Techniques of Language Usage in Prapt’s Dystopian Novel Titled ‘Susarn Sayam’ (A Siamese Cemetery)

Abstract

This article aimed to study techniques of language usages in Prapt’s dystopian novel titled “Susarn Sayam” (A Siamese Cemetery). Descriptive research analysis was used in this study. The study can be explained in three areas: techniques of word usages, techniques of sentence usages, and techniques of figurative usages.  The study revealed that techniques of word usages consisted of nine strategies: 1) the use of foreign words, 2) the use of parody of foreign words, 3) the use of figurative words, 4) the use of vulgar words, 5) the use of sound-reduplicative word, 6) the use of newly-coined words, 7) the use of connotative words, 8) the use of out-of-date words, and 9) the use of abbreviation. In techniques of sentence usages, four strategies were found: 1) the use of attic sentences, 2) the use of isocratic sentences, 3) the use of long ciceronian sentences, and 4) the use of baroque sentences. Regarding techniques of figurative usages, seven strategies were utilized: 1) simile, 2) metaphor, 3) hyperbole, 4) personification, 5) symbol, 6) analogy, and 7) allusion. Three techniques of language usages enlivened the novel to be realistic and widened the readers’ perspectives causing them to be aware of what has happened in the society.