RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION AS A MINORITY IN THE RELUCTANT

FUNDAMENTALIST MOVIE

A GRADUATING PAPER

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Gaining the Bachelor

Degree in English Literature

By:
Hafiz Khoerussyifa
20101050077

ENGLISH DEPARTEMENT
FACULTY OF ADAB AND CULTURAL SCIENCES
STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SUNAN KALIJAGA
2023
 CONTENTS

CONTENTS.............................................................................................................i

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION...........................................................................1

1.1. Background of Study.................................................................................1

1.2. Research Questions...................................................................................3

1.3. Objectives of the Study.............................................................................4

1.4. Scope of the Study.....................................................................................4

1.5. Significances of Study...............................................................................4

1.6. Literature Review......................................................................................5

1.7. Theoretical Approach................................................................................7

1.8. Methods of Research.................................................................................8

1.8.1. Type of Research...............................................................................8

1.8.2. Data Source........................................................................................8

1.8.3. Data Collection Technique.................................................................9

1.8.4. Data Analysis Technique...................................................................9

1.9. Paper Organization..................................................................................10

REFERENCES.....................................................................................................11

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 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background of Study

Language is a medium used by society to communicate with each other.

Ideas, views, and feelings can be communicated to others through language.

Language is an incredibly powerful tool that has played an important role in the

evolution and development of human civilization. Language allows us to share

knowledge, express ourselves creatively, and form deep connections with others.

In fact, without language, it would be impossible to imagine the kind of complex

societies and cultures that exist today.

Moreover, language is not only a medium of communication but also

serves as a sign of identity and culture. Our language can express much about our

backgrounds, values, and beliefs. Language can bring us closer to those who share

our language and culture, while highlighting our differences with those who do

not.

The relationship between language and identity is a complex and multi-

directional one. Language serves as a marker of identity, reflecting not only our

ethnicity and nationality, but also our social class, gender and even profession.

The language we speak can influence how we represent ourselves, and also how

others perceive us. For many people, their mother language is an important part of

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who they are. It can be representation their relation to their cultural legacy and

community. According to Thornborrow (2004), the importance of language use in

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constructing individual and social identity is not only related to the use of certain

dialects or codes to express one’s identity. It is also about the way we use

language to communicate and interact with each other (Thornborrow as cited in

Thomas and Wareing, 2004: 159).

In the movie The Reluctant Fundamentalist, the using of language is to

express the complex identity from the main character, Changez. As a Pakistani

living and studying in the United States, Changez is constantly in situations that

require him to adapt to a different culture and language. However, although he has

managed to adjust to a more "Western" way of speaking and acting, he also feels

that language is an important part of his original identity.

One of the interesting things in the movie is that the main character,

Changez, uses English when explaining Islamic religious terms to his friends.

This reflects that Changez identifies himself as part of the Muslim community.

Being Muslim in America requires Changez to live ass a minority and still

maintain his personal identity. Therefore, in daily conversations, he often uses

English rather than religious terms when discussing things related to religious

terms when discussing things related to religion with others. This is something

that Changez does to construct his religious identity.

The researcher found that in this movie, some characters use English

language to interact with each other, especially while they are talking about

religious terms. This can be the cause of constructing his religious identity.

Therefore, because of that reason, the protagonist is discriminated against because

he is Muslim, which at that time became a target of discrimination after the 911
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incident. Although he is always discriminated against, he still loves America as a

place where he studies and works. Even until the end of the movie she keeps

saying that she loves America.

Because in the movie the main character uses language that shows his

Islamic identity, so he often gets discriminated against in America. Then, this

research will discuss how language can construct religious identity in the movie

The Reluctant Fundamentalist with some purpose. The aim of this study is to

analyse two aspects of language and religious identity on the characters in the film

The Reluctant Fundamentalist. First, this research will study how language can be

utilised to construct expressions of religious identity of the movie characters. This

is an interesting topic to research as language plays an important role in

expressing the religious identity of a person in a movie. Secondly, this research

will focus on the factors that influence the characters in The Reluctant

Fundamentalist to use English terms rather than religious terms. This is important

to study because it can provide insight into the influence of culture and social

context on the use of language and religious identity from characters in a movie.

As such, this research will expand our understanding of how language and

religious identity are intertwined and affected in the context of movies.

1.2. Research Questions

Based on explanation background of the study above, this research will

address the questions below:

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a. How the use of language in the film The Reluctant Fundamentalist plays a

role in constructing the characters’ religious identity?

b. Why do the characters prefer to use English terms rather than religious

terminology in the movie?

1.3. Objectives of the Study

Based on the research question above, there are the objectives of the study

of this research. The first is how can language construct the expression of

religious identity in the characters of The Reluctant Fundamentalist movie. The

second one is to find out the factors that influence the characters in The Reluctant

Fundamentalist movie why they use English terms rather than using religious

terminology.

1.4. Scope of the Study

The aim of this research is to study two things referring to language and

religious identity on the characters in the movie The Reluctant Fundamentalist.

First, this research will look at how language can be used to construct expressions

of religious identity in the characters in the movie. Secondly, this research will

find out the factors that influence the characters in The Reluctant Fundamentalist

to use English terms rather than religious terms.

1.5. Significances of Study

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The purpose of this research is to increase the reader's knowledge of

linguistics, especially sociolinguistics studies. With Thornborrow's identity

theory, this research can reveal how language can construct religious identity in

the movie The Reluctant Fundamentalist. It also reveals why the characters prefer

to use English terms rather than religious terminology.

By employing the theory of linguistic identity, this research contributes to

the researcher’s comprehension of how language is employed to convey social

identity. It is expected this research can be used as a reference for who want to

research the same topics. Additionally, it is expected that this research will make a

significant contribution to the advancement of linguistic science, as well as

society's awareness of linguistic phenomena.

1.6. Literature Review

The research focuses on analysing the utterances of the characters in the

film The Reluctant Fundamentalist. It seems that there are previous studies that

discuss the film The Reluctant Fundamentalist as an object and its dialog as a

study. The researcher also found several previous studies that discuss language

and identity. The following are previous studies related to language and identity

which will be discussed in the following paragraphs.

The first previous research is the Graduating Paper of one of the English

literature students of UIN Sunan kalijaga entitled “Religious Identity in TV Series

Ramy Season One” by Ahmad Rifat Fikri (Fikri, 2022). This research explains

how the main character Ramy constructs his religious identity with Joanna
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Thornborrow's theory of language and identity, and explains the use of English as

a reference to religious terminology that represents Ramy as a Muslim with

George Yule's reference theory. This research also analyses the factors that

influence Ramy to use English instead of religious terminology with Dell Hymes'

ethnographic theory of communication and Joanna Thornborrow's theory of

language and identity as the main theory. This previous research will more or less

be a reference for advice and suggestion by using the same theory and the object

used is also a movie, but the difference is that the movie object used is different in

this research.

The second previous research is "The Use of Language in Constructing

Religious Identity Found in Abu Dhabi Romance Webtoon" written by Lia

Jumana (Jumana, 2019). This study analysed the construction of the language

used in the Abu Dhabi Romance webtoon to show how language can represent

religious identity in the scope of minorities in South Korea, the majority of which

are non-Muslims. The theory used in this research is the theory of linguistic

identity by Thornborrow, which is the theory that the author will later use in this

research. The difference between previous research and this research is that the

object used now is a film, and also has similarities in analysing religious identity

within the scope of minority communities.

The third research is “Religious Expression of The Main Character in No

Sex in The City Novel by Randa Abdel Fattah” by Sita Dian Pratiwi (Pratiwi,

2021). The researcher in this study discusses the construction of religious identity

through the language used by the main character, Esma, in Randa Abdel Fattah's
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novel No Sex in the City. The issue raised in this novel is that Esma does not

introduce his religious identity as a Muslim using religious language.

Thornborrow's identity theory and Yule's reference theory are used by researcher

to demonstrate his religious identity. This study seeks to demonstrate that Esma's

religious identity can be discerned through his language, despite the fact that she

does not use religious language.

The last previous research is from a journal article entitled “The Reluctant

Fundamentalist: A Quest for Identity” by Dr. Mohammad Ayub Jajja (Jajja, n.d.).

Within the context of interactions between Americans and Pakistanis, this article

explores the topics of mimicry and identity, using a Postcolonial critical approach

to analyse the novel. In his book, Mohsin Hamid explores the concept of mimicry

and the search for identity among individuals from what is referred a new culture.

The difference with this research is the object and theory used. If the previous

research used the novel, then this research used the film as the object adapted

from the novel. Also, the previous research discussed the literary side more than

linguistics.

1.7. Theoretical Approach

This research will use Joanna Thornborrow's theory of language and

identity, also known as linguistic identity, which focuses on the use of language to

construct the identities of Muslim characters in the film The Reluctant

Fundamentalist. Language use is important for constructing individual or social

identity, according to this theory. What matters is not just using one dialect or
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code to express our identity, but also how we use language to communicate and

interact with others (Thornborrow as cited in Thomas and Wareing, 2004: 159).

In the identity Theory by Thornborrow, language plays important role in

constructing identity in several ways: 1) The use of names and naming practice to

construct identity; the naming systems used, 2) The use of in-groups and out-

groups to construct group identity, and 3) Linguistic variations such as linguistic

convergence, linguistic maintenance, linguistic divergence. However, in this

study, aspects of linguistic power and imperialism are considered irrelevant, as the

researcher’s focus is only on the use of language to construct religious identity.

1.8. Methods of Research

1.8.1. Type of Research

In this research, the researcher used a descriptive qualitative method as a

research method, which analyses the utterances of the characters in the film The

Reluctant Fundamentalist. According to Creswell (2009), qualitative research

involves the investigation and comprehension of the importance that individuals

or groups attribute to a social or human issue.

1.8.2. Data Source

In this research, the researcher collects from the utterance that contains

religious identity in movie The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012), directed by Mira

Nair, based on the novel story by Mohsin Hamid.

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1.8.3. Data Collection Technique

Data is the primary requirement for obtaining the information for the

research. The researcher uses a method to gather the data in order to obtain

accurate information for the study. According to Cresswell (2008), there are four

basic types of qualitative data collection, including qualitative observations,

qualitative interviews, qualitative documents, and qualitative audio and visual

materials. In this research, the researcher uses the documentation technique.

According to Sugiyono (2008), with the documentation, we can get the

information by gathered and written with someone.

In using data documentation technique, the researcher uses several steps to

collect data. The first is watching and paying attention to the movie The Reluctant

Fundamentalist (2012) constantly to understand the context of the movie to get

the utterances that contain religious identity from the characters of the movie.

After that, the researcher collects the utterances that contain religious identity by

screenshotting the movie panel which can be categorized as religious identity.

1.8.4. Data Analysis Technique

The researcher uses an identity method to analyse the data. According to

Zaim (2014), identity method is a way to determine the identity of a language by

using tools from external to the language. In analysing the data, the researcher

takes some steps as follows:

1. The researcher will identify all the utterances which showed in the movie.
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2. The researcher will categorize the utterances that involve the portrayal of

the character's religious identity using the classification outlined in the

theory.

3. The researcher will provide a detailed description of the development of

the character's religious identity.

4. The researcher will conclude the findings and discussion.

1.9. Paper Organization

There are four part of chapters that contains in this research, and contains a

different topic in every chapters. In the first chapter there is the introduction that

offers readers a brief overview of the research. This part consists of nine parts: 1)

the background of study, 2) the scope of study, 3) the research question, 4) the

objectives of study, 5) significance of study, 6) literature review, 7) the theoretical

approach, 8) the research method, and the last 9) paper organization. For the

second chapter, there is an explanation of the theoretical background that

discusses Thornborrow’s Identity Theory. The third chapter is presenting the

findings and discussions. The fourth chapter is the conclusion which includes

conclusion and suggestion.

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REFERENCES

Fikri, A. R. (2022). Religious Identity in TV Series Ramy Season One. UIN Sunan

Kalijaga.

Jajja, D. M. A. (n.d.). The Reluctant Fundamentalist: A Quest for Identity.

Jumana, L. (2019). The Use of Language in Constructing Religious Identity

Found in Abu Dhabi Romance Webtoon. UIN Sunan Kalijaga.

Pratiwi, S. D. (2021). Religious Expression of The Main Character in No Sex in

The City Novel by Randa Abdel Fattah. UIN Sunan Kalijaga.