Journal of Language and Literature (JOLL) is an open access journal that refereed publication devoted to research articles and conceptual articles concerned with linguistics, literature, translation, and cultural studies. This journal is an academic journal published twice a year in April and October by English Letters Department, Universitas Sanata Dharma, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. JOLL is SINTA 2 accredited by Ministry of Research and Technology / National Research and Innovation Agency, from Volume 22, No. 1 to Vol. 26 No. 2, 2026 SK. No. 225/E/KPT/2022. Journal Title : Journal of Language and Literature Frequency : 2 issues per year | April & October DOI : https://doi.org/10.24071/joll ISSN : 2580-5878 (Online) | 1410-5691 (Print) Editor in Chief : Simon Arsa Manggala Publisher : English Letters Department, Faculty of Letters, Universitas Sanata Dharma Indexing : Google Scholar
English Letters Department, Faculty of Letters, Universitas Sanata Dharma
Looking for Recognition: Mimicry as a Strategy for Equality Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s Jejak Langkah
This research investigates mimicry as a postcolonial strategy for achieving equality in Toer’s Jejak Langkah, drawing on Bhabha’s theoretical framework. This study examines how the pribumi strategically use mimicry within the Dutch East Indies to negotiate power. Jejak Langkah reveals multiple layers of how mimicry operates across colonial society. From a top-down perspective, mimicry appears at the societal level in the adoption of colonial model shaping education and political structures. At the community level, it emerges through patterns of interaction with one another. At the personal level, it is reflected in the choice of attire, style, and cultural expression. This research argues that mimicry is not merely imitation or cultural submission but an elaborate strategy used by the colonized to be perceived as an equal. Through Minke’s transformation, Toer symbolizes how the pribumi adopt the culture of the colonizer to gain recognition and authority. This interpretation exposes mimicry not only as a sign of defeat but also a larger approach born out of necessity within colonial society. The findings contribute to postcolonial studies by examining how the pribumi characters navigate cultural dynamics within the colonial environment and how mimicry becomes a tool for survival, recognition, and liberation from oppression. This led to a better understanding of the social context and how conflict emerges within the Dutch East Indies. The findings suggest the use of mimicry is not one-dimensional but layered to serve a means and purpose for the colonized.
Copyright (c) 2026 Catharina Brameswari, Gabriel Ephifanio Suwanto, Gabriel Fajar Sasmita Aji (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
The Lebanese Bubble in Paris: Diasporic Identity and Memory in Beyrouth-sur-Seine by Sabyl Ghoussoub
This article discusses how diaspora identity is reconstructed through memory in Sabyl Ghoussoub's novel Beyrouth-sur-Seine. The study examines the lived experiences of Kaïssar and Hanane, Lebanese refugees who immigrated to Paris. This research asks how everyday practices are mediated as a space for negotiating identity, rather than merely memorialising the past. Drawing on Marianne Hirsch's concept of postmemory and Homi K. Bhabha's theories of cultural hybridity and the third space, this article argues that memory in the novel acts as a generative and productive force, one that allows characters to inhabit an in-between space where Lebanese and French elements are constantly negotiated and infused with new meanings. This research applies qualitative text analysis through close reading of the novel’s narrative structure, spatial descriptions, and domestic rituals. The study finds that domestic space and cultural practices, spanning both material and affective dimensions of life, act as a micro-political space of resilience. Through these everyday acts, Kaïssar and Hanane transform the experience of exile into a generative third space, reconstructing a diasporic identity that moves beyond both nostalgia and trauma. This reading contributes to contemporary discussions on migration by foregrounding the affective and intimate labour that sustains and reconfigures diasporic identities in everyday life.
Copyright (c) 2025 Arifah Arum Candra Hayuningsih, Ari Bagus Panuntun https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Navigating (In)directness: The Translation of Javanese Directive Utterances into English in Film Subtitles
Translating politeness and (in)directness in speech acts presents a considerable challenge in audiovisual translation, where cultural details are frequently lost. This problem becomes much more apparent for languages with a complex politeness system, such as Javanese, when translated into English. This study investigates how the (in)directness and politeness of directive speech acts (DSAs) are translated from Javanese into English in film subtitles, focusing on the strategies employed and their pragmatic implications. A qualitative-dominant mixed-methods approach was applied to Javanese-English directive utterances from 20 short films produced by the Provincial Government of the Special Region of Yogyakarta. The results show that the direct translation (59.6%) was far from mere literal translation, as it involved significant modulation to preserve the source text’s illocutionary force, while translation shifts (40.4%) demonstrate the translator’s effort of pragmatic mediation. Specifically, 58.2% of the shifts toward enhanced directness were aimed at meeting subtitle constraints and improving clarity, while 41.8% of the shifts toward lessened directness were meant to conform to English norms of negative politeness, which occasionally compromise speaker intent. These findings affirm that politeness in translation is a dynamic variable that needs adjusting. In dealing with such an issue, translators act as intercultural mediators who should navigate the spectrum between directness and indirectness in two different cultures.
Copyright (c) 2026 Emy Nursanti, Suhandano Suhandano, Sulistyowati Sulistyowati (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Professor Lidenbrock as a Reflection of Empiricism in Jules Verne’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth
Jules Verne’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864), one of the author's notable novels, is claimed for its philosophical issues. This close critical analysis attempts to examine the concept of empiricism integrated in the literary text within the moral and philosophical approaches. It focuses on the identification of Professor Lidenbrock’s character depictions and the examination of Professor Lidenbrock from the concept of empiricism. This study is a library research design, applying Murphy’s theory of characterisation in fiction and Locke’s conception of empiricism. The results show that Professor Lidenbrock is generally depicted as a curious, analytic, observant, and explorative figure, which illustrates basic empirical progressions in scientific discoveries. In line with Professor Lidenbrock’s depictions, this character reflects the idea of empiricism, which believes that sensory experience is the main source of human knowledge. This philosophical idea is illustrated in his quest for knowledge, which is grounded in direct interaction with the external world through the sensory experience. Professor Lidenbrock depicts the quest for knowledge as an intellectual activity that serves as a justification for the truth. It highlights the fundamental narrative of the character’s morality, revealing how intellectual virtue establishes the essence of humans in understanding the scientific reality of the universe.
Copyright (c) 2026 Edo Tri Fitriyanto (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
The Contemporary Japanese Imagination in Makoto Shinkai's Tenki no Ko
Makoto Shinkai’s Tenki no Ko (2019) presents a narrative that moves across urban spaces shaped by modern technology, social pressure, and ecological instability, a movement that is closely experienced by its characters as they navigate everyday life in contemporary Japan. This study focuses on how Japan is imagined in Tenki no Ko and how that imagination presents utopia as a form of critique of contemporary Japanese society. The analysis uses a qualitative descriptive approach using the semiotics of Ferdinand de Saussure to reveal the relationship between signs in the text and the representation of modern Japan. The meaning of these signs is then connected to Ernst Bloch’s theory of utopia to see how hope and future possibilities are shown in the narrative. By combining these two frameworks, this study examines Tenki no Ko not only as a critique of Japan’s social and ecological conditions but also as presenting utopia as an ongoing process. The findings show that Tenki no Ko offers a critique of modernity while presenting utopia not as a perfect final world. Instead, utopia appears as a form of hope that grows from human relations with the city and with nature. From this analysis, the article argues that Tenki no Ko functions both as a critique of modernity and as an imaginative space where alternative ways of coexisting with nature in contemporary Japan can be continuously negotiated.
Copyright (c) 2026 Muslimah Nur Irfan, Lina Meilinawati Rahayu, Amaliatun Saleha (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
The Concept of ‘Villain Characters’ Based on Readers’ Point of View: A Cognitive Linguistics Study
This study investigates how villain characters are conceptualized by readers through metaphorical expressions found in online reading platforms. Employing a descriptive qualitative design within a cognitive linguistics framework, the data consist of reader comments containing metaphorical language collected from Webtoon and Kakaopage. A total of 60 comments were purposively selected from three popular stories, focusing exclusively on sentences that contain metaphorical expressions referring to villain characters. The data were analyzed using Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Blending Theory. The findings reveal that readers conceptualize villain characters through multiple source domains, including animals, non-living objects, daydreamers, supernatural beings, and plants. Among these, structural metaphors are the most frequently employed, indicating a systematic mapping between concrete source domains and abstract character traits. The analysis further demonstrates that these metaphorical constructions are influenced by factors such as physical appearance, behavioral patterns, narrative roles, and personality traits of the characters. Through blending processes, readers integrate these features to construct coherent mental representations of villains. This study contributes to cognitive linguistics by extending the application of metaphor and blending theories to user-generated discourse in digital reading environments. It highlights how readers actively participate in meaning-making by creatively conceptualizing fictional characters through everyday experiences and culturally grounded knowledge.
Copyright (c) 2025 Adnania Nugra Heni (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Forest Symbolism in the Relationship Between Nature and Culture: A Study in the Oral Traditions of Ethnic Groups in the Central Highlands of Vietnam
In the perception of most modern people, the forest is a natural entity, either coexisting with culture or standing in opposition to it – a concept that is understood to involve human factors influencing nature. From this, notions about forests and nature arise, accompanied by rules governing human interactions with nature, which are perceived as either egalitarian or hierarchical. When examining the oral traditions of the ethnic groups in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, we find that these communities consider themselves “the forest eaters” (G. Condominas, 2003), not only due to their economic activities, settlement, and the reckoning of time within the human life cycle, but also because all their beliefs, rituals, customs, and spiritual practices are deeply intertwined with the forest. The theoretical distinction that villages are associated with rituals while forests are not may not hold true for these indigenous communities. By applying discourse analysis theory (Foucault) and ecocriticism, this study examines myths, epics (khan), folktales, proverbs, and customary law texts of ethnic groups such as the Ede, Jarai, Mnong, and Raglai in the Central Highlands of Vietnam to redefine the concepts of forest, village, humanity, and the social space of the residents inhabiting these regions. The findings reveal that the forest functions simultaneously as a natural space parallel to social space, a sacred domain bound to spirit-world beliefs, and an essential source of livelihood and aesthetic inspiration. The study concludes that Central Highlands communities maintain a non-dualistic worldview in which nature and culture are inseparable, offering an alternative ontological perspective to the Western nature – culture dichotomy and contributing new insights to ecocritical and anthropological scholarship on indigenous ecological knowledge.
Copyright (c) 2025 Nguyen Thi Dieu Khanh, Nguyen Viet Hung (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Ecogothic Agency and the Uncanny Reimagining of Nature in The Woman in Black
This paper proposes a novel perspective in the field of ecogothic literary criticism, wherein nature functions not as a passive backdrop but as an active agent within the Gothic. Through a closed, textual, qualitative ecogothic discourse analysis of The Woman in Black, this research draws upon Sigmund Freud’s concept of the uncanny (unheimlich), Keetley and Sivil’s notion of ecogothic spaces and the lack of ecological control, and Timothy Morton’s definition of dark ecology to contend that nature can assume the form of a supernatural force. The analysis focuses on representations of ecogothic spaces, natural phenomena, and human–nonhuman interactions to trace how ecological instability produces uncanny affect and ecophobia. By examining the familiar-turned-unfamiliar relationship between human and nonhuman entities, the findings suggest that nonhuman agency invokes uncanny affect, manifested through recurring hauntings mediated by nature. This effect is further intensified by its 19th-century English setting, where natural phenomena such as weather and the sea operate as modes of haunting, thereby inducing a fear of the nonhuman, or ecophobia, in Arthur Kipps. The study ultimately argues that, through ecophobia, the nonhuman compels both characters within the narrative and readers beyond it to confront ecological instability and human vulnerability. The paper thereby bridges literary analysis with ecological thought, suggesting that Gothic texts can cultivate environmental awareness in ways traditional ecocriticism often overlooks.
Copyright (c) 2025 Manal Shakeel (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Perceiving the Monsters' Portrayal of Scottish Kelpie and Indonesian Baru Klinting through Material Ecocriticism
Not only fosters local wisdom, folklore also promotes sustainable eco-friendly tourism by embedding cultural beliefs that support nature preservation. Among the many elements of nature represented in folklore, water occupies a distinctive place, often represented in folklore through water-linked beings that embody both danger and protection. However, there has been limited research on how water monsters in folklore function as symbols of ecological awareness and preservation, which reveals the relationship between human and nature. This article addresses the gap by examining two children’s stories adapted from Scottish and Indonesian folklore. This study employed a comparative qualitative textual analysis of two stories, The Secret of the Kelpie (2022) and Legenda Baru Klinting (2018). Material ecocriticism was used to provide the analytical framework, focusing on the concepts of agency, narrativity, entanglement, and non-linear causality. Relevant passages were coded and compared to examine how these narratives represent human–water relations and ecological responsibility. This research shows how Kelpie and Baru Klinting, as monstrous figures, embody ecological narratives through their forms, with water itself acting as a non-human entity and meaning maker. At the same time, cultural objects such as iron and lesung function as protective symbols used to ward off evil spirits. From an educational perspective, the interaction between humans and nature in these stories teaches children to recognize the hidden dangers beneath the water. In a broader context, the findings suggest that folklore can serve as a medium for preserving awareness of the aquatic environment.
Copyright (c) 2025 Benedicta Angie Azaria Prasetyo Rahayu, Raden Roro Rachma Amalia Putri, Jardin Urbania Basundoro, Alvanita (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Toward an Anthroporelational Humanism: A Configuration of Zoocriticism in Vietnamese Postcolonial Literature
Recently, posthumanism has emerged as a vital lens for elevating nonhuman voices in contemporary literature. However, in the Vietnamese postcolonial context, where the legacies of war and colonialism remain profound, fully displacing the human subject is challenging. This qualitative textual analysis examines a purposive sample of short stories by writers Bùi Ngọc Tấn and Nguyễn Quang Thân to explore how animal representations function as a site of negotiation between humanism and posthumanism. Utilizing close reading and thematic analysis, the study investigates specific human-animal entanglements, such as the anthropomorphized grief of the dog in “The Puppy” and the institutionalized exploitation of the goat in “The Man Who Made Earthquakes”. By analyzing these textual moments through postcolonial ecocriticism and zoocriticism, the research illustrates how these narratives disrupt the strict human-animal divides established by colonial discourse. The findings suggest that these texts operate within a mode of anthroporelational humanism, a perspective that maintains human-centered ethical concerns while granting animals distinct narrative subjectivity. Rather than reducing animals to mere background symbols, these stories reveal a shared ground of vulnerability, where humans and animals process colonial trauma together. The article concludes that this relational framework enriches postcolonial discourse, demonstrating how interspecies empathy serves as a crucial mechanism for cultural recovery and the rearticulation of identity.
Copyright (c) 2025 Hung Kieu, Phuong Uyen Phan La, Quynh Giang Bui Kim, Tuan Anh Pham (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Redefining Family: Alternative Family Narratives in Hirokazu Koreeda's Manbiki no Kazoku (Shoplifters)
This article explores an alternative family narrative in the Japanese film Manbiki no Kazoku (Shoplifters, 2018) by Hirokazu Koreeda. This film portrays a group of marginalized individuals living together as a family despite lacking legal marriage and blood ties. Through an analysis of the film's narrative, this research examines how the alternative family dynamic is presented in Manbiki no Kazoku. Using a literary sociology approach, the analysis applies social exclusion theory to contextualize the Shibata family’s marginalization within broader issues of poverty, neglect, and precarity in contemporary Japanese society. The results reveal that Koreda’s narrative challenges conventional Japanese kinship structures by presenting a “chosen family” that fulfills essential functions of emotional support and socialization. The film shows how the idea of an alternative family grows out of the characters’ experience of social exclusion. Unlike the Japanese Ie system and nuclear family, which depend on blood ties and legal marriage for legitimacy, the Shibata family comes through shared experience and solidarity of individuals living on the margin of society. By situating the film within debates on social exclusion and the transformation of family in modern Japan, the study demonstrates that Manbiki no Kazoku (Shoplifters) redefines family as a flexible institution grounded in solidarity and mutual responsibility, offering a narrative as a form of negotiation to face the social problems in Japanese society.
manbiki no kazoku; alternative family; social function; sociology of literature
Copyright (c) 2025 Wawat Rahwati, Rima Devi, Aulia Asyifa (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Body, Violence, & Sexuality: Grotesque Aesthetics in Eka Kurniawan’s Novels
This research examines how the aesthetics of the grotesque is represented in Eka Kurniawan’s novels. This research aims to re-read the discourse construction of these texts through the approaches of feminist body theory, trauma studies, and the concept of grotesque aesthetics. The type of this research is qualitative, with an approach of interpretative literary analysis within a deconstructive hermeneutic and critical cultural studies framework. The sources of the data are Kurniawan’s works: 1) Cantik Itu Luka (2015), 2) Lelaki Harimau (2004), and 3) Seperti Dendam, Rindu Harus Dibayar Tuntas (2014). The data are quotations [translated by the researcher] taken from the novels. The used data collection techniques are library study and documentation. The used technique of data analysis is thematic analysis within a deconstructive hermeneutic. The used data validity are semantic validity and expert judgement. The results reveal that grotesque aesthetics in Kurniawan’s novels are articulated through the representation of the body, violence, and sexuality as dynamic sites of resistance. The body emerges as a battlefield of power and resistance. Violation emerges trauma which operates as a collective and structural condition. Sexuality presents as a transgressive space deconstructing the normative gender and moral frameworks
Copyright (c) 2025 Rahmat Setiawan, Budiyono Sunu Catur, Nurhidayah Sri (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Inclusive Beauty Campaign: Redefining Beauty Standards in Indonesian Beauty Product Advertising
This research analyzes how inclusive beauty is constructed in the advertisement of a local Indonesian brand, Rosé All Day, using John Fiske’s three levels of semiotic analysis: reality, representation, and ideology. This study not only analyzes how the ad promotes inclusive beauty but also sees the campaign as a challenge of conventional beauty standards which has been going on for centuries. This research applies a qualitative method. Data was collected from selected scenes, focusing on elements such as appearance, makeup, clothing, gestures, camera work, lighting, and slogans. Analysis revealed that the advertisement features models with diverse skin tones, facial features, and body types, reinforcing that beauty belongs to all women regardless their differences. At the level of reality, the ad features models with minimal makeup and visible facial textures, which emphasizes natural beauty. At the level of representation, soft lighting, pastel color palettes, and close-up shots are used to create a soothing and intimate tone. On an ideological level, the campaign promotes a message of self-love and authenticity, challenging the dominant ideals of beauty in Indonesian media that often prioritize light skin and slim body. The slogan “Bring Out #TheRealestYou” encourages viewers to embrace their true selves and redefine beauty as personal expression rather than conformity. This research contributes to the discussion on beauty representations in the media and demonstrates how advertising can serve as a platform to promote inclusive beauty.
Copyright (c) 2026 Intan Cahya Amanda, Tuty Handayani (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Preventing Extinction Language with Socio Cultural Activities: an Empirical Study on Duano Sea Tribe
Many languages worldwide are currently endangered. Many linguists argue that endangered languages can be preserved through revitalisation and language documentation. Others contend that languages used by minority communities will inevitably disappear and be replaced by those of majority communities. This article focuses on investigating and describing the condition of the Sea Tribe language through dialectological and sociocultural perspectives among the Duano Sea Tribe in Sabak and Tungkal. This research employs a qualitative approach, using interviews, recordings, and documentation for data collection. The findings indicate that not only language revitalisation and documentation, but also sociocultural activities, can reduce the risk of language endangerment. This article argues that sociocultural activities play a significant role in reducing the vulnerability of endangered languages. This is evident in the sociocultural domain of knowledge systems, where, although the Duano language is not used in schools in both areas, it continues to be used at home. Furthermore, systems of material culture and technology are more present in Sabak but are rare in Tungkal. This study makes an empirical contribution by demonstrating that the failure to revitalise a language through sociocultural activities may lead to language death.
Copyright (c) 2025 Diana Rozelin, Mailinar, Ulfatmi Azlan (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Describing the Indescribable: Repressive Regime and Discourse Productivity in Jekyll and Hyde
This paper investigates the paradox of language and repression in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, focusing on how the narrative persistently avoids describing Edward Hyde in precise, objective terms. Despite Hyde’s centrality to the plot, characters repeatedly fail or refuse to articulate his physical appearance. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s “repressive hypothesis,” the study argues that the narrative’s avoidance of descriptive language constitutes a form of discursive repression, a regime that limits what can be said, yet paradoxically stimulates more discourse. Using close textual analysis grounded in narratology and Foucauldian theory, the paper identifies a formal pattern in which descriptions of Hyde emerge only in vague, affective terms followed immediately by disavowal or narrative deferral. These moments of muteness and subsequent verbal excess suggest that repression does not silence but incites discourse. The study further argues that this dynamic is not a narrative flaw but a structural feature serving both the detective and gothic genre conventions. The repression of descriptive language sustains suspense while reinforcing thematic concerns about the limits of rationality and the boundaries of the knowable self. Ultimately, Hyde’s indescribability is not a gap in the story but the engine of its discourse. His mystery is not maintained by silence, but by the repeated failure to describe him.
Copyright (c) 2025 M. Irfan Zamzami (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Appraising Voices on Quora: Engagement Realizations in Discussions of the Sandwich Generation Phenomenon
Engagement is now widely found on social media such as Quora, which contains various user perspectives on social issues. However, studies on the application of Engagement in discussions about the sandwich generation on Quora are still limited. The term sandwich generation is widely discussed nowadays. It is a condition where a child who has worked must become the breadwinner of the family where all of his/her income is given to meet household needs. This research examined the Engagement used by Quora users concerning the sandwich generation phenomenon. This research aimed to determine sub-categories of Engagement and analyze their functions used by 100 Quora users. Qualitative method used for this research with used discourse analysis approach and document analysis as research instrument. The result showed that there were 769 clauses containing the sub-categories of Engagement. The functions of Engagement sub-categories included monogloss to express a direct statement, deny to refute a statement directly, counter to oppose a statement by providing another statement, concur to show agreement, pronounce to give a strong statement, endorse to support viewpoint, entertain to open up discussion, acknowledge to refer to the external source, and distance to give distance with other viewpoints. Sandwich generation users tended to reject viewpoints related to this phenomenon, while non-sandwich generation users tended to open discussion spaces related to differences of viewpoints with other users.
Copyright (c) 2025 Marwito, Fahrus, Aulia (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Subculture Identity in the Use of Foreignization as Translanguaging Strategy in X
This study aims to find the construction of foreignization as translanguaging strategy in X and whether this strategy acts as a means of communication to project the translingual identity as members of a Kpop fans subculture group. Methodologically, this study adopted a netnographic study concentrating on the lurking method. X posts (tweets) from native Indonesian speakers of a Kpop fans subculture group, dated or posted from June 2023 to September 2024 are obtained as the source of data. Following data collection, the findings were analysed and contextualized using established theoretical frameworks, employing qualitative analysis to examine data from similar incidents. This study found that by embracing translanguaging as a means of projecting a translingual identity, individuals navigate the complexities of subculture group membership and foster inclusive communities within the digital realm. The study showed that the group members used foreignization as their translanguaging negotiation strategy which is formulated similarly to L2 word formation and sentence construction. They blended the words from L2 (English) with words/morphemes from L1 (Indonesian) and formed words by adding L1 affixes to L2 or L3 (Korean) words with the pronunciation written in L1. Through employing this strategy, they attract other interlocutors who share similar interests. The identities they projected in their communications in X interactions can be said as the identity as the member of the subculture groups.
Copyright (c) 2025 Irmala Sukendra (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0