ACTUALIZATION OF WOMEN’S ROLES IN BERTOLT BRECHT’S AND NANO RIANTIARNO’S PLAYS

Abstract

A literary work is not an object that stands by itself and offers the same view to each reader in each period, therefore literary works are always actualized and finally achieve a new existence. This study is aimed at describing (1) the actualization of women’s roles in Bertolt Brecht’s and Nano Riantiarno’s plays and (2) Nano Riantiarno’s horizons of expectation. The data sources were Brecht’s play Die Dreigroschenoperand Riantiarno’s play Opera Ikan Asin. The study was reception approach. Data analysis was performed by conducting a comparative analysis of the actualization of the women’s roles in the two plays and historical analysis to find Riantiarno’s horizons of expectation. The results show that the actualization of women’s roles appear in self-independence at work, sternness, and calmness in dealing with problems. Riantiarno’s horizons of expectation appear in his pre-experiences concerning women’s roles, implicit relationships with previous literary works on women’s roles, and opposition between fiction and reality, poetic and practical fuktion of language in the two plays. Riantiarno’s actualization of the women’s roles in Opera Ikan Asin is influenced by horizons of expectation and Zeitgeist (the soul of a different era).

Keywords:women’s role, play, feminism, horizon of expectation, Zeitgeist