The Power of Hegemonic Classes in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby
Abstract
Topik dari tulisan ini adalah untuk membahas kajian budaya dengan berfokus pada hegemoni budaya, memperkenalkan gagasan dari kelompok yang berkuasa untuk mengontrol masyarakat. Tulisan ini akan mengangkat isu bagaimana kelas-kelas yang menguasai hidup pada tahun 1920an. Tujuan dari tulisan ini adalah untuk menganalisis The Great Gatsby karya Scott Fitgerald untuk menyimpulkan tentang gambaran kelas dan kekuatan aristrokrasi untuk mendominasi kelompok yang tidak berkuasa, dengan menggunakan kajian budaya, dari teori hegemoni Antonio Gramci. Secara khusus, penelitian ini berfokus pada perjuangan Jay Gatsby untuk menghadapi hegemoni kelompok aristokratik, yang kekuasaannya sangat berpengaruh. Dalam cerita tersebut, kelompok kaya baru, yang diwakili oleh Jay Gatsby, hidup di daerah West Egg, sementara kelompok aristokratik, yang diwakili oleh Tom Buchanan, tinggal di East Egg. Tom selalu menjadi pemenang karena dia datang dari kelompok aristokratik, yang keluarganya sangat berpengaruh. Oleh karena itu, Gatsby selalu kalah dalam persaingan melawan Tom walaupun sebesar apapun Gatsby berkuasa. Dengan mempelajari perjuangan Gatsby dalam novel ini, kita mendapatkan sebuah pemahaman yang lebih baik bagaimana kelompok yang lemah, bukan hanya di masyarakat Amerika, tetapi juga masyarakat lain di dunia juga akan berjuang untuk berkompetisi dengan kelompok aristrokratik.
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Abstract
The topic of this paper is the pursuit of cultural studies focusing on cultural Hegemony, introduces the notion of the dominant groups’ power to control society. It will also raise the issue of how hegemonic classes live in 1920s. The objective is to analyze, using cultural studies, Antonio Gramsci’s Hegemony, Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby in order to come to some conclusions about depictions of aristocratic classes and powers in order to dominate powerless groups. Specifically, the research focuses on Jay Gatsby’s struggles to face the hegemony of aristocratic groups, whose affluent supremacy. In the story, the new moneyed group, represented by Jay Gatsby, lives in West Egg while the aristocratic group, represented by Tom Buchanan, lives in East Egg. Tom is always the winner because he comes from the aristocratic groups, whose prestigious family. Therefore, Gatsby always loses compete against Tom no matter how hard Gatsby tries. By learning Gatsby’s struggle in this novel, we gain a better understanding of how other powerless groups, not only in American society, but also other society in the world, who also struggle to compete with the aristocratic groups.Keywords
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DOI: 10.15408/bat.v19i2.3722
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