The Construction of Ideology through Syntactic Strategy in the Novel
Bumi Manusia
Rahutami Rahutami
Fakultas Bahasa dan Sastra, Universitas Kanjuruhan Malang, Malang, Indonesia
Keywords: Ideology, Strategy, Structuring.
Abstract: The author is the carrier of ideological messages embodied through the selected and arranged text.
Structuring of lingual units is one of syntactic strategies. Searching for the syntactic strategies is an attempt
to explore the ideology contained in discourse, literary works. This study focuses on exploring the ideology
of the novel Bumi Manusia through a syntactic strategy that includes: sentence mode, experience process,
passive-active, pronoun, nominalization, modalities, limitations, negation, and speech acts. The sentence
mode shows how the author accentuated or weakened the concepts. The active/passive sentence becomes a
way to show the person in charge of the event, whether good or bad. Pronouns show inter-concepts, agents,
or status. Nominalization is used to generalize "justified" concepts. Modalities describes the attitude or the
author’s perception of something. The limitations are intended to make a positioning of high or low status.
Negation is a way to invite readers to subtly agree on certain concepts. Finally, through speech acts the
author explains the concepts that are considered true by raising the general statement and detailed
explanation. Overall, syntactic strategies strive for humanitarian values.
1 INTRODUCTION
Novel Bumi Manusia is one of Pramoedya Ananta
Toer's works that was once banned during the New
Order government. The reason the government is the
novel is considered to spread the communist
ideology. The assumption is more due to political
factors, and not through scientific studies. It caused
the researcher's interest to uncover his ideology.
Research Teuuw (1997) and Hun (2011) indicate
that the novel is more indicative of things related to
the value of nationalism. However, Scherer's (2008)
study, which also uses a literary approach, agrees
that the novel contains communist ideology.
These two differences lie behind this research
which aims to reveal the ideology of the novel Earth
Man through linguistic aspects. This research adopts
the previous research on the disclosure of ideology
to the discourse of mass media (Van-Dijk, 1991;
Fairclough and Wodak, 1997). Similar research has
also been conducted on poetry (Fowler, 1981). The
study of ideological disclosure is part of critical
discourse analysis (Min, 1997).
The analysis of critical discourse reveals the
ways in which social power abuse, domination, and
inequality prevail, are produced and opposed by text
and conversation in social and political contexts
(Van-Dijk, 1995). Like the mass media, literary
works are an effective medium for the dissemination
of ideology. Literature is more subtle convey
ideology. Literature does not utilize the ways of
imperative authority but by way of experiencing
together. Awareness developed side by side is not a
tutorial.
The delivery of ideology can be traced through
the use of language. The syntactic strategy is a way
of exposing ideology by focusing on an arrangement
of a lingual unit which includes: sentence mode,
transitivity, active-passive, pronoun, nominalization,
modalities, and speech acts. The study was intended
as a new strategy in assessing and critiquing literary
works.
2 METHODS
This study uses a pragmatic approach that considers
the novel text as an utterance that represents the
writer's feelings and thoughts. Research data in the
form of lingual units of words, phrases, verbs, and
sentences that represent the author's view. Data is
628
Rahutami, R.
The Construction of Ideology through Syntactic Strategy in the Novel Bumi Manusia.
DOI: 10.5220/0007172206280631
In Proceedings of the Tenth Conference on Applied Linguistics and the Second English Language Teaching and Technology Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference
on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education (CONAPLIN and ICOLLITE 2017) - Literacy, Culture, and Technology in Language Pedagogy and Use, pages 628-631
ISBN: 978-989-758-332-2
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved

collected through identification and selection
process; then analyzed based on the lingual unit
arrangement functions associated with the novel
content and the views of the community.
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results of the analysis of the data in the text of
the novel Bumi Manusia are presented in the
following table 1.
Table 1: Syntactic Strategies
Elements
Syntax
Linguistics clue
Function
Sentence
mode
Transitivity
Active-
Passive
Pronomina
Nominalization
Modality
Speech act
declarative
interrogative,
imperative
relasional, material,
mental, verbal,
behavioral,
eksistensial
active
passive
general, a name, a
group
verbal,
adjektival>N
conditional, cause,
limitation negation
assertive, directive,
declarative,
expressive,
comissive
explains, informs,
persuades,
persuasive, invite,
order
explaining concepts,
to respond
positioning a
character, explain the
concept
debilitating,
corroborating,
eliminate, coveying
the concept of
humanity
positioned
compares concepts
and facts
justified/corroborated
, degrading
determines the
position of the
concept, personal
views, ask for follow
up
Based on the results as shown on table 1, the
following describes each syntactic strategy
contained in the novel text.
3.1 Sentence Mode
A Proposition is a picture of reality that resides in
the author's mind. The proposition states the
description of the existence of something so that it is
a declarative sentence. The description implies the
existence of arguments and predicates so that the
propositional analysis is performed against the
argument and predicate elements. The placement of
arguments and predicates affect the sentence mode.
Sentence modes relate to the way expressions are
expressed against communication partners, which
include declarative, interrogative, and imperative
modes.
The novel as a discourse which expresses the
idea through the story then resulted in the
dominance of the declarative sentence in the text. In
the Bumi Manusia, declarative sentences are used to
convey information to the speakers (characters) in
the story, as well as the reader. Generally intended to
convey a detailed explanation of the author's ideas.
Thus the reader understands the truth from the
author's perspective. As an example of the data
associated with it can be seen in the following
description.
The writers convey an idea that humans have
equality with other human beings. This idea opposes
the view of society that is considered unfair in
positioning the community. The author uses women,
gundik, as a party who has the same ability as men.
The similarity of position can be seen in detail
capable of leading, profiles of figures as
entrepreneurs, highly capable, and exceeds other
women of his era. A detailed explanation is a way
the author persuades the reader to perform defense
of the character.
Basically, the interrogative and imperative
modes are not different in function. Both are enabled
to persuade and invite to subtly for an agreement or
action that parallels the author's ideas. The sentence
of Dan apa bisa diperoleh dalam hidup ini tanpa
bea? (Toer, 2010), is enabled to persuade. The
author invites the reader to ponder the answer to the
question then lead the reader to agree with the
author. The agreement is based on self-awareness
that human life always requires a cost or a substitute
in any form. With her self-awareness, the reader
follows the idea conveyed by the author.
3.2 Transitivity
Transitivity is a picture of the process of experience.
Halliday (1985) states transitivity as a process, i.e.
the concept of reality that contains events. Events
are sorted by process and participants and expressed
in clauses. Selection of process types affects agents,
and every option is ideological. The process
description is represented by verbs.
The dominant process of experience in the Bumi
Manusia is a relational process which shows that the
author intends to inform humanity concepts by using
his point of view he template is used to format your
paper and style the text. For example, Tetapi
manusia tetap yang dulu juga dengan persoalannya.
Terutama dalam perkara cinta (Toer, 2010). The
author emphasizes the love affair. It is done through
The Construction of Ideology through Syntactic Strategy in the Novel Bumi Manusia
629

the second sentence. The second sentence has no
carrier, contains only the attribute as its keyword.
The sentence puts attributes more important than the
carrier. The word love is the focus of both sentences.
The interpretation of the sentence is that the author
considers the love affair to be an important part of
human life.
3.3 Active-Passive
Active and passive is a matter of voice. Relates to
the way of expressing the relationship between the
phrase verb and the noun phrase, as well as the
various things associated with that relationship
(Richards et al., 1992). Two sentences may be
different in the voice, although they have the same
basic meaning. It relates to changes in emphasis
according to certain considerations (ideological).
There are various reasons for expressing the
emphasized meaning (Van-Dijk, 1988). The use of
passive phrases without an agent is often intended to
allow a non-authoritative mutuality. The difference
between active and passive expressions indicates the
difference in focus emphasized. The focus emphasis
is related to the purpose of messaging.
Agen polisi itu mengangkatkan barang-barangku
dan dibawa keluar (Toer, 2010). The sentence is an
example using an active-passive sentence. It consists
of two clauses with a subject which also plays the
perpetrator, the police agent, and the target object, ie
my goods. Two processes lifted and carried. Both
verbs are manifested in active clauses and passive
clauses. Active clause actors are explicitly stated,
while passive clauses are implicitly implied.
Although the offender is not shown the passive
cluster can be traced from the previous sentence
object. The purpose of the sentence is not only to
highlight the perpetrators, but also to highlight the
actors' actions. In this case, the perpetrator is a
police agent who performs the act of lifting and
carrying goods from someone he picks up. It can be
interpreted, that the author demeaned position a
police agent than my character who should be
positioned as a prisoner. Humility indicates that
one's education and position can create inequality
among people
3.4 Pronouns
Expressing a textual representation of concrete
actions, events, circumstances, and relationships or
imagination, underlying the different types of
processes and participants, and the selection made
has a certain ideological significance. Furthermore,
the use of greetings indicates power, solidarity,
intimacy, familiarity, distance equation, reverence
and others (Braun, 1988).
In Bumi Manusia, the use of pronouns referring
to general forms, such as manusia, orang, and
mereka indicate that the concepts or ideas conveyed
are widely viewed and generally agreed upon by the
author. Meanwhile, the mention is specifically used
to express ideas that are specific to represent the
views of authors who are not parallel to the views of
the community, ie pribumi, tuan, papamu. Self-
esteem pronouns are used in order to position certain
parties as rulers or controlled in an event. The
existence of pronouns strengthens the construction
of ideology, in particular, expressed equality,
kinship relations, educational differences, racial
differences, social status differences, and
humanitarian concepts
3.5 Nominalization
Nominalization is a strategy to eliminate the
participants, both the offender and the target of an
action. Nominalization transforms the action into a
concept or thing, as well as an event. The event does
not require concrete information, ie the subject and
the object. The author ideologically uses
nominalization to convey the concepts of humanity.
This way is used to reinforce the author's arguments
that contradict the views of society. The following
sentence is excerpts of the use of nominalization
Kasihan hanya kemewahan, atau satu kelemahan
(Toer, 2010).
In that quote, there is a nominalization, kasihan
merely kemewahan, atau kelemahan. The sentence
calls the concept of pity to be positive, but also
negative. The explanation of the subject of pity is
expressed in the following sentence, ie my
character/Jean Marrais who has no ability to love
and thus needs to be pitied.
3.6 Modality
A text can be understood coherently if there is the
coherence of its parts. Coherence is a semantic
device of discourse based on the interpretation of
intercostal links. Coherence is a mental process that
represents text (Givón, 2005). Coherence is
manifested by a combination of sentences and
sequence of sentences. To declare the intercostal
relationship is used a device called cohesion with
modalities. A modality is a form of language that
describes judgment based on the speaker's reasoning,
feelings, or desires regarding the perception or
expression of his soul (Bally, 2003).
CONAPLIN and ICOLLITE 2017 - Tenth Conference on Applied Linguistics and the Second English Language Teaching and Technology
Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education
630

The context of the sentence in the text of the
Bumi Manusia is manifested through the use of
modalities to express conditional ie selama,
kalau/kalu, cause-effect relationships ie karena and
maka, boundaries ie hanya, and negations ie tidak,
tak, tiada, bukan, tanpa, jangan, belum. The use of
these relationships serves to position a person or
concept as a ruler-overpowered, degrading, the
cause/effect of the action in an event. In general,
relationships not only refer to the views that people
believe but also refute or show the weakness of that
view.
3.7 Speech Act
Speech act is a way of describing power in the text.
Speech indicates which parties have authority over
others, for example, in the matter of wealth insight
(explanation), giving directive (directive), which is
positioned high (politeness). According to Chaer and
Agustina (2004), speech acts are psychological and
its sustainability is determined by the speaker's
language skills in facing certain situations. Speech
has a variety of functions in everyday life. The Bumi
Manusia’s writer uses speech acts to convey the
concept of humanity, invites the reader, determines
the position, expresses personal views, and asks a
particular follow-up reader. The example can be
seen in the following sentence: Dan tak ada yang
lebih sulit dapat difahami daripada sang manusia
(Toer, 2010). The author assumes assertiveness that
understanding human is the most difficult thing. The
statement is a human construction in life. Readers
are invited to agree on the author's personal opinion.
It indirectly leads the reader to justify other ideas
related to the difficulty of human understanding.
4 CONCLUSIONS
Syntactic strategies serve to reinforce arguments
expressed by the author, so as to lead the reader to
agree and justify the author's view. The views
conveyed are supported by sentence forms that
persuade the reader that the author is more human in
view of human life.
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