Constructing Social Criticism in Two Novels by Tere Liye: A Critical Discourse Analysis Study
Abstract
Literary works are never produced in a social vacuum; as a form of cultural practice, novels often become a space in which authors represent, negotiate, and criticize the power relations, legal conditions, economic disparities, and moral problems of the society in which they are written, yet studies that systematically compare how a single author constructs social criticism across two different novels through the textual, discursive, and sociocultural dimensions of Critical Discourse Analysis remain limited. This study aims to describe the construction of social criticism represented in two novels by Tere Liye, namely Teruslah Bodoh Jangan Pintar and Janji, through the perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis. This study uses a descriptive-qualitative approach employing the three-dimensional Critical Discourse Analysis model developed by Norman Fairclough, which consists of textual analysis, discursive practices, and sociocultural practices. The data consists of words, phrases, sentences, dialogues, and narratives that represent social criticism in both novels, obtained through close-reading and note-taking techniques from the two novels as the primary data source, and analyzed through data reduction, categorization according to Fairclough's three dimensions, and interpretation, with validity maintained through cross-checking between textual data, interpretation, and theoretical concepts. The findings show that social criticism in both novels is constructed through representations of power inequality, abuse of the law, greed, social injustice, relationships between dominant and marginalized groups, and moral issues in society. At the textual level, criticism is constructed through evaluative diction, metaphors, sentence structures, dialogues, and character narratives. At the level of discursive practice, social criticism is generated through character experiences and conflicts between social groups. At the level of sociocultural practice, discourse is related to issues of power, law, economics, morality, and social inequality. These findings show that literary works function not only as entertainment but also as a medium to represent, criticize, and reflect on social reality.
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