Masculine Language in Indonesian Novels
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HUMANIOSuRpAriyadi - Masculine Language In Indonesian Novels VOLUME 26 No. 2 Juni 2014 Halaman 225-234 MASCULINE LANGUAGE IN INDONESIAN NOVELS: A FEMINIST STYLISTIC APPROACH ON BELENGGU AND PENGAKUAN PARIYEM Supriyadi* ABSTRAK Novel Belenggu karya Armijn Pane yang terbit pertama kali pada tahun 1938 dan novel lirik Pengakuan Pariyem karya Linus Suryadi AG yang terbit pada tahun 1980 menarik untuk dikaji dari aspek kebahasaannya, khususnya ketika dihubungkan dengan masalah gender dan tradisi patriarkhis. Dalam hal ini, pendekatan yang tepat untuk menganalisisnya ialah pendekatan stilistika feminis menurut Sara Mills karena pendekatan ini menganalisis karya sastra dari segi bahasa dan kemudian dihubungkan dengan konteks kehidupan masyarakat ketika karya sastra itu diterbitkan. Hasil yang didapatkan ialah novel Belenggu dan novel lirik Pengakuan Pariyem pada dasarnya menggunakan bahasa laki-laki ketika novel itu dihubungkan dengan masalah gender dan tradisi patriarkhis. Bahasa laki-laki ini meliputi pilihan kata dan frase, pilihan klausa dan kalimat, dan pilihan wacananya. Secara kontekstual, novel Belenggu merupakan tanggapan pengarang terhadap kondisi perempuan tahun 1930-an yang mulai menyadari kedudukannya dalam posisi yang inferior terhadap laki-laki. Novel Belenggu merupakan kritik pengarang (yang merepresentasikan laki-laki) yang menilai bahwa kedudukan perempuan sebaiknya seperti semula: tinggal di rumah, mendukung kerja suami, mengurusi rumah tangga, dan lain-lain. Sementara itu, novel lirik Pengakuan Pariyem melihat bahwa hubungan laki-laki dengan perempuan merupakan hubungan yang saling memerlukan meskipun perempuan tetap bekerja dalam lingkungan rumah tangga, sedangkan laki- laki juga tetap bekerja di luar. Kata Kunci: bahasa laki-laki, kontekstual, patriarkhis, stilistika feminis ABSTRACT Belenggu is a novel written by Armijn Pane in 1938, whereas Pengakuan Pariyem is a lyrical novel written by Linus Suryadi AG that published in 1980. Both are interested to be analyzed from linguistic aspects, especially in relation to gender dan patriarchal issues. In this case, the proper approach is feminist stylistics by Sara Mills since it analyzed literary works from linguistic aspects and then is enlarged on the contexts of surroundings when it was published. The results are that Belenggu basically used masculine languages including word, phrases, clauses, sentences, and discourses when it is related to its contexts. Contextually, Belenggu represented author responses to conditions of his society in which women tried to insist their rights for equality (to men). It also represented author’s critic to women since it is better that women still work domestically and support her husband. Meanwhile, Pengakuan Pariyem is a lyrical novel that considers men and women have mutual relationships although women still work domestically and men work outside. Keywords: contextual, feminist stylistics, masculine language, patriarchal * Indonesia Departement, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta 225 Humaniora, Vol. 26, No. 2 Juni 2014: 225-234 INTRODUCTION struggling for equality. Both used two female main Masculine language is one that has masculine characters representing their different perspectives; characteristics when dealing with gender issues one character challenged patriarchal system, and that emerge in the status difference between men the other being submissive. In both novels, the and women. The difference is based on their social male character tended to choose the traditional, life, not their sexes. Masculine language exists submissive woman rather than the modern one. in various ways including advertisements, daily Belenggu was first published in 1938 when expressions, folktales, and literary works. This the Dutch colonial government was still occupying terminology had been used by evangelists in the US Indonesia. Readers gave different responses to when they observed Bible language in discussing it – some praised and some others denounced it Trinity vocabularies (Missouri Synod, 1998:1). – because the work shows a new language use Had the biblical authors thought of God in and encouragement for an expression of modern feminine terms (as in surrounding cultures), we social issues, especially the domestic life of a would expect that there would be some equilibrium modern family (Tono and Tini). L.K.Bohang (in of use between masculine and feminine language Belenggu, 1988:10) praised it as a miraculous concerning God. In fact, however, that is not novel since it was like real life that undertook the case. The masculine language probably has naturally. Keith Foulcher described it as a novel become a part of patriarchal unconsciousness (a that is ahead of its era and as first experiment in part of social life that gives priorities on men’s roles Indonesian literature about domestic and selfhood rather on women’s ones and it has been accepted conflicts. Meanwhile, Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana and naturally and unquestionably). This language has Soewarsih Djojopoespito (in Belenggu, 1988:8 and both smaller units like words and phrases and larger 11) were among those who attacked it. Sutan Takdir units like discourses. For example, there are words Alisjahbana considered it as a weakening new spirit in Javanese that make women marginalized: manak and a dark novel, whereas Soewarsih Djojopoespito (to bear a child), macak (to dress up, to prink), and cynically denounced it because it was a tendentious masak (to cook). one; she argued that a novel should make readers’ feeling moved. Gender issues are interesting to be studied since they always exist in all aspects of human Many researches on gender issues has been life in specific way. In 1930s, Indonesian women conducted, but they usually adopted feminists insisted on equality of rights to men in education, perspective. Among them are “Wanita Penjaja occupation, and other sectors. They held “Kongres Agama Kepemimpinan Sister Aimee Semple Perempuan Seutuhnya” (Women Congress) in McPherson dalam Novel Elmer Gentry, Oil!, Surakarta. They encountered the patriarchal system dan The Loved One” written by Nursaktiningrum which still dominated the social life of Indonesian (Humaniora, 2010:183-195) and “Konstruksi people. Despite their success in reaching their goals, Gender dalam Novel Geni Jora” written by they still faced other problems in their domestic life, Wiyatmi (Humaniora, 2010:196-206). So far, for example conflicts with their couple. linguistic and masculine aspects have been seldom explored. Masculine languages are also reflected in literary works, especially when literary works serve This study uses Belenggu, a novel written as the author’s responses to gender issues in his by Armijn Pane and Pengakuan Pariyem, a social life. In 1930s there were two novels, Layar lyrical novel written by Linus Suryadi AG as Terkembang written by Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana material objects, whereas masculine languages in and Belenggu written by Armijn Pane, that both novels as formal objects are. In literary and responded gender issues in their social life. Both linguistic fields, material object is one that becomes focused on women’s life in which women were a place or a location of the studied object (Faruk, 226 Supriyadi - Masculine Language In Indonesian Novels 2012:23). In linguistics the whole speech used by (1984), Leech was influenced by M.A.K. Halliday the speakers or the society observed is material in analyzing linguistic units of literary texts. In objects, whereas particular units in the speech and Stylistics (1997), Bradford tended to discuss the its interrelationships are formal objects. history of stylistics and its relation to the literary Both novels are interesting for further study on history, and he didn’t analyze its textual structures. their linguistic aspects, especially from masculine Meanwhile, in Stylistics (2004), Paul Simpson was perspectives since they were written by authors rather interested only in internal units of literary seeing women in the pleasurable positions as texts, especially in poems, without considering its masculine creatures. These positions were inherited external aspects like socio-historical, authorial and by the patriarchal culture that has existed for a long reader aspects although he did not deny them. time, and is, therefore, hard to be shaken. Any effort In her feminist stylistics, Sara Mills used the to destabilize it would mean challenging against the scheme as below (1995:23). old tradition of patriarchal system which disregards Scheme 1 gender equalities. In addition, both novels are Feminist stylistics chosen because they are able to represent two different era. Belenggu represents Pre-Independence era and Pengakuan Pariyem Independence one. There are other novels whose protagonist are women including trilogy Roro Mendut (1983), Genduk Duku (1985), and Lusi Lindri (1986) written by Mangunwijaya, Arok Dedes (1999) written by Pramoedya Ananta Toer, and Putri Cina (2007) written by Sindhunata, but they used woman protagonists to represent marginalized people, not to represent gender struggles (Supriyadi, 2013). This research uses a feminist stylistic approach to study language use in both novels. It focuses on the linguistic aspects including word and phrase, This research discusses not only textual syntactic, and discourse units. It is hoped that this units of the novels, especially on their masculine research results reveal the linguistic characteristics language aspects, but it also discusses their representing