Language Cognition And Narrative Structure In Leila S. Chudori’s Pulang: A Neurolinguistic Perspective On Literary Reading Instruction

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between linguistic and narrative structures in Leila S. Chudori’s Pulang and their potential cognitive implications for literary reading instruction. The study employs a descriptive qualitative method through textual analysis informed by neurolinguistics and cognitive psychology. The material object is the 2023 edition of Pulang published by Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia, while the formal object concerns the relationship among linguistic structure, narrative structure, cognitive representation, and literary reading comprehension. The data consist of words, phrases, clauses, sentences, and narrative passages selected based on their representation of syntactic complexity, causal relations, sensory vocabulary, memory activation, temporal and spatial shifts, character focus, perspective shifts, and cohesion. Data were analyzed through four stages: identification and classification of relevant textual features, categorization according to cognitive dimensions, theoretical interpretation using concepts of syntactic processing, situation models, event models, inference, memory, and cognitive scaffolding, and synthesis of findings into implications for literary reading instruction. The findings indicate that syntactic relations facilitate the integration of narrative information, sensory vocabulary provides cues for activating cultural and experiential knowledge, and temporal, spatial, character, and perspective shifts require the reader to reorganize developing representations of narrative situations. These patterns are conceptualized as forms of narrative reorientation rather than as experimentally measured cognitive or neural responses. The study suggests that literary reading instruction can use narrative reorientation to develop students’ inferential comprehension, contextual integration, perspective-taking, and reflective interpretation. The study contributes a textual framework that connects neurolinguistic perspectives, narrative structure, situation-model theory, and literary education.