Racial discrimination reflected in Edward P. Jones’ The Known World

ABSTRACT

As the product of society, works of literature sometime become the expression of the social condition in certain place and time. This is why the works of literature functions as the mirror of society. This reality then promotes the appearance of sociological approach in literature.

The Known World by Edwards P. Jones is one novel that talks about the social condition and history of Virginia. It covers how the society in Virginia experience the racial discrimination as one social problem in the last of 19th century. Because of it, the researcher formulates three problems of study in this research, they are 1) What form of racial discrimination happened in Edward P. Jones’ The Known World? 2) What are the causes of racial discrimination happened in Edward P. Jones’ The Known World? 3) Does the racial discrimination reflect the condition in Virginia at that time?

In this research, the researcher uses the sociological approach that is viewed as the proper approach to do the study. As it is known that sociological approach is one kind of literary criticism which studies the novel and values it and has the basic assumption which says that the existence of literary work is not in an empty social background.

From this research, there are three findings that can be stated. First, racial discrimination in Edward P. Jones’ The Known World has various forms, they are (1) racial discrimination in social issues, (2) racial discrimination in politic (3) racial discrimination in education, (4) racial discrimination in economy. Second, the causes of racial discrimination happened in Edward P. Jones’ The Known World is the presence of racism which is supported by social structural factors and social psychological factors. Third, the racial discrimination condition in Edward P. Jones’ The Known World has reflected the condition of Virginia in the last of 19th century by some incidents that told in the novel and really happened in the real history of Virginia. These incidents are slave trade, black slaveholder and slave robbing as the beginning of civil war.