REVEALING THE DECONSTRUCTION OF MODERN PEOPLE’S TIME CONCEPT IN MITCH ALBOM’S THE TIME KEEPER

Abstract

This research aims in revealing the logocentrism of modern people’s time concept which is exposed in The Time Keeper and to examine the methods used by the author to deconstruct the logocentrism. To answer the objectives of the research, the researcher used deconstruction literary criticism since the research is aimed to analyze a deconstruction of a logocentric idea which is planted in people’s mind. This study employed qualitative research. It used content analysis as the technique to analyze the object of the research. The source of this research is a novel entitled The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom. The data of the research were expressions which contain modern people’s logocentric ideas in conceptualizing time and the deconstruction of the logocentrism. The main instrument of the research was the researcher herself and the second instruments were the data sheets. In collecting the data, the researcher used reading and note-taking technique. Then, the researcher analyzed the data through data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing process. In order to achieve trustworthiness, the researcher conducted a triangulation technique. The researcher finds two results related to the objectives of the research after analyzing the data. First, there are four logocentric ideas which are believed by modern people to be the truest ways to value time. Those are by being out of the present moment, by measuring time, by controlling time, and by having an endless time. Second, there are two methods used by the author to deconstruct the four logocentric ideas. They are by exposing irony and by the preaching of the mythical characters of the story. Both methods deconstruct each of the logocentrism by showing that those four rigid ideas which are believed to be the rightest way to make the time valuable leave them valueless instead. The new ideas are presented to enable people to have a balance way of thought especially in conceptualizing time since there is no single truth exists.

Keywords: deconstruction, logocentrism, modern people’s time concept, The Time Keeper