The Response of Chinese Language Students Readers to Huo Zhe (活着) Novel by Yu Hua: Literary Reception Study

Abstract

This study discussed the responses of readers from Chinese language students at the University of Sumatera Utara towards Yu Hua's novel Huo Zhe (活着). This study aimed to determine the responses given by students to Huo Zhe (活着) novel by Yu Hua. The theory used was literary reception theory which focused on exploring various judgments, responses and impressions hence a literary work can be accepted by its presence in society. The methodology used was a qualitative descriptive method. The research informants were 35 students majoring in the Chinese Language in semesters 6th and 8th who had taken a concentration in literature. Informants will be asked to read Yu Hua's novel Huo Zhe (活着) and provide their responses through questionnaires. The results of this study indicated that the Huo Zhe (活着) novel fulfilled all the evaluation criteria for novelty, impact and design as proposed by Segers. Thus, from the three evaluations, it can be concluded that the reading informants from the 6th and 8th semester students of Chinese Language accept the presence of the Huo Zhe (活着) novel as good and positive reading material.