The Logic Of Phallus And Object Of Desire: Rethinking ‘Masculinities’ in Literary Works of Contemporary Indonesian Woman Writers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15642/suluk.2021.3.2.140-149Keywords:
Phallus, The Object of Desire, Ayu Utami, Djenar Maesa Ayu, MasculinityAbstract
The recent studies commonly pointed out that literary works of contemporary Indonesian women writers have coined feminist ideology. However, the study on reading these writers in ‘masculine’ perspective is rarely given. This study amins to analyze the works of two important Indonesian women writers, Ayu Utami and Djenar Maesa Ayu to demonstrate the inadequate definition of labels 'masculine' and 'feminine’ as binary opposition between male and female for explaining a much more fundamental problem: desire. This study concluded that first, the short stories of Ayu Utami and Djenar Maesa Utami demonstrate—in Connell's terminology—the master signifier or—in Lacan's terminology—phallic desire towards male, meaning that, instead of being regarded as "feminist champions," they are possible to be considered as "masculine without an object." Second, concept of "masculine without an object" is plural and splitted. Although neither Djenar nor Utami can avoid the fact that they are female, both of them were born into a multifaceted environment, an environment that strove to break down an essentialist barrier between male and female.
Downloads
References
Aveling, H. (2008). Indonesian Literature After Reformasi: The Tongues of Women. Kritika Kultura, 0(8), 5–34. https://doi.org/10.3860/kk.v0i8.49
Ayu, D. M. (2007). Jangan Main-Main (dengan Kelaminmu). Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama.
Bandel, K. (2006). Sastra, Perempuan, Seks. Yogyakarta: Jalasutra.
Butler, J. (2006). Gender Trouble Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge.
Butler, J. (2011). Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex. New York: Routledge.
Connell, R. W. (1987). Gender and Power Society, the Person, and Sexual Politics. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Connell, R. W. (1995). Masculinities. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Diani, H. (2010, March 30). Some Straight Talking with Author Ayu. The Jakarta Post.
Foucault, M. (1978). The History of Sexuality (Vol. 1). Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
Herlambang, M. (2009, February 28). Kepompong Kenyamanan: Interview with Djenar Maesa Ayu. Retrieved December 24, 2021, from Rustikaherlambang’s Weblog website: https://rustikaherlambang.com/2009/02/28/djenar-maesa-ayu/
Lacan, J. (1953). Some Reflections on the Ego. The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 34(1), 11–17.
Lacan, J. (2003). Some Reflections on the Ego 1. In A. C. Furman & S. T. Levy (Eds.), Influential Papers from the 1950s (1st ed., pp. 295–296). https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429475931
Lacan, J. (2007). Écrits: A Selection (B. Fink, Ed.). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Listyowulan, W. (2010). Narrating Ideas of Religion, Power, and Sexuality in Ayu Utami’s novels: Saman, Larung, and Bilangan Fu. Ohio University, Ohio.
Rahayuni, A. (2013). Semangat Feminis dalam Novel Saman Karya Ayu Utami dan Novel Nayla Karya Djenar Maesa Ayu: Kajian Intertekstual (Universitas Negeri Semarang). Retrieved from http://lib.unnes.ac.id/18411/
Ratele, K. (2001). Between “ouens”: Everyday Makings of Black Masculinity. Changing Men in Southern Africa, 239–253.
Utami, A. (2021, January 13). Terbang. Retrieved December 24, 2021, from Kutukata website: https://kutukata.id/2021/01/13/nukilan/terbang/
"Biografi Ayu Utami http://www.tokohindonesia.com/tokoh/article/283-direktori/2640-ayu-utami (Accessed 7 April 2014).
Biografi Djenar Maesa Ayu http://www.tokohindonesia.com/tokoh/article/283-direktori/123-djenar-maesa-ayu (Accessed 7 April 2014).
Tabloid Nova, "Si Pembuat Onar yang Suka Bermimpi" (interview with Djenar Maesa Ayu), http://nostalgia.tabloidnova.com/articles.asp?id=8499 (Accessed 7 April 2014).
Downloads
Additional Files
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Achmad Fawaid
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories, pre-print sites, or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater dissemination of published work.