A Local Counter-Discourse against National Education Problems: Postcolonial Reading of Andrea Hirata’s Laskar Pelangi

  • Andreas Akun English Department, Faculty of Language and Culture, Binus University, Kemanggisan Ilir III No. 45, Palmerah, Jakarta 11480, West Java
Keywords: post colonialism, counter discourse, hybridity, education, mysticism

Abstract

This study aims at exploring postcolonial themes raised by Andrea Hirata’s Laskar Pelangi (Rainbow Warriors). Specifically, it will reveal the characteristics of hybridity found in the novel that prove this literary work may be categorized as postcolonial writing despite the fact that western or white colonialism has no impact or trace at all in the novel. Furthermore, the study will prove that this national novel with its very local issues is a counter discourse, a subversive tool for the writer to criticize the domination of certain groups upon their own marginal fellows. Education, as a global issue, is one Indonesian national and typical ironic problem teased through local culture and even mysticism in this novel.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Ashcroft, B. (2001). Post-colonial transformation. London: Routledge.

Ashcroft, B., Griffiths, G., & Tiffin, H. (2007). Post-colonial studies: The key concepts. New York: Routledge.

Ashcroft, B., Griffiths, G., & Tiffin, H. (2004). The post-colonial reader. New York: Routledge.

Aveling, H. (1993). Non-English postcolonial fiction? The Malaysian case. SPAN: Journal of the South Pacific Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies, 34. Retrieved November 10, 2008, from http://kali.murdoch. edu.au/~cntinuum/litserv/SPAN/34/Aveling.html

Barry, P. (2009). Beginning theory: An introduction to literary and cultural theory. Manchester: Manchester University Press

Hirata, A. (2008). Laskar pelangi. Yogyakarta: Penerbitan Bentang.

Paryz, M. (2006). Beyond the traveler’s testimony: Emerson’s English Traits and the construction of postcolonial counter discourse. American Transcendental Quarterly, 20, 565-591.
Published
2011-05-04
How to Cite
Akun, A. (2011). A Local Counter-Discourse against National Education Problems: Postcolonial Reading of Andrea Hirata’s Laskar Pelangi. K@ta: A Biannual Publication on the Study of Languange and Literature, 12(2), 140-151. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.9744/kata.12.2.140-151