Racial Identity Choice and its Consequences: A Study on Elizabeth Alexander’s Race

Race, as people understand it, is something that you were born with. One was born with specific physical features that by social construction, define one’s race. What if a person was born with physical features that enable him to choose whether to embrace the race defined by blood or the one defined by social construction? And are there any consequences of the choices made? This research studies the choice made by mulatto to pass as white and the consequences following the decision. The focus of the study is a poem written by Elizabeth Alexander entitled Race (2001). To answer the abovementioned questions, the poem is analyzed using a new historical approach. The approach enables the researcher to understand the historical background of and the author’s perspective on racial passing depicted in the poem and its relation to the reality of racial passing in American society. The results show that there are external and internal factors that make it possible for an individual to pass as a member of a different race from what he was. The external factors include the biological taxonomy that identifies him as belonging to a dominant race and the social construction that classifies people based on their physical features. The internal factor is the passer’s belief that by assuming a new racial identity, he will be able to lead a better life and be relieved from the oppression of the dominant race. Despite the privilege and opportunity that the new racial status can offer, racial passing can also bring some disadvantages such as the loss of the sense of belonging to the old racial identity, the feeling of insecurity, and the possibility of being disowned by one’s family. Keywords: racial passing, mulatto, biological taxonomy, Race, Elizabeth Alexande

The Transformation of the Social Imaginary on Women’s Sexuality in Indonesian Literature from the New Order to Reformasi Eras

In this research, we explored the social imaginary that relates to women’s sexuality based on the writings of several prominent Indonesian female authors. We argue that the social imaginary is not only a social construction but also a construct created through an individual’s active participation. Historically, the social imaginary in Indonesia has been tied to nationalism; however, it has gradually shifted toward the individual perspective. In particular, this study examined the construction of the social imaginary in Indonesia by comparing and differentiating literary works created under two political regimes: the authoritarian New Order regime (1968–1998) and the more democratic Reformasi regime (1999–present), wherein individuals—especially women—were given more space and liberty to participate in the construction of the social imaginary of their sexuality. This study focused primarily on two important research questions. First, how has the social imaginary of women\u27s sexuality, as contested by Indonesian women authors in their literary works, changed from the New Order era to the Reformasi era? And second, how has the re-emergence of religious, political, and social powers during the Reformasi era contributed to authors’ contestations of women’s sexuality? The content analysis of selected literary works revealed that the social imaginary of women’s sexuality changed alongside the changes in Indonesia’s political regimes. During the New Order era, the social imaginary was controlled by the hegemonic power of the State. In the early period of Suharto’s rule, women authors were co-opted by the State’s power, whereas its later years were marked by the struggles of women authors against his authoritarian government. The Reformasi era gave way for liberty in women’s discussions of their sexuality, but this freedom was found to be temporary, its ephemerality compounded by new, religiously oriented conservative powers’ attempts to push back against the new wave of self-expressive women authors and restore women’s position to one of suppression and subordination

Hannah Peace’s Suicide in Toni Morrison’s Sula: A Psychoanalytic Approach

This research discusses Hannah Peace’s suicide by exploring her past life, from her childhood until she decides to commit suicide. This research aims to find core issues faced by her and what triggers her to commit suicide. Psychoanalysis theories and theory of suicide proposed by Shneidman are applied in this research. The results show that her suicide is caused by psychological pain which stems from many painful experiences in her past life. After exploring her distressing experiences, it can be said that Hannah faces two core issues, which are fear of abandonment and fear of intimacy. However, her suicide is not merely caused by psychological pain. There are two factors which lead to her suicide: intrapsychic and interpersonal factors. Intrapsychic factor refers to the internal psychological processes of an individual, while interpersonal factor refers to the relationship between an individual and other people

Hierarchy of Expressive Culture in Birdman

Despite the accolades that it has received, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) has not been thoroughly studied in the academic sphere. This research attempts to examine the hierarchy of expressive culture portrayed in the screenplay of Birdman using Lawrence W. Levine’s theory (1988) of cultural hierarchy. A sociological approach by Swingewood & Laurenson (1972) is applied to see the work’s relation to the society. Firstly there is highbrow/lowbrow categorization, followed by an analysis of the challenges to the hierarchy; each process includes comparison between the findings and the reality in the present-day American society to see their resemblance

Trauma in Washington Black’s Character as Seen in Esi Edugyan’s Washington Black

This research analyzes the effect of trauma on Washington Black, the main character in Esi Edugyan’s Washington Black. Joy DeGruy’s theory of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome is applied in order to understand how Black’s past experiences, trauma, and slavery affect his life. The primary data used in this research are taken from the novel Washington Black by Esi Edugyan, which includes characterization and description of the character Washington Black found in sentences and paragraphs in the novel. This research shows that Washington Black’s traumatic experiences are the main driving force of his actions which indicates the inability to separate his past from his decisions. The character Washington Black is a perfect model of someone who possesses Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome

SYMBOLIC ANNIHILATION TERHADAP EKSISTENSI PEREMPUAN DALAM SERIAL BRIDGERTON (2020)

This research examines the discrimination traits experienced by three female characters in the Bridgerton series. This research uses the symbolic annihilation concept by Gaye Tuchman and the theory of existentialist feminism by Simone de Beauvoir to describe the discriminatory traits experienced by the three female characters and reveal their resistance efforts to respond to the discrimination. This research uses qualitative descriptive methods to elaborate the findings and the theories. This research finds that women's existence in this series is presented as the party who gets trivialization, omission, and condemnation. Despite being subjected to annihilation traits, the three female characters in this series do not remain silent and accept what has been set by their family and society. Thus, these three female characters take the resistance by staying true to themselves and standing firm in their convictions. The symbolic annihilation they experienced then used as a reference to prove herself that as a woman they can still exist even though being discriminated against by society

Anne Shirley’s Character Development and its Causes as Seen in Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

This research discusses the character development of Anne Shirley, the main character of the novel Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. The objective of the research is to understand the character development of Anne Shirley and also examines the factors that cause development. The analysis is conducted by using the objective approach by M.H Abrams because the approach is suitable to analyze character, characterization, and character development. The result of this research shows that the character of Anne Shirley is developed from a loveless girl to a mature teenager. Her character development is caused by two factors, internal factor which is her own motivation and external factors which come from the people around her and new environment

NON-AMERICAN BLACK WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT: A FOURTH-WAVE FEMINISM STUDY ON CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE’S AMERICANAH

Racial issues have been a big problem in the United States of America since the slavery era. Although racism still exists in its society, many people are still migrating to America. For example, non-American Black women go there to try their luck to get a better education, a better job, and a better standard of living. However, some of them experience racism and gender inequality at work, as well as everywhere else in American society. Nevertheless, these experiences of racism and inequality may well be what motivates them to gain empowerment and gender equality. The qualitative method is used in this research. The primary source is a novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie titled Americanah (2013). The secondary sources to support this analysis are books, journals, articles, videos, and current news related to the issues. Post-nationalist studies by John Rowe, transnationalism studies by Steven Vertovec, fourth-wave feminism ideas from Nikola Rivers and Prudence Chamberlain, and Black women’s empowerment studies by Sheila Radford-Hill and Patricia Hill Collins are used to analyze the data. The results of this research are: first, there are measures taken by non-American Black women to gain empowerment in the US, which begin with their aspirations to obtain acceptance in society. Second, the redefinition of gender equality through education, employment, and social changes leads to the acceptance of non-American Black women in society. The acceptance and empowerment become evidence of gender equality in education, employment, and social life. Isu rasisme menjadi salah satu masalah besar di Amerika Serikat sejak masa perbudakan. Meskipun rasisme masih terjadi, tetapi tidak sedikit imigran yang datang dan menetap. Wanita kulit hitam dari luar Amerika datang untuk mendapat pendidikan, pekerjaan, dan hidup layak. Tetapi, tidak sedikit mendapatkan rasisme dan ketidaksetaraan gender di dalam dan masyarakat. Dengan demikian, rasisme dan ketidaksetaraan memotivasi wanita kulit hitam non-Amerika untuk memperoleh pemberdayaan dan kesetaraan gender. Metode kualitatif digunakan dalam penelitian ini. Sumber pertama, novel karya Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie berjudul Americanah (2013). Sumber kedua untuk mendukung analisis diambil dari beberapa buku, jurnal, artikel, video, dan berita yang berhubungan dengan isu yang dibahas. Beberapa teori yang digunakan untuk menganalisis, yakni teori pos-nasionalis dari John Rowe, transnasionalisme dari Steven Vertovec, feminisme gelombang keempat dari Nikola Rivers dan Prudence Chamberlain, dan pemberdayaan perempuan berkulit hitam dari Sheila Radford-Hill dan Patricia Hill Collins. Berdasarkan hasil analisa, pertama, pemberdayaan wanita kulit hitam non-Amerika dimulai dari perjuangan mereka untuk mendapatkan pemberdayaan dari masyarakat. Proses perjuangan dan keberanian yang menuntun mereka untuk bisa beradaptasi dengan situasi di Amerika. Kedua, mendefinisikan kesetaraan gender dalam dunia pendidikan, pekerjaan, dan perubahan sosial. Beberapa dampak pemberdayaan menjadi bukti pencapaian kesetaraan gender dalam dunia pendidikan, pekerjaan, dan perubahan kehidupan sosial

The Impact of Colonialism in Hugh Lofting’s The Story of Doctor Dolittle

The Story of Doctor Dolittle is the first entry in the Doctor Dolittle series, a children’s book series by English author Hugh Lofting. Despite being primarily aimed at children, the series contains mature themes that help it attract the attention of adults. In particular, The Story of Doctor Dolittle contains themes of colonialism that are drawn from the author’s own experiences. This research aims to discover how colonialism in The Story of Doctor Dolittle has impacted the numerous characters found in it. The original 1920 publication of the book was used as the primary data source, in which it was analyzed using a thorough closed reading of its contents, which is then compared with real-life colonial events. Jurgen Osterhammel’s theory of colonialism is used as the primary theory for this research, which details the processes and results of colonialism on both the colonizers and the colonized, as well as the different types of colonies created to serve different purposes for the colonizers. The results have shown that there are multiple instances of colonialism in The Story of Doctor Dolittle, both positive and negative, that have impacted its characters to varying degrees. Characters such as Doctor Dolittle and the monkeys of the Land of the Monkeys benefited from colonialism due to the former’s altruistic motives, while others like the Jolliginki tribe suffered due to reckless exploitation by the unnamed White Man

Understanding How They Work: The Agents’ Strategies in Producing Indonesian-English Literary Translation

This article contains a study on Yogyakarta literary agents’ strategies in producing a translated work from Indonesian into English (Indonesian-English literary work) entitled “Pilgrimage in the Land of Java”. Due to the development of literary studies based on the practice of its agents, this study aims to understand more the pattern and vision of agents in producing translated literary work in a particular context. In this case, the agents are a poet Iman Budhi Santosa, an indie publisher Interlude, and a translator Chrysogonus Siddha Malilang. This study adopts the Bourdieusian concept of strategy in cultural production as the framework of thought. Meanwhile, interview and document selection are two primary techniques to collect data for this qualitative research. This study reveals the strategies implemented by the three primary agents during the production of “Pilgrimage in the Land of Java”. Although running on the same track, it turns out that each of them had specific strategies based on the role that they possessed during the production. This study also discloses the significance of social capital in translation practice