Social Concept InTanin No Kao By Abe Kobo

Abstract

The novel reflects reality, not by painting a face that is only visible on the surface, but by giving us a more correct, more complete, more vibrant, and more dynamic reflection of reality.Abe Kobo is a contemporary Japanese writer who is regarded as an observer and commentator of contemporary life because his work often speaks of conditions that are always related to contemporary human life, namely loss of identity, alienation, individual isolation, and difficulty communicating between people in urban society.The concept of alienation is also one of the main themes in the flow of existentialist philosophy. The pioneers of the existentialist philosophy include Martin Heidegger, Jean Paul Satre, Franz Kafka, Albert Camus, and so on.Keterasingan atau alienasi yang merupakan konsep Barat ini merupakan dampak yang timbul dari konflik atas dirinya dan nilai sosial yang masih dianut masyarakat Jepang hingga kini. Salah satu karya Abe Kobo yang tokohnya mengalami alienasi adalah Tanin no Kao. Hal inilah yang menjadi pendorong bagi penulis untuk meneliti bagaimana Abe Kobo memadukan konsep alienasi yang berasal dari Barat dengan ciri khas ketimuran dalam novelnya. Alienation or alienation which is a Western concept is an impact that arises from the conflict over him and the social values that are still held by Japanese society until now. One of Abe Kobo's works whose characters experienced alienation is Tanin no Kao. This is what drives the writer to examine how Abe Kobo combines the concept of alienation originating from the West with the eastern characteristics of his novel. Abe Kobo through this novel conveys the various urban anxieties that occur in general in the world in post-World War II. A typical Japanese human anxiety in this story is how the figure is aware of the existence of sekenthat govern their social life.The I figure in TNK after his face was damaged, experiencing various anxieties that made him withdraw himself from the society. In order to reconnect with the outside world, he uses a variety of ways, and end up wearing a mask as his medium.In an attempt to re-establish relationships with his social environment known as seken in Japanese, the I figure stuck with the concept that exists in the social value of the Japanese society, that is; soto, uchi, honne, tatemae and enryo because of the inner conflict he has.