Wacana Novelistik Dalam Novel Such a Fun Age (2019): Perspektif Dialogisme Bakhtin

Naufaludin Anam, Prof. Dr. Aprinus Salam, M.Hum.

2025 | Tesis | S2 Sastra

Novel Afrika Amerika sebagai sebuah genre memiliki tradisi novelistiknya yang berbeda-beda dari setiap era. Dimulai dari abad ke-19 yang lekat dengan narasi perbudakan dan bahasa abolisionis serta bentuk karya novel autobiografi, kemudian berlanjut di abad ke-20 yang mulai menerapkan eksplorasi dan eksperimentasi genre novel yang memiliki naras besar rasisme dan merambah persoalan-persoalan sosial di bawah ketimpangan dan segregasi. Memasuki abad ke-21, terdapat tradisi yang mengacu pada wacana kontemporer dan rasisme modern yang menunjukkan sebuah perkembangan dari genre novel yang semakin variatif dan distingtif. 

Membaca novel Such a Fun Age yang debut pada tahun 2019 lalu, peneliti mengamati fenomena novelistik yang mendasari asumsi mengenai pergeseran wacana dan dialog novelistik dengan tradisi kepenulisan dari karya-karya pendahulunya dan dengan zona kontak realitas terkini. Dengan menggunakan pendekatan teoretis dialogisme dan puitika historis Mikhail Bakhtin beserta ilustrasi komparatif dengan novel-novel pendahulunya dari abad 19 sampai 20, peneliti menginvestigasi wacana novelistik yang dikonstruksi dan menjadi satu keseluruhan genre novel yang modern mulai dari aspek naratif atau intrinsik, konstruksi tema hingga persoalan moral. 

Dari analisis yang telah dilakukan, terdapat dialogisitas eksternal dan internal dari novel SFA dengan tradisi novelistik lampau, alhasil membentuk model novel serio-comical yang distingtif dengan menarasikan persoalan yang serius seperti rasisme sistemis. Signifikasi dari konstruksi novelistik tersebut menjelaskan persoalan rasisme sistemis dengan menyajikan sebuah manifestasi yang baru melalui praksis hubungan atau interaksi interpersonal. Selain itu, dari adanya jukstaposisi dan konstruksi heteroglot, menyajikan perspektif baru dalam menyoal rasisme sistemis melalui relasi konstituen marginal dan sentral. 

The African American novel as a genre has its own novelistic traditions that vary from eras. Starting from the 19th century which was closely associated with slavery narratives and abolitionist language and the form of autobiographical novels, then continuing in the 20th century which began to apply exploration and experimentation of the novel genre which had a grand narrative of racism and explored social issues under inequality and segregation. Entering the 21st century, there is a tradition that begins to distance itself from old conventions and there are experiments that refer to contemporary discourse and modern racism which show a development of the novel genre that is increasingly varied and distinctive.

Reading novels Such a Fun Age which debuted in 2019, researchers observe the novelistic phenomenon that underlies the assumption of the shift in discourse and novelistic dialogue with the writing tradition of its predecessors and with the current reality contact zone. Using the theoretical approach of Mikhail Bakhtin's historical poetics and dialogism along with comparative illustrations with its predecessors' novels from the 19th to 20th centuries, researchers investigate the constructed novelistic discourse and become a whole modern novel genre starting from the narrative or intrinsic aspect, theme construction to moral issues.

From the analysis it shows that, there is an external and internal dialogicality of the SFA novel with past novelistic traditions, resulting in the formation of a distinctive serio-comical model by narrating serious issues such as systemic racism. The significance of this novelistic construction is that it explains the issue of systemic racism by presenting its new manifestation through the praxis of interpersonal interaction or relationship. Furthermore, the juxtaposition and heteroglot construction present a new perspective in questioning systemic racism through the relationship between marginal and central constituents.

Kata Kunci : dialogisme, genre novelistik, novel Afrika Amerika, rasisme, wacana novelistik