Jurnal POETIKA
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Transformative Liminality: A Reading of Genevieve L. Asenjo’s “Pangungumusta mula sa Balaan Bukid”
Full text linkIn 2021, Filipino writer Genevieve L. Asenjo published her short story collection titled Ang Itim na Orkidyas ng Isla Boracay. Hailed as “Best Book of Short Fiction in Filipino” during the 40th National Book Awards, it consists of narratives that delve into the entanglement of the Philippines, the United States of America, and South Korea. Specifically, in the story “Pangungumusta mula sa Balaan Bukid” (“Pangungumusta” from hereon), South Korea is imagined as a liminal space for the “migratory,” namely, the migrant workers and refugees. In postcolonial thought, a liminal space is perceived as a threshold, a doorway, or a portal where waiting happens, interactions are exchanged, and decisions are made; and as such, in The Location of Culture, theorist Homi K. Bhabha describes it as an “in-between” space of ambivalence, a “third space” where there is neither self nor other. While existing discussions on migrant workers and refugees tend to focus on identity and mobility, the novelty of this paper lies in its problematization of the transformative point of their interaction: What happens when an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) gets entangled with a Palestinian refugee in Seoul? How does their interaction offer new perspective on what a liminal space is? The primary method is a textual analysis of “Pangungumusta” through a postcolonial lens. The author argues that in such entanglement a liminal space becomes transformative; and so, it is that which “naghatid . . . sa isang uri ng kaluwalhatian” (ushered in a kind of glory; Asenjo, 2021: 69). This paper is composed of three primary sections: an introduction of Asenjo and her works, a presentation of the plot of “Pangungumusta” and commentary on its postmodern form, and a discussion of liminal space as imagined in the narrative, concluding that liminality is indeed transformative, that is, as the liminal space spatially brings the characters together, it at the same time spells out their ideological differences, which makes transformation possible.
A Genetic Structuralism Analysis of Materialism in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess
Full text linkAlthough the Industrial Revolution in Britain’s Victorian era contributed significantly toward Britain’s development, it also led to the emergence of materialism issues in society. This research aims to identify how materialism was constructed and to reveal the worldview on materialism expressed in A Little Princess (2017). Goldmann’s Genetic Structuralism is operated in this qualitative research. The results indicate that the materialism issue brought some adverse impacts or social problems, such as the division of social classes, the social gap between the upper, middle, and working classes, and child labor in the Victorian age. Besides, the worldview of Burnett’s social group resisted materialism by delineating these social issues and a binary opposition between a materialistic character shown by Miss Minchin and a non-materialistic character presented by Sara. Through the binary opposition, Burnett wanted readers to be aware of the negative impacts of practicing materialistic traits such as possessiveness, envy, and non-generosity. Possessiveness is shown by Miss Minchin's desire and attitude to retain all of Sara’s luxury stuff. Envy appears in Miss Minchin's envy of Sara’s wealth and prosperity. Non-generosity as Miss Minchin hard to donate her possessions or do charity. As a human fact product, A Little Princess can be interpreted as a view to getting a better life for poor child workers at that time
Romantic Primitivism and Literary Neocolonialism in Camara Laye’s Novel L’Enfant Noir
Full text linkThe article examines the depiction of romantic primitivism in Camara Laye’s novel L’Enfant noir (The Dark Child) and the phenomenon of literary neocolonialism behind its publication. L’Enfant noir is a novel published when Guinea was still under French colonization in the 1950s. It tells the story of a happy black child growing up in the middle of a beautiful Guinean countryside, that was completely untouched by the atrocities of colonialism. Upon its publication by Plon, a French publishing house, the novel received different responses from African and European readers. In Africa, it was perceived as turning a blind eye to the cruelty of colonialism. However, in Europe, it was showered with praise and it even received a prestigious literary award. To examine this phenomenon, this article analyzes the novel both intrinsically and extrinsically. Intrinsically, it uses the theory of romantic primitivism to analyze how the novel romanticizes the lives of African indigenous people constrained by colonialism. Extrinsically, it discusses the phenomenon of literary neocolonialism behind the publication of L’Enfant noir. The discussion about literary neocolonialism is divided into two parts. Firstly, it addresses the historical analysis of Plon’s publishing house, its relations with the French power, and the political interests underpinning the novel’s publication. Secondly, it highlights the strategy the publisher uses to accentuate exoticism in the novel’s peritext to market the book in Europe. The novelty of this article lies in its discovery of the elements of romantic primitivism found in the novel while it also proves that literary neocolonialism towards L’Enfant noir persists to this day
Women in Novels Regarding Japanese Occupation: A Study of the Sociology of Literature
Full text linkThe Japanese occupation government in the Indonesia carried out propaganda using various media, including literature. The propaganda often depicts the condition of women at that time. This study examines the picture of women in the Japanese occupation that has been reflected in four novels published in two eras: during and after the Japanese occupation. Novels published during the Japanese occupation were Palawidja by Karim Halim and Cinta Tanah Air by Nur Sutan Iskandar. Meanwhile, the novels published after the Japanese occupation were Dan Perang pun Usai by Ismail Marahimin and Kembang Jepun by Remy Sylado. The novels were approached by the sociology of literature by Alan Swingewood and Diana Laurenson. The research prove that the four novels have a different picture of women in the Japanese occupation. Women in novels written during the Japanese occupation are described as having a fate full of suffering, for example, in the novels Kembang Jepun and Dan Perang pun Usai. Meanwhile, women in novels written after the Japanese occupation are described as having a luckier fate, as seen in Palawidja and Cinta Tanah Air. These depictions came to differences in the activities, authorship background, and time interval of the writing of the four authors.
Mobility in a Stationary Place: Labor and Ethical Conditions in the Philippine BPO Industry in Glen Diaz's The Quiet Ones
Full text linkAll over the world, Business Processing Outsource (BPO) companies have been set up to provide services that would enable utmost efficiency to business-related work operations. BPOs have been fertile ground for dreams of mobility and freedom for their employees. Illustrative is the 2017 Philippine novel in English, The Quiet Ones by Glenn Diaz, which frames the lives of call center agents who steal from the multimillion-dollar American-based BPO company and remain remorseless even after they have been caught for the crime. The novel narrates how the contemporary lives of Filipinos are drastically shaped by their experience of working as call center agents, highlighting their various unethical ‘traversals’ behind the stationary façade of the industry in order to escape from their sense of disempowerment. This paper would like to show how the novel’s depiction of the BPO industry's shrinking physical and imagined spaces, protocols in customer service, and its bureaucracy are symptomatic of the call center agents’ obsession, psyche, and modes of surviving the system. To do that, careful attention will be given to the portrayal of the experience of the physical, representational, and mobile practices in the BPO industry. While the BPO industry plays an essential role in the economic progress of the Philippines, it has also affected the material and mobile conditions of Filipino call center agents, as they follow a business model of efficacy aligned with the larger scheme of global capitalism. Such efficacy is underpinned by a kind of ‘modern’ ethics specific to the BPO call centers concretizing the betrayal of globalization's promise of proper mobility and freedom as embodied by the infrastructure of the call center offices shaping the superstructural official practice and ‘call center culture.
Human-Elf Marriage as Formula in Popular Fantasy
Full text linkUnderstanding how stories of human-elf marriages are portrayed is very crucial because such stories can influence the public’s opinion regarding people who claim to have such relationships. Therefore, a study on human-elf marriage as a formula in popular fantasy contributes to a better understanding of the function and role of popular fantasy in society. Using Cawelti’s theory of formula (Cawelti, 1977) as starting point, this study tries to see how human-elf marriage as a formula may be portrayed differently in English fantasy works and popular Javanese stories. Several English fantasy works are presented as data for this study, along with Javanese stories collected from social media, television, and the box office that have strong influences from urban legends. Stories from the Arabian peninsula are also considered for their strong affinity to the predominantly Islamic society of Java. Miles & Huberman (1992) qualitative methods are applied interactively and continuously to optimize the data collection and analysis. The analysis shows that the portrayal of marriages between humans and Other beings, such as elves, fairies, or jinns, hugely depends on the manner of the depiction of Other beings involved. The elves of Tolkien are strongly associated with the heavenly light that humans long for, while the jinns in the Islamic and Javanese traditions are generally considered bearers of turmoil in human society. Consequently, the human-elf marriages of Tolkien are celebrated. All kinds of contact between humans and the jinns, however, fairy-like they may be, are avoided and even condemned in Javanese stories. This conclusion confirms that the formula in popular fantasy serves as both an endorsement or a condemnation of certain notions a particular society upholds
AKHIL SHARMA’S FAMILY LIFE: REGRETTING DOUBLENESS OF DIASPORA INDIVIDUALS
Full text linkThis study discusses a matter of cultural identity faced by diaspora individuals in Akhil Sharma’s novel Family Life. As a diasporic Indian American, Sharma depicts that cultural identity is problematic, especially for an individual who experiences two or more conflicted cultures from home left behind and the home this individual has moved to. Sharma also demonstrates that the identity of this diasporic is never complete. This study aims to critically analyze Sharma’s fiction by highlighting the issues he engages as a diasporic writer. It also depicts how voluntary displacement done by diaspora characters tends to lead them to mourn. The analysis applies a concept of cultural identity by Stuart Hall. It explains a notion of identity within the discourses of history and culture, which is not an essence but a positioning. This study uses a qualitative descriptive method. The result shows there is doubleness of cultural identity conveyed by Sharma. This regretting doubleness appears in structured stages: admiring the West and being rejected by the West
PROPHET KHIDIR IN KUNTOWIJOYO’S NOVEL WASRIPIN DAN SATINAH: WOLFGANG ISER’S AESTHETIC RESPONSE ANALYSIS
Full text linkThis study aims to describe and reveal the meaning of the figure of the Prophet Khidir as a repertoire in Kuntowijoyo's Wasripin dan Satinah novel in terms of Wolfgang Iser's Aesthetic Response theory. This study is qualitative descriptive, and the data source is the novel Wasripin dan Satinah published by Kompas Publisher in 2003. Using a note-taking technique of all novels related to the Prophet Khidir’s repertoire, it obtained the data. The technique was through 1) identification, 2) classification, 3) interpretation, and 4) inference. The results showed that 1) the figure of the Prophet Khidir in the novel Wasripin dan Satinah was an earlier reference in the text used by Kuntowijoyo as the basis or background for creating his novel. The transformed story of the Prophet Khidir in the Al-Qur'an has a different storyline. 1) In the Al-Qur'an, Prophet Khidir was approached by Prophet Musa to learn. Meanwhile, in the novel Wasripin and Satinah, the Prophet Khidir came to Wasripin to give his knowledge. 2) The novel Wasripin dan Satinah which represents the figure of Prophet Khidir, has given rise to myths in the lives of Javanese people. 3) an intention conveyed by Kuntowijoyo in presenting the figure of the Prophet Khidir in his work, namely a lesson not to be shirk by glorifying or deifying someone who has superior abilities
ECOLOGICAL LAMENTATION AND ADVOCACY IN EKA BUDIANTA’S SELECTED POEMS
Full text linkWriting about environmental issues before and after climate change and other human-made ecological damages, Eka Budianta has continually taken up environmental topics in his oeuvre. The study presented in the present article aims to scrutinize 6 (six) selected poems by Eka Budianta to see how the poet has dealt with ecological debate throughout the years. The study draws insights from criticisms within Environmental Humanities framework and uses a qualitative-interpretative method. The six poems comprise four poems written in 1984, i.e., “River Notes”, “The Yearning of the Wind”, “Song for Tiom”, and “Song of a Townsman”; a poem written in 2012 titled “Setelah Sudaraku Tenggelam”; and the most recent one, written in 2020, “Sungai Sejati”. The lines and stanzas of each poem are read and interpreted according to their respective themes, poetic devices, and contents to see if they demonstrate the principles of Ecopoetry. The study results in the following findings. First the lamentation for the loss of nature is present in “River Notes”, “The Yearning of the Wind”, and “Song of a Townsman”. Second, “Song for Tiom” and “Setelah Saudaraku Tenggelam” are elegies for, respectively, ecological destruction in Papua and the Situ Gintung Lake tragedy. Third, optimistic tone is palpable in Eka Budianta’s newest poem “Sungai Sejati”. Fourth, the inclusion of non-human agency like landscape, plants, and animals helps reinforce the green messages the poet seeks to express. This study concurs that literature can partake in exposing global climate change as well as advocating sustainable living in a way often ignored in ecological praxis that only celebrates concrete results
Impact and Functions of the Legend of Joko Lancur and Dewi Amirah’s Forbidden Love for the People of Ponorogo
Full text linkThe legend of the forbidden love relationship between Joko Lancur and Dewi Amirah is much more than just an oral story. This story is still believed to be true so that it affects the socio-cultural life of the Ponorogo community in Indonesia. This study aims to describe the impact and function of the legend in the life of the people of Ponorogo. This study uses a sociology of literature perspective. Data were collected through 1) observation, 2) documentation, and 3) interviews with some informants. The results showed that the legend of Joko Lancur and Dewi Amirah is still deeply rooted in the social fabric of the people of Golan Village and Mirah Hamlet in Ponorogo. This legend is believed to be true by the communities in the two regions so it has an impact on the way they view the social relations between the two regions. The people of both regions believe that members of Golan community will never be able to live together with those of Mirah community. If this taboo is violated, bad things will happen. Even so, this legend functions as a means of 1) legalizing social institutions, 2) regulating community norms, 3) supporting education, and 4) strengthening community solidarity