American readers' response to mith albom's the five people you meet in heaven

LESTARI, Febriyanti Dwiratna, Prof. Dr. C. Soebakdi Soemanto, S.U

2008 | Tesis | S2 Pengkajian Amerika

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk melihat trend terkini industri buku, khususnya fiksi, di Amerika serta pola selera pembacanya terkait dengan kepopuleran fiksi bestseller The Five People You Meet in Heaven karya Mitch Albom dan memaparkan bagaimana pembaca Amerika merespon buku tersebut dengan cara mengeksplorasi poin-poin yang mereka suka dan tidak suka darinya sekaligus mencari tahu alasan di balik perbedaan resepsi tersebut. Sampel pembaca Amerika di sini diwakili oleh editorial dari the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, Boston Globe, Meridian Magazine, dan Amazon sebagai pembaca professional dan review publik yang diwakili pelanggan Amazon yang berasal dari Amerika sebagai pembaca yang telah secara signifikan berkontribusi terhadap kepopuleran novel tersebut. Ini merupakan penelitian kualitatif yang menyajikan interpretasi data melalui analisis deskriptif. Objek materi penelitian ini berupa review atau dokumen; sementara objek formalnya adalah apa yang pembaca katakan tentang novel tersebut. Teori yang digunakan adalah reader’s response. Namun pada pelaksanaannya, pendekatan lain seperti psikologi diterapkan demi melihat persepsi dan sikap pembaca terhadap novel tersebut; serta pendekatan terhadap sastra dan budaya populer karena novel yang dibahas adalah bestseller. Dan karena ini adalah penelitian American Studies, analisis hasil proses penjaringan data selalu dicek silang dengan faktor kontekstual di Amerika. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa (1) ada keberagaman baik dalam hal tipe buku yang beredar di pasaran Amerika belakangan ini maupun pada selera pembaca Amerika—termasuk pula kesukaaan akan buku bertema religious/spiritual; (2) berdasar review editorial, kebanyakan dari pembaca professional ini menunjukkan sikap netral dan memberikan poin yang relatif sama terhadap buku tersebut dalam hal respon umum, label atribut novel, cerita, karya terkait, dan momentum penerbitan; dan berdasar review publik, ditemukan bahwa 3 dari 4 pembaca Amerika memberi respon positif, sementara 1 dari 10 diantaranya memberi respon negative. Poin yang mereka suka adalah narasinya yang mudah dibaca tapi tetap mampu menginspirasi, tema interkoneksi antar manusia, dan versi surganya yang menarik. Poin yang mereka tidak suka adalah penyampaiannya yang terlalu elementer, dan versi surganya yang tidak menarik. Dan seluruh poin ini sangatlah dipengaruhi oleh faktor kontekstual akan apa yang terjadi di masyarakat Amerika.

This research aims to layout the recent trend in America’s book industry, specifically fiction, and the possible taste of the American readers that may have accounted for the popularity of Mitch Albom’s bestseller fiction The Five People You Meet in Heaven and to find out how the real American readers exactly respond to this book by exploring the points they like and dislike, and analyzing why they are so. The sample American readers are represented by editorial reviews i.e. the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, Boston Globe, Meridian Magazine, and Amazon as professional reader; and public review by Amazon’s American customers, considered not as professional but significant readers having contributed to its popularity. This is a qualitative research and thus presents the data interpretation through descriptive analysis. The material object of the research is in the form of review—or document—and its formal object is what the given reviewers say about the novel. To reach that aim, this study is based mainly on reader’s response theory. In its process, however, it uses psychological approach so as to see the readers’ perception and attitudes towards the novel. As it is a bestseller, the subject is approached using that for popular literature and culture. Since this is an American Studies research, it enriches the analysis by putting the review matter in context. The findings of the study show that (1) there has been a diverse type of books circulated in America as well as diverse appeal of American readers for books including fiction; plus, there is a recent appeal for books with religious/spiritual theme having enabled the success of this novel; and (2) regarding the editorials, most of the editorial reviewers remain neutral in their attitude to the novel and share relatively similar points to the book in terms of their general response, the attributed labels, the storyboard, related works, and momentum of publication; and regarding the public review, it is found that, despite the audience’s conflicting reviews to The Five People You Meet in Heaven, three out of four of the given Amazon’s American reviewers positively respond it; meanwhile, only one in ten negatively reacts to it. The points that they like from the novel are (1) its being an easy but thoughtprovoking read; (2) its circular nature of life theme; and (3) its interesting version of heaven. The points that they dislike from the novel are (1) its being an rudimentary read; and (2) its unappealing version of heaven. And all these points are found to have been significantly influenced by contextual factors in America.

Kata Kunci : Respon pembaca,Mitch Albom,The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Readers’ Response, Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven