The Identity Formation of Chicanos in Rudolfo Anaya's Novel Bless Me Ultima
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perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id THE IDENTITY FORMATION OF CHICANOS IN RUDOLFO ANAYA’S NOVEL BLESS ME ULTIMA THESIS Submitted as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Sarjana Sastra Degree from English Department Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts Sebelas Maret University By: SHOFI MAHMUDAH BUDI UTAMI C0307006 ENGLISH DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF LETTERS AND FINE ARTS SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY 2012 commit to user i perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id commit to user ii perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id commit to user iii perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id PRONOUNCEMENT Name : Shofi Mahmudah Budi Utami Student Number : C 0307006 I declare that this thesis entitled “THE IDENTITY FORMATION OF CHICANOS IN RUDOLFO ANAYA’S NOVEL BLESS ME, ULTIMA” is truly my own work using primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. Nevertheless, if it is proven erroneous, I would take any consequences given from the Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts, Sebelas Maret University. Surakarta, July 25, 2012 The researcher, Shofi Mahmudah Budi Utami commit to user iv perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id MOTTO “Life is never beyond hope” (Bless Me, Ultima) “The smallest bit of good can stand against all the powers of evil in the world and it will emerge the triumphant” (Ultima in Bless Me, Ultima) “Life is a rebirth in one form or another. Just remember that people in life, locally, come from land. Everything goes back to land” (Chief of Native American in the book A Tortilla is like Food and Culture in San Antonito by Carole Counihan) “If you’re not changing, you’re not growing” (Prof. Miguel Gutierrez, CSUDH) “Growing up makes people lose the beauty of simplicity” (me) commit to user v perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to: My beloved mother and father My sisters (Fitri, Inu, Yusi) My only brother Mufid commit to user vi perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First thing first, I am thankful to Allah S.W.T for giving me chances to finish up this thesis. Surely I am nothing without Allah S.W.T. In the completion of my thesis, some individuals have played an amazing role. I thank the Dean of Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts, Dr.Riyadi Santosa, M.Ed, Ph.D and all the lecturers in English Department (UNS) for the knowledge and chances to complete this thesis. I also thank the Head of English Department, Drs. Agus Hari Wibowo, M.A, Ph.D., for approving this thesis. I would like to wholeheartedly thank my thesis advisor, Dra.Susilorini, M.A, for assisting and teaching me to pursue the methods in conducting this research by sharing knowledge and skills until the completion of this research. I am so grateful to the board of examiners Dra. Endang Sri Astuti, M.S., Karunia Purna K, S.S., M.Si., Dra. Susilorini, M.A., and Fitria Akhmerti P, S.S., M.A. for giving time and contribution to my thesis. I would like to send my endless gratitude for my family (father, mother, sisters, and brother) for always having led me to a better life, having always supported my academic endeavors, and having always been there in times in needs. commit to user vii perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id Many special thanks for my special professor in CSU Dominguez Hills, Miguel Guttierez as Chicano lecturer, who has taught me about Hispanic Culture and made me interested in it, inspired me to take Chicano issues as my topic for my thesis and also other CSUDH professors (Dr.Z, Dr.Wenzell, Dr.Hauss, Dr.Burckhard Mohr, and Prof. Michael Desroschiers) I was taking classes with. I am grateful for having met, worked and been friends with my program officers in World Learning (Jessica Mead and Lynne Nolte), AMINEF which gave chance to learning experience, all ALCP teachers, dorm mates, and friends in CSU Dominguez Hills, UGRADers 2009-2010 from Indonesia, South Asia, Central and South America, and from Eastern Europe for sharing times together and learning experience during my stay in the States. I also want to send my gratitude for Syntia Hadingtyas, my Indonesian friend in CSUDH, for having been good friend during my stay in the States. My thanks then go to all of my friends for being good companies, giving me supports, and for sharing great times together. For all ED friends especially Candra, Canti, Irma, July, Mimi, Mita “gondrong”, Pandu, Pondrafi, Puput, Rara, Rifka, Seto, Sinta, Stevie, and Tyas. I thank you all so much American Studies students 07 and 08, all ED’07 and ED’08 for having been friends with me. I also thank my dorm mates Hana, Ike, Rara, Retna, Wulan, and also mba Septi Pandan Sari for having been friends with me. commit to user viii perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id Many thanks to all individuals who have helped me immensely in preparing, conducting, and completing this thesis, I am so grateful for all assistances you all gave me. Last but not least, I also want to dedicate my big thanks to all my favorite singers, bands such as Arctic Monkeys, Foster The People, The Kooks, The Strokes, John Mayer, Ingrid Michaelson, Sum 41, Simple Plan, Limpbizkit, ADTR, Sky Sailing, Parachute, Yellowcard, and many more for all of their awesome songs, great words that have accompanied and supported me especially during my time in conducting this research, I really mean it. commit to user ix perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE………………………………………………………………………........... i APPROVAL OF THE ADVISOR……………………………………………….. ii APPROVAL OF THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS…………………………….. iii PRONOUNCEMENT…………………………………………………………….. iv MOTTO…………………………………………………………………………… v DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……………………………………………………….. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………… x ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………….. xii CHAPTER I ................................................................................................ ……. 1 INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………... 1 A. RESEARCH BACKGROUND……………………………………………….. 1 B. SCOPE OF STUDY…………………………………………………………… 5 C. RESEARCH QUESTION…………………………………………………….. 6 D. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY………………………………………………. 6 E. BENEFITS OF THE STUDY………………………………………………… 6 F. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY…………………………………………….. 7 1. Type of Research………………………………………………………. 7 2. Data and Source of Data………………………………………………. 7 commit to user x perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id G. THEORETICAL APPROACH………………………………………………. 8 H. THESIS ORGANIZATION………………………………………………….. 12 CHAPTER II……………………………………………………………………… 14 LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………………….. 14 A. The Life Background of Rudolfo Anaya and Bless Me, Ultima…………… 14 B. Chicano in the United States…………………………………………………. 20 1. Chicano Political Movement……………………………….………….. 20 2. Chicano Literature in the Period of Chicano Movement……………… 24 C. Semiotics of The Literary Text……………………………………………… 27 D. The Identity Politics………………………………………………………….. 29 CHAPTER III…………………………………………………………………….. 34 ANALYSIS………………………………………………………………………... 34 A. Antonio and His Surrounding Conflicting Cultures…………………. 34 1. Vaquero vs Llano culture…………………………………………….. 37 2. Catholicism vs Indigenous myth……………………………………. 47 3. Chicano Culture vs Anglo culture…………………………………… 56 B. Ultima and Antonio’s Affirmation of Chicano Identities…………….. 63 1. The Significance of Land……………………………………………… 64 2. Ultima and The Healing Power……………………………………….. 70 3. Ultima and The Maturation of Antonio’s Spirituality………………. 77 CHAPTER IV…………………………………………………………………….. 86 A. CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………….. 86 B. RECOMMENDATION………………………………………………………. 89 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………… 90 commit to user xi perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id ABSTRACT Shofi Mahmudah Budi Utami. C0307006. The Identity Formation of Chicanos in Rudolfo Anya’s Novel Bless Me Ultima. Thesis. English Department of Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts Sebelas Maret University. This thesis is about the identities formation of Chicanos which are seen through the novel entitled Bless Me Ultima written by Rudolfo Anaya in the 1960’s. It is explained in the thesis how Anaya constructed the Chicano Identities in the 1960’s through the main data which were taken from the novel mainly the characters, characterization, plot, point of view, setting, theme, and dialogues with the supporting data taken from various sources such as books, journals, articles, on line sources which were all significantly related to the issue and useful to answer the research question. Since this research was interdisciplinary study, it employed some approaches and theory which were aimed to answer the research question. Some approach and theories were socio-cultural, semiotics, and identity politics. The biography of Rudolfo Anaya was also included because it was significant to the answering research question as the novel, Bless Me Ultima, is a semi-autobiographical work. Through the analysis, it is found that Anaya formed the Chicano identities through the novel Bless Me Ultima. The concept of Chicano identities in the 1960’s constructed in the novel is by tracing back the traditional values of Chicanos and affirming that these traditional values as the ideal characteristic of Chicanos. In order to identify the Chicano identities, Anaya presented cultural conflicts faced by the main character such as Vaquero vs. Llano culture, Catholicism vs. Indigenous myth, and the Chicano culture vs. Anglo culture. In the way to affirm the ideal characteristic of Chicanos, Anaya then traced back the traditional values through the meaning marking of “the land”, the performance of Ultima as curandera and her healing power,