REPRESENTASI EKONOMI KELAS MENENGAH GEN-Z DALAM NOVEL HOME SWEET LOAN : TINJAUAN SOSIOLOGI SASTRA PIERRE BOURDIEU

Abstract

This study is motivated by the increasing relevance of middle-class economic issues among Generation Z as reflected in contemporary literary works, particularly Home Sweet Loan by Almira Bastari, which portrays economic pressures, social demands, and the struggles of young people to achieve life stability. This study aims to analyze the representation of middle-class economic realities among Generation Z in the novel and to examine the characters’ conflicts through the concepts of actor, habitus, capital, and social arena from Pierre Bourdieu’s sociology of literature perspective. This research employs a qualitative descriptive approach using text analysis methods. The data source consists of narratives and dialogues from the novel Home Sweet Loan, collected through reading, note-taking, classifying, coding, and data reduction techniques. The findings reveal 12 data points, consisting of  5 data representing middle-class economic realities and 7 data related to Pierre Bourdieu’s theoretical concepts. These representations include economic limitations, family pressures, lifestyle demands, financial management strategies, and Generation Z’s efforts to achieve economic stability. The study concludes that middle-class economic reality is not only related to material issues but also involves psychological pressures, social relationships, and inequalities in capital that influence the characters’ actions and life choices in navigating the dynamics of modern society.

Keywords: Economic reality, middle class, Generation Z, Pierre Bourdieu, sociology of literature.