REPRESENTASI WANITA MEROKOK DALAM NOVEL RARA MENDUT KARYA Y.B. MANGUNWIJAYA

Abstract

Bad stigma about female smoking could be easily turned up for woman doing smoke activity on public place. Negative judgment like “bitch”, “naughty”, “wild”, or even immoral woman are oftenly dedicated to woman smoking in the society. In other side, media has roles in determined people’s thought. Media keep connecting news about woman smoking with the bad moral, and ethics consequences. It’s seen clearly when media blow up news of woman smoking in newspaper or other news TV program. Also, movies make representation about woman smoking in the same way. Woman smoking on movie scene are oftenly explained as “bitch”, “naughty”, “wild”, or even immoral woman. It’s automatically educates the audience with the bad stigma of woman smoking. But Rara Mendut novel as one of media is different. It represents woman smoking with the opposite value that other media used to represent. Heroic, is used to explain and represent the woman smoking inside the story. By using qualitative approach, this research is guided by semiotic method. Ferdinand de Saussure’s method of semiotic is used specifically. This research concerns for finding out how the representation of woman smoking showed in the novel Rara Mendut. Then the analysis process was divided into two phase, syntagmatic and paradigmatic analysis phases. Syntagmatic structure is found in the composition of all kinds of signs (signifier). The linking together of signs was conceived solely in terms of the grammatical possibilities which the system offered. In this analysis phase, this research adopted theory of Klerer (2004: 15) which spilt the analysis into four important elements such as plot, character, point of view, and the setting. Then, those sign found through syntagmatic phase are described both meaning and values beyond what it’s signifier. This phase is paradigmatic analysis. Paradigmatic analysis involves comparing and contrasting each of the signifiers present in the text with absent signifiers which in similar circumstances might have been chosen, and considering the significance of the choices made (Chandler, 2007: 88). The conclusion shows that novel of Rara Mendut represents woman smoking as a figure that definitely far from bad stigma. Woman smoking is represented as woman with power, strong conviction, and good personality and moral. Smoking was a symbol of power, brave, oppression refusal, and empowers women’s self. Moreover, it’s seen that people in that time with earl could be easily use their power to get anything without consideration of people’s prosperity. Key words: smoking, woman, representation, novel, semiotic