Prose-critical Approaches To Literature.docx

CRITICAL APPROACHES TO LITERATURE: READERS’-RESPONSE CRITICISM ANALYSIS IN SHORT STORY “LITTLE MATCH GIRL” BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN COMPARED WITH GINTAMA EPISODE 201 BY HIDEKI SORACHI

Written By 1. Denes Permadi 2. Aldi Wihananto 3. Bayu Permana

(16321036) (16321046) (16321054)

DEPARTEMENT OF ENGLISH TEACHING FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND TEACHER TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF PGRI MADIUN A. READERS’-RESPONSE CRITICISM

In a school of literary theory that focuses on the reader (or “audience”) and his or her experience of a literary work, in contrast to other schools and theories that focus attention primarily on the author or the content and from of the work. Although literary theory has long paid some attention to the reader’s role in creating the meaning and experience of a literary work, modern readerresponse criticism began in the 1960s and ’70s, particularly in the US and Germany, in work by Norman Holland, Stanley Fish, Wolfgang Iser, HansRobert Jauss, Roland Barthes, and others. Reader-response theory recognizes the reader as an active agent who imparts “real existence” to the work and completes its meaning through interpretation. Reader-response criticism argues that literature should be viewed as a performing art in which each reader creates their own, possibly unique, text-related performance. It stands in total opposition to the theories of formalism and the New Criticism. B. THEORY OF READERS-RESPONSE CRITICISM Subjective Readers’-Response is a theory of Reader Response Criticism that attached by David Bleich. Bleich believes that a reader’s response become the text itself, and that all meaning of a text lies in the readers’ interpretation. To Bleich, a literary text comprises a real entity—the text, the words on the page, which is a concrete object—and our interpretation of the concrete text, which can be seen as a symbolic object. We “resymbolize” the text through our perceptions and beliefs. Meaning, then, is negotiated: our reading response (highly personal) is often brought to a larger body (communal) to discuss the meaning of a piece of literature. The classroom is a perfect example: you are assigned to read something, you read it and develop a personal interpretation, and then you share that interpretation with the class; ultimately, the class creates a more communal interpretation. In subjective criticism, knowledge is seen as socially constructed from the

interaction of all readers; thus, interpretation is seen as personal, yet communal, the common element being that reading is subjective. The transaction that happens in subjective criticism is between the personal readeroriented response statement and the more public-oriented response statement, which reflects the themes in the text. Subjective Readers’-Response focuses on negotiation for meaning which makes the view from each reader is not wrong if it based on some objective reading of the text. C. KINDS OF READER IN READERS’ RESPONSE CRITICISM According to a literary critic by the name of Wolfgang Iser, “an Implied Reader is a hypothetical figure who is likely to get most of what the author intended.” (Iser, 2017) When an author writes a book or article they do so with certain readers in mind and they believe that those known as the implied reader will understand or appreciate the metaphors and ironies which the author as written. (Iser, 2017). According to Iser, the Actual Reader who may eventually manage to get through the book, such as when one is struggling to enjoy it because the book is either too complex or they do not understand the metaphors and ironies which the author has written. (Iser, 2017). In here, we would like to analyze the short story “Little Match Girl” by Hans Christian Andersen to Anime titled Gintama in episode 201. D. GINTAMA EPISODE 201 GinTama (English: Silver Soul, Japanese: 銀魂) is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Hideaki Sorachi also known as Gorilla that in fact no one know his real identity. His first anime aired in April 4th 2006. Synopsis of Gintama, aliens from outer space named Amanto have invaded Earth and taken over feudal Japan. As a result, a prohibition on swords has been established, and the samurai of Japan are treated with disregard as a consequence. However one man, Gintoki Sakata, still possesses the heart of the samurai, although from his love of sweets and work as a Yorozuya, one might not expect it. Accompanying him in his jack-of-all-trades line of work

are Shinpachi Shimura, a boy with glasses and a strong heart, Kagura with her umbrella and seemingly bottomless stomach, as well as Sadaharu, their oversized pet dog. Of course, these odd jobs are not always simple, as they frequently have run-ins with the police, ragtag rebels, and assassins, oftentimes leading to humorous but unfortunate consequences.. Gintama have nine seasons and more than 400 episodes, with 2 movies and 2 live-actions. While the last episode of the latest season published in October 8 th 2018. episode of 201 in Gintama story is tell about competition to show who is the real santa by telling a story. In the scenes of Kyuubei tell a story, the story that she told was adopted from a story titled "the little match girl" E. ANALYSIS 1. Event 1 a) The Little Match Girl Most terribly cold it was; it snowed, and was nearly quite dark, and evening-- the last evening of the year. In this cold and darkness there went along the street a poor little girl, bareheaded, and with naked feet. b) Gintama Kagura is a young girl that wearing a Chinese cloth with glove trying to sell “Pachi” (Pachi is one of the character in Gintama that his original name was Shinpachi, but in this part of this episode his name changed into Pachi) on Christmas Eve. No one want to buy her “Pachi”, everyone just passed her and ignoring her. c) Analysis Gorilla made the character of Kagura based on Chinese culture, that is why when she sells Pachi, in the cold and dark evening she is wearing Chinese cloth. Factor of culture make the character between the girl in “The Little Match Girl” and Kagura in Gintama have differences in their appearance. We know that Andersen is a writer from Denmark and Gorilla is a famous unknown writer but he makes Kagura based on Chinese culture. 2. Event 2

a) The Little Match Girl In a corner formed by two houses, of which one advanced more than the other, she seated herself down and cowered together. Her little feet she had drawn close up to her, but she grew colder and colder, and to go home she did not venture, for she had not sold any matches and could not bring a farthing of money: from her father she would certainly get blows. b) Gintama In the cold situation she said that she scared to go home. “Pachi” imagine the reason why she scared to go home because her father going to blow Kagura for she had not sold any matches and could not bring any money (played by one character in gintama named Hasegawa). Kagura continued to talk and explain the reason why she scared to go home and apparently she said scared to go home because of cockroach in her house, while the cockroach is Hasegawa wearing attribute to looks like a cockroach. c) Analysis It is very different with the original story, Pachi thinks that Kagura afraid to go home because of her father but apparently she afraid to go home because the cockroach in her house. Genre of Gintama is comedy, that is why Gorilla tries to make a parody of the cockroach instead of showing the violence of the father in the original story. 3. Event 3 a) The Little Match Girl She rubbed another against the wall: it burned brightly, and where the light fell on the wall, there the wall became transparent like a veil, so that she could see into the room. On the table was spread a snow-white tablecloth; upon it was a splendid porcelain service, and the roast goose was steaming famously with its stuffing of apple and dried plums. And what was still more capital to behold was, the goose hopped down from the dish, reeled about on the floor with knife and fork in its breast, till it came up to the poor little girl; when--the match

went out and nothing but the thick, cold, damp wall was left behind. She lighted another match. Now there she was sitting under the most magnificent Christmas tree: it was still larger, and more decorated than the one which she had seen through the glass door in the rich merchant's house. Thousands of lights were burning on the green branches, and gaily-colored pictures, such as she had seen in the shop-windows, looked down upon her. The little maiden stretched out her hands towards them when--the match went out. The lights of the Christmas tree rose higher and higher, she saw them now as stars in heaven; one fell down and formed a long trail of fire. "Someone is just dead!" said the little girl; for her old grandmother, the only person who had loved her, and who was now no more, had told her, that when a star falls, a soul ascends to God. She drew another match against the wall: it was again light, and in the luster there stood the old grandmother, so bright and radiant, so mild, and with such an expression of love. "Grandmother!" cried the little one. "Oh, take me with you! You go away when the match burns out; you vanish like the warm stove, like the delicious roast goose, and like the magnificent Christmas tree!" And she rubbed the whole bundle of matches quickly against the wall, for she wanted to be quite sure of keeping her grandmother near her. And the matches gave such a brilliant light that it was brighter than at noon-day: never formerly had the grandmother been so beautiful and so tall. She took the little maiden, on her arm, and both flew in brightness and in joy so high, so very high, and then above was neither cold, nor hunger, nor anxiety--they were with God. b) Gintama Kagura turn back and said she want to warm herself by using one of the Pachi (in fact, there is only one Pachi showed in Anime). She starts to warming her body using Pachi by hitting and kicking Pachi like a sandsack. Pachi shocked that the meaning of what Kagura

said to warm her body is just moving her body to kicking and hitting Pachi, he asked for help but no one care. While kagura hitting Pachi, she said that she can see something coming out, she can see some food called Monja and Monjayaki (food with a vomit-like texture) but those are Pachi’s vomit. Shinpachi scream to ask some help and Santa appears on the building behind Shinpachi. “Tasukete Santa-san!” (translate: help me Mr. Santa) Pachi said. But Santa asking to Kagura, if punching Pachi would make whatever your wishes come true, then Santa joined with Kagura to hitting Pachi. c) Analysis Gorilla makes three major character in Gintama, they are Kagura, Shinpaci, and Gintoki. Character Pachi (Shinpaci) in Gintama is commonly get bullies by another character in the story to show the comedy side of Gintama in different way. Little Match Girl rubbed the match to get warm in original story and the vision of a table full of food comes out from her imagination, while in Gintama showed the violence scene of Kagura kicking and punching Pachi to warm her body until Pachi vomiting his food. In Gintama, Shinpaci known as Tsukkomi character, Tsukkomi is the angry character and often used to describe a Japanese anime character who is frustrated, unappreciated, or just plain ticked off. The Tsukkomi attempts to keep a calm facade, only to be thwarted by someone, or something they find irritating. Tsukkomi often resulting in violent actions. In the last vision of the original story, little match girl saw her grandmother, while in Gintama, the grandmother replaced by the appearance of Santa. The reason replacing Grandmother with Santa because in the original one, her Grandmother symbolize a hope, and so do Santa. 4. Event 4 a) The Little Match Girl No one had the slightest suspicion of what beautiful things she had seen; no one even dreamed of the splendor in which, with her grandmother she had entered on the joys of a new year.

b) Gintama In the morning, people found Kagura, Pachi, and Santa are fainted in the sidewalk with their body full of vomit. c) Analysis In the original one, the little match girl died because hypothermia and founded in the morning of new year. In Gintama showed all of the character are founded faint in the sidewalk in the morning full of vomit. The reason is the author of Gintama make it parody from the original one as humor as Gintama genre.

References https://courses.lumenlearning.com/introliterature/chapter/reader-responsecriticism-suggested-replacement/ https://myanimelist.net/anime/918/Gintama https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Tsukkomi Bleich, David. Subjective Criticism. John Hopkins University Press: Baltimore, 1978, p.95