Social Reality in Heru Kersawa Murti’s Play Dhemit: A Perspective by Ian Watt
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24256/ideas.v14i2.11082Keywords:
Dhemit play, Ian Watt, social realityAbstract
Drama, as a literary work, serves not only as a form of entertainment but also as a representation of various social realities within society. While the sociology of literature has been widely studied, research specifically examining the representation of social injustice and marginalization in Heru Kersawa Murti’s play Dhemit through the lens of Ian Watt’s sociology of literature remains limited. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the representation of social realities in the play using Ian Watt’s approach. The research focuses on various forms of social injustice and marginalization depicted through characters, dialogue, conflict, and the narrative setting. A qualitative approach with a descriptive method is employed. Data were gathered through an intensive reading of the script, the recording of relevant excerpts, and the categorization of data based on forms of social reality. Subsequently, the data were analyzed with reference to Ian Watt’s concepts of the sociology of literature. The results indicate that Dhemit represents various social issues, such as worker exploitation, power imbalances, the disregard for the rights of rural communities, and environmental degradation caused by development. Furthermore, the characters Dhemit and Lelembut represent marginalized groups resulting from unequal power relations. These findings confirm that Dhemit functions not merely as a literary work but also as a medium for social criticism regarding injustices in society. This study contributes to the development of the sociology of literature, particularly by enriching the understanding of how social realities are represented in drama through Ian Watt’s perspective.
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