Cerita Pendek Malaysia: Interaksi Simbolik untuk Membangun Citra Etnis Cina

The population of ethnic Chinese in Malaysia ranks second, after ethnic Bumiputra. Some of ethnic Chinese residents write short stories in order to build an image of themselves. Their work pieces are written in the short story anthology of Menara 7 (1998). This Malay anthology is interesting because its authors speak their mother tongue instead of Malay language. The objective of this research was to describe how the symbolic interactions was constructed on the short stories of Menara 7. By using symbolic interaction theory and the Hermeneutic Circle analysis methods, in short stories written by Chinese authors, the efforts to build image were manifested through the use of titles, characterizations, and cultural missions. It showed that short stories were also used as a meaning of cultural mission internally, as a manifestation of tendentious literature.