Elements of romanticism in Salah Asuhan and The Sorrow of Young Werther: A comparative literary study
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This study aims to compare elements of Romanticism in Salah Asuhan by Abdoel Moeis and The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The research focuses on four elements of Romanticism: the human relationship with nature, individual subjectivity, irrationality, and spiritual life, and examines how these elements relate to the conflict between personal will and social norms experienced by the protagonists. A qualitative descriptive method was employed, utilizing reading and note-taking techniques. Data were analyzed comparatively to identify similarities and differences in the aesthetic manifestation of Romanticism across both works. The findings reveal that while both works present subjective experiences, inner conflict, and tension between individual will and social reality, they do so within distinct historical and cultural contexts. In The Sorrows of Young Werther, romanticism is primarily manifested through the intensity of inner experience, the idealization of love, a subjective connection to nature, emotional impulses, and Werther's spiritual struggle against the limitations of individual will. Conversely, Salah Asuhan portrays romanticism through Hanafi's inner experience within a colonial context, specifically through identity crisis, the clash between Western and Eastern cultures, interracial and intercultural relationships, conflicts with social norms and customs, and the inability to realize personal desires. Although both works exhibit romantic aesthetic characteristics through the protagonists' subjective experiences and inner conflicts, their manifestations are shaped by the specific historical, social, and cultural contexts of each literary work.
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