Title : Yin and Yang in Le Guin S Left Hand of Darkneness

Le Guin’s Hand of Darkness : Cultural Complexity in Urban Community.

Liliek Soelistyo. Proceedings. The 2nd International Symposium Urban Studies: Arts,Culture and History January 23, 2010 Faculty of Humanities, Airlangga University.

Abstract

The cultural conflicts between the local culture and the newcomers happened in the urban society. This condition can also be explored through a work of Science Fiction: Le Guin’s Left Hand of Darkness. The cultural traits which are bound in the development of the people, the sexual and political life in the story show the reality of urban living in Gethen, the setting of the story. The fact that the main character misunderstands the cultural differences causes him in conflicts. The conflict happens when the main character as a newcomer to Gethen fails to understand the local culture, which eventually makes the main character give in to the local culture. What happens in the story might portray the present urban society when the local culture is intruded by the new culture.

Abstrak Konflik-konflik budaya antara budaya local dan pendatang terjadi di dalam masyarakat urban. keadaan seperti ini juga dapat diteliti melalui sebuah karya fiksi ilmiah yang ditulis oleh Le Guin dengan judul Left Hand of Darkness. Ciri-ciri budaya yang tampak di dalam perkembangan manusianya, kehidupan politik, serta seksualnya menujukkan realita kehidupan urban di Gethen, latar cerita. Ketidakpahaman akan perbedaan-perbedaan budaya menyebabkan karakter utama di dalam cerita ini mengalami konflik-konflik. Konflik terjadi ketika dia, sebagai pendatang baru ke Gethen gagal memahami budaya lokal, yang pada akhirnya membuat dia menyerah pada budaya lokal tersebut. Apa yang terjadi di cerita ini menggambarkan masyarakat urban saat ini ketika budaya lokalnya terganggu dengan datangnya budaya pendatang.

Introduction This paper investigates the significance of the culture complexity in the urban community as the result of the misunderstanding of the local culture and the culture of the newcomer. It focuses it analysis on the limited scope of events in the work of Science Fiction entitled The Left Hand of Darkness written by Le Guin in 1966. Le Guin was born on October 29, 1929. The Left Hand of Darkness made her famous, winning the major science fiction awards. The book won the Nebula Award in 1969 and in 1980 it earned her Hugo award. The story is founded in the concept of the expansion of human culture through the galaxy. It takes place in the year of 4870 and it concerns a character, Genly Ai, who is on a planet called Winter, a harsh world of perpetual snow and ice and who comes to face the urban population of Karhide and Orgoreyn to convince the citizens to join the people of Earth called the Ekumen. His coming to the new place has caused him to have conflict with the community. His mission fails due to the different culture in terms of politics, sex life, and social controls.

Work Frame and Setting

The novel is actually the report of Genly Ai who presents the information in the form of a first-person narrative. Some of the chapters are taken from the journals of Estraven, another character, who actually works diplomatically to help Genly Ai to achieve his goal although Ai counts him untrustworthy. The conflicts between Ai and Estraven give a rounded view of the other conflicts that become the heart of the story.

The chapters take place in urban setting. The housing accommodations in Erhenrang, the capital of Karhide, and in Mishnory, the capital of Orgoryn are slightly different from the Earth’s. However, in general the social life is not much different from the one in the cold city during the earth’s winter such as Minneapolis or Buffalo. The coldness of winter may have affected the way the civilizations on the planet develop, but it is not an important consideration until Genly Ai is taken to a frozen province that makes him struggle against the brutal elements, resulting in a bond of trust between Ai and Estraven as they have to depend on each other’s strengths. This reality, in my opinion, shows that Ai at last reconciles with the inhabitants and adapts himself to the local culture.

Theories

The present approach is compatible with the definition of culture according to Richerson and Boyd who state that “ culture refers to information capable of affecting individuals’ behavior that they acquire from other members of their species through teaching, imitation, and other forms of social transmission” (2005, p.8). Sperber and Hirschfeld’s (2004) definition of culture is similar, but they also emphasize that the information characteristic of culture is represented in people’s minds and expressed in their behaviors and interactions. The behaviors and interactions happened may be understood as the aspects that may become potential conflicts among themselves.

Culture and conflict are inextricably related. However, this does mean cultural differences inevitably produce conflict. When problems arise, between or within cultures, conflict is often a response to difficulties in dealing with differences. Whether this pertains to racial, religious, political, social, or economic matters difference is often a source of fear and misunderstanding ( Lebaron, 2003). According to Bar-Tal ((2000), conflict is a normal part of human interaction. It is even necessary to a certain extent. It can manifest at multiple levels, including behavioral, emotional, or perceptive dimensions (Mayer, 2000). Whatever the root of the problem is, it is about handling differences that either provoke or diminish a situation. The differences are embedded in specific historic, political, and social context.

Political Matters The issue of politics has been one cause of the conflicts when the main character Genly Ai as an envoy enters the planet of Winter. There are rules of politics and diplomacy that the envoy must learn in order to survive. In this respect, to understand the cultural difference in term of politics is to understand its characteristics: it is not innate, but learned. It also represents a limited choice of behavior and it is ethnocentric for it allows people to put their own culture and society in the position of priority and worth. For example, in the beginning of the book, Genly Ai finds himself in the middle of political intrigue that has a crucial bearing on his mission. Since he is a stranger, he does not know the cultural expectation in Karhide or Orgoreyn. As a stranger he has to learn, since it seems that the political matters in this urban society of planet Winter cannot be interfered. This is justified when he offers the King an alliance with the nations of Earth, he is rejected. When he says, “ the choice of Karhide, is yours, sir” (Le Guin, 32), the answer of the king is , “And if I send you packing, too? (32). However, since he is on duty as a diplomat, he has to live among the highest officials of the government. Although his mission undergoes problems, he continues to learn.

His initial attempt to learn the political characteristic of the society reveals that all the kings of Karhide are mad (Le Guin, 10). The estrangement felt by Genly in the face of this culture is repeatedly made evident. He also notices that when there is an official meeting, the music is being played rather badly. Yet, he continues to face this culture by trying to talk to the Prime Minister of Karhide, Lord Estraven, a political figure that Genly Ai does not entirely trust. He finds it difficult to read Estraven, being unable to interpret the mannerisms, gestures and words. However, through several conflicts, the main character, Genly Ai has failed to convince the inhabitants of Winter, therefore to some extent, he almost gives up. Several times he says, “I had failed. Failed all around” (34). Besides the fact that it is difficult to understand the political matters in his new society, his fortune also changes quickly according to what political faction is in power at that time in the country. Similarly, in Orgoreyn, another urban city of the planet, there is much to be gained by deception while the balance of power is subject to change quickly. When the faction that opposes Ai comes to power, he is dragged away naked in the night after being interrogated by the government (Le Guin, 116). Basically then, Genly Ai as a newcomer of the city, has been politically opposed by the inhabitants although he continues to adjust himself. Thus, in my opinion, through this example taken from the novel, it shows how the politics of the local government has been rooted in its society and how difficult to understand the way the political factions shift according to the people who rule.

The Question of Gender

The fact that the citizen of Winter is neither female nor male is a shocking element for the main character, Genly Ai. Its inhabitants are biologically androgynous. Androgynous is neither specifically feminine nor masculine “With the exception of kemmer, a reproductive cycle wherein Gethenians morph into male and female partners for reproductive purposes. Male/masculine and female/feminine designations have no place on Gethen, because its inhabitants have no biological sex. This is done through the question of Estraven to Ai whether a woman is different from man. His answer “No. Yes. No”, reveals that the Earth society sets different expectations concerning men and women. When Estraven asks whether women are mentally inferior, Ai admits that he doesn’t know.

I In addition, the fact that Estraven is a manwoman causes Genly Ai conscious of his manhood. This leads him to conflict in determining what people are thinking. He is used to thinking of human identity as divided into two separate groups, to seeing people as either like him or unlike him. He says that it’s extremely hard to separate the innate differences from the learned ones. Even where women participate equally with men in the society, they still do all of the childbearing, and so most of the childrearing. He cannot help but see “a Gethenian first as a man, then as a woman, forcing him into those categories so irrelevant to his nature and so essential to my own” ( Le Guin,12), He even cannot accept that Estraven is man and woman in one, something that he finds impossible to comprehend. Genly Ai really has to face the culture conflict with the inhabitants of Winter, concerning the question of gender. Even, Gethenians do not associate social roles with a biological ability to reproduce and raise children, because kemmer allows each Gethenian to potentially have this ability. For example, Estraven is both father and mother to his/her children.

In human interaction, conflict is common. In diminishing the situation, according to Meyer (2000), people should be able to handle the differences. Genly Ai in the process of dealing with this culture conflict begins to change his attitude toward Estraven and accepts him as he is. Ai learns to accept Estraven’s female component. The love and understanding that develop between the two is possible because both accept each other, “not We and they; not I and it; but I and Thou”. Genly Ai is finally able to reconcile the androgyny of the Gethenians, and recognize that in spite of his previous prejudice against one gender, both sexes embodied in one. Furthermore, he also learns that social activities are not foreclosed based on gender roles. Biological sex is temporary, so, gender roles cannot be assigned.

All the questions of gender have fascinated the main character. The structure of the society, the management of their industry, agriculture, commerce; everything is shaped to fit the system of reproduction in the community. This is justified by the fact that everybody has his/her holiday once a month. Whatever his/her position is, no one is obliged to work in kemmer. Up to this point, it can be inferred that the problem of gender deals with all systems of the community. It influences the life of the society despite the fact that the society does not define gender role.

Social Controls

Besides the problems of politics and gender that the main character has to face, social controls have also become another significant problem that should be dealt with. There is evidence for the importance of the social controls such as prohibition of divorce, penalties of illegitimacy, and controls on concubinage by males (MacDonald, 1995). It is true that social controls have been able to regulate the life of people of one culture. For example, in the planet Winter, the setting of the story, people’s sexual behavior has been regulated by some rules that are so different from the rules in Earth. According to the sexual mores of Gethen, kin can choose one another as sexual partner during kemmer if they desire. However, kin cannot “vow kemmering,” what is described as essentially a monogamous marriage. To rebel against this rule, a person can be considered a traitor and should be punished by sending him/her away out of the territory. The social controls of the people of Earth do not work in the Gethenian. They have their own social controls that work differently compared to Genly Ai’s world. This shocks him. The rule that after two people should separate from each other after they have a child may be interpreted that they support divorce. Further, they do not have penalties for illegitimate children. Incest is permitted between siblings but they cannot be partners forever. When Genly Ai helps Estraven in his/her process of unbroken vow of kemmering, he starts to accept the culture. He learns to share with the people what they have in common, their humanity, and at the same time accept the differences. Conclusion

Political matters, gender, and social controls become the aspect of conflicts when one enters and comes to a new culture. The conflicts arise because there are some significant differences. This can lead to another problem when one does not fully understand that he/she is experiencing a different paradigm of culture. However, when one starts to learn to accept the difference, the conflicts are resolved. Genly Ai has finally been able to accept the culture of Karhide and Orgoreyn and implicitly realizes that has been on their side when dealing with the people. That indicates he gives in to the society. The newcomer, at last, accepts the local culture.

Reference

1. Bar-Tal, Daniel (2000). From Intractable Conflict Through Conflict Resolution To Reconciliation : Psychological Analysis. Political Psychology 21 .2. 2. Lebaron, Michelle (2003). Bridging Cultural Conflicts : A New Approach for a Changing World. Jossey-Bass Inc. San Francisco. 3. LeGuin, Ursula. (1969). The Left Hand of Darkness.Cox &Wyman Ltd. : London. 4. MacDonald, K.B. (1995). The Establishment and Maintenance of socially Imposed monogamy in Western Europe. Politics and the Life Sciences, 14, 3-23. 5. Mayer, Bernard (2000). The Dynamics of Conflict Resolution: A Practitioner’s Guide. Jossey-Bass Inc. San Francisco. 6. Richerson, P.J., and Boyd, R. (2005). Not by Genes Alone: How Culture Transformed Human Evolution. University of Chicago Press : Chicago.