AN ANALYSIS OF FORMULAIC STRUCTURE IN STEPHENIE MEYER’S TWILIGHT

Abstract

Twilight is a popular novel written by Stephenie Meyer. Thiss thesis is conducted to show the reason of the novel becomes popular and best-seller through the formula constructed the text. Structuralists cricized if the structures underlying narrative structures of literary texts are not original. Twilight which is a literary text presumed a piece of unorigianl work becomes the most wold best-seller novel. Therefore, this thesis uses Cawelti’s theorry about formulaic literature to explain the Twilight’s popularity phenomena. In this research, qualitative method is employed to analyze the formula contructed Twilight through selected events within the novel. Formulaic literatures propose if every popular work is not only embodied by conventional structures (pattern) but also cultural values the readers enjoyed. In oreder to have brif explanation around the formula, three aspects which have significant role on the construction of Twilight are analyzed. They are gothic elements, romance narrative and fantasy aspects. In terms of cultural values, this research provides postmodern culture as the cultural background of the formula. As a result, Twilight is a novel that is contructed by blending gothic, romance and fantasy. Furthermore, this research also find that through the development and the focus of the story, Twilight is determined to be romance novel in where gothic and fantasy aspects are used to dramatize the romance story. Moreover, the popularity of Twilight is due to the postmodern women are illuminated by the concept of hyper-reality about body image. Through the process of identification, women who is surpressed by the alternative reality can escape from the real world to the magical world of Twilight in where all the burdens may vanish.