Abstract
This research article discusses how Karma Brown explains cultural identity and symbolic interactionism in his novel. The novel shows two female characters representing diverse generations of housewives. Descriptive qualitative is the research methodology used in the research, and content analysis is the method to analyze the research object. The intrinsic approach has been used to analyze the characterization, setting, and plot. In the research, five cultural identities in the current and past time are related to a housewife, reflected by two female characters in the novel. There is also a revelation on memory and symbols, including the symbolic interactionism concepts, which are mind, society, and self, per George Herbert Mead’s theory.
Introduction
Cultural value is one of the multiple values one can read in a novel. Culture is the entire set of beliefs, behaviors, and labor that people put forth to create a community where they can be long and learn. Cultural identity is made up of cultural values. Cultural identity is the identity that a person, a group, or a society adopts to live their everyday lives. Cultural identity occurs not just in life but also in literary works. The characters in the book interact with one another as well. As per Brown, interaction is the collaborative exchange of ideas, feelings, or thoughts between two or more individuals that results in a reciprocal impact on each other. Socialization requires that people engage with others. There are two housewife characters in the novel, namely; Alice Hale, who lives in the modern lifestyle (2018), and Nellie Murdoch, who lives in the ancient lifestyle (1950). Based on the descriptions, this essay will analyze the cultural identity existing in the current and past days
The problem source in the two female characters in the novel explains the generation, cultural identity, and interaction issues.
The research questions:
- How are two female characters that belong to different generations represented as housewives?
- How do two female characters represent cultural identities from 1950 and 2018?
- What symbolic interactionism does Alice and Nellie’s viewpoint illustrate?
The research method
The research uses a descriptive qualitative method due to the problems analyzed and is described by words or figures if necessary, and does not describe the numerical analysis. The primary data in this research are facts and information related to cultural identity and symbolic interactionism extracted from Karma Brown’s novel “Recipe for a Perfect Wife .”This research’s secondary supporting data are facts and information relevant to cultural identity and symbolic interactionism obtained from related books, theses, journals, and articles on the internet. The content analysis method analyzes the report object.
Results
Symbolic Interactionism Reflected in Two Female Characters in Karma Brown’s Novel “Recipe for a Perfect Wife”
In this perspective, symbolic interactionism has two facets. The symbol can trigger interaction and deliver a memory reflected in Alice’s view. Second, Nellie’s viewpoint on the concepts of mind, self, and society is discussed.
According to the symbol concept, anything is not represented by words per defined but rather by memories of particular objects or phrases. A symbol has the potential to interact with the character. This story’s representation is a cookie. Alice makes these cookies using the recipe she discovers in her home’s cellar. Alice and Sally, two characters, interact with one another. Alice bakes a cookie, which Sally consumes. Sally informs Alice that the cookie tastes exactly like the ones her mother Miriam always makes for her while eating it. Nellie Murdoch’s neighbor is Miriam. Alternatively, Alice responds to Sally’s claim that the cookie was prepared using a recipe she discovered in the basement of her residence in Greenville. Back then, Nellie Murdoch lived in the Greenville mansion herself.
The cookie is the item that sparks the dialogue between Alice and Sally, according to the story’s narration. One could assert that the cookie is a symbol that prompts an interaction. A cookie serves as the interaction’s emblem. Sally is forced to memorize her mother’s cookie by the cookie itself. Mom always maintained that homemade food is the best. I doubt Elsie Swann might have been Nellie’s mother,” Sally mused as she placed the final cookie bite into her mouth. The name is recognizable, and cookbooks used to be handed from one generation to the next as wedding presents for the newlyweds. Many people probably got married unprepared.
According to the abovementioned phrase, Sally tries to remember her mother’s advice that homemade food always wins. She also makes assumptions about Nellie’s cookbook. The cookbook must be preserved from generation to generation, much like a legacy. Elsie gives Nellie the cookbook. The cookie represents the communication between Alice and Sally. The biscuit first triggers Sally’s recollection of her mother’s cookie. The cookie also raises the subject of the cookbook. They discuss the cookbook Alice discovers in the cellar due to the cookie.
Sally is forced to memorize Elsie Swann’s name by the cookie. Elsie, in her opinion, is Nellie’s mother. The supposition about Elsie prompts them to discuss the cookbook, a legacy that needs to be passed on to the following generation. It also highlights the reality that 1950s new wives are still not ready for marriage. It is clear from the description above that a symbol might be the cause of a character’s contact with another. Sally and Alice carry out the communication.
Conclusion
It demonstrates that several civilizations from two separate eras combine to form a cultural identity. Alice and Nellie each have a distinct cultural identity corresponding to the 1950s and 2018. The year 2018 is represented by Alice’s five cultural identities. First, women who smoke find it weird. The second event is a private gathering for just friends and family. The laptop and smartphone come in third. Fourth, it’s normal for couples to cohabitate without being married. Fifth, there isn’t a worker present. On the other hand, Nellie also conveys the cultural identity of the 1950s. When young marriage was common, smoking was common among women and wives, there was a Tupperware party where people gathered to look for kitchen tools, and letters were used to communicate with loved ones. A worker was employed in homes to assist with household chores.
It has been discovered that symbols and memories are related. Alice’s point of view reveals that the cookie is a symbol itself. Sally, Alice’s next-door neighbor, is reminded of her mother’s baked cookies by the cookie. The cookie also tells a tale about Alice discovering Elsie Swann, Nellie’s mother’s cookbook, in the cellar of her home; Sally’s presumption that a cookbook is like a legacy for a new bride to understand the cuisine while beginning a marriage life is brought about by this. It is typical for mothers to pass along their legacy to their daughters. Memories and symbols are connected. This relationship is made straightforward from Alice’s perspective. The emblem itself is a cookie. The cookie serves as a reminder of Sally, Alice’s next-door neighbor’s freshly baked cookies. The cookie also conveys the tale of Alice finding Nellie’s mother Elsie Swann’s cookbooks in her home’s cellar; this leads to Sally’s assumption that a cookbook is similar to a new bride’s legacy in understanding the food while starting a marriage life. Mothers frequently leave their daughters with their legacy.
Reference
Afiyati, A., D., Juliansyah, J., & Widyastuti (2022). Cultural Identity And Symbolic Interactionism In Karma Brown’s Novel “Recipe For A Perfect Wife”: Anthropology Of Literature Study. Jurnal Ilmiah Mandala Education, 8(3). http://dx.doi.org/10.36312/jime.v8i2.3127
write