Article
MARIO PUZO'S THE GOD FATHER: STEREOTYPING ITALIAN AMERICAN AS MAFIA
Canon: Jurnal Penelitian Bahasa dan Sastra, Vol. 1 No. 2 (2025), hlm. 106–117
Abstrak
Italian is one of the largest immigrant groups in the United Stated. They have become the Italian American community is today an integral and vital component of American culture. Their existence in the USA along with the way of life, cultural background, customs and social behavior have been forming the general idea that often develops into a stereotype. The stereotype is based on the Italian Americans being often associated with organized crime or with Mafia, which is usually portrayed as one of the groups traditional cultural traits. The idea was spread through literature and popular culture. One of the novels that depicts Italian as mafia is The Godfather by Mario Puzo (1969). This study focuses the analysis on the depiction of Italian Americans as mafia in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather. Theory of representation is used to analyze the problem. This study showed that Italian Americans are depicted as violent criminals and sociopath, the new man of masculinity as a signification of Italian Americanness, and the standardized of mental image, Italians are the mafia. The novel was depicting Italians such as the alien that enter American Glory to pursuing American Dream. However, honors and values of the old Sicilians family were the things made the mafia existed.