Endang Firdaus
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Critical Theory

In between of Social role, Women, and Desire

Literature has become part of human life in ancient time. May we know that many people expect that literature just serves an entertainment through novel, poetry, and drama.  According to the essay The Resistance to Theory by Paul De Man try to elaborate that the resistance to theory is a resistance to the use of language about language. It is therefore a resistance to language itself or to the possibility that language contains factors or functions that cannot be reduced to intuition. It means that the theory is the application of the language itself. Besides,  it also explains how the historical of Literature and Literary theory as the discipline. Literature as the discipline has been influenced any disciplines, because the study of literature not only includes the art and fiction but also many element of human life such as social, logic, mathematic, and so on. Furthermore, The study of literature is always developing on the  following of the times.

Now, literature has great meaning for the social and cultural life. Many issue has shown as the fact that literature exists in human life. This paper includes many aspects as a material for my research. My focus is on the character a young women.  The novel Sing to the dawn by Minfong Ho tells about young girl whose name is Dawan as main character in the novel. Being born women or men bring significant effect on the social role. Even, the social role can make one of them is feeling uncomfortable. That is what happens with Dawan the fourteen years-old women. The highlight of the novel is about the patriarchal culture exists in the small town of Thailand. The novel narrates how Dawan, who was born into a society which believes that girls have no need to be educated, struggle for her right to get the education. Then, there was an opportunity for Dawan to continue her education by taking a test in her school. Dawan and her brother Kwai try to follow the test, and finally Dawan get the scholarship to continue her education and her brother failed.  However, her dream and her opportunity to continue her study is prohibited by her father. After she heard that her father prohibits herself to continue her study, Dawan still struggle to find the solution, she meets a monk and tells her problem and ask for the solution, this is the conversation between Dawan and a monk that shows how Dawan youthfully want to show that she is really want to make her dream comes true.
“But I still want to try!” Dawan interrupted earnestly, her eyes gleaming.
“Even if you’ve tried, and failed, even if thousands of thousands before you have tried and failed, I want my chance to try too!”
“You will just be wasting your time and spirit,” the old monk maintained, a deep frown hovering above his eyebrows.
Dawan took a deep breath. “Does, does that mean you won’t help me, sir ?”
“Help you ? you mean talk your father into letting you go to the City school ?”
The school girl could only nod stiffly .
Like a tired breeze through dry weeds, the old monk sighed softly. “How can I help you do something that I don’t believe in ? You’re still young, child, but I don’t think you should waste any more time dreaming such futile dreams. What can a mere schoolgirl hope to achieve anyway ? Be satisfied with what…”  (Ho)
In the conversation above, I found the significant problem that happens in the novel, From the conversation above, I decide to notice my focus on the patriarchy issue in the novel.  

So, the theory that I want to use for my research is Gerda Lerner about Patriarchy. The word ‘patriarchy’ literally means the rule of the father or the ‘patriarch’, and originally it was used to describe a specific type of ‘male-dominated family’ – the large household of the patriarch which included women, junior men, children, slaves and domestic servants all under the rule of this dominant male. Now it is used more generally “to refer to male domination, to the power relationships by which men dominate women, and to characterize a system whereby women are kept subordinate in a number of ways” (Bhasin). Then, Gerda Lerner in her book The creation of Patriarchy said that the use of the phrase subordination of women instead of the word “oppression” has distinct advantages. Subordination does not have the connotation of evil intent on the part of the dominant. it allows for the possibility of collusion between him and the subordinate. It includes the possibility of voluntary acceptance of subordinate status in exchange of protection and privilege, a condition which characterizes so much of the historical experience of women. I will use the term “paternalistic dominance” for this relation. “Subordination” encompasses other relations in addition to “paternalistic dominance” and has the additional advantage over “oppression” of being neutral as to the causes of subordination (Learner).  Subordination means that the situation in which one is forced to stay under controlling of other. So women’s subordination means the social situation that shown women are forced to stay under control of men.  It is relevant with my topic when a young girl want to continue her education, but her father is prohibited her desire, dreams.

Works Cited

Haraway, Donna. "Feminism And Gender Studies." Edition, Literary Theory : An Anthology Second. London: Blackwell Publisher, 1944. 567-582.

Ho, Minfong. Sing To The Dawn. Singapore : Times Book International, 1985.

Man, Paul De. "The Ressistance theory." Edition, Literary Theory : An Anthology Second. London : Blackwell publisher, 1986. 94-108.

Lerner, G. “The Creation of Patriarchy”. New York : Oxford University

Press. 1989.