IMPOSITION, ADOPTION, AND RESISTANCE IN LYNNE KUTSUKAKE'S THE TRANSLATION OF LOVE: A POSTCOLONIAL APPROACH

BHAKTI S NUGROHO, Drs. Muh. Arif Rokhman, M.Hum., Ph.D

2020 | Tesis | MAGISTER PENGKAJIAN AMERIKA

Penelitian ini berada dalam paradigma Transnational American Studies, bertujuan untuk membahas sebuah proses pembentukan budaya kolonial yang melibatkan imposisi budaya, adopsi dan resistensi, dalam novel The Translation of Love karya Lynne Kutsukake. Novel ini berlatarbelakang di masa pendudukan Amerika di Jepang setelah Perang Dunia Kedua selesai, dimana masyarakat Jepang paska-perang dipaksa hidup dibawah kendali Amerika, disaat mengalami krisis ekonomi, sosial, dan moral (kyodatsu). Maka dari itu, selain Transnational American Studies, penelitian kualitatif ini juga menggunakan pendekatan kajian poskolonial karena membahas pengaruh Amerika terhadap Jepang paska perang sebagai negara yang diduduki. Penelitian ini menggunakan tiga teori: imposisi budaya (cultural imposition), mimikri (mimicry), dan resistensi simbolik (symbolic resistance). Hasilnya menunjukan adanya penurunan nilai identitas budaya Jepang yang dulunya menolak klaim "lian" dari Barat. Dalam imposisi budaya, Amerika berhasil menyalurkan ideologi, bahasa, gaya hidup dan kebiasaan Amerika melalui beberapa cara: media, interaksi sosial, obligasi sosial, dan kurikulum sekolah. Sementara itu, dalam adopsi budaya, masyarakat Jepang paska-perang mulai mengadopsi budaya-budaya Amerika seperti bahasa, gaya hidup, kebiasaan dan gaya busana. Adopsi ini menyatakan adanya pergeseran orientasi budaya masyarakat Jepang paska-perang yang cenderung merayakan budaya Amerika sebagai sebuah "simbol kebebasan". Lalu, resistensi masyarakat Jepang paska-perang terhadap Amerika sebagai penguasa asing hanya muncul dalam bentuk tindakan sederhana baik secara tertutup maupun terbuka. Sederhananya, analisis ini menunjukan bahwa Jepang hanya dijadikan "sebuah bidak" untuk rencana dominasi global paska-perang Amerika.

This research, which is under Transnational American Studies, purposes to analyze the process of creating a colonial culture which involves cultural imposition, adoption, and resistance in Lynne Kutsukake's The Translation of Love. This novel is set during U.S. occupation of Japan after the end of World War II in which postwar Japanese are forced to live under American power, while undergoing an economic, social and moral crisis (kyodatsu). Thus, besides Transnational American Studies, this qualitative research also utilizes postcolonial studies since it discusses American influence toward postwar Japan as its occupied country. It further utilizes three theories: cultural imposition, mimicry and symbolic resistance. The finding, then, shows the devaluation of Japanese cultural identity which used to oppose the claim of "otherness" by the West. In cultural imposition, the United States manages to impose American ideology, language, lifestyle, customs and fashion through various ways such as media, social interaction, social obligation and school curriculum. Meanwhile, in cultural adoption, postwar Japanese adopt American cultures such as language, lifestyle, custom and fashion in which it asserts that there is a shift of postwar Japanese cultural orientation that tends to celebrate American culture as a "sign of liberation". Then, symbolic resistance is only manifested into subversive everyday gestures. It includes covert and overt form. In short, this analysis shows that Japan only becomes "a pawn" in the United States' postwar plan for global dominance.

Kata Kunci : colonial culture, postcolonial, postwar Japan, the United States, The Translation of Love, transnational