of interest to language teachers in
Indonesia.

The study of Bahasa Indonesia is becoming more and more popular in Western Australian
schools. There are a few factors contributing to this. Firstly, the Education Department of
Western Australia (EDWA) is currently implementing a policy, "LOTE 2000", which aims to
greatly increase the number of school students studying a foreign language. There are 12
languages which EDWA is promoting, but it is up to individual schools to decide which foreign
language or languages they will offer. Bahasa Indonesia has proved a popular choice for many
reasons. It is perceived as being a language which is "easy to learn", as it uses the Roman script,
and is written phonetically. (I think it's quite easy in the early stages but a lot harder later on!)
Apart from that, Australians are beginning to perceive the necessity of stronger ties with
Indonesia. We are a nation of only 18 million people - Indonesia has over 200 million. In the last
few months the number of articles about Indonesia in the Australian media has greatly increased.
The events in East Timor and the monetary crisis are strong reasons for this, but there is now so
much coverage that many newspapers have moved Indonesian news out of the tiny space it used
to occupy on the "world news" pages, and are now giving whole pages over to events and
politics in Indonesia. There are increasing business links between the two countries, and each
year many thousands of Indonesian students come to study in Australia, particularly in Western
Australia.

Indonesian is the fastest growing language in our schools, in terms of the number of students
studying it. In 1994, less than 50 schools offered Indonesian as a subject choice. Only three years
later, in 1997, the number of schools offering Indonesian had almost tripled. Last year,
Indonesian was studied by 30,351 WA school students (in Government schools). It is now
second only to Italian, which had 33,741 students last year (remember that Australia has many
people of Italian descent living here). Indonesian now has more students than Japanese or
French, the next two most popular languages.

The Education Department is pushing for big cultural changes with its LOTE 2000 strategy. Traditionally, few
students have chosen to study languages at school. Partly this has been because many schools have not offered
languages as a school subject, and partly it is because languages are often seen as being of less use, and less practical
than subjects such as maths and science. In addition, those students who have chosen to study languages have often
been at quite a disadvantage in their final Year 12 exams. In some languages, there are situations where native
speakers compete for marks with students who are learning the language as a second language. (This was the case
for me in high school when I was studying German). This can be very discouraging for students who want to learn a
second language, but who need high exam marks for university entrance. I was a good student in most other
subjects, but how could I compete with students who already spoke the language fluently? (In German, as many as
30% of high school students taking TEE exams are defined as "background speakers". Especially when total
numbers of students doing languages are very small - there were only 7 students in my year doing TEE German at
my high school - non-background speakers are at a major disadvantage, marks-wise. Like many other students faced
with the reality of needing good exam marks, I dropped out of German. EDWA is seeking solutions to this particular
problem - I will discuss this in more detail later in the essay.
The LOTE 2000 Strategy aims to dramatically increase the number of students studying
languages. The original aim of the policy was to have all students in Government schools in WA,
in grades 3-10 (or ages roughly 7-15) studying LOTE, or a Language Other Than English, by the
Year 2000. Other educational policies have since taken precedence, and the full implementation
has been postponed until the year 2003. However, this year (2000) is the first year ever, in which
all primary school children in grades 3-7 will have the opportunity to study a second language. In
the new "Curriculum Framework" plan for West Australian schools - which applies to both
government and private schools - all students must take subjects in 8 distinct learning areas. One
of these areas is LOTE. The deadline for full implementation of the Curriculum Framework is
2005, so theoretically by the year 2005 all West Australian students in grades 3 - 10 will be
studying a second language.

There have been a few problems with implementing the policy. One is the shortage of qualified
language teachers - language teachers are now the most in-demand teachers of all teaching
graduates. Fortunately for me and my fellow students, some schools are now offering very
generous packages to attract Indonesian teachers. I know one teacher at a private school who
does a 2 week language refresher course every year in Bali, at the school's expense. Others are
able to travel to Indonesia accompanying school trips, thus being paid while they travel. Friends
of mine who are beginning teaching this year are starting at very desirable schools (private city
schools and government schools in cities and large towns, while other teaching graduates often
end up in small and isolated country towns.) It will be interesting to see how the politics of
teaching change over time. At the moment, there is an ideal situation for a beginning teacher.
There are so many jobs that other Indonesian teachers are extremely generous with resources and
ideas, and as a student teacher I have been welcomed into informal networks of Indonesian
teachers. It would be lovely if this situation continues when the employment situation becomes
more competitive!

EDWA is certainly putting money behind the LOTE 2000 policy - in the first 5 years of the
project (1995 to 1997), it put in $14 million AUD, or around $56 for every government school
student in Western Australia. There are grants available for LOTE teachers to buy resources,
especially computer software. EDWA is running training courses so that already qualified
teachers can gain qualifications in Indonesian through taking courses on weekends and in school
holidays. There is great demand for teachers with any Indonesian language competency; many
Indonesian teachers did not study Indonesian at university level. I myself was accepted into an
education qualification at university and allowed to take Indonesian as one of my teaching areas,
even though I have only studied Indonesian at TAFE (adult night school). The Education
Department is also offering heavily subsidised package trips to Indonesia to study at language
schools, and other incentives for teachers to upgrade their competency in Indonesian as quickly
as possible.

One new challenge for teachers is adapting to a situation where all students now have to study a
foreign language, whether they are interested or not. Up until now language teachers have had a
very privileged position, in that students who have studied languages have normally chosen to do
so, as a subject option. The students in the past tended to be very interested and motivated -
languages do not tend to attract students looking for an easy class where they can socialise or
mess around. Now we have the situation where ALL children have to study a language, some
teachers are having a very hard time. At the school where I did one of my practicums, and
Indonesian was compulsory for all Year 8 students, the Indonesian teacher confessed to me that
he had a very hard time getting the students motivated to do any work. I spoke to some of the
students who quite openly said that they did not see Indonesian as important, and liked to mess
around in that class. We expect the next few years to be a little difficult, as LOTE is gradually
made compulsory in high schools. Many parents and students think that time would be better
spent on other subject areas - and our students will all have older brothers and sisters who never
had to learn a language, and don't see the point. Another difficulty is co-ordinating language
programs between primary and high schools. Often, students move to high school and find that
they cannot continue with the language they studied at primary level (especially if they go to a
school in a different district, for example a special-entry high school). It will be a few years yet
before the transition between primary school and high school language studies is seamless. My
university tutor is a Japanese teacher at a private school. Last year, her Year 8 Japanese classes
were very mixed - half the students having already completed several years of studying Japanese,
while the other half had never studied Japanese at all. Education policies here are also moving
towards a situation where the teacher is supposed to be able to teach children of very different
ability levels in the same class. I think that the introduction of compulsory LOTE may really put
this idea to the test.
One recent innovation in WA is offering upper school Indonesian (Year 11 and 12) in a range of
different courses to suit different abilities. TEE Indonesian (TEE courses lead to marks for
university entrance) is now offered in two streams - Indonesian as a Second Language, and
Indonesian (Advanced). The Advanced course is intended for native or background speakers, and
develops the students' skills in Indonesian-English and English-Indonesian translation. A non-
TEE stream is also offered, Indonesian (Beginners), for those who wish to study a language but
without having the subject count towards university entrance marks. In practice, very few
schools offer all these options. The number of teachers who are so fluent in both Indonesian and
English, that they can supervise native speakers in translation work, is indeed small! Only one
Government school, Tuart College, offers Indonesian (Advanced), although there are nine
private schools that do so. There is expected to be a large increase in students taking Indonesian
(Advanced) in June this year. A new school, Bina Nusantara, which is located in Jakarta but
which follows the West Australian curriculum, will begin offering this course in June. Last year,
only 112 students in the whole state sat the TEE Indonesian (Second Language) exam, and 72
the TEE Indonesian (Advanced) exam. Hopefully these numbers will increase dramatically as
more students are encouraged to study Indonesian in primary school and lower high school.

What does this mean for Indonesia and Indonesians? Hopefully, West Australians will begin
develop a greater appreciation of Indonesian language and culture. We are not alone in this -
other Australian states, notably the Northern Territory, are also placing a strong emphasis on
Indonesian in their LOTE courses. Hopefully, Australians will gradually lose their inhibitions
about learning any other language than English. It is a source of embarrassment to me that the
Indonesians I know can generally speak Bahasa, the language of their local area (eg. Javanese or
Sundanese), plus English. Meanwhile we struggle along learning our basic Indonesian!

For English language teachers living in Indonesia, there are many opportunities which can be
taken advantage of. Australians are keen to experience Indonesian language and culture in
Indonesia, opening the door for cross-cultural exchanges and visits, of teachers and students.
There are also schools which have set up e-pal exchanges (via email) between Australian and
Indonesian schools. (see references below). Even if students do not have the fluency to write to
each other individually, schools which are matched up can exchange letters (written as groups),
photos, pictures and other information which helps bring the subject to life. Language becomes
alive, and has a real purpose. Especially in the current transition stage, where every day we are
faced with students who say, "why do we have to do this?", teachers are keen to make language
study as interesting and motivating as possible.

In Australia, material in Bahasa Indonesia is not easy to find, except in a few specialist
bookshops. On TV, the only offering in Indonesian is the daily Siaran Berita on SBS, and there
are a few hours of Indonesian broadcasting on radio each week. I imagine Indonesians have it
easier when studying English. You must be swamped by English-language material ! This is
another reason why Australian language teachers are eager to make links with teachers within
Indonesia. It can be difficult for us to gain access to authentic and up-to-date materials,
especially ones which are suited to younger age groups.

I hope that this has given you some idea on developments in Western Australia. So - if you are at
all interested in making contact with Australian language teachers, check out some of the sites
below!

Note: LOTE = Languages Other Than English.

References

Education Department of WA website - LOTE

www.eddept.wa.edu.au/centoff/lote

Acknowledgement

Thanks to Moya McLachlan (Education Department of WA) and Clare Busing (Curriculum
Council of WA) for their assistance with this article.

Appendix

Websites to look at if you are interested in e-mail penpal exchanges:

IndoLinx Email Club. Australia - Indonesia Connections.

http://www.ansonic.com.au/indolinx/email-club.htm
This site has rules and guidelines for email exchanges, and appears to have plenty of technical
help available too.
Ask Asia E-Pals
http://www.askasia.org/adult_free_zone/afz_frame.htm
This site claims to be the world's largest "e-pals" set up. You can register individually, as a
school, or as a class. You can request epals to your specifications. The site seems to explain
things very well, and it is a free service to use.

Malang Email Exchange

http://www.fahan.tas.edu.au//compute/indo.html
This site shows an example of an email group (a link between two schools) between a school in
Tasmania, and a school in Malang. The site shows student work, photographs, letters and details
on how to set up a "key-pal" exchange program.

_________________
Natasha Kepert, BA (UWA) is currently studying a Diploma of Education (Secondary) at Curtin
University, in order to become an English and Indonesian teacher.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/daripada.html

Beberapa Pandangan terhadap

Preposisi Daripada:
Tinjauan Kepustakaan
Persembahan untuk Prof. H. Samsuri, M.A., Ph.D.

D. Jupriono
Kondisi Objektif Penggunaan Preposisi Daripada

Di samping pengucapan sufiks -kan menjadi -ken, misalnya melaksanakan menjadi

melaksanaken, atau semakin menjadi semangkin, ada ciri khas lain yang sering disebut-sebut
orang sebagai ciri pokok ragam bahasa Indonesia pejabat, yaitu penggunaan preposisi daripada
yang frekuensi pakainya sangat tinggi. Dalam suatu tayangan "Laporan Khusus" di TVRI pada
1996, misalnya, Presiden H.M. Suharto pernah mengucapkan preposisi daripada sampai tujuh
kali dalam satu kalimat. (Hal ini pernah saya utarakan kepada Prof. Samsuri dalam suatu obrolan
di Fakultas Sastra Untag Surabaya pada 1997 dan beliau geleng-geleng kepala.) Realitas ini
dipersemarak oleh partisipasi pejabat bawahannya yang secara latah idem ditto suka "ber-
daripada-ria".

Pemborosan pemakaian daripada sudah mencapai stadium empat. Sedikit sedikit daripada.
Sebentar sebentar daripada. Kata ini muncul menembus dalam setiap kalimat yang tidak selalu
berkaitan dengan makna 'perbandingan'. Misalnya kutipan pernyataan mantan Presiden Soeharto
(1) berikut. Hitung sendiri berapa kali daripada muncul.

(1) Kita mesti melestariken daripada kehidupan koperasi ... daripada petani dan nelayan ini. Untuk itu, ... beberapa
hal daripada kelestarian KUD ini harus diperhatikan. Misalnya ... bagaimana daripada permodalannya, ... bagaimana
daripada kedisiplinan dan ketertiban daripada pengurusnya, ... juga yang penting adalah ... apakah KUD ini sudah
menyediakan daripada kebutuhan pokok anggota daripada KUD di desa ini.

Mereka yang awam tidak ambil pusing soal ini. Mau "daripada" kek, mau "dari dulu" kek,
emangnye gue pikirin. Akan tetapi, tidak demikian halnya pemeduli dan pakar bahasa.
Kelompok terakhir ini, entah berani transparan entah bisik-bisik, pastilah merasa risih dengan
pemakaian daripada yang boros itu. Mau diam, wong mereka tahu itu bermasalah. Mau
mengkritik terbuka, jabatan menjadi taruhan. Serba repot, memang.

Meskipun demikian, dengan berbagai strategi kemasan retorik, misalnya dengan alasan "untuk
kepentingan kajian ilmiah bahasa" atau "karena desakan dinamika kehidupan akademik",
akhirnya berani juga mereka menyusupkan kritikannya. Sebut saja kajian yang ditulis Soedjito
dan Taryono A.R. (1984), Samsuri (1985), Sugono (1986), Soedjito (1986), Ramlan (1987),
Arifin (1987), Sidharta (1988), Badudu (1989), Santoso (1990), Arifin dan Tasai (1991), Nadjib
(1991), Arifin dan Hadi (1993), dan Heryanto (1996).

Bagaimanakah pandangan para pakar bahasa terhadap melubernya kata ini? Berikut ini
dipaparkan serba sedikit soal itu. Lalu, dengan metode deskriptif, bukan preskriptif (Sudaryanto,
1988) dan dengan teknik dokumentasi sebagai penjaring data, di sana sini akan dicoba diperikan
secara objektif selenjang terbang realitas perilaku sintaktis struktural preposisi daripada sejak
sebelum merdeka, katakan saja 1930-an sampai saat ini.

Telaah Kepustakaan tentang Preposisi Daripada

Soedjito dan Taryono (1984) membahas daripada sebagai kata tugas yang tidak perlu
dimunculkan dalam frase nomina, misalnya pada hasil daripada perundingan itu.
Dimungkinkan, menurut kedua pembahas, pemakaian preposisi ini merupakan pengaruh of
bahasa Inggris atau van bahasa Belanda. Sugono (1986) melihat ini sebagai kesalahan pemilihan
kata (ketaktepatan diksi). Arifin dan Hadi (1993) menegaskan tidak perlunya pemakaian
daripada yang menyatakan 'milik' (cf. Arifin, 1987). Hanya saja, Arifin dan Hadi (1993) dan
Hasan Alwi dkk. (1993) menambahkan satu lagi contoh gejala yang keliru pada tataran bahasa di
atas frase, misalnya dalam klausa dan kalimat berikut:

(2) ... mempromosikan daripada hasil industri Indonesia

(3) Mereka membicarakan daripada kehendak rakyat.
(4) Kita melihat daripada semua ini satu hal yang baik.

Dalam ketiga contoh ini daripada dianggap sebagai biang keladi ketidakpaduan kalimat/klausa,
sehingga mengganggu efektivitas kalimat (Arifin dan Tasai, 1991). Secara deskriptif, memang
hal itu ada dalam pemakaian pada masyarakat tutur. Akan tetapi, tipologi struktural klausa
bahasa Indonesia senantiasa secara konsisten menempatkan O(bjek) setelah P(redikat)/V(erba)
(Sudaryanto, 1982). Dengan kata lain, tidak boleh ada preposisi di antara P dan O.

Memang pemakaian preposisi daripada, entah yang tepat, entah keliru, kian tak terbendung.
Akan tetapi, menurut Samsuri (1985), harus dibedakan secara tegas mana frekuensi pakai yang
benar-benar bersifat perkembangan dan mana pemakaian yang memang keliru; contohnya ya
gencarnya penggunaan preposisi daripada yang kurang pada proporsinya itu. Dengan rendah
hati, Samsuri mengakui, "Salah seorang yang telah pernah membuat kekeliruan dalam
pemakaian preposisi daripada ialah ... kami sendiri." Guru besar linguistik Untag Surabaya ini
mencontohkan bahwa dalam buku karyanya, Analisis Bahasa (1978), kata yang bukan penanda
perbandingan ini sering muncul. Akan tetapi, sejak memasuki cetakan kelima (1983) preposisi
daripada yang bukan penanda perbandingan lenyap dari halaman-halaman buku itu.

Preposisi daripada sebagai bentuk berlebihan (redundancy), dan harus dihilangkan diungkap
oleh Soedjito (1986) dan Badudu (1989). Bentuk ini menyebabkan kalimat tidak efektif karena
boros dalam menggunakan kata. Keberlebihan pemakaian preposisi ini dapat merusak hubungan
antarkata dalam kelompok frase. Karenanya, kata ini harus dihilangkan mengingat maknanya
adalah 'perbandingan' (Santoso, 1990). Sebagai preposisi yang menandai hubungan
perbandingan, daripada tergolong preposisi polimorfemis (Alwi dkk., 1993).

Sidharta (1988) membahas preposisi daripada sebagai unsur kelimpahan yang harus
dihilangkan. Sebagai unsur yang berlebih, daripada logis muncul sebagai konsekuensi tipe
bahasa Indonesia yang dari perspektif tipologi struktural amat konsisten VO yang menyebabkan
"perluasan ke kanan" (Verhaar, 1980; Sudaryanto, 1982). Berbeda dengan Sidharta, Lyons
(1968) memandang bahwa dalam komunikasi unsur yang berlebihan itu wajar muncul sebab apa
pun sarana yang digunakan untuk mengirimkan informasi akan selalu mengalami berbagai
gangguan fisik yang tak teramalkan yang akan melenyapkan atau mengubah pesan yang akan
disampaikan. Oleh karena itu, hadirnya unsur berlebihan dianggap dapat mempertegas pesan
tuturan.

Jika kita kritisi, pendapat Lyons tersebut memang tepat untuk unsur berlebih dari. Misalnya
dalam ahli kebudayaan dari Indonesia yang memang berbeda arti dengan ahli kebudayaan
Indonesia. Akan tetapi, unsur berlebih macam daripada selain yang bermakna 'perbandingan'
senantiasa terasa tidak enak dan aneh.

Sampai di sini preposisi daripada yang bukan penanda perbandingan dipandang sebagai sesuatu
yang berlebihan serta merusak perkembangan bahasa dan tentu saja harus dihilangkan dengan
bertolak dari kepentingan pemakaian bahasa yang efektif, hemat, dan baku.

Dengan memperhatikan klausa dan kalimat (2), (3), dan (4) di muka, catatan lain harus segera
diberikan di sini. Dalam hal ini, preposisi daripada yang bukan penanda perbandingan
dipandang sebagai sesuatu yang wajar asal tidak mengganggu ketegaran pola urutan VO (PO)
dalam klausa. Pandangan ini mencatat bahwa gejala munculnya pola V/P + daripada + O
merebak saat rezim Orde Baru mencapai kejayaannya. Fakta lingual yang ditunjuk sebagai
sumber biang kerok adalah pernyataan lisan mantan Presiden Soeharto. Sebelum Soeharto, rasa-
rasanya memang tidak ada pola aneh tersebut.

Prof. Badudu (1989) lebih melihat preposisi daripada sebagai bentuk untuk mengisi kekosongan
pengucapan kalimat lisan ketika pembicara belum menemukan kata apa yang mesti diucapkan,
misalnya,

(5) Menurut pendapat saya, daripada ... (berhenti sejenak) kekurangan air terjadi karena musim kemarau yang
panjang.

Di mata pembina bahasa Indonesia ini preposisi daripada dipandang sebagai bentuk tegun
(hesitation form, Crystal 1987) yang dimunculkan sebagai kekosongan ucapan karena pembicara
belum menemukan kata-kata apa yang cocok untuk diucapkan, atau sedang bingung, berpikir,
dan lupa. Sebagai bentuk tegun, ia muncul alamiah dan karenanya dianggap wajar. Harus juga
kita catat di sini bahwa dalam kapasitas sebagai seorang dedengkot pembina bahasa, Badudu
tentu melihat kasus ini sebagai sesuatu yang salah.

Ramlan (1987) membahas daripada sebagai preposisi yang bermakna 'perbandingan', 'bahan',
dan 'milik', dengan contoh masing-masing berikut.

(6) Setiap tahun kenaikan pajak relatif lebih besar daripada kenaikan pendapatan.
(7) Cincinnya terbuat daripada emas putih.
(8) Dokter mempelajari pola daripada alergi si penderita.
Di sini Ramlan memperlakukan daripada sebagai preposisi antarfungsi dalam klausa (6, 7) dan
sebagai preposisi dalam frase nominal (FN) (8).

Bagi guru besar linguistik dari UGM ini, preposisi daripada yang bukan penanda perbandingan
dipandang wajar sebagai suatu fenomena lingual. Maka, di samping menandai makna
'perbandingan', preposisi tersebut boleh juga menandai makna 'bahan' dan 'milik'. Kentara sekali,
pandangan ini bercorak linguistis deskriptif dan mencoba berbuka dada terhadap kenyataan
bahwa dalam bahasa Melayu, asal bahasa Indonesia, pun preposisi tersebut muncul wajar dan
dianggap tidak mengendalai.

"Invasi kata daripada, dalam kebiasaan berkalimat orang Indonesia, su-dah keterlaluan," kata
Nadjib (1992). Menurut kiai penyair mbeling ini, demam pemakaian daripada merupakan
warisan budaya feodal di tengah proses demo-kratisasi yang sedang dijalankan oleh bahasa
Indonesia. Karena presidennya selalu "ber-daripada-ria, menterinya pun "berdaripada-daripada";
karena menterinya suka "ber-daripada-ria", dirjen dan irjennya pun "berdaripada-daripada"; terus
ke bawah ... sampai lurah, RW, RT, dst. Nadjib bilang:

Ketika seseorang memutuskan memakai daripada karena pengaruh contoh dari atasannya, keputusan itu sudah
merupakan bahasa kehormatan terhadap atasan. Pemfungsian daripada seolah peneguhan bahasa Indonesia kromo
inggil: dipakai untuk menunjukkan loyalitas dan penghormatan (Nadjib, 1992).

Heryanto (1996) lain lagi melihatnya. Tokoh kritis radikal ini memandang bahwa merebaknya
kritik orang terhadap menjamurnya pemakaian daripada tidak bertolak dari kepeduliannya pada
soal-soal kesalahan berbahasa. Itu hanyalah cara sebagian orang untuk mengkritik beberapa
tokoh yang tengah berkuasa yang memang tidak disukai rakyat. Di sini ungkapan Ariel memang
bernuansa politis. Sebab, sebenarnya banyak orang Indonesia yang biasa "berdaripada", misalnya
Arief Budiman, Baharuddin Lopa, Teten Masduki, dll., akan tetapi mereka selamat dari kritikan.
Sementara, kalau Presiden Suharto dan Menpen sekaligus Ketua Umum Golkar Harmoko yang
"berdaripada", orang-orang, baik yang pakar linguistik maupun yang awam, kontan keras
mengkritiknya. Ada apa gerangan?

Dalam hal demikian, jika spektrum Ariel boleh dilebarkan, misalnya sampai pada perspektif
scottian (Scott, 1991), sebenarnya kritik bahasa tersebut merupakan "perlawanan terselubung"
terhadap dominasi penguasa yang otoriter. Dengan bahasa orang mengkritik sebab penguasa pun
mendominasi rakyat lewat hegemoni bahasa (Jupriono, 1999).

Penggunaan daripada, dalam corak pikir Emha dan Ariel ini, dipandang sebagai sarana loyalitas
dan kepatuhan bawahan kepada atasan sebagai manifestasi dari masih cukup kuatnya nilai
feodalisme di negeri ini. Dalam hal demikian bahasa Indonesia disejajarkan dengan kromo inggil
bahasa Jawa. Meminjam istilah Anderson (1990), bahasa Indonesia dalam rezim Orde Baru
mengalami proses "pengkramaan" atau "kramanisasi". Tentu saja, hal terakhir ini dipandang
sebagai kendala kultural dalam akselerasi pewujudan demokratisasi dalam kehidupan bernegara
dan sebagai penghambat egalitarianisme dalam hubungan penguasa dan rakyat. Pandangan ini
tidak bertolak dari kepedulian orang terhadap cara berbahasa yang gramatikal, efektif, yang
linguistis, tetapi dari kepentingan mengkontrol kebijakan sosial politis penguasa yang otoriter.

Daripada: Dulu dan Sekarang, Melayu dan Indonesia

Dari data-data lisan dan tulis, saya mencermati pemakaian preposisi ini. Jelas, dari dahulu hingga
sekarang preposisi daripada memang digunakan. Dalam bahasa Indonesia dan bahasa Melayu di
Malaysia, dahulu dan sekarang, bentuk ini lazim dipakai dan muncul sebagai preposisi
polimorfemis, misalnya ya daripada itu sendiri, dan sebagai konstituen dari tataran frase,
misalnya selain daripada itu. Berikut ini saya kutipkan penggunaan preposisi (bahasa Indonesia
dan bahasa Melayu) ini dalam klausa dan kalimat sejak tahun-tahun silam. Keotentikan ejaan
sengaja saya pertahankan untuk menghadirkan nuansa silam, awal abad XX (1919).

(9) Ia manusia yang terlebih mulia daripada manusia lain.

(10) semuanya lebih banyak daripada di Indonesia (SKN 1952).
(11) penjelasan yang diberikan lebih berdasarkan makna daripada berdasarkan bentuk atau tugas sintaksisnya (AS
1993).

Dalam hal perilaku sintaktis, dalam ketiga contoh ini, daripada berada dalam dua kemungkinan
sbb.

• Pada (9) dan (10) daripada bertindak sebagai penanda bagi frase preposisional (FPr). Dalam FPr daripada
manusia lain, misalnya, daripada sebagai penanda dan frase nomina (FN) manusia lain sebagai aksisnya.

• Pada (11) daripada sebagai konjungsi antarklausa, yakni klausa lebih berdasarkan makna dengan klausa
berdasarkan bentuk atau tugas sintaksisnya.

Dalam hal makna, baik dalam bahasa Indonesia maupun bahasa Melayu, baik dahulu maupun sekarang, pada (9--
11), preposisi dan konjungsi ini bermakna 'perbandingan'.

Selain makna 'perbandingan' seperti pada (9), (10), dan (11), masih terdapat daripada yang
bermakna dan bertindak sebagai sesuatu yang lain lagi. Perhatikan contoh (12) s.d. (34)!

(12) duduk di atas kursi daripada emas (HNM 1919).

(13) ini terbentuk daripada ujaran penutur (AN 1975).
(14) Daripada implikasi konteks, pendengar seterusnya dapat membuat kesimpulan (AN 1975).
(15) ia hendak bangun daripada duduk itu lalu tersungkur (HNM 1919).
(16) saya kembali daripada perjalanan gelombang ke-2 (SKN 1956).
(17) maka suara pun keluar daripada kubah Rasul (HMH 1920).
(18) pemimpin daripada partai-partai ini (SKN 1956).
(19) maka ta' lain jang dapat kita lihat daripadanja (SO 1938).
(20) kita beri bentuk lain daripada beras (SKN 1952).
(21) penyelenggaraan praktis daripada ideologis itu (SKN 1956).
(22) apa yang dikerjakan oleh generasi pendobrak ialah pendobrakan daripada keadaan permulaan daripada
pembentukan praktis daripada negara kolonial itu (SKN 1956).
(23) menghambat penyelenggaraan daripada apa yang ia geloof-kan (SKN 1958).
(24) kecuali daripada penyakit kedaerahan, tidaklah kita ini mengalami pula penyakit lain (SKN 1956).
(25) Selain daripada itu, apa yang diimplikasikan (ANA 1993).
(26) Kekayaannya tiada terhisab, daripada emas, perak, dan permata (BDD 1989).
(27) Ayat yang benar-benar ayat mestilah terdiri daripada subjek dan predikat (AS 1993).
(28) Seorang daripada hambanya disuruhnya memanggil (BD 1989).
(29) Salah satu daripada problem-problem itu (SKN 1952).
(30) sumber daripada segala sumber ialah Amanat Penderitaan Rakyat (SKN 1960).
(31) satu bangsa yang papa yang sengsara yang hidup daripada 2,5 sen satu orang satu hari (SKN 1960).
(32) malah hasil kajian ternyata menyimpang jauh daripada makna yang dimaksudkan (ANA 1993).
(33) sebelum mendapat izin tertulis daripada penulis (AS 1993).

Dari kalimat/klausa (9)--(33), dapat dideskripsikan adanya sembilan makna preposisi daripada
berdasarkan perilaku sintaktisnya, yaitu: (a) 'penanda perbandingan' (9--11), (b) 'penanda bahan'
(12--14), (c) 'penanda asal lokasi' (15--17), (d) 'milik' (18--20), (e) 'terhadap/ tentang' (21--23),
(f) 'penanda eksklusivitas' (24--25), (g) 'terdiri atas' (26--27), (h) 'di antara' (28--30), dan (i)
'penanda objektif' (31--33). Tampaknya, temuan ini tidak bertentangan dengan temuan Ramlan
(1987) yang menemukan tiga makna dasar, yakni 'perbandingan', milik, dan 'bahan'.

Yang membingungkan penentuan makna gramatikalnya adalah pemakaian preposisi tersebut

pada contoh (2), (3), dan (4) di atas, yang banyak dimunculkan oleh para pejabat rezim Orde
Baru ketika bertutur lisan. Dari kesembilan temuan makna di sini tidak satu pun yang sesuai
dengan perilaku sintaksis daripada pada ketiga kalimat/klausa (2, 3, 4) di atas. Memang, tidak
satu pun pola klausa yang terdapat dalam klausa (9) s.d. (33) yang menggunakan pola aneh V/P
+ daripada + O. Jika toh ada, ini harus dianggap kekecualian, yakni kalimat (34) berikut.

(34) Kesimpulan implikatur yang bakal dicapai daripada penutur akan bergantung semata-mata pada interpretasi
pendengar (ANA 1993).

Makna preposisi daripada dalam klausa (34) ini adalah 'penanda agentif'. Dilihat dari pola
strukturnya, karena berada pada klausa negatif, preposisi ini menggantikan preposisi oleh.
Preposisi oleh memang bisa dan tidak dilarang hadir dalam konstruksi pasif V/P + oleh + O.
Oleh karena itu, jelas sekali bahwa derajat keabsahan secara struktural kehadiran daripada
sebagai pengganti oleh lebih tinggi dari daripada yang menghubungkan P/V dengan O.

Bertindak sebagai apakah bentuk daripada pada (12) s.d. (33)? Ini akan menjawab perilaku
sintaktis klausanya. Dalam perilaku sintaktis ini, daripada berada dalam lima kemungkinan,
yaitu:

• sebagai atribut dalam FN (12, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30); dalam (12), misalnya, daripada sebagai
atribut bagi FN kursi daripada emas;

• sebagai penanda dalam FPr (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 31, 32, 33); dalam (13), misalnya, daripada sebagai
penanda dalam FPr daripada manusia lain;

• sebagai aksis dalam FPr (24, 25); dalam (25), misalnya, daripada sebagai aksis dalam FPr selain daripada
itu;

• sebagai preposisi-verbal (26); dalam (26), misalnya, daripada sebagai preposisi-verbal bagi daripada
emas, perak, dan permata; perlu dicatat di sini bahwa frase ini lebih layak dimasukkan ke dalam golongan
frase verba (FV) berdasarkan maknanya, tetapi berdasarkan bentuknya lebih tepat ke dalam FPr.

• sebagai atribut dalam FV (27); misalnya dalam (27), daripada sebagai atribut dalam FV terdiri daripada
subjek dan predikat;

Pada (34) daripada tidak wajib hadir, yang secara tepat dapat digantikan dan menggantikan oleh pada konstruksi
pasif. Hal ini tidak melanggar prinsip ketegaran letak PO atau VO dari tipologi strukturalnya sebab tipe PO/VO ini
hanya cocok untuk konstruksi aktif transitif, dan bukan pasif.
Simpulan

Berdasarkan ragam pandangan, terdapat enam pandangan terhadap pemakaian preposisi

daripada sebagai berikut. (1) Daripada sebagai preposisi 'perbandingan'. (2) Daripada sebagai
redundansi dan merusak perkembangan bahasa, dan harus dihilangkan. (3) Daripada sebagai
bentuk tegun. (4) Daripada sebagai suatu feno-mena lingual wajar yang tidak hanya menandai
makna 'perbandingan'. (5) Preposisi daripada sebagai sesuatu yang wajar, tetapi jangan sampai
mengganggu ketegaran pola VO (PO). (6) Daripada sebagai wujud loyalitas bawahan kepada
atasan, jadi ini harus dilancarkan pembabathabisan sebagai wujud resistensi kultural.

Berdasarkan makna yang dibangunnya, daripada berkemungkinan mempunyai sepuluh makna,

yaitu: (1) 'penanda perbandingan', (2) 'penanda bahan', (3) 'penanda asal lokasi', (4) 'milik', (5)
'terhadap/tentang', (6) 'penanda eksklusivitas', (7) 'terdiri atas', (8) 'di antara', (9) 'penanda
objektif', dan (10) 'penanda agentif'.

Berdasarkan perilaku sintaksisnya, daripada mungkin dapat bertindak ke dalam enam peran,
yaitu: (1) penanda bagi FPr, (2) konjungsi antarklausa, (3) atribut dalam FN, (4) aksis dalam FPr,
(5) preposisi-verbal, dan (6) atribut dalam FV.

Daftar Pustaka

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Anderson, B. 1990. Language and Power. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Arifin, E.Z. 1987. Berbahasa Indonesia dengan Benar. Jakarta: Mediyatama S.P.

Arifin, E.Z. dan S.A. Tasai. 1991. Cermat Berbahasa Indonesia untuk Perguruan Tinggi. Ed.
Rev. Jakarta: Mediyatama S.P.

Arifin, E.Z. dan F. Hadi. 1993. 1001 Kesalahan Berbahasa. Jakarta: CV Akademika Pressindo.

Crystal, D. 1987. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

Greenberg, J.H. 1973. "Some Universals of Grammar with Particular Reference to the Order of
Meaningful Elements". Hal. 73--113. J.H. Greenberg (ed.), Universals of Language. Ed. IV.
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Heryanto, A. 1996. "Bahasa Politik". Forum Keadilan V/1, 22 April: 63.

Jupriono, D. 1999. "Golongan Birokrasi dan Militer dalam Akronim pada KBBI selama
Dasawarsa Terakhir Rezim Orde Baru". (Laporan Penelitian) Surabaya: Pusat Studi Sastra dan
Strategi Kebudayaan, Lembaga Penelitian Untag Sby.

Li, C.N. dan S.A. Thomson. 1974. "An Explanation of Word Order Change SVO-SOV".
Foundation of Language XII/2, Nov.: 204--214.

Lyons, J. 1968. Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics. New York: The Macmillan Co.

Miller, D.G. 1975. "Indo-European VSO, SOV, SVO, or All Three?". Lingua XXXVII: 31--52.

Ramlan, M. 1987. Preposisi dalam Bahasa Indonesia. Cet. III. Yogyakarta: CV Karyono.

Samsuri. 1985. Tata Kalimat Bahasa Indonesia. Jakarta: Sastra Hudaya.

Santoso, K.B. 1990. Problematika Bahasa Indonesia. Jakarta: Rineka Cipta.

Sapir, E. 1949. Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech. New York: Harcourt, Brace
and World, Inc.

Scott, J.C. 1991. Domination and Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts. New Haven: Yale
University Press.

Sidharta, S.P.M. 1988. "Kata 'Dari' dan 'Daripada' pada Frase Nominal". Hal. 98--110. Mahmud,
Adimihardja, Martalogawa (Eds.), Nuansa-nuansa Pelangi Budaya. Bandung: Pustaka Karsa
Sunda & Ika FS Unpad.

Steele, S. 1975. "On Some Factors that Affect and Effect Word Order". Hal. 197--268. C.N. Li
(ed.), Word Order and Word Order Change. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Soedjito dan Taryono A.R. 1984. Cermat Berbahasa Indonesia. Malang: FPBS IKIP.

Soedjito. 1986. Kalimat Efektif. Malang: FPBS IKIP.

Sudaryanto. 1982. "Beberapa Aspek Bahasa Indonesia yang Menarik Dilihat dari Sudut Tipologi
Struktural Tradisi Sapir-Greenberg-Lehmann". Majalah Ilmu-ilmu Sastra Indonesia X/2, Nov.:
177--206.

Sudaryanto. 1988. Metode Linguistik Bagian Pertama. Cetakan II. Yogyakarta: GMU Press.

Sugono, D. 1986. Berbahasa Indonesia dengan Benar. Jakarta: CV Kilat Grafika.

Daftar Sumber Data

AS: Mas'alah Partikel yang Belum Selesai dalam Tata Bahasa Melayu. (Asraf, 1993). Petaling
Jaya: Sasbadi Sdn. Bhd.

HNM: "Kedudukan dan Fungsi Hikayat Nabi Mikraj". Pembinaan Bahasa Indonesia V/2.
(Djamaris, 1984)

ANA: "Analisis Semantik dan Pragmatik dalam Implikatur Bahasa Melayu". Hal. 188--203.
Penyelidikan Bahasa dan Perkembangan Wawasannya. (Jalaludin, 1993). Jakarta: MLI.

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Mahasiswa dan Sarjana 1952--1960. (Soekarno, 1987) Jakarta: CV Haji Masagung.

________________
Drs. D. Jupriono, lecturer at the Faculty of Letters, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya;
member of "Center of Literary Study and Cultural Strategy" (Pusat Studi Sastra dan Strategi
Kebudayaan); member of "Karang Ocean" Foundation.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/usa.html

The Structural Devices

in Dos Passos' U.S.A.

Danu Wahyono

Introduction

John Dos Passos's statement at the beginning of U.S.A. that America is, more than anything else,
the sounds of its many voices, offers several insight into the technique of the trilogy that reflects
the author's attempt to capture some sense of characteristically American "voices", not just in the
novel sections, but in newsreel, biographies, and the camera eye as well.

These sections reflect, respectively, the public voice of the media and popular culture, the
oratorical voice of the biographies, and the personal and private voice of the artist, but the most
important voices in trilogy are those of the chronicles. Wagner described him that "enthusiastic
as Dos Passos was about being the chronicler of American life" (Wagner, 1979:xiii), in which
Dos Passos introduces a cross section of American voices ranging from the blue collar workers
to the professional and managerial classes.

Apparently, Dos Passos is profoundly influenced by Walt Whitman, "the positive hope of U.S.A.
comes from Walt Whitman" (Rideout, 1956:162). Whitman's love of the American spoken words
lies behind Dos Passos own colloquial style in the stories. Like the poet, the novelist has tried to
include all America in his work. He takes all America as his subject matter as he tries to capture
through the sounds of the many voices which characterize its people and institutions the meaning
of U.S.A. By using what did exist, he could infuse his work with power, as had Walt Whitman,
the man Dos Passos considered America's only great poet.

U.S.A. is, most critics state, technically one of the finest creations in the modern American novel.
In this novel, Dos Passos has extended his method of projecting the caleidoscope, "a pattern that
always changes and never repeats because the possible combinations and permitations are
endless" (Walcutt, 1956:280), to the point where he fashions his pattern out of three elaborately
contrived elements which interrupt and supplement the central narrative. He had also introduced
several new structural devices and reduced the importance of anyone character in the interest of
giving a dead level equality of attention to all of them.

The elaborate formal technique Dos Passos has used here aims to bring out the leading theme of
his collective novel, a vision of American success. Wagenknecht defines a collective novels as "a
type of fiction in which the emphasis is not upon the life story of a single individual but rather
upon the life of a social group" (1962:383). Anatomically, this schematization can be recognized
as follows.

Narrative

The first of these devices called the narrative proper concerns itself with the individual life
stories of the many characters compromising the social structure. The novelist tells reader the
doings of the characters, not in a proper sequence, from life to death, but with lapses of time,
interruptions of the life of them to get at another. He will take up one of his people, then forget
him for a while, only to pursue his course later on. The result is sometimes of the confus-ion, but
reading well into the novels, the life of one character can be seen wholly. Apparently, by
merging his people, and by portraying them at significant moments in their lives, the novelist
wants to show that all these lives are subordinate to a cosmic, collective whole. This
extraordinary technique displayed by moving character through large areas and epochs seems to
suggest the rootlessness that characterizes man's existence in modern civilization.

For this device, the majority of U.S.A. consists of the narrative of fictional characters. The
narrative of three novels occupies the bulk of 1,500 pages in the third style of writing. Alfred
Kazin correctly stresses the importance of Dos Passos' narrative style:

The success of Dos Passos' method does not rest primarily on his schematization of the novel into four panels, four
levels of American experience .... The book lives by its narrative style, its wonderfully concrete yet elliptical prose
which bears along and winds around the life stories of the book (Kazin, 1982: 353).

In applying this device, here Dos Passos uses a terse direct prose, and identifies each character's
story with his or her name: Mac, Janey, J. Ward Moorehouse, Eleanor Stoddard, Charley
Anderson, Mary French, and others. As the narrative develops, Dos Passos creates a composite
of diverse national character. Although the national character appears to be different from the
narrative, it is in fact similar. It substitutes a stylized impressionistic selectivity for fully
extended narrative. As in the narrative, the principal mode of the national character is ironic in
order to show the presumed great of American life revealed to be betrayers of American values.
The detail explanation of the national character can be found in later section.

The narratives in U.S.A., both because of their relative length within the trilogy as a whole and
because of the inherent nature of narrative, are the expression of Dos Passos's ironic method. His
technique is to use a version of indirect discourse to reveal the underlying nature of his narrative
figure and thus to reveal as well the important similarities among these figures. The fact that the
narrative is intended to describe a character's habitual modes of thought and expression. The
narrative in U.S.A. contain remarkably little dialogue or dramatic scene because the author's
narrative voice is itself essentially a dramatic rendering of character.

For that purpose, Dos Passos supplies several verbal keys to remind readers occasionally that
they are reading the author's rhetorical reshaping of a character's habitual voice. One is to place
eye-catching colloquialisms in his third-person prose, for example "ud" for "would". Another is
to run together words or phrases that are spoken as a single word, for example "officeboy". A
third is to open a narrative which depicts the childhood of a character in a prose style which is
obviously childlike. Here, for example, is most of the first paragraph of Eveline Hutchins'
narrative:

Little Eveline and Arget and Lade and Gogo lived on the top floor of a yellow brick house on the North Shore Drive.
Arget and Lade were little Eveline's sisters. Gogo was her little brother littler than Eveline; he had such a nice blue
eyes but Miss Mathilda had horrid blue eyes. On the floor below was Dr. Hutchins' study where Yourfather mustn't
be disturbed, and Dearmother's room where he stayed all morning painting dressed in a lavender smock. On the
ground floor was the drawingroom and the diningroom, where parishioners came and little children must be seen
and not heard, and at dinnertime you could smell good things to eat and hear and Yourfather's booming scary
voice ... (N N, 121-122).

The irony in this passage is readily apparent but gentle. Far more characteristic of Dos Passos'
use of indirect discourse for ironic effect are the many occasions in the narrative when a
character's thoughts are rendered in a blatantly cliched verbal style which clearly reflects the
painful inadequacy of his stereotyped beliefs. So, for example, when Joe Williams is arrested in
wartime Liverpool for drunkenness, Dos Passos' account of the magistrate's lecture to him and
his comrades captures both Joe's Colloquial idiom and the magistrate's hackneyed jingoism.

And the magistrate in the little wig gave 'em a hell of a talking to about how this was wartime and they had no right
being drunk and disorderly on British soil but had ought to be fighting shoulder to shoulder with their brothers,
Englishmen of their own blood and to whom the Americans owed everything, even their existence as a great nation,
to defend civilization and free institutions and plucky little Belgium against the invading huns who were raping
women and sinking peaceful merchantmen (N N, 49).

In fact, however, the narrative prose style in U.S.A. is generally far less blatant than these
examples in its indirect-discourse rendering of the platitudes and cliches which guide the lives of
the characters. Apparently, in a narrative style that is often reportorial, harsh, clipped, yet also
poetic and vital, Dos Passos has unravelled the dismal progress of his characters. He has made
reader see the chaos of their lives, and he holds them interested, stimulated. He accomplishes this
without the use of the standard tricks of suspense, climax, and a plot with a beginning and end.
He does this without the use of successive dramatic issues which are to be resolved as in
standard novels. His art is naturalistic here. He seems to refuse to compromise his art by lying
about life, and in many ways, he struggles to force his materialistic philosophy into a fictional
structure. "Literature produced at that period is a presentation of verifiable picture of society.
American novelist of 1930s often wrote in naturalistic manner" (Cowley, 1978: 98).

Newsreel

Along with the narratives is his use of the newsreel device introducing a section with bits of
newspaper headlines, features articles of a date that corresponds to the particular actions of the
characters described, and phases of news, interwoven with lines of poetry which presumably
represent some of the emotions being experienced at that time. It uses here also popular songs,
advertisements, and slogans that suggest the general atmosphere at that time of the episode
related.

It places the private action in the calendar of history, reminding the reader of what things were of
concern to the world at largest the moment when such an individual was dealing with such an
item in his obscure life. There is no comment, no reference from public to private. But as the
thing repeats itself over and over, there is a growing sense that private and public must be related
in the order of things: that the capture of Mafeking or the execution of Ferrer must have its
bearing upon the career of Mac; that Polish pogroms are of concern to Richard Ellsworth
Savage; that the appointment of Daughtery has its long-range significance for Margo Dowling;
and the landing of American marines in Nicaragua has its importance for Charley Anderson.
Thus the story of private people with their private lives is set over against the story of the public
world. Often the news events are directly related to an event in the main narrative, sometimes
not.

Still more, there is the growing sense that private life is of a piece with the culture complex in
which it is embedded, and that the spirit of the citizen is deeply colored by the world in which he
lives. The topics featured in the newsreel are not chosen at random. They are in exact
reproduction of what one reads in the most widely circulated newssheets: disaster, scandal,
politics, society, finance, and labor. These items are placed more or less helter-skelter in the
newsreel as they appear in the newspaper. In the newsreel they are often given in fragments,
running into one another. Thus they make a perfect symbol of the average mentality as it
concerned with public affairs. But gradually the accurate reading will make one aware that the
choice and arrangement of topic and their very confusion are not so planless and haphazard as
one might suppose. Disaster, scandal, and society are the screen behind which the serious
business of the world is carried on. The dope with which the public mind is put to sleep; political
news is seldom unaccompanied by the news of industry and finance and the organization or
suppression of labor (Beach, 1941: 58-9).

Superficially, this device represents a world of fraud and sophistication, violence and treachery.
It is carefully calculated one that either complements the story itself or provides period
atmosphere. Effective as this section is, the cumulative ironies are easier to achieve than those
within the other kinds of sections. More critical comments exist within the newsreel passages
than in the other styles of writing, stressing the irony inherent in the juxtaposition of elements
from songs, news, headlines, and overheard conversation. Here is one of newsreel examples that
may be seen in the section of Newsreel VI of The 42nd Parallel.

NEWSREEL VI

(1) PARIS SHOCKED AT LAST

(2) HARRIMAN SHOWN AS RAIL COLOMBUS
(3) NOTED SWINDLER RUN TO EARTH
(4) TEDDY WIELDS BIG STICK
(5) STRAPHANGERS DEMAND RELIEF
(6) We were sailing along
On moonlight bay
You can hear the voices ringing
They seem to say
You have stolen my heart, now don't go away
Just as we sang
love's
old
sweet
song
On moonlight bay
(7) MOB LYNCHES AFTER PRAYER
(8) when the metal poured out of the furnace I saw
the men running to a place of safety. To the right
of the furnace I saw a party of ten men all of
them running wildly and their clothes a mass of
flames. Apparently some of them had been injured
when the explosion occured and several of them
tripped and fell. The hot metal ran over the poor
men in a moment.
(9) PRAISE MONOPOLY AS BOOM TO ALL
(10) Industrial foes work for peace at Mrs. Potter
Palmer's
(11) love's
old
sweet
song
We are sailing along
on moonlight bay ( F P, 100-101)
[item numbers added]

In this Newsreel, the apparent triumph of moral responsiveness asserted in lines 1 and 3 is
undercut by the depravity voiced in line 7. The images of prosperity and strength of lines 2, 4
and 9 are sharply contrasted with the images of discomfort and helplessness of lines 5 and 8.
Vision of love and peace that emerge in items 6, 10, and 11 are exploded by the instances of hate
and violence in lines 7 and 8. These ironic juxtapositions seem to force the reader to experience
the gaps between rhetoric and reality, between things "as people were told they ought to be" and
"things as they are".

Camera Eye

One further device is camera eye, a section that presents the author's point of view toward the
subject matter he is discussing the notion that Camera Eye is merely a device to "drain off" the
subjective from the creative process and thus somehow ensure the greater objectivity of thew
remainder of the novel. Or it has been taken to be a device which seeks to demonstrate the ability
of the private consciousness to survive in the modern world. That is why, this device is carried
out by impressionistic writing by use of stream-of-consciousness prose poetry.

The stream-of-consciousness material is not pure interior monologue as in Molly's Ullyses but
consists of the constant intertwining of exterior event and interior reflection, in which "the world
outside" plays an important role in the world consciousness. On the other case, the consciousness
depicted in Camera Eye is not static. The fifty-one episodes form a kind of novel of development
in which the protagonist comes to see his proper role in life and begins to understand it. As a
result, punctuation and capitalization are lacking. The camera eye is also autobiographical for the
most part, and illuminates phases of the author's life.

Camera Eye (3), for example, remembers the author's childish fright at seeing from a train
window the smoke and flame of potteries at night, his mother's telling him that people "work
there all night.... Workingmen and people like that laborers travailleurs greaser", and her account
of shooting of a "greaser" in Mexico.

After the phrase "shouting a greaser", one is quickly confronted with the words "Lover of
Mankind", a perfect example of Dos Passos' ironic juxta-positions. The lover of mankind is the
great Socialist Eugene Debs, the subject of the first of the biographies. Setting up his lines in the
manner of a Whitman poem, Dos Passos tells the story of Deb's desire to create "a world brothers
might own/where everybody would split even", and of his betrayal not only by the bosses but by
his own proletarian followers (FP:30-31).

The prose, or poetry really, first seems out of step with the rest of realistic prose, the harsh
overtones of the writing. But it seems that this section succeeds in expressing the author's
innermost feeling about life and people which he could not do in his narrative proper. It is a
complement, like the newsreel, of the lives of characters in the main narrative.

It occurs fifty-one times through the trilogy, revealing the character, interest, and life history of
the artist. In The 42nd Parallel, one sees him as a child in Tidewater Virginia, traveling in
Europe, at school in England, his "four years under the ether cone" at Harvard, his presence at
protest meetings and cafes in New York on the night of the entrance into the war. In 1919, one
has glimpses of him in the ambulance service in France and Italy, emptying slop-pails in the
medical corps, and finally in Paris, a civilian going to concerts and witnessing riots of working
men in protest against the Versailles Treaty. In The Big Money, one sees him making a
precarious living as a newspaperman, protesting the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti, and raging
against the injustice sentence imposed on striking miners in the South.

Apparently, Dos Passos is very sensitive and fastidious, recalling from the grubby masses and
yet seeing in them the backbone and heart of the America which "the great sweep of his novel
shows being corrupted, debauched, and enslaved by the forces of commercial rapacity" (Walcutt,
1956: 287). Dos Passos sees America through the lens of poetic tradition which impels him to
identify the physical elements of his nation with the dream of greatness and individual
realization.

Here the characteristics attributed to American idealism become increasingly evident in the
notions that "virtue is in the people, waste is in the natural expression of the exploiters, and
wealth is in a long term conspiracy to sabotage labor and destroy the resources" (Walcutt, 1956:
287). It is perhaps not extravagant to identify the perfectly expressive form of this work with the
final division of the great stream of American idealism. The form expresses a chaos. It is a
fractured world pictured in a novel fractured into four parts through four styles from four points
of view. This division of the subject combines with the range and variety of the materials treated
to give the impression that nothing can be done because the problem is too complex to take hold
of. It can be watched in the frantic samples that Dos Passos gives.

It seems difficult to get a sense of comprehensible process that might be analysed and controlled
by the scientific method, because it is a moral deterioration that Dos Passos depicts. Dos Passos
felt that, properly used, the Camera Eye can perceive, record, and communicate in full unattered
power.

Biography

There are the precious biographies of prominent period of time. These are the Representative
Men of the country and day. They more or less sum up the national achievement, official
contribution to modern culture. There are twenty-five of these figures scattered through the three
volumes: seven from the business world, five from politics, four from applied science and
invention, three from the leaders of labor, three from the arts (Isodora Duncan, Rudolph Valen-
tino, Frank Lloyd Wright), two from journalism (the Radical John Reed and the liberal Paxton
Hibben), and one from social science.

These men who are the national contribution to American culture show a fact which explains the
author's interpretation of American life. They are set forth ironically and bitterly, for the
businessmen are greedy and unscrupulous, the entertainers are victims of their public as well as
panders to its lusts and vanities. The liberal politicians are confused by their ambitions and
inadequacies of the idealism, and the efficiency expert (F.W. Taylor) is an inhuman machine
who dies with a stop watch in his hand. If these figures are regarded as the public heroes who are
representative and masterpieces of their kind, the image of greatness which they portray for the
common man-through the jittery glittering newsreel-show that the "storybook democracy", in
Dos Passos's eyes, has not come true.

The proportion from the several categories indicates the author's general estimate of the cultural
effort that literature appears in the form of journalism, not in pure science at all. These sketches
are for the most part masterpieces of incisive and tendencious writing. They seem to give the
author his best chance to indicate his attitudes and bias. The businessmen-Carnegie, the Prince of
Peace; Hearst, Poor Little Rich Boy; Insull, Power Superpower-are most uniformly the object of
his irony. Frederick Winslow Taylor, the American Plan, gives him his chance to suggest the
social wastefulness of American efficiency and the speed up. Minor C. Keith, Emperor of the
Caribbean, gives him his text on American imperialism. His political figures are all liberals-
spurious and stupid (Bryan), playboy (Theodore Roosevelt), doctrinairane mis-guided (Wilson),
sincere and forceful but relatively ineffectual (La Follette), and simply heroic (Debs). The one
serious thinker presented by Dos Passos with a devotion approaching reverence is Thorstein
Veblen, whose analysis of bourgeois mentality and bourgeois economics is the greatest single
influence on the work of Dos Passos's U.S.A.

Taken together, the twenty-five short biographies inserted into the novel are considered as an
attempt to buttress the general historical accuracy of the whole. They have, in fact, a much more
complex function in terms of the novel's overall structure and vision. Each is carefully composed
portrait designed to illuminate one or other of the two faces of American civilization.

With this invention it seems that Dos Passos seeks to find styles that are appropriate to the
various types of material treated. With these devices, as most critics say, Dos Passos has
succeeded in giving readers a collective novel of great scope and value.

Dos Passos, in short, could not limit himself to traditional technique because it employs only
people-individuals-as raw material or pawns, so he interwove the stories centered on people,
which constitute the narrative thread of his books, with literary fragments of an entirely new
form. The rigorously expressive devices are made to serve a particular end, in this case the
presentation of a truth that is massive yet easy to overlook, simple in itself but complex in its
ramifications. Interesting as Dos Passos's various styles are, the openness of his text left readers
bewildered. They can decipher neither relationships among the kinds of writing nor his intention
in composing the trilogy as a whole.

Bibliography

Beach, J.W. 1941. American Fiction 1920-1940. New York: The Macmillan Company.

Geismar, Maxwell. 1956. The Writers in Crisis: The American Novel 1925-1940. Houghton: The
Riverside Press.

Hoffman, J.F. 1951. The Modern Novel in America 1900-1950. Chicago: Henry Regnery
Company.

Horton, R.W. and H.W. Edward. 1974. Background of American Literary Thought. Englewood
Cliffs: Prentice Hall, Inc.

Ludington, Towsend. 1980. John Dos Passos: A Twentieth Century Odyssey. New York:
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Pizer, Donald. 1982. Twentieth Century American Literary Naturalism and Interpretation. New
York: Southern Illinois University Press.

Rideout, Walter B. 1956. The Radical Novel in The United States 1900--1954. New York:
American Century Series. Spiller, Robert E. (ed.). 1974. Literary History of the United States.
New York: Macmillan.

Wahyono, Danu. 1995. "The Working Class' Struggles for a Better Life in Dos Passos' U.S.A.".
Buletin Pasca Sarjana-UGM 8(4A), November.

Walcut, C.C. 1958. American Literary Naturalism: A Divided Stream. Connecticut: Greenwood
Press.

__________________
Danu Wahyono, a lecturer at the Faculty of Letters, 17 Agustus 1945 University, Surabaya.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/sla.html

Second Language Acquisition

and Universal Grammar

Pininta Veronika Silalhi

Krashen's Theory of SLA

In relation to the development of second language acquisition (SLA), Krashen (1982) sets forth
five hypotheses which include: (1) the Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis; (2) the Natural-Order
Hypothesis; (4) the Input hypothesis, and (5) the Affective-Filter Hypothesis.

The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis

This hypothesis claims that adults have two distinct ways of developing their L2 competence, i.e.
through acquisition and learning (Krashen, 1982; 1985; Krashen and Terrell, 1988). This leads to
say that acquisition is a subconscious process similar to the process of acquiring L1 in natural
setting. The initiation of utterances in adult L2 performance occurs according to what the
performer has picked up via natural language use (Krashen, 1978).

Acquisition is characterized by the lack of conscious awareness of linguistic rules which the
native speaker has acquired. Native speakers are generally, when asked unable to state the rules
or to explain the use of certain rules, yet they have the sense for correctness of grammatical
utterances (Krashen, 1982; 1985; 1988). Thus, acquisition is believed to be governed by
universal language strategy available to all language learners (Huda, 1988).

The adults' second way to develop L2 competence is by language learning. Learning is a process
focused on the internalization of linguistic rules, not linguistic content through teaching-learning
and self-study activities. Learners have explicit knowledge of the rules of the language being
learned.

The Natural Order Hypothesis

According to the Natural Order Hypothesis, L2 learners acquire the grammatical structure of the
language in a predictable way. Certain structures might be acquired earlier while others are
acquired later. In other words, it can be said that some structures might be less difficult than the
others, but the order of difficulty does not necessarily correspond with what is deemed to be easy
or difficult (Higashi, 1988). However, it does not mean that every acquirer will acquire
grammatical structure in exactly the same order (Krashen and Terrell, 1988). The order of
acquisition of structural items might be influenced by the quality and the types of input entailed
by the learning environment to a certain extent.

The Monitor Hypothesis

Monitor Hypothesis claims that acquisition and learning have important roles in the production
of sentences or utterances. Learners' production of utterances in L2 is initiated by his acquired
knowledge of the target language. This learnt system or formal knowledge functions as monitor
concerning the output of the acquired system. Learners can use the monitor to make changes in
their utterances only after the uttterances have been generated by the acquired system. The
Monitor can work either before or after the actual production of utterances (Krashen, 1982;
1985; Krashen and Terrell, 1988). This implies that implicit knowledge plays only a limited role
in L2 production.

There are three conditions that must be met in order to utilize Monitor successfully, in the sense
the learnt system can be reached (Krashen, 1982; Krashen and Terrell, 1988). First, the learner
must have sufficient time in order to think about and use conscious rules effectively. Taking time
to think about rules may disrupt the communication. Second, the learner has to focus on forms-
the correctness of forms. He may be more concerned with what he is saying not how he is saying
it. The last the learner has to know the rules. Linguist readily confess that the structure of
language is extremely complex, and that they have only been able to describe a subset, a
fragment of the overall structures of a language, even well-studied language like English. They
presume that even the most intelligent students fail to learn everything presented to them. It
needs to note that learners vary in their use of the Monitor, some being over-users, some being
under-users and some being optimal users. Monitor over-users are those who attempt to monitor
all the time; they constantly check their output on their learnt knowledge in the target language.
This may cause the learners to be hesitant, often self-correct in the middle of utterances, and are
so concerned with grammaticality that they cannot speak with any real fluency. Over-users may
derive from learning without acquisition.

Monitor under-users are second language learners who do not utilize their monitor maximally.
They appear to be not influenced by error correction; they exhaustively rely on the acquired
systems of the second language and do self-correct by using a 'feel' for grammaticality.

The optimal monitor users are the adult second language learners who utilize their monitor when
it is appropriate. The pedagogical goal is to produce optimal users. In ordinary conversation, an
optimal user will not be excessively concerned with applying conscious rules to performance.
However, in writing and in planned speech, he will make any correction which raises the
accuracy of his output. This suggests that adult language learners know how to utilize their
knowledge appropriately and accurately.

The Input Hypothesis

Input Hypothesis claims that learners acquire second language in only one way, that is by
understanding message or receiving comprehensible input that is a bit ahead of their current level
of acquired competence. Learners progress along the natural order by understanding input
containing i+1, where i is their current level of competence and i+1 is the level immediately
following the i. With the aid of context which includes extralinguistic information, knowledge of
the world and previously acquired linguistic competence, the learners can understand input
containing unacquired structures.

According to Krashen (1985, 1987, 1988) Input Hypothesis has two corollaries. First, speaking
as a productive skill is the result of acquisition and not its cause. Speaking emerges on its own
after the acquirer has built up linguistic competence through comprehensible input. Second, if
input is comprehensible and there is plenty of it, the required grammar is automatically supplied.
Therefore, language teachers do not need to deliberately teach the text structure along the natural
order because it will be automatically reviewed in case the learners get an adequate amount of
comprehensible input.

Krashen and Terrell (1988) write that a corollary of the input hypothesis is that input need not be
finely tuned. A finely tuned input is the input which is directed merely at the learners' present
level of acquisition. For example in the language classroom, teachers simplfy their speech which
is natural, and in most cases they solely use structures which are being analyzed at the present
moment.

However, according to Higashi (1988) a roughly tuned input is also recommended. Roughly
tuned input cast a net of structures over the learners' level of acquisition. Some of the structures
will be slightly beyond their current level. However, it does not signify that they cannot
comprehend them. For instance, in daily communication learners normally make use of all kinds
of grammatical structures in organizing and delivering their speech incompatible with their
communicative needs. They may start with the simple present, then answer a question using a
continuous tense, later produce their conversation with a narrative in the simple past and the like.
Higashi (1988) emphasizes that roughly tuned input is more advantageous than finely tuned
input. The language used will sound more natural, learners are exposed to a better kind of input,
and the structures will be previewed, practised, and ultimately reviewed. Therefore, the input
need not be grammatically sequenced. Learners should be exposed to situations involving natural
communication in which the grammatical structures will be constantly provided and
automatically reviewed.

Input Hypothesis also accounts for the existence of silent period from input to production in
second language acquisition. Krashen (1987) and Krashen and Terrell (1988) appraise that the
silent period may be the time during which learners build up competence by means of active
listening through input. Children can talk and show off their competence when they are ready,
that is, after they have acquired a rather inticrated map of how the language works (Spolsky,
1989). Krashen asserts that this idea helps minimize the feeling of uneasiness many learners have
when they are asked to speak in the target language right away before they have built up
adequate competence through comprehensible input. When they are forced to talk early they tend
to fall back on their first language (Krashen, 1987). This leads to say that speaking ability turns
up after sufficient linguistic competence has been developed through listening and
understanding. The acquirers need silent period to internalize the input properly. One of the
problems is that the length of input varies from acquirer to acquirer (Higashi, 1988). Teachers
are very often impatient to let their students remain silent their early weeks of learning.

The Affective Filter Hypothesis

Although comprehensible input is necessary for the language acquisition process, it is not
enough to ensure the success of language acquisition. Learners must be open to the natural
speech he encounters, otherwise the acquisition process will not operate (Quinn, 1979: 88). It
implies that not all input reaches language acquisition device (LAD), it is filtered somewhere
along the way, and only a part of it is acquired or changed into intake. In this case affective filter
is amental block that preludes acquirer from impartially using the comprehensible input they
receive for the language acquisition (Krashen, 1985). In short, comprehensible input plus a low
affective filter are necessary and sufficient conditions for SLA to take place. Acquirers who have
low affective filter are more open to the input, and that the input strikes deeper (Krashen and
Terrell, 1988), and vice versa.

Universal Grammar

Universal grammar as the general human ability to learn and use the language is assumed to be
innate in the learners' mind (Chomsky, 1975:29); Cook, 1988:1: Haegeman, 1991:12; Safir,
1985:2). This is in line with the rationalist view to language learning which concludes that one
cannot really teach language but can only present conditions for the learners to develop it in their
mind. If this is related to second language acquisition research, there are still controversies on
whether or not universal grammar (UG) is available to adult second language learners.

The proponents of the view that UG is no longer available to adult L2 learners argue that
learning mechanism underlying adult L2 acquisition and L1 acquisition are radically different
(e.g. Bley-Vroman, 1989; Clahsen, 1990; Clahsen and Muyshen, 1986; Schachter, 1988; Felix,
1987; see White, 1990 for further discussion). The evidence from Clahsen's study shows that
embedded clauses are absent from the child's grammar at the earliest stage of L1 acquisition,
while in the case of L2 acquisition, embedded clauses are present from the start. Schacter (1988)
in White (1990) concludes that UG principles such as subjacency are no longer available to adult
learners; while Felix (1987) in White (1990) bases his idea on Piagetian's cognitive learning
strategies. He claims that the availability of additional learning strategies to adults blocks the
functioning of UG which yields differences between L1 and L2 acquisition.

In contrast is the view that Universal Grammar is still available to adult L2 learners (e.g. Ritchie,
1978; Flyn, 1987; White, 1988; see White, 1990 for further discussion). The proponents of the
availability of UG argue, if UG is no longer available to adults, and second language acquisition
proceeds by means of general cognitive abilities, as the opponents of this view claim, L2 learners
should not be able to work out abstract properties of the L2 from restricted input data. White
(1990) suggests one form of evidence for the hypothesis that UG operates in L2 acquisition. The
evidence can be seen based on the fact that L2 learners attain the kind of complex and subtle
knowledge which is attributable to UG. For instance, if UG is available, they should
unconsciously know that subjacency applies as soon as they find that WH-Movement is present
in English; they should reject subjacency violation. This evidence can be gained by providing
test case.

The controversies on the availability and unavailability of UG in the adult learners' mind is still
continuing. Although the exact criterion of the rejection of constraint construction has never been
mentioned, this study is intended to find evidence on the availability of UG on the basis of the
learners' rejection on Wh-Movement constraints.

Second Language Learning

It has been stated that learning a language cannot be done through memorizing rules (Wexler et.
al., 1983). In this case, learners are argued to have linguistic creativity. The creative construction
that learners have refers to the subconscious process by which language learners gradually
organize the language they are exposed to. They generate sentences by constructing rules. The
form of the rules is determined by mental structure (language acquisition device) which is
responsible for human language acquisition which is believed to be innate (see Dulay et. al. 1982
for further discussion). The availability of mental structure (language acquisition device) is also
claimed by cognitive-code learning theory which states that learning a language is learning the
rules of the language (Boey, 1975). This is done by testing a series of hypothesis against the
language data until they are able to produce grammatical sentences. The notion of creativity
entails the assumption that internal processors contribute to learning progress which is
independent of the contribution made by the input (Dulay and Burt, 1982). The best evidence for
creative construction is the occurence of systematic errors (Ritchie, 1978:73).

A number of studies show that some learning behaviors are common to children no matter what
language they are learning. For example, Brown (1973) who conducted a study on three children
acquiring English as their first language, found that children learn grammatical morphemes in
relatively the same order. Slobin (1971) reported that children learning Hungarian and Serbo-
Croation first learn grammatical markers that come after nouns and verbs and then followed by
those that come before nouns and verbs. The acquisition of plural inflection by children in a
second language follows the same order as in the first language (Natalico and Natalico, 1971).

The regularities in the above findings lead to infer that language acquisition is an interaction
between the child's innate mental structure and the language environment, called a creative
construction process. It can be inferred that the child approaches the task of language learning
equipped with a set of principles for the analysis of linguistic data. Therefore, language
acquisition is a process in which a series of hypothesis are tested against the data available
(Kiparsky, 1968:194; Tavakolian, 1981:167; Huebner, 1983:12).

In relation to second language acquisition, the process related to creative construction is

acquisition, opposed to learning (Krashen, 1978). Krashen claimed that acquisition occurs
subconsciously in constructing the system of a language, while learning is the result of conscious
study (Krashen, 1984). This view is countered by claiming that there is no clear distinction
between conscious and subconscious process (Bialystock, 1978; McLaughlin, 1982).

Although the process of learning and acquisition is still under debate, a number of studies show
that regardless of the learners' first language background, a second language acquisition order is
similar to a first language acquisition order (Bailey, Madden and Krashen, 1974; Dulay and Burt,
1973, 1974; Larsen-Freeman, 1975).

Second Language Acquisition (SLA) Researches

The SLA research was motivated by the paradigm shift brought about in linguistics and related
fields by Chomsky's theory of grammar (Ellis, 1986:283). It was begun with Chomsky's attack to
Skinner's behaviorist account of language learning as a habit-formation. Chomsky claimed that a
child is born with language-forming capacity (1965:30) which is present in the mind as a system
of principles and parameters (Cook, 1988:57). This leads to say that acquiring a language means
setting all the parameters of Universal Grammar appropriately.

The fixing of parameters is undone without experience or exposure to the language. This
experience is recognized as three types of evidence: positive evidence, direct negative evidence
and indirect negative evidence (Chomsky, 1981:8-9; Cook, 1988:60). Direct negative evidence is
claimed to be not necessary for language acquisition, but indirect negative evidence may be
relevant (Chomsky, 1981:9). The reason for this can be stated as follows: "One does not learn the
grammatical structure of a second language through explanation and instruction beyond the most
elementary rudiments, for the simple reason that no one has explicit knowledge about this
structure to provide explanation and instruction."

The above claim is not followed by a concrete way of how a second language is learned, but
some studies show that regularities were found in the acquisition of a first language (Brown and
Bellugi, 1964) and uniformity of learners; errors are observed (Corder, 1967; George, 1972; and
Richards, 1971) cited in Huebner (1983:12).

Thus, language learning can be claimed to be important based on the fact that it might support
linguistic theory by showing whether or not a principle is present in a certain case investigated.
In line with this idea, Kenji Hakuta (1981:1) says that the game of language acquisition research
can be described as the search for an appropriate level of description of the learner's system of
rules.

Bibliography

Boey, Lim Kiat. 1975. An Introduction to Linguistics for the Language Teacher. Singapore:
Singapore University Press.

Chomsky, Noam. 1965. Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT
Press.

Chomsky, Noam. 1975. Reflections on Language. New York: Pantheon Books.

Cook, V.J. 1988. Chomsky's Universal Grammar: An Introduction. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Dulay, Heidi; and Burt M. and Krashen S.D. 1982. Language Two. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.

Ellis, Rod. 1986. Understanding Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Haegeman, Liliane. 1991. Introduction to Government and Binding Theory. Cambridge,
Massachusetts: Cambridge University Press.

Hakuta, Kenji. 1981. "Some Common Goals for Second and First Language Acquisition". In
Roger W. Andersen, New Dimensions in Second Language Acquisition Research. Massachusetts:
Newbury House Publishers, Inc.

Huebner, Thom. 1983. A Longitudinal Analysis of the Acquisition of English. Ann Arbor: Karma
Publishers, Inc.

Higashi, Aldo M. 1988. "Adapting Krashen's Second Language Acquisition Theory". English
Teaching Forum 4. (October): 41-44.

Huda, Nuril. 1988. "The Merits of Group Work in Foreign Language Teaching". Warta Scientia
45. (May): 18-28.

Krashen, Stephen D. 1978. "Individual Variation in the Use of Monitor". In Willian C. Ritchie
(ed) Second Language Acquisition Research: Issues And Implications. New York: Academic
Press.

Krashen, Stephen D. 1982. Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. New York:
Pergamon Press.

Krashen, Stephen D. 1985. The Input Hypothesis Issues and Implications. New York: Longman
Group Ltd.

Krashen, Stephen D. 1987. Applications of Psycholinguistics Research in the Classroom". In

Michael H. Long and Jack C. Richard (eds) Methodology in TESOL: A Book of Reading. New
York: Newbury House Publishers, Inc.

Krashen, Stephen D. 1988. Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. New
York: Prentice-Hall International Inc.

Krashen, Stephen D. and Tracy D. Terrell. 1988. The Natural Approach. New York: Prentice-
Hall International Inc.

Ritchie, William C. 1978. "The Right Roof Constraint in an Adult-Acquired Language". In

William C. Ritchie, ed., Second Language Acquisition Research: Issues and Implications.
London: Academic Press, Inc. Ltd.

Safir, Kenneth J. 1985. Syntactic Chains. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Scahchter, Jacquelin and Virginia Yip. 1991. "Grammaticality Judgements: Why does anyone
object to subject extraction". In Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 12( 4): 379-392.

Tavakolian, Susan L. 1981. "The Conjoined-Clause Analysis of Relative Clauses". In Susan L.

Tavakolian (Ed.), Language Acquisition and Linguistic Theory. Massachusetts: The MIT Press.

Wexler, Kenneth and Cullicover P.W. 1983. Formal Principles of Language Acquisition.
Massachusetts: The MIT Press.

White, Lydia. 1990. "Second Language Acquisition and Universal Grammar". In Lydia White,
Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 121-134.

________________________
Pininta Veronika Silalahi, lecturer at the Faculty of Letters, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945
Surabaya.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/hermen.html

FSU
in the Limelight
Vol. 8, No. 1
Jul 2001

Hermeneutika dan Interpretasi Sastra

Putera Manuaba
Pengantar

Kajian sastra, apa pun bentuknya, berkaitan dengan suatu aktivitas yakni interpretasi
(penafsiran). Kegiatan apresiasi sastra dan kritik sastra, pada awal dan akhirnya, bersangkutpaut
dengan karya sastra yang harus diinterpreatasi dan dimaknai. Semua kegiatan kajian sastra--
terutama dalam prosesnya--pasti melibatkan peranan konsep hermeneutika. Oleh karena itu,
hermeneutika menjadi hal yang prinsip dan tidak mungkin diabaikan. Atas dasar itulah
hermeneutika perlu diperbincangkan secara komprehensif guna memperleh pemahaman yang
memadai.

Dalam hubungan ini, mula-mula perlu disadari bahwa interpretasi dan pemaknaan tidak
diarahkan pada suatu proses yang hanya menyentuh permukaan karya sastra, tetapi yang mampu
"menembus kedalaman makna" yang terkandung di dalamnya. Untuk itu, interpreter (si penafsir)
mesti memiliki wawasan bahasa, sastra, dan budaya yang cukup luas dan mendalam.

Berhasil-tidaknya interpreter untuk mencapai taraf interpretasi yang optimal, sangat bergantung
pada kecermatan dan ketajaman interpreter itu sendiri. Selain itu, tentu saja dibutuhkan metode
pemahaman yang memadai; metode pemahaman yang mendukung merupakan satu syarat yang
harus dimiliki interpreter. Dari beberapa alternatif yang ditawarkan para ahli sastra dalam
memahami karya sastra, metode pemahaman hermeneutika dapat dipandang sebagai metode
yang paling memadai.

Pada mulanya hermeneutika adalah penafsiran terhadap kitab-kitab suci. Namun, dalam kurun
berikutnya, lingkupnya berkembang dan mencakup masalah penafsiran secara menyeluruh
(Eagleton, 1983: 66). Dalam perkembangan hermeneutika, berbagai pandangan terutama datang
dari para filsuf yang menaruh perhatian pada soal hermeneutika. Ada beberapa tokoh yang dapat
disebutkan di sini, di antaranya: F.D.E. Schleirmacher, Wilhelm Dilthey, Martin Heidegger,
Husserl, Emilio Betti, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Jurgen Habermas, Paul Ricoeur, dan Jacques
Derrida. Pada prinsipnya, di antara mereka ada beberapa kesamaan pemikiran yang dimiliki,
terutama dalam hal bagimana hermeneutika jika dikaitkan dengan studi sastra khususnya dan
ilmu-ilmu humaniora dan sosial pada umumnya. Di samping itu, terdapat pula perbedaan dalam
cara pandang dan aplikasinya. Terjadinya perbedaan tersebut pada dasarnya karena mereka
menitik-beratkan pada hal yang berbeda atau beranjak dari titik tolak yang berbeda.

Dalam konteks itulah berbagai pemikiran dan cara aplikasi hermeneutika tersebut perlu dibahas
secara khusus. Dalam hal ini ada berbagai pemikiran dari empat pemikir yang akan digunakan
untuk mengkajinya. Beberapa pemikir termaksud adalah Andre Lefevere (1977), Terry Eagleton
(1983), M.J. Valdes (1987), dan G.B. Madison (1988).

Bertolak dari empat pemikir itulah pembahasan ini akan berupaya mengetengahkan kembali
hasil pemahaman secara komprehensif tentang hermeneutika. Di samping itu, juga diupayakan
menjelaskan pembahasan apakah hermeneutika dalam interpretasi sastra sebagai konsep
metodologis atau ontologis.

Konsep Dasar Kemunculan Hermeneutika

Hermeneutika sebenarnya merupakan topik lama, namun kini muncul kembali sebagai sesuatu
yang baru dan menarik, apalagi dengan berkembangnya ilmu-ilmu sosial dan humaniora. Sastra
sebagai bagian ilmu humaniora merupakan salah satu bidang yang sangat membutuhkan konsep
hermeneutika ini. Dengan demikian, hermeneutika seakan-akan bangkit kembali dari masa lalu
dan dianggap penting.

Untuk memahami substansi hermeneutika, sebenarnya dapat dikembalikan kepada sejarah

filsafat dan teologi, karena hermeneutika tampak dikembangkan dalam kedua disiplin tersebut.
Selanjutnya, perkembangan pemikiran tentang hermeneutika secara lambat laun merebak ke
berbagai area disiplin lainnya, termasuk juga pada disiplin sastra.

Apabila ditelusuri perihal sejarah perkembangan hermeneutika, khususnya hermeneutika teks-

teks, pada awalnya tampak dalam sejarah teologi, dan lebih umum lagi dalam sejarah permikiran
teologis Yudio-Krisitiani. Lefevere (1977: 46) menyebutnya sebagai sumber-sumber asli, yakni
yang bersandarkan pada penafsiran dan khotbah Bibel agama Protestan (bdk. Eagleton, 1983:
66). Secara lebih umum, hermeneutika di masa lampau memiliki arti sebagai sejumlah pedoman
untuk pemahaman teks-teks yang bersifat otoritatif, seperti dogma dan kitab suci. Dalam konteks
ini, dapatlah diungkapkan bahwa herme-neutika tidak lain adalah menafsirkan berdasarkan
pemahaman yang sangat mendalam. Dengan perkataan lain, menggunakan sesuatu yang "gelap"
ke sesuatu yang "terang".

Perlu diketahui, kemunculan hermeneutika dalam ilmu-ilmu sosial merupakan perkembangan

yang menarik. Berbagai anggapan muncul mewarnai pertanyaan mengapa hermeneutika
berkembang dalam ilmu-ilmu sosial. Sehubungan dengan itu, Eagleton (1983: 60) melihat bahwa
kemunculannya itu lebih dilatarbelakangi oleh adanya krisis ideologi di Eropa, yang pada masa
itu ilmu semakin menjadi positivisme yang mandul karena subjektivisme yang sulit
dipertahankan. Konsekuensinya, muncullah beberapa tokoh yang mencoba menawarkan
alternatif, di antaranya adalah Husserl. Ia menolah sikap yang terlalu ilmiah (Eagleton, 1983: 60-
61).

Sehubungan dengan itu, Madison (1988: 40) juga mengatakan bahwa masalah status
epistemologi ilmu-ilmu sosial atau kemanusiaan menjadi bahan pembahasan secara terus-
menerus selama beberapa dekade. Namun, yang paling prinsip diungkapkannya di sini adalah
bagaimana sumbangan Husserl tentang "penjelasan" dan "pemahaman" dalam hermeneutika.
Dua konsep ini kemudian dipertegas oleh M.J. Valdes (1987: 56-57) dengan mengemukakan
teori relasional tentang sastra dan menolak validitas dari semua klaim terhadap berbagai
interpretasi yang definitif. Mereka memandang pentingnya subjek dalam posisi respons,
sehingga karya sastra klasik tidak diinterpreasi secara definitif melainkan terus-menerus. Karya-
karya klasik seperti karya Aristoteles, Dante, Shakespeare, Goethe, Keats, Proust, dan
sebagainya, tidak cukup diinterpretasi sekali, tetapi perlu diinterpretasi secara berkesinambungan
dari generasi ke generasi.,p> Hermeneutika dikatakan Dilthey diterapkan pada objek
geisteswissen-schaften (ilmu-ilmu budaya), yang menganjurkan metode khusus yaitu
pemahaman (verstehen)(1). Perlu dikemukakan bahwa konsep "memahami" bukanlah
menjelaskan secara kausal, tetapi lebih pada membawa diri sendiri ke dalam suatu pengalaman
hidup yang jauh, sebagaimana pengalamaan pengobjektifan diri dalam dokumen, teks (kenangan
tertulis), dan tapak-tapak kehidupan batin yang lain, serta pandangan-pandangan dunia
(welstancauunganen) (Madison, 1988: 41). Dalam dunia kehidupan sosial-budaya, para pelaku
tidak bertindak menurut pola hubungan subjek-objek, tetapi berbicara dalam language games
(permainan bahasa) yang melibatkan unsur kognitif, emotif, dan visional manusia. Keseluruhan
unsur tersebut bertindak dalam kerangka tindakan komunikatif, yaitu tindakan untuk mencapai
pemahaman yang timbal balik.

Pandangan Lefevere tentang Hermeneutika dalam Interpretasi Sastra

Lefevere (1977: 46-47) memandang bahwa ada tiga varian hermeneutika yang pokok. Dari
ketiga varian tersebut, tidak satu pun dapat melepaskan diri sepenuhnya dari sumber asalnya,
yakni penafsiran terhadap kitab-kitab suci. Konsekuensinya, gaya tulisan menjadi berbelit-belit
dan hampir tidak pernah jelas, dan ini menjadi ciri khas berbagai tulisan hermeneutika.
Permainan kata yang bertele-tele dan ungkapan khusus turut membuat hermeneutika
membosankan. Kenyataan ini dapat mengaburkan substansi hermeneutika yang sesungguhnya
sangat bernilai.

Jika orang menyadari bahwa tulisan yang hermeneutis kebanyakan dibuat dalam gaya seperti itu,
orang akan sedikit memahami mengapa dialog nyata antar para penganut aliran hermeneutika
dan positivis logis begitu sulit untuk diprakarsai. Kendati demikian, dalam kehidupan akademik
saat ini, tentunya asumsi-sumsi itu tidak relevan dengan perma-inan kata, yang di dalamnya kita
turut ambil bagian.

Ketiga varian yang dimaksudkan Lefevere adalah: pertama, hermeneutika tradisional (romantik);
kedua, hermeneutika dialektik; dan ketiga, hermeneutika ontologis. Perlu dikemukakan, di satu
sisi, ketiga varian itu sepakat dengan pendefinisian sastra sebagai objektivisasi jiwa manusia,
yang pada dasarnya bisa diamati, dijelaskan, dan dipahami (verstehen). Di sisi lain, ketiga varian
hermeneutika itu berbeda dalam menginterpretasi verstehen-nya. Untuk itu, selanjutnya perlu
dijelaskan bagaimana ketiga varian hermeneutika itu dalam kerangka kajian sastra, mulai
hermeneutika tradisional, dialektik, hingga ontologis.

Hermeneutika Tradisional

Refleksi kritis mengenai hermeneutika mula-mula dirintis oleh Friedrich Schleiermacher,

kemudian dilanjutkan Wilhelm Dilthey. Hermeneutika yang mereka kembangkan kemudian
dikenal dengan "hermeneutika tradisional" atau "romantik". Mereka berpandangan, proses
versetehen mental melalui suatu pemikiran yang aktif, merespons pesan dari pikiran yang lain
dengan bentuk-bentuk yang berisikan makna tertentu (Lefevere, 1997: 47). Pada konteks ini
dapat diketahui bahwa dalam menafsirkan teks, Schleiermacher lebih menekankan pada
"pemahaman pengalaman pengarang" atau bersifat psikologis, sedangkan Dilthey menekankan
pada "ekspresi kehidupan batin" atau makna peristiwa-peristiwa sejarah. Apabila dicermati,
keduanya dapat dikatakan memahami hermeneutika sebagai penafsiran reproduktif. Namun,
pandangan mereka ini diragukan oleh Lefevere (1977: 47) karena dipandang sangat sulit
dimengerti bagaimana proses ini dapat diuji secara inter-subjektif. Keraguannya ini agaknya
didukung oleh pandangan Valdes (1987: 58) yang menganggap proses seperti itu serupa dengan
teori histori yang didasarkan pada penjelasan teks menurut konteks pada waktu teks tersebut
disusun dengan tujuan mendapatkan pemahaman yang definitif.

Jika diapresisasi secara lebih jauh, Lefevere tampak juga ingin menyatakan adanya cara-cara
pemahaman yang berbeda pada ilmu-ilmu alam (naturwissen schaften). Baginya, ilmu-ilmu alam
lebih mendekati objeknya dalam erklaren (2), dan ilmu-ilmu sosial serta humanistis
(geisteswissenschaften) lebih mendekati objeknya dengan versetehen. Selain itu, perlu dikatakan
bahwa cara kerja ilmu-ilmu alam lebih banyak menggunakan positivisme logis dan kurang
menggunakan hermeneutika. Cara semacam itu tentu saja sangat sulit diterapkan pada ilmu-ilmu
sosial dan humaniora (1977: 48), apalagi secara spesifik dalam karya sastra karena menurut
Eagleton (1983) "dunia" karya sastra bukanlah suatu kenyataan yang objektif, tetapi Lebenswelt
(bahasa Jerman), yakni kenyataan seperti yang sebenarnya tersusun dan dialami oleh seorang
subjek.

Menurut Lefevere, varian hermeneutika tradisional ini juga menganut pemahaman yang salah
tentang penciptaan. Varian ini agaknya cenderung mengabaikan kenyataan bahwa antara
pengamat dan penafsir (pembaca) tidak akan terjadi penafsiran yang sama karena pengalaman
atau latar belakang masing-masing tidak pernah sama. Dengan demikian, teranglah di sini bahwa
varian ini tidak mempertimbangkan audience (pembacanya). Peran subjek pembaca sebagai
pemberi respon dan makna diabaikan (1977: 47-48); Eagleton, 1983: 59; Valdes, 1987: 57;
Madison, 1988: 41). Yang jelas, varian ini terlalu berasumsi bahwa semua pembaca memiliki
pengetahuan dan penafsiran yang sama terhadap apa yang diungkapkan.
Kelemaham yang ditampakkan dalam varian hermeneutika tradisional, sebagaimana
diungkapkan oleh Lefevere, karena berpegang pada cara berpikir kaum positivis yang
menganggap hermeneutika (khususnya versetehen) hanya "menghidupkan kembali"
(mereproduksi). Sejalan dengan Betti, Lefevere membenarkan bahwa interpretasi tidak mungkin
identik dengan penghidupan kembali, melainkan identik dengan rekonstruksi struktur-struktur
yang sudah objektif, dan perbedaan interpretasi merupakan suatu hal yang dapat terjadi.
Maksudnya, penafsir dapat membawa aktualitas kehidupannya sendiri secara intim menurut
pesan yang dmunculkan oleh objek tersebut kepadanya (Lefevere, 1977: 49). Hal ini menurut
Lefevere merupakan soal penting yang harus dilakukan dalam penafsiran teks sastra.

Hermeneutika Dialektik

Varian hermeneutika dialektik ini sebenarnya dirumuskan oleh Karl Otto Apel. Ia
mendefinisikan versetehen tingkah laku manusia sebagai suatu yang dipertentangkan dengan
penjelasan berbagai kejadian alam. Apel mengatakan bahwa interpretasi tingkah laku harus dapat
dipahami dan diverifikasi secara intersubjektif dalam konteks kehidupan yang merupakan
permainan bahasa (Lefevere, 1977: 49).

Sehubungan dengan hal itu, lebih jauh Lefevere (1977: 49) menilai bahwa secara keseluruhan
hermeneutika dialektik yang dirumuskan Apel sebenarnya cenderung mengintegrasikan berbagai
komponen yang tidak berhubungan dengan hermeneutika itu sendiri secara tradisional. Apel
tampakanya mencoba memadukan antara penjelasan (erklaren) dan pemahaman (verstehen);
keduanya harus saling mengimplikasikan dan melengkapi satu sama lain. Ia menyatakan bahwa
tidak seorang pun dapat memahami sesuatu (verstehen) tanpa pengetahuan faktual secara
potensial.

Dengan demikian, pandangan Apel tersebut sebenarnya mengandung dualitas. Di satu sisi, tidak
ada ilmuwan alam yang dapat menjelaskan sesuatu secara potensial. Di sisi lain, sekaligus tidak
ada ilmuwan alam yang dapat menjelaskan sesuatu secara potensial tanpa pemahaman
intersubjektif. Dalam hal ini teranglah bahwa "penjelasan" dan pemahaman" dibutuhkan, baik
pada ilmu-ilmu sosial dan kemanusiaan (geistewissenschaften) maupun ilmu-ilmu alam
(naturwissen-shacften) (Lefevere, 1977: 49). Pandangan Apel itu dapat dinilai sebagai pikiran
modern, karena dia mencoa mempertemukan kedua kutub tersebut sebagaimana yang juga diakui
oleh Madison (1988: 40). Secara umum, soal ini dipertimbangkan sebagai masalah dalam filsafat
ilmu (filsafat pengetahuan). Masalah inilah yang banyak dikupas secara panjang lebar oleh
Madison. Dia mengungkapkan bagaimana pandangan Apel dan sumbangan Husserl. Pada
intinya, Madison menyatakan bahwa penjelasan bukanlah sesuatu yang berlawanan dengan
pemahaman (1988: 47-48). Selanjutnya, dalam sudut pandang hermeneutika, Madison
mengatakan bahwa penjelasan bukanlah suatu yang secara murni atau semata-mata berlawanan
dengan pemahaman, dan bukan pula merupakan suatu yang bisa menggantikan pemahaman
secara keseluruhan. Penjelasan lebih merupakan tatanan penting dan sah dalam pemahaman yang
tujuan akhirnya adalah pemahaman diri (Madison, 1988: 49).

Inti varian hermeneutika dialektik tersebut-yang tidak mempertentangkan "penjelasan" dengan

"pemahaman"-sejalan dengan pandangan Valdes. Dalam pandangannya, bagaimana ia
menganggap penting "penjelasan" dan "pemahaman" untuk menjelaskan prinsip interpretasi
dalam beberapa teori utamanya, yakni teori historis, formalis, hermeneutika filosofis, dan
poststrukturalis atau dekonstruksi (1987: 57-59).

Dalam varian hermeneutika dialektik ini, definisi verstehen yang dikemukakan Apel
mengimplikasikan pengertian bahwa tidak ada yang tidak dapat dilakukan ilmuwan. Jika
ilmuwan mencoba memahami fenomena tertentu, ia akan menghubungkan dengan latar belakang
aturan-atuaran yang diverifikasi secara intersubjektif sebagaimana yang dikodifikasi pada
hukum-hukum dan teori-teori. Pengalaman laboratorium pun turut mempengaruhi ilmuwan
dalam memahami apa saja yang tengah ditelitinya. Dengan demikian, jelaslah bahwa verstehen
pada dasarnya berfungsi untuk memahami objek kajiannya.

Dalam hubungan itu, Gadamer (Lefevere, 1977: 50) mengatakan bahwa semua yang mencirikan
situasi penetapan dan pemahaman dalam suatu percakapan memerlukan hermeneutika. Begitu
pun ketika dilakukan pemahaman terhadap teks. Namun, dalam hal ini menarik jika mencermati
pandangan Lefevere. Ia menyatakan bahwa suatu pemahaman yang hanya berdasar pada analogi-
analogi dan metafor-metafor dapat menimbulkan kesenjangan. Atas dasar itulah Lefevere
berpandangan bahwa verstehen tidak dapat dipakai sebagai metode untuk mendekati sastra
secara tuntas. Pandangannya ini dapat dimaklumi, mengingat dalam memahami sastra,
pemahaman tidak dapat dilakukan hanya dengan berpijak pada teks semata, tetapi seharusnya
juga konteks dan subjek penganalisisnya. Dengan demikian, dapat dikatakan bahwa realitas teks
adalah realitas yang sangat kompleks yang tidak cukup dipahami dalam dirinya sendiri.
Hermeneutika Ontologis

Varian yang terakhir adalah hermeneutika ontologis. Aliran hermeneutika ini digagas oleh Hans-
Georg Gadamer. Dalam mengemukakan deskripsinya, ia bertolak dari pemikiran filosof Martin
Heidegger. Sebagai penulis kontemporer dalam bidang hermeneutika yang sangat terkemuka,
Gadamer tidak lagi memandang konsep verstehen sebagai kosep metodologis, melainkan
memandang verstehen sebagai pemahaman yang mengarah pada tingkat ontologis.

Verstehen, menurut Gadamer, merupakan jalan keberadaan kehidupan manusia itu sendiri yang
asli. Varian hermeneutika ini menganggap dirinya bebas dari hambatan-hambatan konsep ilmiah
yang bersifar ontologis (Lefevere, 1977: 50). Dalam hal ini, agaknya Gadamer menolak konsep
hemeneutika sebagi metode. Kendatipun menurutnya hermeneutika adalah pemahaman, dia tidak
menyatakan bahwa pemahaman itu bersifat metodis.

Dalam sudut pandang Gadamer, masalah hermeneutika merupakan ma-salah aplikasi yang
berhenti pada semua verstehen. Kendatipun memperlihatkan kemajuan pandang yang luar biasa,
pandangan Gadamer juga masih tidak lepas dari kritikan yang diajukan Lefevere. Lefevere
(1977: 50) menganggap bahwa varian ketiga ini masih mencampuradukkan kritik dengan
interpretasi. Dalam hal ini Lefevere sepertinya menganggap perlu menentukan batas kritik
dengan interpretasi. Bagi Lefevere, dalam varian ini tampak Gadamer lebih mementingkan
"rekreasi". Maksudnya, ia tidak memandang proses pemahaman makna terhadap teks itu sebagai
jalan "reproduktif", tetapi sebagai jalan "produktif".

Berbeda halnya dengan apresiasi Lefevere, Valdes justru melihat bahwa apa yang dikembangkan
Gadamer dalam Hermenetika filosofis itu dianggap menjadi basis kritik sastra yang lebih
memuaskan. Dialektika dari hermeneutika filosofis dipandang merupakan inti yang menyatukan
semua kelompok teori yang dilontarkan oleh para pemikir yang berbeda-beda, seperti Gadamer,
Habermas, dan Ricoeur (1987: 59)

Konsep hermeneutika ontologis Gadamer, yang bertitik tolak pada teks, didukung sepenuhnya
dalam kata-kata Ricoeur. Ia menyatakan bahwa teks merupakan sesuatu yang bernilai, jauh
melebihi sebuah kasus tertentu dari komunikasi intersubjektif. Teks memainkan sebuah
karakteristik yang fundamental dari satu-satunya historisitas pengalaman manusia, yakni teks
merupakan komunikasi dalam dan melalui jarak (Valdes, 1987: 61-62; Madison, 1988: 45). Oleh
karena itu, tampak di sini Gadamer mengikuti filsafat Heidegger yang berusaha mencari
hubungan dengan fenomena. Dengan demikian, dalam varian ini Gadamer mengembalikan peran
subjek pembaca selaku pemberi makna-yang hal ini dinaifkan dalam hermeneutika tradisional.

Hermeneutika dan Interpretasi Sastra

Hermeneutika yang berkembang dalam interpretasi sastra sangat berkait dengan perkembangan
pemikiran hermeneutika, terutama dalam sejarah filsafat dan teologi karena pemikiran
hermeneutika mula-mula muncul dalam dua bidang tersebut, sebagaimana dikemukakan. Untuk
memahami hermeneutika dalam interpretasi sastra, memang diperlukan pemahaman sejarah
hermeneutika, terutama megenai tiga varian hermeneutika seperti yang dikemukakan Lefevere
(hermeneutika tradisional, dialektik, dan ontologis). Yang jelas, dengan pemahaman tiga varian
hermeneutika tersebut, niscaya akan lebih memungkinkan adanya pemahaman yang memadai
tentang hermeneutika dalam sastra.

Selama ini, hermeneutika merupakan salah satu model pamahaman yang paling representatif
dalam studi sastra, karena hakikat studi sastra itu sendiri sebenarnya tidak dari interpretasi teks
sastra berdasar pemahaman yang mendalam. Namun, sebagaimana dikatakan Lefevere (1977:
51), hermeneutika tidak mempunyai status khusus dan bukan merupakan model pemahaman
yang secara khusus begitu saja diterapkan dalam sastra, karena sastra merupakan objektivitas
jiwa manusia. Beranjak dari apa yang dikatakan Lefevere jelaslah bahwa sesungguhnya
diperlukan pengkhususan jika hermeneutika mau diterapkan dalam sastra, mengingat objek studi
sastra itu adalah karya estetik.

Dalam perkembangan teoriteori sastra kontemporer juga terlihat bahwa ada kecenderungan yang
kuat untuk meletakkan pentingnya peran subjek pembaca (audience) dalam menginterpretasi
makna teks. Kecenderungan itu sangat kuat tampak pada hermeneutika ontologis yang
dikembangkan oleh Gadamer, yang pemahamannya didasarkan pada basis filsafat fenomenologi
Heidegger, Valdes (1987: 59-63) menyebut hal ini sebagai hermeneutika fenomenologi, dan
terkait dengan nama-nama tokoh Heidegger, Gadamer, dan Ricoeur.

Untuk itu, jika kita menerima hermeneutika sebagai sebuah teori interpretasi reflektif,
hermenetuika fenomenologis merupakan sebuah teori interpretasi reflektif yang didasarkan pada
perkiraan filosofis fenomenologis. Dasar dari hermeneutika fenomenologis adalah
mempertanyakan hubungan subjek-objek dan dari pertanyaan inilah dapat diamati bahwa ide dari
objektivitas perkiraan merupakan sebuah hubungan yang mencakup objek yang tersembunyi.
Hubungan ini bersifat mendasar dan fundamental (being-in-the-world) (Eagleton, 1983: 59-60).

Dalam hubungan tersebut, perlu pula disebut seorang tokoh bernama Paul Rocoeur. Ia dalah
seorang tokoh setelah Gadamer yang dalam perkembangan mutakhir banyak mengembangkan
hermeneutika dalam bidang sastra dan meneruskan pemikiran filosofi fenomenologis.
Menariknya, dalam hermeneutika fenomenologis, ia menyatakan bahwa setiap pertanyaan yang
dipertanyakan yang berkenaan dengan teks yang akan diinterpretasi adalah sebuah pertanyaan
tentang arti dan makna teks (Valdes, 1987: 60). Arti dan makna teks itu diperoleh dari upaya
pencarian dalam teks berdasarkan bentuk, sejarah, pengalaman membaca, dan self-reflection dari
pelaku interpretasi.

Jika dicermati, pernyataan Ricoeur tersebut tampak mengarah pada suatu pandangan bahwa
interpretasi itu pada dasrnya untuk mengeksplikasi jenis being-in-the-world (Dasein) yang
terungkap dalam dan melalui teks. Ia juga menegaskan bahwa pemahaman yang paling baik akan
terjadi manakala interpreter berdiri pada self-understanding. Bagi Ricoeur, membaca sastra
melibatkan pembaca dalam aktivitas refigurasi dunia, dan sebagai konsekuensi dari aktivitas ini,
berbagai pertanyaan moral, filosofis, dan estetis tentang dunia tindakan menjadi pertanyaan yang
harus dijawab (Valdes, 1987: 64).

Selain itu, ada satu hal prinsip lagi yang perlu diperhatikan sehubungan dengan pemahaman-
khususnya dalam pemahaman terhadap teks sastra-adalah gagasan "lingkaran hermeneutika"
yang dicetuskan oleh Dilthey dan yang diterima oleh Gadamer. Dalam studi sastra, gerak
melingkar dari pemahaman ini amat penting karena gagasan ini menganggap bahwa untuk
memahami objek dibatasi oleh konteks-konteks. Misalnya, untuk memahami bagian-bagian
harus dalam konteks keseluruhan dan sebaliknya, dalam memahami keseluruhan harus
memahami bagian per bagian. Dengan demikian, pemahaman ini berbentuk lingkaran. Dengan
perkataan lain, untuk memahami suatu objek, pembaca harus memiliki suatu pra-paham,
kemudian pra-paham itu perlu disadari lebih lanjut lewat makna objek yang diberikan. Pra-
paham yang dimiliki untuk memahami objek tersebut bukanlah suatu penjelasan, melainkan
suatu syarat bagi kemungkinan pemahaman. Lingkaran pemahaman ini merupakan "lingkaran
produktif." Maksudnya, pemahaman yang dicapai pada masa kini, di masa depan akan menjadi
pra-paham baru pada taraf yang lebih tinggi karena adanya pengayaan proses kognitif. Oleh
karena itulah penafsiran terhadap teks dalam studi sastra pada prinsipnya terjadi dalam prinsip
yang berkesinambungan.

Penutup

Keberadaan konsep hermeneutika sangat signifikan dalam interpretasi sastra. Dikatakan

demikian karena hermeneutika memberikan model pemahaman -dan cara pemaknaan-yang
sangat mendalam dan memacu interpreter pada pemahaman yang substansial.

Pandangan Lefevere bahwa hermeneutika tidak dapat dipakai sebagai dasar ilmiah studi sastra
atau sebagai metode pemahaman teks sastra yang utuh, sebenarnya cukup beralasan karena
dalam kenyataannya sastra membutuhkan pemahaman yang kompleks-yang berkaitan dengan
teks, konteks, dan kualitas pembaca (interpreter).

Tiga varian hermeneutika (tradisional, dialektik, dan ontologis), masing-masing memiliki

kelemahan. Dalam hubungan ini, sebetulnya yang terpenting bagi interpreter adalah bagaimana
hermeneutika itu dapat diterapkan secara kritis agar tidak ketinggalan zaman. Dalam konteks ini,
barangkali interpreter perlu menyadari bahwa sebuah pemahaman dan interpretasi teks pada
dasarnya bersifat dinamis.

Sebuah interpretasi dalam teks sastra bukanlah merupakan interpretasi yang bersifat definitif,
melainkan perlu dilakukan terus-menerus, karena interpretasi terhadap teks itu sebenarnya tidak
pernah tuntas dan selesai. Dengan demikian, setiap teks sastra senantiasa terbuka untuk
diinterpretasi terus-menerus. Proses pemahaman dan interpretasi teks bukanlah merupakan suatu
upaya menghidupkan kembali atau reproduksi, melainkan upaya rekreatif dan produktif.
Konsekuensinya, maka peran subjek sangat menentukan dalam interpretasi teks sebagai pemberi
makna. Oleh karena itu, kiranya penting menyadari bahwa interpreter harus dapat membawa
aktualitas kehidupannya sendiri secara intim menurut pesan yang dimunculkan oleh objek
tersebut kepadanya.

Secara keseluruhan, dapatlah dinyatakan bahwa hermeneutika memang dapat diterapkan dalam
interpretasi sastra. Dalam interpretasi sastra, hermeneutika tidak lagi hanya diletakkan dalam
kerangka metodologis, tetapi ia sudah mengikuti pemikiran hermeneutika mutakhir yang berada
dalam kerangka ontologis.
Catatan

1. Istilah verstehen diajukan oleh Wilhelm Dilthey sebagai metode yang digunakan untuk
mendekati produk-produk budaya, yakni menemukan dan memahami makna di dalamnya
yang dapat dilakukan dengan menempatkannya dalam konteks.

2. Istilah erklaren ini mula-mula juga diajukan oleh Wilhelm Dilthey sebagai metode yang
digunakan untuk mendekati objek ilmu-ilmu alam, yakni menjelaskan suatu kejadian
menurut penyebabnya.

Daftar Pustaka

Eagleton, T. 1983. Literary Theory: An Introduction. London: Basil Blackwell.

Lefevere, A. 1977. Literary Knowledge: A Polemical and Programmatic Essay on Its Nature,
Growth, Relevance and Transmition. Amsterdam: Van Gorcum, Assen.

Madison, G.B. 1988. The Hermeneutics of Postmodernity: Figures and Themes. Bloomington
and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.

Valdes, M.J. 1987. Phenomenological Hermeneutical Hermeneutics and the Study of Literature.
London: University of Toronto Press.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/baca.html

FSU
in the Limelight
Vol. 8, No. 1
Jul 2001

Latar Belakang Kesulitan Membaca

Buku Teks Berbahasa Inggris
bagi Mahasiswa Bukan Jurusan Bahasa Inggris

Husein Shahab
Reading enables a person to be more critical. He can at any time stop and reflect upon what has
been or is being read. This encourages more rigorous thinking about a given subject (Bond dan
Thinker).

Pendahuluan

Kiranya tidak perlu diperdebatkan lagi bahwa sejauh ini pengajaran Bahasa Inggris di sekolah
menengah pertama dan atas belum--kalau tidak hendak dikatakan tidak--mencapai sasaran yang
diharapkan. Salah satu indikator yang paling jelas adalah kendala yang dihadapi oleh para
mahasiswa bukan jurusan bahasa Inggris dalam membaca buku teks di berbagai macam jurusan
yang sedang mereka tekuni.

Penulis melihat adanya beberapa latar belakang penting yang seringkali menjadi penyebab
timbulnya kesulitan-kesulitan ini. Tulisan ini akan mencoba mengemukakan beberapa latar
belakang dimaksud dengan harapan bahwa pada gilirannya nanti akan dapat ditemukan solusi
atau jalan keluar, yang setidaknya dapat mengurangi kesulitan para mahasiswa di dalam
membaca berbagai macam buku berbahasa Inggris yang berkaitan dengan aneka disiplin ilmu
yang berbeda-beda. Untuk selanjutnya dalam tulisan ini, yang dimaksudkan dengan mahasiswa
adalah mereka yang menempuh pendidikan pada jurusan-jurusan selain bahasa Inggris.

Mencari solusi terhadap kesulitan membaca ini penting sekali artinya. Kita yakin bahwa
membaca adalah kegiatan yang tak dapat dipisahkan dalam kehidupan mahasiswa. Semakin
besar kemampuan baca seorang mahasiswa, akan semakin luas wawasan, kretivitas, produktivias
dan integritas keilmuan yang dimilikinya.

Latar Belakang Kesulitan Membaca

Mahasiswa sebagai Input yang Berbeda

Mahasiswa merupakan salah satu faktor yang teramat penting. Kita menyadari bahwa mahasiswa
yang memasuki jenjang perguruan tinggi berasal dari latar belakang yang sangat berbeda.
Sebagai salah satu unsur utama dalam pengajaran, mahasiswa menapakkan kaki di perguruan
tinggi dengan kemampuan bahasa Inggris yang sangat berbeda satu dengan yang lain. Mereka
yang menempuh pendidikan di SMU yang dilengkapi dengan sarana, fasilitas, SDM serta metode
yang memadai cenderung mempunyai penguasaan baca yang lebih baik.

Motivasi yang melatarbelakangi mahasiswa ini pun tampaknya beragam. Ada yang ketika belajar
bahasa Inggris di SMU menyadari sungguh-sungguh eratnya keterkaitan penguasaan baca
dengan pengembangan ilmu. Tidak jarang pula mereka yang melihat bahasa Inggris sebagai mata
ajaran yang sulit dan cenderung kemudian menjauhinya. Ada pula kelompok yang kurang arif
untuk menyadari bahwa sekalipun mereka akan menekuni disiplin ilmu di luar bahasa Inggris
mereka tidak dapat melepaskan diri dari kebutuhan membaca buku-buku berbahasa Inggris
dalam rangka meningkatkan dan mengembangkan ilmu ini. Yang sangat sulit dipahami adalah
pandangan bahwa bahasa Inggris bukan bahasa kita dan menyelesaikan studi di perguruan tinggi
dapat dilakukan tanpa harus membaca buku-buku berbahasa Inggris. Singkatnya, mahasiswa
sebagai salah satu elemen utama dalam pengajaran merupakan salah satu latar belakang berhasil
atau tidaknya kegiatan membaca buku teks di perguruan tinggi.

Metode

Didalam pengajaran bahasa Inggris memang dikenal banyak macam metode. Beberapa metode
seperti direct method, functional method, grammar translation method pernah populer.
Belakangan ini dikenal orang metode yang disebut Communicative Method yang dianggap lebih
tepat untuk dipakai. Penulis beranggapan bahwa pola pengajaran bahasa Inggris yang diterapkan
di SMU saat ini tidak terarah pada pelatihan penguasaan baca. Di SMU, pada umumnya latihan-
latihan terpusat pada pekerjaan menyelesaikan soal-soal tata bahasa, menghafalkan dan membuat
dialog-dialog singkat, serta menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan guru dengan menggunakan bahasa
Inggris. Barangkali sudah saatnya kita pertanyakan kembali hal berikut.

1. Apa sebenarnya tujuan pengajaran Bahasa Inggris di sekolah-sekolah lanjutan ini?

2. Bekal kemampuan manakah yang paling perlu untuk dimiliki siswa yang memasuki
perguruan tinggi?

Kalau yang paling diperlukan oleh mahasiswa adalah kemampuan baca, mengapa potensi tidak
kita arahkan ke sana saja? Jujur kita akui bahwa sedikit sekali lulusan SMU yang menguasai
keempat keterampilan berbahasa dengan baik. Jika demikian kenyataan yang ada, mengapa tidak
kita jadikan saja keterampilan membaca sebagai tujuan penguasaan?

Dengan mengedepankan membaca sebagai sasaran penguasaan barangkali tidak terlalu banyak
lagi latihan-latihan tata bahasa yang harus diberikan. Menghafalkan atau membuat dialog-dialog
bisa dihilangkan. Penggunaan medium of instruction juga tidak perlu dalam bahasa Inggris.
Dengan demikian, potensi pengajaran dapat sepenuhnya diarahkan pada:

• memberikan latihan bacaan sebanyak-banyaknya dengan mengambil ragam wacana,

topik dan alur yang bervariasi;

• memberikan latihan menemukan pokok bahasa, kalimat topik serta kata-kata kunci;

• mengembangkan penguasaan kosa-kata para siswa dengan sebanyak-banyaknya

memberikan latihan menyangkut sinonim dan antonim;

• melatih para siswa membaca dengan cepat (scanning);

• mengembangkan kemampuan siswa di dalam membuat kesimpulan penting dari suatu

wacana.

Penulis menyadari bahwa pendapat ini akan mengundang pertanyaan: bagaimana dengan
keterampilan bahasa yang lain seperti keterampilan wicara dan menyimak.

Kita tahu bahwa hampir semua sekolah memberikan pelajaran-pelajaran tambahan dengan
memungut biaya yang relatif sangat rendah. Kegiatan-kegiatan seperti inilah yang diharapkan
sekolah dapat membawa para siswanya untuk memenuhi kebutuhan di atas. Kursus-kursus di
luar sekolah pun tersebar di mana-mana. Diharapkan para siswa juga dapat memanfaatkan
keberadaannya.

Alokasi Waktu

Gagasan pemerintah, dalam hal ini Departemen Pendidikan Nasional, untuk mengkaji kembali
kurikulum pada pendidikan dasar dan menengah patut mendapat dukungan. Tanpa mengecilkan
arti beberapa mata ajaran di sekolah-sekolah ini, kita melihat bahwa SD hingga SMU terlalu
sarat membebani para murid dengan pelajaran-pelajaran yang barangkali tidak terlalu banyak
kaitannya dengan perkembangan studi mereka di perguruan tinggi, lebih-lebih lagi dengan area
tempat mereka kelak terjun di masyarakat.

Tidak diragukan lagi bahwa skala prioritas sudah saatnya dilakukan. Dengan melakukan prioritas
terhadap mata ajaran yang paling penting, cukup, dan tidak terlalu penting, alokasi waktu yang
lebih besar dapat diberikan pada bidang-bidang penting termasuk Bahasa Inggris.

Kita tahu bahwa alokasi waktu mata ajaran Bahasa Inggris yang diperoleh para murid di SLTP
dan SMU tidak memadai. Kondisi ini pun, sebagaimana disinggung di atas, tidak sepenuhnya
dimanfaatkan sekolah untuk kegiatan dan latihan membaca. Dengan memberikan alokasi waktu
yang lebih besar pada mata ajaran Bahasa Inggris, diharapkan para siswa akan memperoleh
kesempatan berlatih membaca yang sebesar-besarnya sebelum mereka meninggalkan SMU dan
memasuki dunia perguruan tiggi.

Sebagian orang berpendapat di perguruan tinggilah seharusnya para siswa ini mendapat latihan
membaca yang baik. Dengan sistem kredit semester (SKS) yang berlaku saat ini--dimana mata
kuliah Bahasa Inggris rata-rata hanya mendapat porsi 1 x 2 SKS (1 semester/ 100 menit per
minggu)--tidaklah mungkin melakukan hal ini.

Maka, jelaslah bahwa usaha dan potensi untuk memperbaiki keadaan ini harus dilakukan si
tingkat SLTP dan SMU. Para siswa yang memasuki jenjang perguruan tinggi diharapkan sesudah
terbekali dengan kemampuan baca yang baik, lebih siap mengantarkan mereka ke arah
pengembangan disiplin ilmu yang diminatinya.

Bahan Ajar

Bahan ajar yang diberikan di SLTP dan SMU sudah barang tentu erat kaitannya dengan
kemampuan baca para mahasiswa di perguruan tinggi. Yang kita lihat sejauh ini adalah bahwa
bacaan-bacaan pada buku pegangan bahasa Inggris di SLTP dan SMU pada umumnya masih
bersifat sangat umum. Ambillah contoh bacaan yang membahas kegiatan siswa sehari-hari. Hal
ini sudah barang tentu kurang terkait dengan bidang-bidang yang nantinya ditekuni para
mahasiswa di perguruan tinggi.

Sejak berada di pendidikan menengah, seyogianya para siswa sudah diperkenalkan dengan
wacana yang pokok bahasannya mempunyai kaitan dengan studi mereka kelak. Bidang-bidang
yang mengarah (walaupun masih pada tingkat mula) pada dunia kesehatan, teknik, hukum, dan
sebagainya, perlu kiranya mendapat perhatian saksama.

Pada umumnya sejak berada di bangku SLTP para siswa sudah menyimpan angan-angan kelak
akan menjadi apa. Pemilihan bahan/topik bacaan yang dapat memenuhi angan-angan ini secara
umum, akan sangat besar peranannya di dalam membangkitkan minat dan usaha para siswa unuk
lebih menguasai apa yang mereka baca.

Simpulan

Mengamati kemampuan membaca buku teks berbahasa Inggris di perguruan tinggi, kiranya kita
perlu menengok ke belakang dan melakukan analisis terhadap proses pembelajaran bahasa
Inggris di SLTP dan SMU selama ini. Beberapa latar belakang yang menyebabkan kurang
memadainya kemampuan membaca ini antara lain menyangkut para mahasiswa sendiri, metode
pengajaran, alokasi waktu yang tersedia serta bahan ajar yang dipakai selama ini.

Tulisan singkat ini berkesimpulan kiranya perlu diambil langkah-langkah strategis untuk
mengatasi kendala yang ada serta meningkatkan kemampuan baca para mahasiswa. Arah atau
tujuan pembelajaran perlu diluruskan, terutama menuju suatu arah yang jelas yaitu melatih dan
mengembangkan kemampuan membaca buku teks berbahasa Inggris dengan lebih baik. Potensi
yang ada hendaknya dikerahkan pada tujuan yang pasti, dengan keyakinan bahwa mencapai satu
target yang jelas akan lebih bermanfaat daripada mencoba menguasai beberapa tujuan yang sulit
dicapai.

Daftar Pustaka

Bond, L.G. dan M.A. Thinker. 1991. Reading Difficulties: Their Diagnosis and Correction. New
York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc.
Hughes, J.B. 1968. Linguistics and Language Teaching. New York: Random House.

Kistono, A.R. dan S.L. Widodo. 1990. Kompetensi Komunikatif Bahasa Inggris. Klaten: PT
Intan Pariwara.

Lado, R. dan C.C. Fries. 1975. English Pattern Practice. Ann Arbor: The university of Michigan
Press.

Palmer, F.R. 1983. Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

http://www.angelfire.com/journal/fsulimelight/inten.html

FSU
in the Limelight
Vol. 8, No. 1
Jul 2001

Intensionalitas dalam Puisi Baju-baju

Karya K.H.A. Mustofa Bisri

Gatut Lestari
Pendahuluan

Puisi adalah salah satu genre dari karya sastra. Karya sastra pada umumnya adalah bentuk seni
yang diejawantahkan dalam bahasa (Coulthard, 1977:1979). Tentunya puisi juga demikian.

Terkemasnya puisi dalam bahasa sangat memungkinkan adanya analisis terhadap struktur dan
fitur gaya bahasanya, fungsi penangkapan bahasa, struktur semantik serta konteksnya dalam
kerangka linguistik. Itu merupakan suatu kerangka pendekatan analisis wacana.

Analisis wacana adalah "the analysis of language in use" (Brown dan Yule, 1983:1). Strategi
analisis tersebut memang berdasar pada berfungsinya ungkapan bahasa dalam "real time
processes" (Gumperz, 1982:1). Ungkapan tersebut benar-benar diterapkan dalam proses interaksi
komunikatif. Itulah proses pengungkapan makna serta perilaku dalam konteks yang
sesungguhnya, serta itulah parole. Demikian pula ungkapan bahasa puisi. Ungkapan puisi dalam
berbagai ragam serta gaya itu tentu terus bergulir dalam proses interaksi komunikatif. Ungkapan
tersebut dituliskan untuk dibaca, atau dituturkan untuk didengar, lalu dipahami. Pemahamannya
pun terus-menerus dikembangkan berdasar atas pemahaman yang lain. Dari wujud ungkapan
bahasa yang demikian itulah, analisis wacana puisi beranjak.

Puisi "Baju-baju" karya K.H.A. Mustofa Bisri (1991)--tertera dalam Lampiran--diangkat sebagai
bahan kajian dari analisis wacana dalam tulisan ini. Puisi tersebut ditempatkan sebagai teks
tertulis, di dalamnya terdapat sebersit penawaran pemahaman makna yang dikehendaki penulis.
Batasan Masalah

Puisi "Baju-baju", sebagi sebuah teks, dapat ditelaah dari berbagai sudut pandang dalam
kerangka pendekatan analisis wacana. Pendekatan tersebut memang menawarkan seperangkat
titik tolak pemahaman untuk sebuah wacana.

Tulisan ini mengangkat pokok bahasan tentang intensionalitas teks puisi "Baju-baju".
Intensionalitas memang bersangkutan dengan penulisnya. Pokok bahasan tersebut bertumpu pada
pertanyaan "Bagaimana penulis mengemas apa yang dikendakinya dalam puisi tersebut serta
menawarkan kepada pembaca?".

Landasan Teori

Dalam kerangka teori analisis wacana terdapat suatu pandangan bahwa teks itu terpusat pada
penggunanya (Beaugrande dan Dessler, 1987: 1). Orientasi teks tersebut terletak pada pengguna,
yakni penulis-pembaca, atau penutur-pendengar. Orientasi yang bersangkutan dengan sikap
pembuat teks disebut intensionalitas. Intensionalitas tidak dapat dilepaskan dari orientasi yang
bermuara pada teks itu sendiri yakni kohesi dan koherensi teks. Intensionalitas harus terpusat
pada orientasi teks. Yang menjadi penting adalah bagaimana pembuat teks membangun keutuhan
serta keberterimaan teks demi kehendaknya.

Kemudian, Halliday dan Hasan (1976) menawarkan unsur yang dapat membangun keutuhan
(kohesi) teks yang dapat dicermati oleh pembuat teks, yakni unsur semantis, gramatikal, serta
leksikal. Unsur tersebut meliputi referensi, substitusi, elipsis, konjungsi, serta kohesi leksikal.
Unsur tersebut dapat diproyeksikan oleh pembuat (penulis maupun penutur) teks. Yang perlu
dipahami di sini bahwa kohesi adalah kesatuan semantis dari suatu teks dalam kaitannya dengan
konteks situasi. Hal tersebut berterima sehingga membangun keutuhan teks. Dalam hal itu,
Halliday dan Hasan tidak mempersoalkan istilah koherensi karena pengertiannya sudah tercakup
dalam arti kohesi tersebut.

Kerangka teoritis tersebut merupakan pijakan utama dari pokok bahasan tulisan ini. Arahnya
jelas yakni mendasari kajian yang berorientasi pada penulis serta keutuhan teks.

Analisis

Bahan yang diangkat menjadi hal pembicaraan dalam puisi "Baju-baju" adalah biasa. Baju,
lurah, camat, bupati, gubernur, aku, ibu, ayah, belajar, bagus, dan buruk adalah ungkapan yang
sering digunakan dalam kehidupan sehari-hari. Maknanya pun telah dipahami oleh khalayak.
Untuk diwujudkan menjadi sebuah teks puisi, ungkapan tersebut tidak sekedar dipilih begitu saja
oleh penulisnya, melainkan juga dipilah. Satu ungkapan dipilah untuk dipadukan atau
dijukstaposisikan terhadap ungkapan lain dalam suatu konfigurasi dari baris ke baris, sehingga
membentuk suatu keutuhan bait teks yang memiliki pertautan semantis. Dari pertautan itu
diperolehlah makna yang semakin bernas. Makna yang bernas mencerminkan sebuah kehendak
penulis yang ditawarkan kepada khalayak pembaca. Bagaimanakah penulis dapat meramu
pemilihan, pemilahan, serta jukstaposisi ungkapan dalam tatanan tertentu dalam puisi "Baju-
baju" sehingga menimbulkan nuansa kebernasan makna yang khas? Dengan kata lain,
bagaimanakah intensionalitas teks puisi tersebut terwujud?

Proses yang paling awal terjadi tentunya adalah proses berpikir penulis. Secara linguistis, hal
tersebut dapat didasarkan pada konsep langue dari Saussure (dikutip dalam Hoed, 1994: 127).
Dari konsep tersebut tentu dapat dimengerti bahwa penulis puisi di atas memiliki abstraksi suatu
sistem bahasa yang mendasari ungkapan-ungkapan untuk penciptaan puisinya. Sistem tersebut
mengarahkan dia untuk mengatur hubungan konsep imaginer dari citra ungkapan yang terpilih
dan terpilah ke dalam tatanan struktur morfoleksiko sintaksis serta semantik. Itu adalah sistem
tata bahasa (Hoed, 1994: 127). Selain itu, masih menurut Hoed (ibid), sistem tata bahasa saja
belum cukup. Terdapat sistem yang mengatur hubungan unsur bahasa dan lingkungan (konteks
dan situasi). Sistem tersebut adalah tata wacana. Wacana inilah yang merupakan suprastruktur
atau abstraksi sistem ungkapan yang menyeluruh. Sebagaimana dinyatakan oleh van Dijk (1977:
2), wacana adalah bangun teoritis abstrak. Wacana tersebut masih berupa struktur ideasional dari
penulis puisi. Wacana itu belum terwujud secara fisik. Akan tetapi, wacana tersebutlah yang
memberikan kerangka serta mengarahkan "the actual use of language in concrete situation"
(Matthews, 1993: 209) dari puisi "Baju-baju".

Pada saat wacana puisi tersebut diejawantahkan dalam proses pengungkapan yang
sesungguhnya, yang tidak terlepas dari konteks serta situasi atau dalam "real time processes",
maka dihasilkanlah teks puisi "Baju-baju". Dari teks itulah suatu analisis dapat dilakukan. Teks
tersebut, menurut Saussure (dikutip dalam Hoed, 1994: 127), adalah parole. Menurut Lyons
(1995: 21), parole merupakan produk dari proses pengungkapan sistem bahasa. Tentunya parole
mencerminkan jejak sistem tersebut. Sehubungan dengan itu, ungkapan-ungkapan dari teks puisi
"Baju-baju" sebagai produk dari wacana tentunya juga mecerminkan proses dari sistem
wacanananya. Kerangka wacana tersebut secara psikologis sangat diwanai pula oleh nuansa batin
atau kehendak penulis. Tak pelak bahwa teks puisi "Baju-baju" yang berupa konfigurasi
ungkapan akan membentuk keutuhan makna semantis yang dilengkapi oleh percikan kehendak
penulis. Keutuhan makna semantik yang menyiratkan kehendak penulis tidak lain adalah kohesi.

Menurut Halliday dan Hasan (1976: 4-10), kohesi sebenarnya adalah konsep yang menyangkut
hubungan semantis antarelemen dalam suatu teks. Bagaimanakah wujud hubungan tersebut
dalam puisi "Baju-baju" sehingga menimbulkan suatu kohesi?

Jelas sekali bahwa pertama-tama, penulis telah menggunakan unsur pembentuk kohesi berupa
pengulangan kata pada judul puisi. Secara sintaktis, bentuk tersebut merupakan reduplikasi.
Reduplikasi semacam itu adalah reduplikasi morfermis pembentuk nomina yang memiliki makna
'jamak' (Kridalaksana, 1996: 91-94). Tampaklah bahwa yang dimaksud dari jukstaposisi baju-
baju bukan mengacu pada baju yang tunggal. Namun, ungkapan tersebut masih terbuka untuk
penafsiran apakah 'baju yang jamak' itu 'berbagai baju yang sejenis' atau 'berjenis-jenis baju yang
berbeda. Tidak dapat disangkal bahwa paling tidak jukstaposisi dalam judul tersebut telah
mencerminkan arah pembicaraan penulis, serta meggiring pembaca untuk fokus terhadap arah
tersebut.

Kemudian, penulis memasukkan unsur referensi pronomina persona, yakni aku. Aku mengacu
pada orang pertama. Pada aku penulis meleburkan perannya sebagai penutur, yang sekaligus
terlibat langsung dalam peristiwa yang terungkap dalam puisi tersebut. Peran ini lebih membawa
pembaca untuk mengalami dan berpikir sebagaimana yang dilakukan aku. Memang bahan
pembicaraan si aku sekedar baju. Akan tetapi, dengan struktur, ragam, serta gaya ujarannya yang
kias, apa yang dimaksudkan penutur dengan "baju" dapat dipahami melalui ikatan semantis
ujaran-ujaran tersebut. Aku memang bukan sekadar penutur, tetapi juga peramu paduan semantis
dari ungkapan baju dengan lurah, camat, bupati, gubernur di satu pihak, sedangkan di lain
pihak, antara baju, dengan ayah dan ibu. Ungkapan yang dipadukan dengan baju tersebut
mengacu pada entitas luar teks, sehingga merupakan pertautan yang bersifat eksoforis. Di sela-
sela itu, penutur mencoba menghubungkan "keadaan dan keberadaan" dirinya dengan "entitas
gubernur" melalui ungkapan pertanyaan.
Paduan ungkapan yang dijajarkan oleh aku tersebut lebih dapat dicermati sebagai struktur puisi.
Untuk itu Hawker (dikutip dalam Pradopo, 1985: 3) menyatakan bahwa dalam struktur puisi
terdapat pertalian semantis dari unsur-unsurnya yang dapat membangun kesatuan. Dalam puisi
"Baju-baju" tampak bagaimana penutur mempertautkan ujarannya. Aku mengemukakan Baju
pak lurah bagus/ baju pak camat lebih bagus/ baju pak bupati lebih bagus lagi/ Apa baju pak
gubernur lebih bagus/ Benar kata ibuku/. Apabila dicermati, dari konfigurasi struktur ungkapan
penutu itu, kata baju tidak mengacu pada entitas nomina yang sama. Meskipun demikian
ungkapan tersebut masih memiliki pertautan yang erat secara semantis. Pertautan tersebut
terletak pada bagus, lebih bagus, dan lebih bagus lagi. Hal tersebut menyangkut penggunaan
adjektiva. Dilihat dari sudut pemakaiannya adjektiva dapat mengambil bentuk perbandingan
(Kridalaksana, 1994: 65). Perbandingan dalam ungkapan tersebut bersifat komparatif dengan
hadirnya adverbia lebih serta lebih lagi. Itulah pertautan semantis yang dijalin oleh referensi
komparatif (Halliday dan Hasan, 1976: 76). Referensi komparatif juga tampak pada konfiguarasi
nomina eksoforis yang mengacu pada "jabatan" yakni lurah, camat, bupati dan gubernur. Secara
berurutan, eksofora tersebut menunjukkan tingkatan jabatan yang satu lebih tinggi daripada yang
lain. Akan tetapi, sebelum penutur mengetengahkan jenjang referensi sampai jenjang gubernur,
ia memenggal struktur ungkapannya dengan struktur kalimat tanya yang berproposisi "apakah
baju gubernur lebih bagus lagi dari yang lain?" dan pernyataan tidak langsung Benar kata ibuku.
Penggalan tersebut bersifat gramatikal dan tidak mempengaruhi kesatuan dari pertautan
antarstruktur yang bersifar semantis. Kegayutan ungkapan tak langsung tersebut terletak pada
kata ibuku; yakni "kata dari ibu penutur". Kata ibu tersebut mengandung makna 'pembenaran'
dari pernyatan tentang jenjang perbandingan yang menyangkut baju dan gubernur. Perbandingan
terhadap baju jelas merupakan sesuatu yang dimaksud penutur. Akan tetapi, muatan makna
perbandingan komparatif, bagaimanapun juga, mengandung "persamaan" selain "perbedaan".
Untuk menelaah maksud penulis tentang makna "baju" yang komprehensif perlu dicermati
hubungan "baju-baju" dengan "penyandangnya".

Struktur dalam baris-baris berikutnya juga masih dapat ditinjau pertautan semantisnya.
Sehubungan dengan adanya "pembenaran" dari ibunya terhadap pertanyaan penutur tentang
"baju gubernur yang lebih bagus dari yang lain", penutur masih belum puas. Ia secara naif terus
mengajukan ungkapan kepada ibunya Apakah aku bisa jadi gubernur tanyaku. Pertautan
semantis ungkapan yang mengandung pertanyaan terlihat dalam unsur leksikal tanyaku. Struktur
ungkapan berikut Bisa saja katanya/ Asal kau belajar bagus/ tidak dapat dielakkan pasti
bersangkutan dengan ungkapan tanya sebelumnya. Hal tersebut dapat dicermati dari referensi
anafora nya dalam katanya yang mengacu pada kata ibu, yang pula berarti "jawaban ibu".
Referensi kau secara anaforis mengacu pada penutur yang sedang bertanya sehingga ungkapan
kau pasti diucapkan oleh ibu penutur. Bisa saja secara anaforis juga mengacu pada bisa jadi
gubernur dan mengandung makna "pembenaran dan penanaman keyakinan". Kemudian,
ungkapan tersebut dijukstaposisikan dengan Asal kau belajar bagus, yang bermuatan makna
"persyaratan yang harus dipenuhi". Agaknya pemahaman penutur tentang syarat mengapa musti
"belajar bagus" masih harus dikaitkan dengan tiga baris ungkapan terakhir.

Pada ketiga baris ungkapan terakhir, penutur mengatakan Ayah ibu dulu/ Belajarnya buruk
sekali tentu/ Baju-baju mereka buruk sekali/. Tampaknya dalam ungkapan tersebut penutur
memberikan reaksi dan tanggapan terhadap saran berupa "syarat belajar bagus". Ada saran yang
demikian dari ibunya itu karena menurut anggapan penutur, "ayah-ibunya dulu belajarnya tidak
bagus (buruk)". Hal tersebut terlihat dari anafora nya yang mengacu pada orang tua penutur. Hal
itu terlihat jelas dalam ungkapan langsung penutur sebagai tanggapan terhadap kata-kata ibunya
tadi. Selanjutnya bagaiman kaitannya dengan belajar buruk? Pertautan semantis semacam itu
harus ditinjau secara keseluruhan lagi mulai jukstaposisi belajar bagus dengan baju bagus, yang
berarti termasuk baju lurah, baju camat, baju bupati, serta baju gubernur, sampai dengan
jukstaposisi belajar buruk dan baju buruk yang bersangkutan dengan baju mereka ("ayah ibu
penutur"). Jelas bahwa unsur leksikal yang berantonim membangun pertalian semantis dari
jukstapoisis ungkapan di atas. Di situlah penulis meletakkan pandangannya secara tersirat
tentang konsep "baju".

Keutuhan semantis yang terjalin dari ikatan makna struktur beserta unsurnya dari puisi tersebut
belum cukup mewakili pemikiran penulis secara keseluruhan apabila tidak dikaitkan dengan
keberterimaan kontekstual (Halliday dan Hasan, 1976). Keberterimaan kontekstual, oleh
Beaugrande dan Dessler (1987: 3), disebut koherensi. Hal tersebut sebenarnya menyangkut
konfigurasi konsep dan relasinya.

Konfigurasi yang demikian itu, koherensi, menyangkut masalah nilai dan kondisi kebenarnya
dari ungkapan (Lyons, 1995). Kebenaran yang demikian itu berkenaan dengan kebenaran
proposisional logis dari ungkapan serta acuannya. Kebenaran itu menyangkut relasi makna
intrabahasa dan acuan. Itulah yang menandai bahwa ungkapan berterima secara kontekstual atau
berkoherensi. Ungkapan baju lurah bagus, baju camat lebih bagus, baju bupati lebih bagus lagi,
begitu pula baju gubernur dapat berterima. Secara logis, jika "baju lurah bagus" maka
implikasinya "baju camat, bupati, dan gubernur lebih bagus lagi". Dari segi acuan atau kondisi
luar bahasa, dapat ditemui bahwa baju-baju mereka memang demikian. Demikian pula, baju
buruk dan belajar buruk, secara logis berimplikasi "jika bajunya buruk, belajarnya juga buruk".
Tentunya implikasi logis ini mengena pula pada baju dan belajar bagus. Dari segi acuan bahasa
sering juga dijumpai keadaan semacam itu. Itulah upaya penutur membangun koherensi atau
keberterimaan. Penutur mempradugakan bahwa jukstaposisi ungkapan-ungkapannya itu dapat
berterima sebagaimana dia memahaminya berdasar pengalamannya. Tidak dapat dielakkan
bahwa penutur berusaha sungguh-sungguh untuk merajut bagian-bagian ungkapan sebagai
pendukung kejelasan makna untuk terwujudnya koherensi. Akan tetapi, pemahaman selanjutnya
dari teks tersebut bergantung pada pembaca.

Paduan ungkapan dalam puisi memang sangat penting. Ungkapan bagaimanapun adalah simbol
yang mengacu pada sesuatu (Bühler, dikutip Renkema, 1993: 7). Paduannya memang disengaja
oleh penutur untuk memenuhi fungsi puitik. Kejelasan ungkapan dari puisi itu dapat
dikembangkan oleh fungsi puitik dari pesan yang hendak disampaikan (Jakobson, 1992: 77).
Ungkapan baju pada saat disandingkan dengan ungkapan lurah, camat, bupati, gubernur, ayah-
ibu, bagus serta buruk maknanya dapat meluas. Kejelasan makna baju yang diletakkan oleh
penulis berjajar dengan ungkapan-ungkapan tersebut dapat bersangkutan dengan makna
'kekuasaan', 'kemewahan', 'kesederhanaan', maupun 'kemelaratan'. Fungsi puitik ungkapan-
ungkapan tersebut memang dihidupkan oleh penutur untuk menyiratkan kehendaknya atas
makna "baju" yang "bukan sekedar penutup badan". Itulah yang dimaksud dengan pengertian
makna konotatif (Barthes, 1967: 89-94).

Sesuai dengan pandangan Bühler (dalam Renkema, 1994: 7), ungkapan-ungkapan dari puisi
tersebut merupakan gejala paling nyata dari penutur. Tentunya ungkapan-ungkapan tersebut sarat
dengan muatan emotif penutur terhadap apa yang hendak disampaikan. Referensi komparatif
yang menyatakan jenjang perbandingan dari ungkapan puisi "Baju-baju" sarat dengan pandangan
emotif penutur, bukan hanya terhadap makna "baju", melainkan juga hubungan makna "baju"
dengan "penyandangnya" sampai ke "kegiatan dan keadaan seseorang".
Apabila mengingat pernyataan Robert Frost (dalam Ching, 1980: 140) bahwa puisi adalah "the
art of saying one thing and meaning another", tentunya benar juga bahwa penutur ingin
mengatakan sesuatu yang lain dibalik makna "baju". Itu jelas sekali dari awal ketika dia
mengatakan "baju-baju". Maknanya luas. Terus dia kaitkan dengan "penguasa daerah", "belajar",
serta "keadaan ayah-ibu buruk". Dari segi wacana, jelas pula strategi penutur dalam membentuk
konsep kesatuan makna yang kontekstual, namun bersifat terbuka dalam menawarkan apa yang
ia maksud.

Simpulan

Sebenarnya, penutur aku, dalam memercikkan maksudnya melalui puisi "Baju-baju", telah
mengasumsikan apa yang dapat diharapkan dan dipahami pembaca tentang ungkapan-ungkapan
si penutur tersebut. Itulah suatu presuposisi atau apa yang dipradugakan dan dimaksudkan oleh
penutur (Brown dan Yule, 1983: 29). Senada dengan itu, Eco (1979: 6) juga menyatakan bahwa
dalam mewujudkan intensinya, penulis (penutur) telah mengantisipasi pemahaman pembaca
terhadap maksud penutur. Selaras dengan itu, teks puisi "Baju-baju" adalah wujud dari maksud
serta pemikiran penulis yang dikemas sedemikian rupa dalam kohesi dan koherensi. Akan tetapi,
teks puisi tersebut tidak dapat lepas dari konteks dan situasi, maka teks tersebut bersifat terbuka.
Satu interpretasi atas makna "baju" dapat terus digemakan terhadap makna "baju-baju yang lain".
Lyons (1981) menyebut teks yang demikian itu sebagai utterance-inscription (wujud ungkapan
nyata) yang sedang dalam proses.

Daftar Pustaka

Barthes, R. 1967. Elements of Semiology. London: Jonathan Cape.

Beaugrande, R. de dan W. Dessler. 1981. Introduction to Text Linguistics. London: Longman.

Bisri, K.H.A.M. 1991. Ohoi: Kumpulan Puisi-puisi Balsem. Jakarta: Pustaka Firdaus.

Brown, G dan G. Yule. 1983. Discourse Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ching, M.K.L. et al (ed.). 1980. Linguistic Perspective on Literature. London: Routledge Kegan
Paul.

Coulthard, M. 1977. An Introduction to Discourse Analysis. London: Longman.

van Dijk, T.A. 1977. Text and Context: Exploration in the Semantics and Pragmatics of
Discourse. London: Longman.

Eco, U. 1979. The Role of the Reader. London: Hutchinson.

Gumperz, J.J. 1982. Discourse Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Halliday, M.A.K. dan R. Hasan. 1976. Cohesion in English. London: Longman.

Hoed, B.H. 1994. Wacana, Teks, dan Kalimat. Hlm. 125-136. Dalam Sihombing (ed.),
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Universitas Indonesia dan PT Intermasa.

Jakobson, R. 1992. Linguistik dan Bahasa Poetik. Hlm. 64-79. Dalam P. Sudjiman dan A. van
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Lampiran
BAJU-BAJU

Baju pak lurah bagus

Tapi baju pak camat lebih bagus
Ketika aku ke kabupaten
Ternyata baju pak bupati
Lebih bagus lagi
Kalau saja aku pernah ke gubernuran
Apa baju pak gubernur lebih bagus?
Benar kata ibuku
Apa aku bisa jadi gubernur tanyaku
Bisa saja katanya
Asal kau belajar bagus
Ayah dan ibu dahulu
Belajarnya buruk sekali tentu
Baju-baju mereka buruk sekali
(Bisri, 1991)