BECOMING HYBRID: THE PORTRAYAL OF AN
INDO
CHARACTER
IN
SITI
RAYATI
BY MOH. SANOESI
A Research Paper
By: Irfan Furqonnudin
0608219
English Literature B 2006
Indonesia University of Education
English Department
PAGE OF APPROVAL
BECOMING HYBRID: THE PORTRAYAL OF AN INDO CHARACTER IN SITI RAYATI BY MOH. SANOESI
By
Irfan Furqonnudin
0608219
Approved By
First Supervisor,
Dr. Rd. Safrina Noorman, M.A. 196207291987032003
Second Supervisor,
Nia Nafisah, S.S., M.Pd. 197104242006042001
Head of Department of English Education Faculty of Languages and Arts Education
Indonesia University of Education
BECOMING HYBRID: THE PORTRAYAL
OF AN
INDO
CHARACTER
IN
SITI
RAYATI
BY MOH. SANOESI
Oleh Irfan Furqonnudin
Sebuah skripsi yang diajukan untuk memenuhi salah satu syarat memperoleh gelar Sarjana pada Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni
© Irfan Furqonnudin 2013 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
Agustus 2013
Hak Cipta dilindungi undang-undang.
Skripsi ini tidak boleh diperbanyak seluruhya atau sebagian,
Abstract
This study aims to investigate the descriptions of an Indo character in Moh. Sanoesi’s Siti Rayati and what alternative meanings can be found from the descriptions. Indo character is chosen because it is interesting to study since hybrid is the result of borderline engagements of cultural difference (Bhabha, 1994).
To answer the questions, the data were gathered through textual analysis with close-reading approach.It is found that the Indo character is described in the sense of being superior, humble, in between and well-exposed by Dutch culture. From the categories, it could be drawn that there could be an attempt by the writer to change the perception towards Indo people’s stereotype at that time.
Abstrak
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS..……….…………..i
ABSTRACT………..………...iii
CHAPTER ONE – Introduction 1.1. Background………..………1
1.2. Statement of the Problems………...…….4
1.3. Aims of the Study………...…….4
1.4. Significance of the Study……….5
1.5. Methodology………..…..5
1.6. Organization of the Paper……….5
CHAPTER TWO – Literature Review 2.1. Siti Rayati…….………..….8
2.2. Post-colonial Literature………..…10
2.3. Hybridity………....11
2.4. Indo and Priyayi People……….12
2.4.1. Indo people and Identity Crisis………..…14
2.5. Previous Researches and Articles………..…15
CHAPTER THREE – Research Methodology 3.1. Research Problem…………...………...17
3.3. Data Collection………...………..18
3.4. Data Analysis………...…....……….…18
3.5. Subject of The Research………...………...19
3.6. Synopsis of The Novel………...………..….20
CHAPTER FOUR – Findings and Discussions 4.1. Findings………..…22
4.1.1. Siti Rayati Described in Superior Nature………...23
4.1.2. Siti Rayati Described in the Manner of Being Equal……….27
4.1.3. Siti Rayati Described in the Sense of Being in Between………...…29
4.1.4. Siti Rayati Described as being Well-influenced by Dutch Culture………32
4.2. Discussion……….……….40
CHAPTER FIVE – Conclusion and Suggestion 5.1. Conclusion………..43
5.2. Suggestion………...………...44
REFFERENCE……….………..….iv
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
This chapter is the first part of the paper. It contains the background of the
research and what the research aims to find. In this chapter the method of the
research is also introduced in order to give the readers a brief illustration of how
the research is conducted. In addition, in the last part of this chapter there is a
brief explanation on how this paper is organized.
1.1. Background
History has recorded that many countries, in the continents of Asia, Africa
and even America, were once colonized by some European countries. Some had
to fight for their independences for a long time. Some only tasted colonization for
a brief yet painful moment. One thing those countries have in common is that they
all have once been the colonized for their colonizers. That means they, the
colonized and the colonizers, have made interactions and by interactions here it
means any action, thought, oppressions or resistances done by both colonizers and
the colonized during the colonial time. These interactions surely had affected and
brought changes especially to the life and the people of the colonized countries.
As a matter of fact, long before the colonizers had come to their lands,
these people had their own lives and cultures. The colonizers, however, forced the
people in these lands, or the natives, with the new ways of living they found
totally. What is interesting, the changes were not always one sided. There is a fact,
according to Ashcroft (1995: 183), that “the transaction of the post-colonial world
is not a one-way process in which oppression obliterates the oppressed or the
colonizer silences the colonized in absolute terms. In practice it rather stresses the
mutuality of the process”. These colonizing activities done by the colonizers could
also bring changes to their own ways of living. We can say that after some time of
living “together” the colonizers and the colonized exchanged each other‟s
cultures. From those exchanges emerged a new form of culture which is hybrid.
Hybrid is actually a term originated from the botanical field. The word
hybrid is meant to be used for calling a plant that is an offspring of two different
kinds of plants. On the other hand, hybridity is the process of “making one of two
distinct things” (Young, 1995). This process of hybridity was introduced for the
first time by Homi K. Bhabha in his book entitled The Location of Culture (1994).
According to Bhabha, hybridity is the “Third Space” of enunciation. It means that
there is a new space emerging from the collision of two different cultures.
Furthermore, Bhabha also states that hybridity is a stairwell; this stairwell
symbolizes the process of two cultures colliding. In there, there is a “connective
tissue that constructs the difference between upper and lower, black and white”
(1994: 4).
Hybridity produces what is called hybrid. It is a mixture of two different
things or two different race. Thus, this hybridity can be found in many forms like
In this research the main focus is a main character of a Sundanese novel
printing house in three volumes from 1923 to 1927, makes an interesting research
subject as the publication of the novel “coincides with a traumatic moment in the
nationalist period, the years 1926-27, when a number of Communist-inspired
uprisings against colonial authority took place in (among other places) the
countryside of West Java” (Mukherjee: 2004).
The fact that the story is written in Sundanese (regional-language spoken
in West Java) and takes place in West Java territory, this novel is said to “shake
Sundanese life to its core” (Rosidi, as taken from Mukherjee: 2009) that means
the novel gives a significant political impact that makes the novel famous
especially for those people living in West Java at that time.
Historically speaking, Siti Rayati was also one of those “feral readings” or
bacaan liar as it was not published by the Dutch-owned-publisher Balai Pustaka.
As taken from Mukherjee (2004), Siti Rayati belonged to the „other‟ group which
often times used novels as their own presses and political pamphlets (Mukherjee:
Thus, Siti Rayati makes an interesting subject of research as its story,
settings, publication and characterization have at least a message that could mean
something for people at that time especially Sundanese people.
This novel was originally written in Sundanese and its English version was
published in 2009 by Kiblat Buku Utama publishing company. It is the English
version one, translated by Wendy Mukherjee, which the research will use.
1.2. Statement of the Problems
This research is done in order to answer the followings:
1. How is the hybrid character described in Mohammad Sanoesi‟s Siti
Rayati?
2. What is the alternative meaning of the hybrid character described in
Mohammad Sanoesi‟s Siti Rayati?
1.3. Aims of the Study
This study is conducted to find out how an Indo character whose name is
Siti Rayati is described in the novel by Mohammad Sanoesi titled Siti Rayati. This
description then will be discussed using the Post-colonial point of view to see
what makes an alternative meaning of the Indo character descriptions in this
1.4. Significance of the Study
This study is conducted by the researcher mainly to fulfill the requirement
to earn his degree but this research is also useful for the enrichment of research
paper on Indonesian literary works that are translated into English.
1.5. Methodology
This study employs a qualitative research approach. It is done since the
data presented here is not in the form of statistic. “Qualitative analysis can refer to
research about persons' lives, lived experiences, behaviors, emotions, and feelings
as well as about organizational functioning, social movements, cultural
phenomena, and interactions between nations” (Strauss & Corbin - 1998:11). The
research will focus on the cultural phenomenon. To analyze the data, the
researcher employs textual analysis using the post-colonial framework because
the issue which becomes the main focus in this research is closely related to
post-colonial issue. The details of the methodology are explained further in chapter 3.
1.6. Organization of the Paper
This research paper is organized into five chapters. Those chapters are
arranged as follows:
Chapter I is an introduction. It includes the background of the study, and brief
explanation of the issue and various aspects related to the realization of this paper.
Chapter II provides further explanation of the theoretical framework used in the
Chapter III discusses the methodology used in analyzing the data. It includes the
research procedure of this study and the tools used to analyze the data. Both of
them are explained thoroughly in this chapter.
Chapter IV is about the data presentation and the discussion of the data. In this
chapter all the result derived from the research will be applied to the theoretical
framework.
Chapter V is about the conclusion and suggestions of the study. The conclusion
is what comes from the application of the theoretical framework and the findings
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter elaborates the procedure taken for conducting the research.
This includes what the problems of the research are, how the data is gathered for
the research, and what kind of approach is taken to interpret the data, or in short
the research design. To give a brief idea of how the story goes in the novel, there
is also the synopsis of the novel provided in this chapter.
3.1. Research Problem
This research is conducted in order to answer these following questions:
1. How is hybrid character described in Mohammad Sanoesi’s Siti
Rayati?
2. What is the alternative meaning of the hybrid character described in Mohammad Sanoesi’s Siti Rayati?
3.2. Research Design
In answering the research questions, the writer applies qualitative method
in the form of textual analysis. This study employs a qualitative research approach since the data presented here is not in the form of statistic. “Qualitative analysis
can refer to research about persons' lives, lived experiences, behaviors, emotions,
cultural phenomena, and interactions between nations” (Strauss & Corbin -
1998:11)
In addition, qualitative method, according to Given (2008), is “a
composite of philosophy, concepts, data gathering procedures, and statistical
methods that perhaps provides the most thoroughly elaborated basis for the systemic examination of human subjectivity” (p. 699). Specifically, the researcher
analyses Mohammad Sanoesi’s Siti Rayati in the context of Post-Colonial theory.
In so doing, the writer conducts close reading to gain understandings of the
literary text.
3.3. Data Collection
To gather the data from the text, the researcher does a close reading
method in order to find the descriptions required in order to answer the research
problems. The close-reading is applied to Mohammad Sanoesi’s Siti Rayati. The
English-translated version of the novel contains 95 pages with the first 25 pages
for the introduction by the translator. Although the descriptions of the Indo
character can only be found in the second volume, from page 57, the first volume
is also read in order to understand the whole story. The data aimed to be found is the Indo character’s descriptions.
3.4. Data Analysis
After all the data is gathered, it is then categorized into four categories. All
category is the description of the Indo character in superior nature. The second
category is the description of the Indo character in the manner of being equal.
The third category is the description of the Indo character in the sense of being in
between. The four or the last category is the description of the Indo character as
being well-influenced by Dutch culture.
After the categories are set, then the researcher sees the descriptions to
answer the first question of the research problems. When the descriptions of the
character have been gathered, the findings then is analyzed and discussed by
relating them to the theories about hybrid character and find out why the
descriptions are like that. That is how the researcher answers the second question
of the research problems and then concludes the analysis.
3.5. Subject of the Research
The subject presented in the research is Mohammad Sanoesi’s Siti Rayati.
The novel was published in three volumes by Dachlan-Bekti printing house in
Bandung from 1923 to 1927. The novel was sold at the cost of 30 cents, 20 cents
and 20 cents respectively. The cost differences tell the content differences as well. The first volume, in the researcher’s opinion, has a richer content, more detailed
story-telling, and a better pace in terms of story flow with more pages.
Although it has some reputation, Siti Rayati is seen as a novel that is not artistically outstanding and is called by Rosidi as a “mere synopsis … far from
fully worked out” (1986: 9). Perhaps, it is caused by the author’s political
found in other Bacaan Liar authors like Mas Marco Kartodikromo and Tirto Adhi Soerjo. This writing style “can be equally sheeted back to habits of the idiom of
newspaper reporting” (Coté, as taken from Mukherjee: 2004).
3.6. Synopsis of the Novel
Siti Rayati begins with the introduction of Tuan Steenhart, a Dutch man
tea-plantation manager, is in grief because of his departed Nyai. Seeing that, Tuan Steenhart’s helper Sastra promises to find him the replacement for the Nyai. But
before succeeding in finding one, Sastra is then asked to stop because Tuan
Steenhart has found a girl that he finds suitable. The girl is a tea-planter named
Patimah. Instead of making her the new Nyai, Tuan Steenhart rapes her several
time until she gets pregnant. When Patimah asks him to admit the baby in her
belly, Tuan Steenhart scolds her and calls her with an inappropriate call. Feeling
ashamed, Patimah decides to flee her home and when she has reached the skirt of
Cirayati village, she delivers the baby there.
The baby girl is abandoned by Patimah because she does not want the
baby to live in a miserable life with her. Later, the baby girl is raised by the
Wadana and his wife. The baby girl is given a name Siti Rayati by the Wadana.
Siti Rayati is raised by them like their own child. Because she really looks like a
Dutch girl, Siti Rayati is sent to schools for Dutch. Siti Rayati grows to be
all this time. When they finally find the truth, Siti Rayati and Patimah reunite after
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
This chapter is a presentation of the research’s conclusion and the
researcher’s suggestion for any other ongoing researches that have connection
with the research in this paper or any other researches in the future.
5.1. Conclusion
This study aims to investigate two things from Mohammad Sanoesi’s Siti
Rayati. The first one is to find how the Indo character is described in the novel.
The second one is to see what kind of Indo character Siti Rayati is. The first
question is answered by gathering the textual evidences regarding the descriptions
of Siti Rayati and dividing them into four categories telling how the character is
described.
The first category covers the textual evidence pointing at how Siti Rayati
is described in more superior nature than any other women. The second category
covers all the descriptions of Siti Rayati in the manner of being neutral or equal
with anyone. The third category is for the way Siti Rayati is described in the sense
of being in between. The fourth or the last category is for how Siti Rayati is
described to be influenced heavily by Dutch culture.
After getting the ways Siti Rayati is described from those categories, then
different point of view towards the stereotype of marginalized Indo people at that
time.
This could draw another meaning that Moh. Sanoesi’s Siti Rayati was
published to invite its targeted readers, Sundanese people, for seeing people from
other race and social classes equally even if they came from the darkest past
because they might have bright future or good use for many people like the
character in the novel.
5.2. Suggestion
This research has been conducted in a way so that the researcher can experience the process of the making. Based on the researcher’s experience, it was
difficult to get data from the text, since the novel is too short. The shortness can be seen by how the character’s descriptions are done in such hasty ways. The one
that can be seen clearly is how Siti Rayati’s development, from she is just a baby
until she studies in the collage, is described only in two short pages.
Therefore, the researcher suggests future researchers to find a longer and
clearer text to investigate. This will help the research to be richer in content. It is
because textual evidences are important in this kind of research.
The researcher also suggests the future researchers, especially in UPI, to
conduct more researches on Indonesian literary works. This can be done to enrich
the Indonesian literature researched in English. By so doing, the work can be read
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