VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF FATHERHOOD IN INDONESIAN CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOKS

• Main Author: Hayatunnufus, Alissa
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/83776
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

The fatherless issues in Indonesia began to attract so much attention since 2015, including in the children's literature. Children's books, which are close to children's life, provide illustrations that can influence their perspectives, so it should offer a posittive representation of father involvement. Therefore, this study aims to reveal how the role of father's involvements are represented in the illustrations of Indonesian children's books. Using everyday-themed children's books from the Children's Book Collection at the National Library of the Republic of Indonesia, a total of 103 samples were collected. The research method that used is Content Analysis, which interpreted with Roland Barthes' Visual Semiotics analysis. The results of the study indicate that fathers in the illustrations of Indonesian children's books are depicted with masculine characteristics and active roles. The results of the research show that the father figure in Indonesian children's picture books is depicted with 10 forms of father which are classified into 4, Traditional Father, Normative Father, Contemporary Father, and Egalitarian Father. Fathers are frequently portrayed as being involved in their children's daily activities, participating in family activities, and demonstrating care and attention. This representation shows that the father figures fulfilled the criteria of fatherhood, reflecting the significant role of fathers in children's lives and families. These findings provide insights into how the values and roles of fatherhood are represented in children's books in Indonesia. Among the various roles represented, fathers are dominantly depicted as caregivers in the illustrations of these children's books