Attitudinal Resources of the Yellowface (2023) Reviews on Goodreads: A Systemic Functional Linguistics Study

Vol. 25 No. 1, April 2025, pp. 131 – 140 DOI: 10.24071/joll.v25i1.9091 Available at https://e-journal.usd.ac.id/index.php/JOLL/index This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Attitudinal Resources of the Yellowface (2023) Reviews on Goodreads: A Systemic Functional Linguistics Study Zakiya Rodliya & Eva Tuckyta Sari Sujatna Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Padjadjaran, INDONESIA Article information Abstract The meaning of the language used in reviews can be evaluated using the attitudinal resources within the appraisal system proposed by Martin & White in 2005. The framework provides the attitude subsystem that helps identify the clauses in the categories of Affect, Judgement, and Appreciation. This research aims to examine the attitudinal resources that occurred in the reviews of the "Yellowface" (2023) novel by Rebecca F. Kuang on the Goodreads website and how the reviewers' attitudes are expressed. This research used a qualitative descriptive method. The data was taken from the Goodreads website based on the top five popular reviews. After analyzing the clauses in the collected data, the researcher then classified them into three categories of attitudinal resources. From the 169 clauses that were identified, the results show that both positive and negative features and all resources occurred in the reviews, with Appreciation being the highest resource that is used, followed by Judgement and Affect. Based on the findings, this research argues that the reviewers tend to evaluate the book's content more than to judge the behavior of the author and the book's characters or to express their emotions concerning the book. As a result, the use of Appreciation might help other readers know the values and qualities of the book. Received: 8 August 2024 Revised: 30 October 2024 Accepted: 31 October 2024 Keywords: attitudinal resources; book reviews; Goodreads; Yellowface Introduction A book review, as defined by MerriamWebster Dictionary, has the meaning of "a descriptive and critical or evaluative account of a book.” Oinas & Leppälä (2013), as cited in Wang et al. (2019), stated that book reviews have the purpose of providing information, evaluation, and reflection on the book. The 131 reviewer analyzes the content, such as the plot, characters, or theme, and forms a critical evaluation and personal interpretation of literary works, be it the positive or negative aspect. One of the functions of reviews is giving a guide to others' reading choices; because of that, reviews presume a readership as an act of assisting and giving service to other readers (Driscoll & Sedo, 2019). A book review has a Journal of Language and Literature ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) Zakiya Rodliya & Eva Tuckyta Sari Sujatna significant role as a guide to inform other readers about the book's quality and whether it is worth reading or not. We can find book reviews in magazines or newspapers, as they usually provide a particular column for reviews about books. However, as we are in a digital era, the rise of platform-based interactions within digital media culture also influenced the area of online book communities (Helmond, 2015, as cited in Stollfuß, 2023). Anyone can write their own reviews through online media; hence, the quality and characteristics of the reviews may vary based on the individual reviewer (Wang et al., 2019). One of the online book platforms that is widely known is Goodreads. book or not. Each member in Goodreads’ “Community Reviews” appraises a book with their own perspective and values. It is more likely that the reviews with more members who agree with the reviewer’s perspective will appeal to a majority of the community. Therefore, it will make the reviews more trustworthy. Driscoll & Sedo (2019) argued that the reviews written by the reviewers give researchers opportunities to analyze the discourse forms that emerge. Based on that knowledge, the popular reviews of “Yellowface” (2023) novel in Goodreads’ “Community Reviews” have been chosen as the source data for this research. Awarded as the winner of Best Fiction in 2023, "Yellowface" (2023) by Rebecca F. Kuang tells the story of two young authors, Athena the literary darling and June the nobody. When Athena died in an accident, June decided to steal her manuscript and publish it as her original work. However, controversy and emerging evidence threaten June after the success of the novel. Goodreads is the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations with its mission “to help readers discover books they love and get more out of reading”. It is a platform that provides a place where readers can share their reviews, and it does not connect with book sales directly. Thus, Wang et al. (2019) emphasized that “most of the reviewers focused on the content of books when evaluating them, and few mentioned other characteristics”. In Goodreads, there is a space called “Community Reviews” under each book listed on the website that can be accessed by all Goodreads members. It is a place that shows the community’s five-star rating for the book in a graph, and also contains the book reviews by other members of the community. There are two categories of the Goodreads’ members who access the “Community Reviews” (Ajayamohan, 2023). The first one is the group of “regular, uninformed members, who came to learn about the book.” The second one is the group of reviewers who rate the book out of five stars or write a book review to advise the uninformed members on whether to read the book or not. Not only that, to engage their members, Goodreads developed the "Goodreads Choice Awards," in which users could nominate books and vote on them in a variety of categories. In his article “Do Goodreads really show “Good Reads”?”, Ajayamohan (2023) said that a book review has the purpose to give information to the uninformed members about the book’s good and bad points, hence it allows them to choose whether they will read the 132 Reviews from the readers of the book are not merely feedback users; they can be evaluated by the types of attitudes and meanings of the language used to express their sentiments with an appraisal system. Appraisal is developed based on the interpersonal metafunction of systemic functional linguistics. Systemic functional linguistics analyzes how language is used to realize meaning in various social contexts, where the interpersonal metafunction deals with social interaction and the relationship between speakers and listeners or writers and readers (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004). As an interpersonal meaning system, appraisal has a main focus on providing exploration, description, and explanation about the way language is intended to evaluate, embrace stances, build textual personalities, and determine positioning and relationships (White, 2015). Martin & White (2005) that appraisal is a language evaluation system used to analyz (...truncated)