Feminism Thoughts in Dreams of Trespass: Tales of A

FEMINISM THOUGHTS IN DREAMS OF TRESPASS: TALES OF A

HAREM GIRLHOOD BY FATIMA MERNISSI

By:

MUDRIKA ANISAHRI

105026000983

ENGLISH LETTERS DEPARTMENT

LETTERS AND HUMANITIES FACULTY

STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY “SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH”

JAKARTA

2011

FEMINISM THOUGHTS IN DREAMS OF TRESPASS: TALES OF A

HAREM GIRLHOOD BY FATIMA MERNISSI

A Thesis Submitted to Letters and Humanities Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Strata One

By:

MUDRIKA ANISAHRI

105026000983

ENGLISH LETTERS DEPARTMENT

LETTERS AND HUMANITIES FACULTY

STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY “SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH”

JAKARTA

2011 ABSTRACT

Mudrika Anisahri, Feminism Thoughts in Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood by Fatima Mernissi. A Thesis: English Letters Department. Letters and Humanities Faculty, State Islamic University "Syarif Hidayatullah" Jakarta, 2009.

This research is aimed at analyzing a literary work which is written by woman writer who has written about woman's experiences. It is novel Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood by Fatima Mernissi as the object of the research. This novel is memoir about Fatima Mernissi's childhood in domestic harem in Fez in the late 1940s recounts the life experiences of her female relatives and her own reactions to the world around her. The novel demystifies the harem and puts a face on Arab Muslim women in a personal and highly entertaining manner, exploring the nature of women's power, the value of oral tradition and the absolute necessity of dreams and celebrations.

Within the novel described how the culture of the harem grows and develops. Harem culture is considered as the causing of a patriarchal system where women are restricted to do activities outside and they are required to follow the rules. Obviously it is very detrimental for women including family of Fatima Mernissi. However, there are some female characters who do not keep silent, in fact they protest because they have been oppressed. They do not perform movements around environment, but only within the home. They try to convey some ideas of feminism thoughts to Fatima Mernissi with different manner. For instance, Mernissi's mother gives the storytelling with the moral message inside, her grandmother gives some advices and experiences and her aunt and cousin who hold a theater show about the great women that inspire many women in the harem to get the equality and the true of freedom.

Thus, it can be concluded that gender equality and freedom are the feminism thoughts that appear through some female characters. Those are shaped by the various ways, such as by the storytelling, education and theater.

i APPROVEMENT

FEMINISM THOUGHTS IN DREAMS OF TRESPASS: TALES OF A

HAREM GIRLHOOD BY FATIMA MERNISSI

A Thesis Submitted to Letters and Humanities Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Strata One

MUDRIKA ANISAHRI

105026000983

Approved by:

Inayatul Chusna, M. Hum Advisor

ENGLISH LETTERS DEPARTMENT

LETTERS AND HUMANITIES FACULTY

STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY “SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH”

JAKARTA

2011

ii LEGALIZATION

Name : Mudrika Anisahri NIM : 105026000983 Title : Feminism Thoughts in Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood by Fatima Mernissi

The thesis has been defended before the Faculty of Letters and Humanities’ Examination Committee on August 16, 2011. It has been accepted as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of strata one.

Jakarta, August 16, 2011

The Examination Committee

Signature Date

1. Drs. Asep Saefuddin,M.Pd (Chair Person) ______19640710 199303 1 006

2. Elve Oktafiyani, M.Hum (Secretary) ______19781003 200112 2 002

3. Inayatul Chusna, M. Hum (Advisor) ______1978 0126 200312 2 002

4. Dr. H. M. Farkhan, M.pd (Examiner I) ______1965 0919 200031 1 002

5. Elve Oktafiyani, M.Hum (Examiner II) ______19781003 200112 2 002

iii DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of the university or other institute of higher learning, except where due acknowledgment has been made in the text.

Jakarta, June 2011

Mudrika Anisahri

iv PREFACE

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

First of all, the writer would like to thank Allah SWT for all His favor and guidance in completing this thesis. All praises belong to Him, the Creator of living things from being nothing to existence. Many salutation and benediction be unto the noblest of the prophet and messenger, Muhammad SAW.

In this occasion, the writer also would like to express a special thank to:

1. Inayatul Chusna, M. Hum. as her advisor, for her guidance and contribution in

finishing this thesis.

2. Dr. H. Abdul Wahid, M.Ag. as the Dean of Faculty of Adab and Humanities.

3. Drs. A. Saefuddin, M.Pd. as the Head of English Letters Department.

4. Elve Oktafiyani, M.Hum. as the Secretary of English Letters Department.

5. All of the lecturers in English Letters Department who have taught and

educated her during her study in UIN Jakarta.

6. The beloved parents, her lovely dad "Karta Wijaya" and lovely mom "Siti

Khodijah" for their full-financial, attentions, prays, loves and all the

contribution. She loves them so much.

7. The great brothers, Wawan Kurniawan and his wife, Budi Hermawan and his

wife and Abdul Khotib for their supports, attentions, suggestions, and loves

ever after. They are the best brothers that she has ever had.

8. The big family, her grandfathers (Ba'o), grandmothers (Ma'o), uncles, aunts,

cousins, and all relatives for their supports, materials and prays. God bless

them.

v 9. The best friends in communities, Persatuan Alumni Darul Abror (PADA'98),

all classmates of class-C in English Letters Department, Komunitas Restoe

Boemi (KRB) Indonesia, and all the best friends that she cannot mention one

by one for whole supports, new experiences, joy and fun they have shared

together. Let's keep fighting to reach all of dreams and to get the brighter

future.

Finally, the writer realizes that this thesis is not too perfect to read, but shehopes that it can be used as well as possible.

Jakarta, June 2011

Mudrika Anisahri

vi TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ......

APPROVEMENT ...... ii

LEGALIZATION ...... iii

DECLARATION ...... iv

PREFACE ......

TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... vii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ...... 1

A. Background of the Study ...... 1 B. Focus of the Study ...... 7 C. Research Questions ...... D. Objectives of the Study ...... 8 E. Significance of the Study ...... 8 F. Research Methodology ...... 8

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS ...... 11

A. Feminism Theory ...... 11 B. B. Feminist Literary Criticism Theory ...... 14

CHAPTER III: RESEARCH FINDINGS ...... 21

A. Data Description...... 21 B. Data Analysis ...... 26 a. Feminism Thoughts in Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood ...... 26 b. The Ways of female Characters Shape the Feminism Thoughts in Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood ...... 34

CHAPTER IV: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION ...... 43

A. Conclusion ...... 43 B. Suggestion ...... 44

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 46

vii APPENDICES ...... 49

A. Appendix 1: Synopsis ...... 49 B. Appendix 2: Biography of Author ...... 51

viii

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Since nineteenth century, the literary works have been becoming a regime culture. It has the strong attractiveness to gender’s problems. Women as an inferior and weak person and men as strong and a smart person always cover the literary world. Up to now, the point of view which is difficult to prevent is hegemony1of men to women. Most the entire literary works, men’s writing are more predominant than women’s writing. The men’s figure keeps on becoming the authority, and assumed that women considered as the second sex and the subordinated person.2

A survey in America in 1960s indicated that literary canon of the country was full of the men’s writing.3 Moreover, it was discovered that some of literary works in history of American literature did not mention any women writers for centuries. Of course, the result of the survey caused many American observers; especially women wondered why it could be happened. Later on, there would be some efforts to observe the variety of literary works of America to look for some important women writers who did not record in the past. It might be caused of the

1The political, economic, ideological or cultural power exerted by a dominant group over other groups. (See Definition of Hegemony, Definition from Wikipedia). 2 Suwardi Endaswara, Metodologi Penelitian Sastra (Yogyakarta: Pustaka Widyatama, 2003), p. 143. 3Soenarti Djayanegara, Kritik Sastra Feminis: Sebuah Pengantar (Jakarta: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 2000), p. IX.

only men’s authority that had a power to decide the quality of the literary of works.

Therefore, there would be the movement in literary criticism field following the previous feminism movement in women social that eventually we know as feminist literary criticism. It is one of the variety of literary works based on feminism ideology that would like to get the justice for looking the women existence, it is either as the writer or the reader of the literary works.

Feminist Literary Criticism is the rebellion of the female consciousness against the male images of female identity and experience. The concept of female identity shows us how female experience is transformed into female consciousness, often in reaction to male paradigms for female experience. It is an ideology that opposes the political, economical and cultural relegation of women to positions of inferiority. The critical project of feminist critics is thus concerned with uncovering the contingencies of gender as a cultural, social and political construct and instrument of domination.4

The emergence of feminist literary criticism certainly cannot be separated from the feminist movement which began in 1700s. In general, feminism is women’s Liberation ideology which is supported by all of the approaches that indicate women to get unfairness because of the sex.5 This movement rises because the woman is always supposed as the second sex and gets the discrimination in the social life. It does not mean the extreme rebellion movement

4Shilpi Goel, Feminist Literary Criticism (Language in India: Strength for today and hope bright for tomorrow, volume 10: 4 April 2010), p. 403. 5Maggie Humm, Ensiklopedia Feminisme. Translator, Mundi Rahayu (Yogyakarta: Fajar Pustaka Baru, 2007), p. 158.

of woman to man, but to opposite the social caste and the paradigm of static myth in the social. Woman is not a weak creature because she has her own ability to get the position in the society. In the other word, this movement is the awareness of women about their identity to destruct the hierarchy that is harmful for woman’s position, such as exploitation of woman, and also slavery from man.

The feminist movement occurred not only in America but also in almost around the world including in the Middle East. The inequality gender in the

Middle East seemed after 15th to early 18th centuries, the condition of woman in some countries in Middle East such as Turkey, Egypt, and Syria, had not been different from centuries before. However, it seemed only a few of the growth in selected areas. For example, by the end of 18th centuries, the woman had already got reading subject at many schools and could continue to famous college to get

Moslem scholar status. But for other areas, woman had not got yet the place as equal as men.6

Nawal el Sa’dawi, as a doctor and a defender of women’s right in Egypt stated that women in the Middle East were oppressed not because they lived under the rule of Islam or belonged to the East, but as a result of the patriarchal class system which had dominated the world for thousands of years. In her view, the struggle for women’s civil liberties, individual freedom, and secularism had no significance. In this discourse, patriarchy was used as a blanket term to disguise

6Euis Amalia, Pengantar Kajian Gender: Feminisme: Konsep, Sejarah dan Perkembangannya (Jakarta: Pusat Studi Wanita UIN Syarif Hidayatullah, 2003), p. 122.

Islam’s role in the oppression of women. Every aspect of women’s subordination in the Middle East was inaccurately labeled as the result of patriarchy.7

The phenomenon about the oppression of women has happened until the current decade. Finally, there are women writers who make the feminist protest works related to those inequality genders. It can be seen from every description that covers the plenty of literary world. A few of reality and sacrifice of women in protecting their rights and freedoms are described by Fatima Mernissi through her works. The significance of her contribution to the literary establishment lies in the fact that the women writers have seen the female identity as a continuous process of becoming and thus have reflected its flexibility.

Fatima Mernissi is one of productive Moroccan feminist who has written about issues of inequality of gender in her many works. She has been getting attention from the woman activists and enthusiast of gender until now through her works. As one of the best known Arab-Muslim feminists, Mernissi's influence extends beyond a narrow circle of intellectuals. She is a recognized public figure in her own country and abroad, especially in France, where she is well known in feminist circles. Her major books have been translated into several languages, including English, German, Dutch, Japanese and Indonesia. She writes regularly on women's issues in the popular press, participates in public debates promoting the cause of Muslim women internationally, and has supervised the publication of a series of books on the legal status of women in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.

7Azam Kamguian, The Liberation of Women in The Middle East (Islam and Modernity, 2003) Accessed on May 25, 2010. www.liberationofwomen.html

Mernissi's works explore the impact of this historically constituted ideological system on the construction of gender and the organization of domestic and political life in Muslim society today. Mernissi's works also explore the relationship between sexual ideology, gender identity, sociopolitical organization, and the status of women in Islam; her special focus, however, is Moroccan society and culture. As a feminist, her works represent an attempt to undermine the ideological and political systems that silence and oppress Muslim women.

Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood (1994) is one of her memoir that exposes the multiplicity of experiences faced by women living in harem and talks about the confusion Mernissi’s experiences as a young girl in a harem against the backdrop of Moroccan nationalism, Westernization, and the nascent women's rights movements.

As a literary genre, a memoir is a piece of autobiographical writing which is often shorter than a comprehensive autobiography. The span of time covered in the memoir is often brief compared to the person's complete life span. A memoir often tries to capture certain highlights or meaningful events in one's past. And it usually has a particular focus of attention, focusing on the selected events from a perspective that may not include other facts and details from the person's life. In other words, the memoir is highly focused and selective in the memories it includes.8

Dreams of Trespass is the story of Fatima Mernissi's girlhood and the important women in her life; they are her mother, her aunts and cousins, and her

8N. Zuwiyya, Definition of Memoir, Accessed on June 20, 2010, http://www.Definitionsof_Memoir.htm.

grandmother and her co-wives. It is described from her view of life as a young girl in the 1940's informed by an adult's understanding without losing the experiences of a child's limited world view and attempts at understanding the world around her. In addition, this memoir is an interesting glimpse of domestic life in mid-

Twentieth Century Fez. It is able to provide a very accessible view of the important social and political changes of the time, such as the French occupation of Morocco, World War II, Feminism thoughts, and Moroccan Nationalism.

Because the story takes place almost exclusively within the family circle, domestic issues and day to day life figure prominently as well.

In the story, as the men hold on to tradition, most women argued for equality and change and found some ways to express their desires. For example,

Yasmina, mernissi’s grandmother who influenced mernissi’s life in building rebel.

From her grandmother, Mernissi learned about the gender equality, the meaning of confinement in harem, and a causal link between political defeats suffered by the Muslims with the downturn experienced by women.

Another character, Mernissi’s mother is probably one of the most powerful women in the story. Mernissi’s mother taught Mernissi how to do and to survive as women. From her mother, she got the story that told about how to be smart and wisdom. In addition, Mernissi confessed that both her mother and her grandmother who supportd her to study in higher education so that women can be independent.

Not only her grandmother and mother who transformed the feminism thoughts to Fatima Mernissi but also both Cousin Chama and Aunt Habiba’s stage

elaborated plays celebrating famous women's lives with all the women and children of the harem (and occasionally the young men) participate as members of the production or members of the audience. These plays helped Mernissi to decide that singing, dancing and sensuality were part of the feminists' lives and should not be forgotten; sensuality was a refreshingly natural part of life throughout the story.

So, we can see that Fatima Mernissi wrote the memoir that about the cultural image of women in harem. She also described the best ways of her mother, grandmother, aunts and cousins in delivering some feminist thoughts to her as a young generation. Those are life experiences that might have been experienced by other women.

According to brief explanation about memoir of Dreams of Trespass:

Tales of a Harem Girlhood above, the writer decides to analyze the feminism thoughts that appear in the story used feminist literary criticism theory. Finally, the writer determines this research under the title “Feminism Thoughts in Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood by Fatima Mernissi”.

B. Focus of the Study

In this research, the writer focuses to analyze the feminism thoughts that appear through female characters in Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem

Girlhood based on feminist literary criticism theory.

C. Research Questions

Based on both of the background of study and the focus of study above, the writer makes research questions as:

1. What are feminism thoughts that appear in Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a

Harem Girlhood through the female characters?

2. How do the female characters shape the feminism thoughts in Dreams of

Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood?

D. Objectives of the Study

The objectives of the study are to know the feminism thoughts in Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood and how the female characters shape the feminism thoughts analyzed by feminist literary criticism theory.

E. Significances of the Study

The significances of the study are to give information and to contribute the feminist literary criticism to all readers. Later, the readers are expected to recognize the feminism thoughts which are implied in Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood by Fatima Mernissi. Besides, the writer hopes that the result of this research can enrich the treasure of literary works especially for student of

English Letters Department, Adab and Humanities Faculty, State Islamic

University of Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta.

F. Research Methodology

There are some elements applied in using research methodologies, they are:

1. Method of Research

This research analyzed by using qualitative research method. The writer is the main instrument who read a literary works carefully, such in this case is novel. In addition, the research is descriptively which is raveled in words without numbers.

2. Data Analysis

In this research, the writer analyses the feminism thoughts which are reflected in Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood. The writer applies the feminist literary criticism as theory in this research.

Despitefully, to water down the procession of analyzing data and supporting data accuracy, the writer applies some references such as books, journals, websites, and the other data that relates to the object of research.

3. Research Instrument

Instrument in this research is the writer herself by reading the memoir of Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood by Fatima Mernissi carefully. Then, the writer makes the recording and the selection of data or the reduction of data. Namely, the irrelevant data of the research will be left and the relevant data will be given an emphasizing (underline/thickening) to water down the writer for determining an indicator.

4. Unit of Data Analysis

Unit of data analysis in this research is Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a

Harem Girlhood by Fatima Mernissi published by Wesley Addison Publishing

Company, 1994.

5. Time and Place of Research

This research started from January 2009 to June 2011 in State Islamic

University of Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta.

CHAPTER 2

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS

A. Feminism Theory

Etymologically, feminism comes from word femme (woman); it means a woman (singular), struggling to get women rights (plural) as a social class.9

According to Ratna, feminism aimed to make a balancing of interrelation of gender and it is movement conducted by women to refuse everything that subordinated and margined by dominant culture either in political fields, economics, or other social life.10

Recently, feminism is not only about women, but it is primarily the activity of giving them a voice, an access to power hitherto denied appears to capture the spirit of both academic and politic pursuits. However, this apparently sample statement reveals multiple layers of complexity and contradiction. For many women who indentify themselves as feminists, women’s access power is achieved through action towards women’s right achievements in terms of women’s suffrage, legislation for rights within marriage and in relation to children and employment. Some feminists define themselves through their lifestyles, which may involve seeking social change trough challenging patriarchal institutions, or

9Kutha Ratna Nyoman, Teori, metode, dan Teknik Penelitian Sastra (Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar, 2006), p. 184. 10Ibid, p. 184.

living without immediate reference to men. For others feminism involves the development of scholarly critiques of accepted values and knowledge.11

Further, feminism is essentially a reaction to, and product of patriarchal cultural and one of its significant roles has been to account for women’s subordination. At the very least, feminism seeks to contextualize women’s lives and explain the constraints, attributed by some to biology within a social framework. It may be that through such endeavors women’s beliefs about the way their lives should be may be emancipated from the constraints of patriarchal culture.12

Feminism, including in particular such notions as women's right to equality and their right to control their own lives, is, with respect to the Middle

East's current civilization at any rate, an idea that do not arise indigenously, but that come to the Middle Eastern societies from outside. To predict and direct the future of that idea, and therefore the future of women in the Middle East, an understanding of the development of feminism in the Middle East is crucial, including its transformations transplanted to a Middle Eastern, predominantly

Islamic environment, and its different interpretations in the locally different cultures of the Middle East. It swiftly becomes apparent, in considering the history of feminism in the Middle East that two forces in particular within Middle

Eastern societies modify; hampering or aiding the progress of feminism. First there are attitudes within the particular society, and the culture's and the sub-

11Paula Nicholson, Gender, Power, and Organization (UK: Taylor Francis Ltd, 1996), p. 20- 21. 12Ibid, p. 21.

culture's formulations, formal and informal, regarding women. Second and perhaps as important, are the society's attitudes and relationship to feminism's civilization of origin, the Western world.13

Moreover, feminism is an important concept that has advanced the social standing and the cultural viewpoint concerning women throughout the world.

Feminism encompasses the notion that women are equal to men and should be treated with respect, dignity and equal consideration. Young girls are especially susceptible to societal standards of gender norms. It is important for them to develop self-confidence to be strong girls that grow into strong women.14

There are many ways to deliver feminist thought, including through the access of education, politic, economy, social, culture, and literature. Before feminism movement is more progressive, writing is an effective way to develop feminism thought. According to Cixous, writing is a privileged space for the exploration of bisexual hierarchies. She believes that writing can be a place for an alternative economy.15Cixous adds, utterance is a very transgressive action for women, and the writing is a privileged space for transformation.16 Cixous also uses the theater as a space to develop her critiques of the subjectivity forms and

13Leila Ahmed, “Feminism and feminist movements in the Middle East, a preliminary exploration: Turkey, Egypt, Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of Yemen”, Women‟s Studies International Forum, Vol. 5, Issue 2, 1982, P. 153. 14How to Teach Feminism to Young Girls, eHow Family, Accessed on March 5, 2011. http://www.ehow.com/how_2127025_teach-feminism-young-girls.html. 15Madan Sarup, Posstrukturalisme dan Posmodernisme: Sebuah Pengantar Kritis, Translator: Medhy Aginta Hidayat (Yogyakarta: Jendela, 2007), p. 196. 16Ibid, p.192.

representation that dominate the contemporary life. She believes that theater in the past treats women as objects consistently.17

Thus, the focus needs to be put on the fact that the overwhelming majority of Arab women are illiterate. It means that these women are cut off from all the developments that are taking place in the world because they cannot read or write.

So, Arab women actually should play an important role in educational institutions, which is extremely important to the women who have left the basic struggle for survival and have reached a higher standard of living.

B. Feminist Literary Criticism Theory

1. Definition

Feminist literary criticism is literary criticism informed by feminist

theory or by the politics of feminism more broadly. According to Djajanegara,

feminist literary criticism began from desire of feminists to analyze the

women writers’ works in the past and to show the women image in men

writers’ works who presented the women as a creator that in some ways are

oppressed, misinterpreted, and underestimated by dominant patriarchal

tradition.18

Then, feminist literary criticism centers the analyzing and the attention

to women as reflected in men culture. Texts are read as culture of patriarchal

system. The pioneers look that actually the roles and status of women are

17Ibid, p.196. 18Soenarti Djayanegara, Kritik Sastra Feminis: Sebuah Pengantar (Jakarta: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 2000), p. 27.

determined by the sex, that’s why in sexual politic context need to consider

the relation between the text works and the sex of the writers.19

Meanwhile, Feminist literary criticism according to Annette Kolodny

in Djayanegara is: “It involves exposing the sexual stereotyping of women, in

both our literature and our literary criticism and, as well, demonstrating the

inadequacy of established critical schools and methods to deal fairly or

sensitively with work written by women”.20

According to Kolodny, whoever that concerns literary field must be

realize that men, works and men’s writings usually presents women

stereotype as a loyal and devotion wife and mother, spoiled women, prostitute,

and dominant women. Those images are determined by literary fields and

traditional approaches which are not related to the real women condition

because the evaluations about women are not fair and detail. In fact, women

have private feelings, such as painful, disappointed or uncomfortable that only

described well by women themselves.

Finally, Yoder in Sugihastuti defines feminist literary criticism

differently, is not about the woman as a critic, a criticism about woman, or

female author. Still feminist criticism is a criticism that views literature with

the special awareness. This awareness is about confession that there is a sex

which has many relations to culture, literature, and our life. This sex makes

the difference between all of them and also makes the difference for the author

19Sugihastuti and Suharto, Kritik Sastra Feminis: Teori Dan Aplikasinya (Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar, 2002), p. 12. 20Soenarti Djayanegara, (2000), Op.Cit. p. 19.

her or himself, the reader, characterization and the extrinsic aspect that

influence the situation in writing.21

2. Purpose

The main goal of feminist literary criticism is to analyze the

relationship of gender, where women are in men domination situations.

Through a feminist literary criticism will be described oppression of women in

literature.22 Humm also states that the authors of literary history before the

emergence of feminist literary criticism constructed by men fiction. Therefore,

feminist literary criticism reconstructs and re-reads these works by focusing

on women and the nature sociolinguistic and also describes women's writing

with special attention in using of her words in his writings.23

Kolodny in Djajanegara proffers some important purposes of feminist

literary criticism. One of them is we can reinterpret and reevaluate the whole

of literary criticism that was made many centuries ago.24 Beside, feminist uses

feminist literary criticism to help them to deconstruct patriarchy politic as

represented in language. 25

Lisa Tuttle has defined feminist theory as asking new questions of old

texts. She cites the goals of feminist criticism as:26

1. To develop and uncover a female tradition of writing,

21Sugihastuti and Suharto (2002), Op, Cit. p. 5. 22Maggie Humm, Feminist Criticism: Women as contemporary Critics (Brighton: Harvester Press, 1986), p. 22. 23Ibid, p. 14-15. 24Soenarti Djayanegara, (2000), Op.Cit. p. 20. 25Maggie Humm, Ensiklopedia Feminisme Translator, Mundi Rahayu (Yogyakarta: Fajar Pustaka Baru, 2007), p. 20. 26Lisa Tuttle, Encyclopedia of Feminism. (Harlow: Longman 1986), p. 184.

2. To interpret symbolism of women's writing so that it will not be lost or

ignored by the male point of view,

3. To rediscover old texts,

4. To analyze women writers and their writings from a female perspective,

5. To resist sexism in literature, and

6. To increase awareness of the sexual politics of language and style.

In addition, the purposes of feminist criticism are to add our

knowledge about the experience of woman, her needs, and woman’s life, to

analyze woman’s literary work, and to understand the fiction of female author,

interpret and appraise it. So, feminist criticism reveals woman’s realm in many

aspects. From this criticism, the researcher knows about the ability and the

role of woman in the social life. Thus, woman is able to show the same right

in the social with their own special quality.

3. History

Feminist literary criticism is one of literary studies that emerged as

response of feminism development around the world. To understand the nature

of feminist literary criticism and its alternative approach to literature, we must

first understand its long history. The history of feminist literary criticism

properly begins some forty or fifty years ago with the emergence of what is

commonly termed second-wave feminism.27 The term was usually given to the

emergence of women’s movements in the United States and Europe during the

27Gill Plain, A History of Feminist Literary Criticism, Ed. Gill Plain and Susan Sellers (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007), p. 6.

Civil Rights campaigns of the 1960s. Clearly, though, a feminist literary

criticism did not emerge fully formed from this moment. Rather, its eventual

self conscious expression was the culmination of centuries of women’s

writing, of women writing about women writing, and of women and men

writing about women’s minds, bodies, art and ideas.28

Feminist literary criticism is one of the major developments in literary

studies in the past thirty years or so. The history has been broad and varied,

from classic works of nineteenth century women authors such as George Eliot

and Margaret Fuller to cutting edge theoretical work in women's studies and

gender studies by third wave authors. In the most general and simple terms,

feminist literary criticism before the 1970s in the first and second waves of

feminism was concerned with the politics of women's authorship and the

representation of women's condition within literature.29

Feminist literary criticism became a theoretical issue with the advent

of the new women's movement initiated in the early 1960s. In fact, feminist

criticism started as part of the international women's liberation movement. The

first major book of particular significance, in this respect, was Betty Friedan's

The Feminine Mystique (1963) which contributed to the emergence of the new

women's movement. In her book, Friedan criticized the dominant cultural

28Ibid, p. 2. 29Feminist Literary Criticism, Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, Accessed on March 14, 2009. Http://En.Wikipedia.Org/Wiki/Feminist_Literary_Criticism.

image of the successful and happy American woman as a housewife and

mother.30

Feminist literary criticism has been very successful especially in

reclaiming the lost literary women and in documenting the sources. In this

respect, feminist criticism has successfully directed attention to the female

intellectual tradition. Many early works on women writers before the 1960s

usually focus on the female literary tradition. Literary women, then, are forced

to identify with men and male standards of writing, and yet they are, at the

same time, constantly reminded of being female writers.

4. Feminist Literary Criticism in the Middle East

Based on the phenomenon of the inequality men and women in the

Middle East, finally there are women writers who make the feminist protest

works related to the inequality genders. In the view of women writers, the

fundamentalist narrative's strongest claims for legitimacy are penned on the

female body in an ongoing process that has contained women, muted their

voices, and screened out their agency.

Egyptian jurist Qasim Amin, the author of the 1899 pioneering book

Women's Liberation (Tahrir al-Mar'a), is often described as the father of the

Egyptian feminist movement. In his work, Amin criticized some of the

practices prevalent in his society at the time, such as polygamy, the veil, and

30Vincent B Leitch, American Literary Criticism from the Thirties to the Eighties (Columbia University Press, 1988). p. 308.

purdah31, such as Sex segregation in Islam. He condemned them as un-Islamic

and contradictory to the true spirit of Islam. His work had an enormous

influence on women's political movements throughout the Islamic and Arab

world, and is read and cited today. The women's press in Egypt started voicing

such concerns since its very first issues in 1892. Egyptian, Turkish, Iranian,

Syrian and Lebanese women and men had been reading European feminist

magazines even a decade earlier, and discussed their relevance to the Middle

East in the general press.32

Another Arab women writers are Wardah Al-Yaziji (1838-1942) and

Zaynab Fawwaz (1850-1914) from Lebanon, Aishah Al-Taymurriyah (1840-

1902) and Malak Hifni Nasif (1886-1918) from Egypt, May Ziyadah (1886-

1941) from Palestine, until the contemporary writers in the end of 20 centuries

such as Layla Ba’albakki, Emilly Nasrallah, and Hanan Alshaykh from

Lebanon, Ghadah Al-Samman from Syria, Sahar Khalifah from Palestine, and

Khunathah Bannunah from Morocco.33 The significance of their contribution

to the Arab literary works establishment lies in the fact that the women writers

have seen the female identity and have shown their ability in writing as well as

men.

31Purdah is a curtain which makes sharp separation between the world of man and that of a woman, between the community as a whole and the family which is its heart, between the street and the home, the public and the private, just as it sharply separates society and the individual. (See Understanding Islam, by Frithjof Schuon, p. 18). 32Farida Shaheed and Aisha L.F. Shaheed, “Great Ancestors: Women Asserting Rights in Muslim Contexts, (London/Lahore: WLUML/Shirkat Gah, 2005). Accessed on May 20, 2011. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Islamic_feminism. 33McKee, Elizabeth, Feminisme dan Islam: Perpektif Hukum Dan Sastra: Agenda Politik dan Strategi Tekstual Para Penulis Perempuan Afrika Utara, ed. Mai Yamani. Translator, Purwanto (Bandung: Penerbit Nuansa Yayasan Nuansa Cendikia, 2000), p. 155.

CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH FINDINGS

A. Data Description

In this chapter, the writer tabulates the corpus data of feminism thoughts and the ways the female characters shape the feminism thoughts collected from the novel Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood by

Fatima Mernissi. The writer divides the data into two tables. The first is feminism thoughts in Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood. And the second is the ways of female characters to shape the feminism thoughts in

Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood. Following are those tables:

Table 1

Feminism Thoughts in Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood

No Feminism Female Thoughts Characters Corpus Page 1 Gender Yasmina “Mecca was a space where 61 Equality behavior was strictly codified. The moment you stepped inside, you were bound by many laws and regulations. People who entered Mecca had to be pure: they had to perform purification rituals, and refrain from lying, cheating, and doing harmful deeds. The city belonged to Allah and you had to obey his Shari‟a, or sacred law, if you entered his territory. The same thing applied to a harem when it was a house belonging to

a man. No other men could enter it without the owner‟s permission, and when they did, they had to obey his rules.

"A harem was about private 61 space, and the rules regulating it. It did not need walls. Once you knew what was forbidden, you carried the harem within, inscribed under your forehead and under your skin.”

“Everyone is equal. Allah said 26 so. His prophet preached the same.”

“Maybe their rules are ruthless 63 because they are not made by women… The moment women get smart and start asking that very question, instead of dutifully cooking and washing dishes all the time, they will find a way to change the rules and turn the whole planet upside down.”

2 Freedom Yasmina “And hugging and snuggling your 34 husband is wonderful... I am so happy your generation will not have to share husbands anymore.”

Habiba “When you happen to be trapped 113 powerless behind walls, stuck in a dead-end harem, you dream of escape. And magic flourishes when you spell out that dream and make the frontiers vanish. Dreams can change your life, and eventually the world. Liberation starts with images dancing in your little head, and you can translate those images into words. And words cost nothing.” “The main thing for the powerless 214 is to have a dream. True, a dream

alone, without the bargaining power to go with it, doesn‟t transform the world or make the wall vanish, but it does help you keep a hold of dignity.”

Table 2

The Ways of Female Characters Shape the Feminism Thoughts in Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood

Feminism Female No Thoughts Characters Corpus Page 1 Storytelling Mother "You have to learn to scream 9 and protest, just the way you learned to walk and talk..."

“As soon as she entered King 16 Schahriar‟s bedroom, she started telling him such a marvelous story, which she cleverly left hanging at a most suspenseful part that he couldn‟t bear to part with her at dawn. So he let her live until the next night, so she could finish her tale. But on the second night, she told him another wonderful story, which she was again far from finishing when dawn arrived, and the King who had to let her live again. The same thing happened the next night, and the next, for a thousand nights, which is almost three years, until the King was unable to imagine living without her. By then, they already had two children, and after a thousand and one nights, he renounced his terrible habit of chopping off women‟s heads.”

Fatima “I wanted to learn how to talk 19 Mernissi in the night.” 2 Education Mother “Of course you will be happy! 64 You will be a modern educated lady. You will realize the nationalist‟s dreams. You will learn foreign languages, have a passport, and speak like religious authority…as illiterate and bound by tradition as I am; I have managed to squeeze some happiness out of this dammed life. That is why I don‟t want you to focus on barriers and frontiers all the time. I want you to concentrate on fun and laughter and happiness. That is a good project for an ambitious lady.”

“Who is benefitting from a 200 harem? What good can I do for our country, sitting here a prisoner in this courtyard? Why are we deprived of education? Who created the harem, and for what? Can anyone explain that to me?” 3 Theater Chama “Squeezed between the silence 128 of the Sahara Desert in the south the furious waves of the Atlantic Ocean in the West and the Christian invaders‟ aggression from the North Moroccans recoiled in defensive attitudes, while all the other Muslim nations have sailed away into modernity. Women have advanced everywhere except here. We are a museum. We should make tourists pay a fee at the gates of Tangier!”

Habiba “The main thing for the 214 powerless is to have a dream. True, a dream alone, without the bargaining power to go with it, doesn‟t transform the world or make the wall vanish, but it does help you keep a hold of dignity.”

“Dignity is to have a dream, a 214 strong one, which gives you a vision, a world where you have a place, where whatever it is you have to contribute makes a difference. You are in harem where the world does not need you. You are in harem when what you can contribute does not make a difference. You are in harem when what you do is useless. You are in harem when the planet swirls around, with you buried up to your neck in scorn and neglect. Only one person can change that situation and make the planet go around the other way, and that is you. If you stand up against scorn, and dream of a different world, the planet‟s direction will be altered. But what you need to avoid at all costs, is to let the scorn around you get inside. When a woman starts thinking she is nothing, the little sparrows cry. Who can defend them on the terrace, if no one has the vision of a world without slingshots?”

“When you happen to be 114 trapped powerless behind walls, stuck in a dead-end harem, you dream of escape. And magic flourishes when you spell out that dream and make

the frontiers vanish. Dreams can change your life, and eventually the world. Liberation starts with images dancing in your little head, and you can translate those images in words. And words cost nothing!”

B. Data Analysis

a. Feminism Thoughts in Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem

Girlhood

In Dreams of Trespass, Fatima Mernissi described her life

experiences when she was child. She was born in a harem in 1940 in Fez,

Morocco. She lived in the harem or domestic life with her extended

family. All about Mernissi’s childhood experiences which were written in

Dreams of Trespass is clearly described that the inequality of gender and

the other feminism issues emerged in the harem. However, the strong

cultures and traditions including harem makes women hard to express their

freedom and to deliver their aspiration of getting rights completely.

At this stage, it will perhaps be helpful to introduce a distinction

between two kinds of harems: the first is imperial harem, and the second is

domestic harem. The first flourished with the territorial conquests and

accumulation of wealth of the Muslim imperial dynasties, starting with the

Omayyad, a seventh-century Arab dynasty based in Damascus, and ending

the Ottomans, a Turkish dynasty which threatened European capitals from

the sixteenth century onward until its last sultan, Abdel hammed II, was

deposed by western powers in 1909, and his harem dismantled. We will

call domestic harem which continued to exist after 1909, when Muslim

lost power and their territories families, like the one described in this book,

with no slaves and no eunuchs, and often with monogamous couples, but

who carried on the tradition of women’s seclusion.34

There are some great women who have shaped Mernissi’s life

accidentally to be a critical and courageous person. They are her mother,

grandmothers, aunts and cousins as female characters who never give up

protesting against the patriarchal system. They are the strong female

characters who have struggled against some form of social barrier that

prevent them from entering the public sphere. They also try to voice their

feminism thoughts to Mernissi as next generation. They educate her to be

independent woman and shape her view of life, world and role with each

their ways even if traditions keep the women in domestic life. In addition,

they believe that situation will change and the woman’s fate will be better

in the future in all aspects such as education, social and cultures. It means

that Mernissi, as the representative of the next generation of women, is

subjected to all of their hopes for increasing equality and expected to

become educated woman and to make a better and more important life for

herself.

34Fatima Mernisi, Dreams of Trespass: Tales of Harem Girlhood (USA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1994), p. 34.

In this analysis, the writer finds two feminism thoughts that appear in the story through female characters, they are:

1. Gender Equality

In Dreams of Trespass, most women disagree with the gender inequality that emerges in harem. Harem is a place where women are oppressed and cordoned off the outside world. They are subordinated and do not get their rights as well as men. According to the story, women who lived in harem did not get high education so women were illiterate. They were required to follow the traditions and cultures that were actually emerged from the patriarchal system.

Mernissi’s grandmother, Yasmina said that the word harem was a slight variation of the word haram, the forbidden, and the proscribed. It was the opposite of halal, the permissible. She explained that Mecca, the holy city, was also called haram:

“Mecca was a space where behavior was strictly codified. The moment you stepped inside, you were bound by many laws and regulations. People who entered Mecca had to be pure: they had to perform purification rituals, and refrain from lying, cheating, and doing harmful deeds. The city belonged to Allah and you had to obey his Shari‟a, or sacred law, if you entered his territory. The same thing applied to a harem when it was a house belonging to a man. No other men could enter it without the owner‟s permission, and when they did, they had to obey his rules. (Mernissi 1994, 61).

In addition, Yasmina explained more about harem and the idea of an invisible harem, a law tattooed in the mind: "A harem was about private space, and the rules regulating it. It did not need walls. Once you knew

what was forbidden, you carried the harem within…inscribed under your forehead and under your skin.” (Mernissi 1994, 61).

Feminist, dreamers, and visionaries are all descriptions applied in equal measure to Mernissi’s mother and maternal grandmother, who shaped her from a very beginning into suppose to be independent woman.

One of the feminism thoughts that instructed Mernissi in many times is equality, as her grandmother Yasmina said, that “everyone is equal. Allah said so. His prophet preached the same.” (Mernissi 1994, 26).

Yasmina told Mernissi that the world had created a harem for woman and in doing so, gave little or no consideration to the fairness of it all. The world was not concerned about being fair to women. Rules were made in such a manner as to deprive them in some way or another. For example, she said, both men and women worked from dawn until very late at night. But men made money and women did not. That was one of the invisible rules. And when a woman worked hard, and was not making money, she was stuck in a harem, even though she could not see its walls:

“Maybe their rules are ruthless because they are not made by women…..The moment women get smart and start asking that very question, instead of dutifully cooking and washing dishes all the time, they will find a way to change the rules and turn the whole planet upside down.” (Mernissi 1994, 63).

Then, the writer finds many of the ideas of Mernissi’s mother that are very similar in nature to the nationalist groups working in Morocco in the 1940’s. Meanwhile, all of nationalists especially women get the freedom that cannot be found by women in harem. One aspect from the

very outset of the story, which effectively set the tone, is mother’s

insistence upon celebrating her daughter’s birth just as joyously as her

nephew Samir’s birth was earlier that day, in a long Ramadhan35

afternoon, with hardly one’s hour difference. Mother thought that the men

and the women did not need to be discriminated. She also claimed male

superiority was nonsense and anti-Muslim. Moreover, she accused women

who were in favor of harems and went along with the men’s decision were

more dangerous than men as being largely responsible for women’s

suffering.

Mother jumped on the chance for Mernissi as educated person and

kept fighting for her to be enrolled to a nationalist school when the

Moroccan nationalists began to encourage women’s education. It was

opportunity to learn and be educated in the manner of the Western system

that supported Mernissi to be a smart woman. This showed that mother

had adopted ideas that were more modern, and tried to change Mernissi’s

thought within the harem as best she could.

2. Freedom

The writer can see how the female characters tried to create the

freedom in harem. Optimistically, Mernissi’s mother believed that the

situation for her and her daughter would be different, that Mernissi would

be able to be educated, independent and happy. The restrictions of the

35Ramadhan, the sacred ninth month of the Muslim calendar, is observed by daily fasting from sunrise to sunset. (See Dreams of Tresspass: Tales of Harem Girlhood, by Fatima Mernissi, p. 8)

harem do not present the problems that mother and Yasmina have had to deal with. These ideals of freedom, of being able to live as free women who are able to enjoy her life outside the harem and many of the restrictions imposed upon women. These dreams and hopes are also demonstrative of the efforts the female characters to earn and obtain rights for Mernissi that allow her an equal place with men in society.

In harem, as the women identified the nature and limitations of their power and the opportunities for change, they did not abandon their dreams. The story told that the women dreamed of trespassing all the time and that the world beyond the gate was their goal. But how they got that world was an important part of achieving their goals: “Confronting Ahmed

(the gatekeeper) at the gate was a heroic act. Escaping from the terrace was not, and did not carry with it that inspiring, subversive flame of liberation.”(Mernissi 1994, 60).

There are several chapters in which talk about visiting Mernissi to her maternal grandparents farm in the country, where several unusual stories are related about the activities of her grandmother. In the story,

Yasmina was implied to be favored by her husband, who had several other wives. She got away with such outlandish actions such as with reasoning permission for washing the dishes in the river so they could go swimming more often, with climbing trees and even with riding horses. Yasmina was able to do so many of those things because she could make her husband laugh. A grand accomplishment given that he was prone to moodiness.

From that case, the writer argues that the streak of independence that run in mother and grandmother consistently encouraged and pulled out of

Mernissi.

Yasmina who lived relatively liberal and comfortable life had her own definition of what it meant to exist in a frontier. She said that to be stuck in a harem simply meant that a woman had lost her freedom of movement. Other times, she said that a harem meant misfortune because a woman had to share her husband with many others. Yasmina herself had to share Grandfather with eight co-wives, which she had to sleep alone for eight nights before she could hug and snuggle with for one. She hoped it could stop in the future: “And hugging and snuggling your husband is wonderful... I am so happy your generation will not have to share husbands anymore. (Mernissi 1994, 34).

In this case, Yasmina’s situation posed a very perplexing question to young Mernissi. Yasmina seemed enjoying much freedom, at least it much more than most of the women she knew. And it could be seen that if

Yasmina were not free, Mernissi who lived in a physical harem would had never expected to be free. And mother, aunt and cousin kept fighting for a lost cause: “If Yasmina‟s farm was a harem, in spite of the fact that there were no walls to be seen, then what did hurriya, or freedom, mean?”

(Mernissi 1994, 63).

At other points in the story however, Mernissi is unlike most of children and reflect the influence of her education and adult mindset; such

as when she detailed the women embroidering in the courtyard. She told about her mother and cousin Chama who both were more modern and revolutionary in their views, and to express this, stitch a large bird in flight. The other group of women, those with more traditional views, would stitch tiny, delicate little birds that took a great deal of time to sew.

The traditional embroidery, called taqlidi, and those women who belonged to it, argued that the „asri, or modern, embroidery was bid‟a, a violation of the hudud. (Mernissi 1994, 207). This split is reflected upon a number of other times by Mernissi, as a variety of occasions occur for her to express her mother’s and cousin’s rebellions.

In addition, the story explains the beauty rituals practiced by women in the harem, which includes a trip to the public baths, or hammam, which are separated by gender. Mernissi was told that men and women did not understand each other, and that when they were separated by gender in the hammam, which results in “a cosmic frontier that splits the planet into two halves. The frontier indicates the line of power…the powerful on one side, and the powerless on the other.” (Mernissi 1994,

242). This told that if she couldn’t get out, and then she was powerless; seemed to be an indication of the impetus that had driven Mernissi to earn her education and to carve out a new and different place for herself in her society.

Besides, the powers of the words which are very important to

Arab women appear in this story as it opens worlds, creates variety, and

provides sensuality and inspiration. Mernissi’s aunt, Habiba who could take her listeners all over the world, said:

“When you happen to be trapped powerless behind walls, stuck in a dead-end harem, you dream of escape. And magic flourishes when you spell out that dream and make the frontiers vanish. Dreams can change your life, and eventually the world. Liberation starts with images dancing in your little head, and you can translate those images into words. And words cost nothing.” (Mernissi 1994, 113).

The writer finds that both of aunt Habiba and Chama transform their feminist thoughts through the theater. They also always talk about the freedom and having great dream as written by aunt Habiba: “The main thing for the powerless is to have a dream. True, a dream alone, without the bargaining power to go with it, doesn‟t transform the world or make the wall vanish, but it does help you keep a hold of dignity.” (Mernissi

1994, 214).

This desire of freedom, not to be powerless is part of feminism thoughts that pushes the female characters to work for equality within their society. It has driven to Mernissi, efforts to end racist inequities, and struggles to have equal rights and liberties regardless of religion, nationality, ethnicity or any other factor that differentiates one person from another.

b. The Ways of Female Characters Shape the Feminism Thoughts In

Dreams of Trespass: Tales of Harem Girlhood

In Dreams of Trespass, some female characters create innovative tactics to deal with those restrictions and sometimes to cross over into the

public sphere and gain some of the influence reserved for men. There are several ways that they use to shape the feminism thoughts that finally transformed to Mernissi as the young generation, such as through storytelling, education and theater. Their purpose is to get equality and freedom as well as men.

1. Storytelling

While growing up, Mernissi’s mother ceaselessly coached her daughter, Fatima Mernissi on how to attain theoretical freedom within the walled harem. Therefore, she taught Mernissi how to act and carry herself as a woman: "You have to learn to scream and protest, just the way you learned to walk and talk..." (Mernissi 1994, 9). For example, she told

Mernissi the story of how women should act wisely and sensibly such as A

Thousand and One Nights.

Mother told that story, regarding the Sultan who was very fond of the story. It told about the King Schahriar who found his wife having sex with his bodyguards. He was very angry and killed both of them. After that he hated women and carried them to his bad habit, married women on one night and then killed them in the following day. It was continually happened and increased the death of many women. This practice was finally stopped by a girl named Scheherazade, one of Sultan’s wives who defeated him with her story that the Sultan always delayed his plans to kill her:

“As soon as she entered King Schahriar‟s bedroom, she started telling him such a marvelous story, which she cleverly left hanging at a most suspenseful part that he couldn‟t bear to part with her at dawn. So he let her live until the next night, so she could finish her tale. But on the second night, she told him another wonderful story, which she was again far from finishing when dawn arrived, and the King who had to let her live again. The same thing happened the next night, and the next, for a thousand nights, which is almost three years, until the King was unable to imagine living without her. By then, they already had two children, and after a thousand and one nights, he renounced his terrible habit of chopping off women‟s heads.” (Mernissi 1994,16).

Mother regularly tells of wisdom. Even so, it needs to highlight how the little girl asked: "But how does one learn how to tell stories which please king?" (Mernissi 1994, 16). Her mother, as if she was reflecting herself, saying that it was a woman’s lifetime work. That reply didn’t help

Mernissi much, of course, but then she added that all she needed to know for the moment was that her chances of happiness would depend upon how skill she became with words.

Besides, one of Mernissi’s aunts, Habiba is also able to tell story as well as mother. She knows how to talk in the night. Her tales make

Mernissi long to become an adult and an expert storyteller herself: “I wanted to learn how to talk in the night.” (Mernissi 1994, 19).

According to above, mother and aunt have managed to remember a great deal about the history, literature, and geography that they have heard and have put all their energy into the freedom which only required their imagination.

2. Education

Mother and grandmother are the large contributors to Mernissi’s freedom by providing her with education, filling her head with ideals of equality, and insisting on a future for her outside the confines of the harem. A future filled with passports, education, and happiness is not a traditional Arab woman. Mernissi’s access to novels, education, and the progressive western world that her mother prepared for her had enabled her to foresee herself as an educated woman. Mernissi admitted that her grandmother and mother who supported her in getting a higher education so that she could become independent:

“Of course you will be happy! You will be a modern educated lady. You will realize the nationalist‟s dreams. You will learn foreign languages, have a passport, and speak like religious authority…as illiterate and bound by tradition as I am; I have managed to squeeze some happiness out of this dammed life. That is why I don‟t want you to focus on barriers and frontiers all the time. I want you to concentrate on fun and laughter and happiness. That is a good project for an ambitious lady. (Mernissi 1994, 64).

In those days, there were many women that had been illiterate including Mernissi’s Mother. However, she really wanted to go to literacy classes that are offered by a few schools in her own neighborhood.

Unfortunately, it was not allowed by Lalla Mani, Mernissi's paternal grandmother who was an extremely conservative. She considered that schools were only for little girls, not for mothers, she also said, “It is not our tradition” (Mernissi 1994, 200). It was retorted by mother: “Who is benefitting from a harem? What good can I do for our country, sitting here

a prisoner in this courtyard? Why are we deprived of education? Who created the harem, and for what? Can anyone explain that to me?”

(Mernissi 1994, 200).

Most women in harem hoped that their daughters would not end up in a harem like they did. The younger girls would be allowed a privilege that the older women did not get the privilege of going to a western system school with the boys. It was Mernissi’s mother who kept fighting to take

Mernissi into the new school. In the western style school she could learn math, science, and other subjects that will help her to build a better life for her. Although the older women were denied to learn and to read, they found peace in smaller victories.

3. Theater

In the story then, there are other female characters that live in harem enjoying little moments of freedom in their own precious ways; they are aunt Habiba and cousin Chama. They are the high priestesses of imagination. And they have a big dream about the freedom that they express through their works. It can be an entertainment that is not only entertaining but also encouraging other women inside the harem including

Fatima Mernissi.

go with it, doesn‟t transform the world or make the wall vanish, but it does help you keep a hold of dignity.” (Mernissi 1994, 214).

Some messages of the theater are below:

“Dignity is to have a dream, a strong one, which gives you a vision, a world where you have a place, where whatever it is you have to contribute makes a difference. You are in harem where the world does not need you. You are in harem when what you can contribute does not make a difference. You are in harem when what you do is useless. You are in harem when the planet swirls around, with you buried up to your neck in scorn and neglect. Only one person can change that situation and make the planet go around the other way, and that is you. If you stand up against scorn, and dream of a different world, the planet‟s direction will be altered. But what you need to avoid at all costs, is to let the scorn around you get inside. When a woman starts thinking she is nothing, the little sparrows cry. Who can defend them on the terrace, if no one has the vision of a world without slingshots?” (Mernissi 1994, 214).

Aunt Habiba is a woman who is discrete in her actions because of her low status in the household (having been divorced). Ultimately, she relies on the power of dreams, fantasies and often, Chama’s theatrical performances to keep that feeling of freedom, however illusionist it may be. Aunt Habiba certainly stated that all women had magic inside, woven into their dreams:

“When you happen to be trapped powerless behind walls, stuck in a dead-end harem, you dream of escape. And magic flourishes when you spell out that dream and make the frontiers vanish. Dreams can change your life, and eventually the world. Liberation starts with images dancing in your little head, and you can translate those images in words. And words cost nothing!” (Mernissi 1994, 114).

Her ability to tell stories is indeed a blessing both for the children that are allowed to enjoy the countless stories of a world they probably never know and for herself. She also never threatens to withdraw her love when she commits some unintentional minor or even major infraction.

There is one aspect of traditionalism that she respects and agrees with.

That is the one that has allowed her to move into this harem away from her husband:

“Aunt Habiba, who had been cast off and sent away suddenly for no reason by a husband she loved dearly, said that Allah had sent the Northern armies to Morocco to punish the men for violating the hudud protecting women. When you hurt a woman, you are violating Allah‟s sacred frontier. It is unlawful to hurt the weak. She cried for years.” (Mernissi 1994, 3).

In addition, Chama is one of the characters that are probably endowed with the most freedom. Her affinity for dramatic performances allows her to talk about the taboo of topics and is tolerated by the men of the harem. She also successfully explains Mernissi the history of the harem girlhood with her theory.

Chama frequently put on plays that challenge the harem and mock traditionalism but often performs it in such a way that it is somewhat acceptable:

“Asmahan wanted to go to chic restaurants, dance like the French, and hold her Prince in her arms, She wanted to waltz away with him all night, instead of standing on the sidelines behind curtains, watching him deliberate in endless, exclusively male tribal councils. She hated the whole clan and its senseless, cruel law. All she wanted was to drift away into bubble-like moments of

happiness and sensual bliss. The lady was no criminal; she meant no harm.” (Mernissi 1994, 110).

Chama’s theater is very popular around the harem’s women and inspiring. Both the story and the performance are interesting. And the heroines most often portrayed in Chama’s theater are Asmahan, the actress and singer; the Egyptian and Lebanese feminists; Scheherazade and the princesses of A thousand and one nights; and some important religious figures. Among the feminist or pioneers of women’s rights are Aisha

Taymor, Zaynab fawwaz, and Huda Sha’raoui. Meanwhile, among the religious figures are the most popular Khadija, Aisha and Rabea al-

Adaouiya.

Moroccan women that are thirsty for liberation and change, have to export their feminists from the east, for there are no local ones as yet famous enough to become public figures and nurture their dreams. Chama remarks from time to time:

“Squeezed between the silence of the Sahara Desert in the south the furious waves of the Atlantic Ocean in the West and the Christian invaders‟ aggression from the North Moroccans recoiled in defensive attitudes, while all the other Muslim nations have sailed away into modernity. Women have advanced everywhere except here. We are a museum. We should make tourists pay a fee at the gates of Tangier!” (Mernissi 1994, 128).

lives of Arab women. Then, the theater has influenced and has shaped women including Mernissi to have a big dream because it will deliver women to get what they want.

CHAPTER 4

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

1. Conclusion

Based on the analysis which is presented in the previous chapter, the writer makes the conclusion dealing with the answer to the research questions regarding the feminism thoughts in novel Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood by Fatima Mernissi through female characters.

Dreams of Trespass is memoir of Fatima Mernissi that describes her life experiences when she was a child. She was born in a harem in 1940 in Fez,

Morocco. She lived in the harem or domestic life with her extended family.

Harem is a place where women are oppressed and cordoned off from the outside world and need to respect the hudud or the sacred frontier. The strong cultures and traditions including harem make women hard to express their freedom and to deliver their aspiration of getting rights completely.

Fortunately, Mernissi lives in harem among the great women who struggle against some forms of social barrier that prevent them from entering the public sphere. Those women are her mother, grandmothers, aunts and cousins as strong female characters. They try to voice their feminism thoughts to Mernissi as the representative of the next generation of women and educate her to be independent woman.

In Dreams of Trespass, the writer finds the feminism thoughts regarding to the harem life according the concept of gender inequality and freedom that are

shaped by the female characters. Those are part of feminism thoughts that appear in the story.

Further, there are several ways that used by strong female characters to shape the feminist thoughts in the novel. Those are storytelling, education and theater. The ability of mother and aunt Habiba to tell stories is indeed a blessing for the children that are allowed to enjoy the countless stories of a world they will probably never know. Through the storytelling they teach how to be a strong woman. Mother and grandmother also concern to encourage Mernissi to be a smart girl, so they enroll Mernissi into high education. Meanwhile, aunt Habiba and Chama present the theater inside the harem with some massages for women that they must have big dreams about freedom. Finally, mother tries to express

Mernissi’s desire for equality by let her wear western clothing. Mother wants her daughter at a young age to assimilate into the personal of a western woman to escape the bounded life that she has experienced in the Moroccan Harem. Those are several ways to get equality and freedom as well as men.

2. Suggestion

After finding the conclusion of the research result, there are some suggestions regarding the analysis of Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem

Girlhood by Fatima Mernissi related to feminist literary criticism.

This research focuses on feminism thoughts based on feminism in the

Middle East as well that basically less analyzed about women according to

Islamic teaching. Meanwhile, the setting of the novel is in Morocco that has

strong culture and Islamic teaching. For further research, it is better for the researcher to analysis based on Islamic Feminism theory.

Further, this research is analyzed by female perspective used feminism theory. For the following research can be analyzed by male perspective. The way the researcher analyzes the novel will be different and will be more challenging.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books:

Amalia, Euis. Pengantar Kajian Gender: Feminisme: Konsep, Sejarah dan Perkembangannya. Jakarta: Pusat Studi Wanita UIN Syarif Hidayatullah. 2003.

Djayanegara, Soenarti. Kritik Sastra Feminis: Sebuah Pengantar. Jakarta: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 2000.

Endaswara, Suwardi. Metodologi Penelitian Sastra. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Widyatama, 2003.

Elizabeth, McKee. Feminisme dan Islam: Perpektif Hukum Dan Sastra: Agenda Politik dan Strategi Tekstual Para Penulis Perempuan Afrika Utara, ed. Mai Yamani. Translator, Purwanto. Bandung: Penerbit Nuansa Yayasan Nuansa Cendikia, 2000.

Humm, Maggie. Ensiklopedia Feminisme. Translator, Mundi Rahayu. Yogyakarta: Fajar Pustaka Baru, 2007.

______, Feminist Criticism: Women as contemporary Critics. Brighton: Harvester Press, 1986.

Karmi, Ghada. Feminisme Dan Islam: Perpektif Hukum Dan Sastra: Perempuan, Islam, Dan Patriarkalisme, Ed. Mai Yamani. Translator, Purwanto. Bandung: Penerbit Nuansa Yayasan Nuansa Cendikia, 2000.

Leitch, Vincent B. American Literary Criticism from the Thirties to the Eighties. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988.

Mernisi, Fatima. Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood. USA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1994.

______. Women‟s Rebellion and Islamic Memory. London: Zed Books, 1996.

______. Beyond The Veil: Male-Female Dynamics in Modern Muslim Society. London: Saki Books Publisher, 1985.

Millet, Kate. Sexual Politics, the Second Chapter, Theory of Sexual Politics. London: Granada Publishing, 1969.

Nicholson, Paula. Gender, Power, and Organization. UK: Taylor Francis Ltd, 1996.

Nyoman, Kutha Ratna. Teori, metode, dan Teknik Penelitian Sastra. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar, 2006.

Plain, Gill. A History of Feminist Literary Criticism, Ed. Gill Plain and Susan Sellers. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Sarup, Madan. Posstrukturalisme dan Posmodernisme: Sebuah Pengantar Kritis, Translator: Medhy Aginta Hidayat, Yogyakarta: Jendela, 2007.

Schuon, Frithjof. Understanding Islam. USA: World Wisdom Books, 1998.

Sugihastuti and Suharto, Kritik Sastra Feminis: Teori dan Aplikasinya. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar, 2002.

Tuttle, Lisa. Encyclopedia of Feminism. Harlow: Longman 1986.

Articles:

Ahmed, Leila. Feminism and feminist movements in the Middle East, a preliminary exploration: Turkey, Egypt, Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, Women’s Studies International Forum, Vol. 5, Issue 2, 1982.

Badran, Margot. Islam, Patriarchy, and Feminism in the Middle East, Trends in History, Vol. 4 (1), 1985.

Goel, Shilpi. Feminist Literary Criticism. Language in India: Strength for today and hope bright for tomorrow, Vol. 10, 2010.

Websites:

http://www.Definitionsof_Memoir.htm. Accessed on June, 20 2010. http://www.liberationofwomen.html. Accessed on May, 25 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegemony. Accessed on June, 20 2010. http://En.Wikipedia.Org/Wiki/Feminist_Literary_Criticism. Accessed on March, 14 2009.

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Islamic_feminism. Accessed on May, 20 2010. http://www.mernissi.net/civil_society/portraits/fatimamernissi.html. Accessed on May, 20 2010. http://www.ehow.com/how_2127025_teach-feminism-young-girls.html. Accessed on March, 5 2011.

APPENDICES

1. Appendix 1: Synopsis

Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood

Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood is a memoir of Fatima

Mernissi about her childhood recounts the life experiences of her female relatives and her own reactions to the world around her. This rich, magical and absorbing growing-up tale set in a little-known culture reflects many universals about women. The setting is a domestic harem in the 1940s city of Fez, where an extended family arrangement keeps the women mostly apart from society.

Dreams of Trespass outlines the story of the writer, Fatima Mernissi and her reflections of growing up in a harem. The story starts out when Mernissi is quite young, and ends when she is around nine years old. She discusses the members of her family and their personalities, dreams, and hopes. Her work is quite descriptive and contains many cultural allusions that are well described

within the context of the story. In particular the incidents in the story are connected with outlying concepts of freedom, feminism, and the purpose of barriers, separation, and frontiers pertaining to harem life. Mernissi weaves her stories together beautifully and there is a real sense of continuity between chapters and a reflective sense of her own ideals.

Fatima Mernissi charts the changing social and political frontiers and limns the personalities and quirks of her world. Here she tells of a grandmother who warns that the world is unfair to women, learns of the confusing World War

II via radio news in Arabic and French, watches family members debate what children should hear, wonders why American soldiers' skin doesn't reflect

Moroccan-style racial mixing and decides that sensuality must be a part of women's liberation. This story not only tells a winning personal story but also helps to feminize a much-stereotyped religion. The story also demystifies the harem and puts a face on Arab Muslim women in a personal and highly entertaining manner, exploring the nature of women's power, the value of oral tradition, and the absolute necessity of dreams and celebrations.

This story provided a magnificent glimpse into a world that seems as strange to women. And it certainly opened women’s eyes. At only 22 chapters and 242 pages, women can learn how to be independent women who have a big dream. This story finally ends with statement "If you can't get out, you are on the powerless side”. It reflects the harem girlhood who lives in domestic life.

2. Appendix 2: Biography of Author

Fatima Mernissi

Fatima Mernissi was born into a middle-class family in Fez (Morocco) in

1940. In 1957, she studied political sciences at the University of Rabat, the

Sorbonne in Paris and Brandeis University (Massachusetts). She worked at the

Mohammed V University and taught at the Faculté des Lettres between 1974 and

1981 on subjects such as methodology, family sociology and psycho-sociology.

She has become noted internationally mainly as an Islamic feminist, Moroccan sociologist and writer.

As an Islamic feminist, Mernissi is largely concerned with Islam and women's roles in it, analyzing the historical development of Islamic thought and its modern manifestation. Through a detailed investigation of the nature of the succession to Muhammad, she casts doubt on the validity of some of the hadith

(sayings and traditions attributed to him), and therefore the subordination of women that she sees in Islam, but not necessarily in the Qur'an.

As a sociologist, Mernissi has done fieldwork mainly in Morocco. On several occasions in the late 1970s and early 1980s she conducted interviews in order to map prevailing attitudes to women and work. She has done sociological research for UNESCO and ILO as well as for the Moroccan authorities. In the late

1970s and in the 1980s Mernissi contributed articles to periodicals and other publications on women in Morocco and women and Islam from a contemporary as well as from a historical perspective.

Then, as a writer, she published several books on the position of women in the rapidly changing Muslim communities in Morocco. Mernissi’s first monograph, Beyond the Veil, was published in 1975. A revised edition was published in Britain in 1985 and in the US in 1987. Beyond the Veil has become a classic, especially in the fields of anthropology and sociology on women in the

Arab World, the Mediterranean area or Muslim societies in general. Her most famous book, as an Islamic feminist, The Veil and the Male Elite: A Feminist

Interpretation of Islam, is a quasi-historical study of role of the wives of

Muhammad. It was first published in French in 1987, and translated into English in 1991. For Doing Daily Battle: Interviews with Moroccan Women (1991), she interviewed peasant women, women laborers, clairvoyants and maidservants. In

1994, Mernissi published a memoir, Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem

Girlhood, about her growing experience in the harem with other women. Other works of Mernissi are Islam and Democracy: Fear of the Modern World (1992),

Forgotten Queens of Islam (1990), Scheherazade goes West: Different Cultures,

Different Harems (2001), Islam, Gender and Social Change and Women's

Rebellion and Islamic Memory (1996).

In May 2003, Fatema Mernissi received the Príncipe de Asturias Award for Letters. Mernissi is currently a lecturer at the Mohammed V University of

Rabat and a research scholar at the University Institute for Scientific Research in the same city.

THE SUMMARY OF THESIS

FEMINISM THOUGHTS IN DREAMS OF TRESPASS: TALES OF A HAREM

GIRLHOOD BY FATIMA MERNISSI

By:

MUDRIKA ANISAHRI

105026000983

ENGLISH LETTERS DEPARTMENT

LETTERS AND HUMANITIES FACULTY

STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY “SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH”

JAKARTA

2011

FEMINISM THOUGHTS IN DREAMS OF TRESPASS: TALES OF A HAREM

GIRLHOOD BY FATIMA MERNISSI

A. Background of the Study

1The political, economic, ideological or cultural power exerted by a dominant group over other groups. (See Definition of Hegemony, Definition from Wikipedia). 2 Suwardi Endaswara, Metodologi Penelitian Sastra (Yogyakarta: Pustaka Widyatama, 2003), p. 143. 3Maggie Humm, Ensiklopedia Feminisme. Translator, Mundi Rahayu (Yogyakarta: Fajar Pustaka Baru, 2007), p. 158. 2

because the woman is always supposed as the second sex and gets the discrimination in the social life. It does not mean the extreme rebellion movement of woman to man, but to opposite the social caste and the paradigm of static myth in the social. Woman is not a weak creature because she has her own ability to get the position in the society. In the other word, this movement is the awareness of women about their identity to destruct the hierarchy that is harmful for woman’s position, such as exploitation of woman, and also slavery from man.

The feminist movement occurred not only in America but also in almost around the world including in the Middle East. The inequality gender in the

Moslem scholar status. But for other areas, woman had not got yet the place as equal as men.4

4Euis Amalia, Pengantar Kajian Gender: Feminisme: Konsep, Sejarah dan Perkembangannya (Jakarta: Pusat Studi Wanita UIN Syarif Hidayatullah, 2003), p. 122.

feminist circles. Her major books have been translated into several languages, including English, German, Dutch, Japanese and Indonesia. She writes regularly on women's issues in the popular press, participates in public debates promoting the cause of Muslim women internationally, and has supervised the publication of a series of books on the legal status of women in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.

other words, the memoir is highly focused and selective in the memories it includes.5

Dreams of Trespass is the story of Fatima Mernissi's girlhood and the important women in her life; they are her mother, her aunts and cousins, and her grandmother and her co-wives. It is described from her view of life as a young girl in the 1940's informed by an adult's understanding without losing the experiences of a child's limited world view and attempts at understanding the world around her. In addition, this memoir is an interesting glimpse of domestic life in mid-

Because the story takes place almost exclusively within the family circle, domestic issues and day to day life figure prominently as well.

In the story, as the men hold on to tradition, most women argued for equality and change and found some ways to express their desires. For example,

Yasmina, mernissi’s grandmother who influenced mernissi’s life in building rebel.

5N. Zuwiyya, Definition of Memoir, Accessed on June 20, 2010, http://www.Definitionsof_Memoir.htm. 5

wisdom. In addition, Mernissi confessed that both her mother and her grandmother who supportd her to study in higher education so that women can be independent.

Not only her grandmother and mother who transformed the feminism thoughts to Fatima Mernissi but also both Cousin Chama and Aunt Habiba’s stage elaborated plays celebrating famous women's lives with all the women and children of the harem (and occasionally the young men) participate as members of the production or members of the audience. These plays helped Mernissi to decide that singing, dancing and sensuality were part of the feminists' lives and should not be forgotten; sensuality was a refreshingly natural part of life throughout the story.

According to brief explanation about memoir of Dreams of Trespass:

B. Theoretical Frameworks

1. Feminism Theory

Etymologically, feminism comes from word femme (woman); it means a woman (singular), struggling to get women rights (plural) as a social class.6

According to Ratna, feminism aimed to make a balancing of interrelation of

6Kutha Ratna Nyoman, Teori, metode, dan Teknik Penelitian Sastra (Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar, 2006), p. 184. 6

gender and it is movement conducted by women to refuse everything that subordinated and margined by dominant culture either in political fields, economics, or other social life.7

Feminism, including in particular such notions as women's right to equality and their right to control their own lives, is, with respect to the Middle

Eastern societies modify; hampering or aiding the progress of feminism. First there are attitudes within the particular society, and the culture's and the sub- culture's formulations, formal and informal, regarding women. Second and perhaps as important, are the society's attitudes and relationship to feminism's civilization of origin, the Western world.8

7Ibid, p. 184. 8Leila Ahmed, “Feminism and feminist movements in the Middle East, a preliminary exploration: Turkey, Egypt, Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of Yemen”, Women’s Studies International Forum, Vol. 5, Issue 2, 1982, P. 153. 7

2. Feminist Literary Criticism Theory

Feminist literary criticism is literary criticism informed by feminist theory or by the politics of feminism more broadly. According to Djajanegara, feminist literary criticism began from desire of feminists to analyze the women writers’ works in the past and to show the women image in men writers’ works who presented the women as a creator that in some ways are oppressed, misinterpreted, and underestimated by dominant patriarchal tradition.9

Meanwhile, Feminist literary criticism according to Annette Kolodny in

Djayanegara is: “It involves exposing the sexual stereotyping of women, in both our literature and our literary criticism and, as well, demonstrating the inadequacy of established critical schools and methods to deal fairly or sensitively with work written by women”.10

C. Research Findings

1. Data Description

In this chapter, the writer tabulates the corpus data of feminism

thoughts and the ways the female characters shape the feminism thoughts

collected from the novel Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood by

Fatima Mernissi. The writer divides the data into two tables.

9Soenarti Djayanegara, Kritik Sastra Feminis: Sebuah Pengantar (Jakarta: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 2000), p. 27. 10Soenarti Djayanegara, (2000), Op.Cit. p. 19. 8

Table 1

Feminism Thoughts in Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood

No Feminism Female Thoughts Characters Corpus Page 1 Gender Yasmina “Mecca was a space where 61 Equality behavior was strictly codified. The moment you stepped inside, you were bound by many laws and regulations. People who entered Mecca had to be pure: they had to perform purification rituals, and refrain from lying, cheating, and doing harmful deeds. The city belonged to Allah and you had to obey his Shari’a, or sacred law, if you entered his territory. The same thing applied to a harem when it was a house belonging to a man. No other men could enter it without the owner’s permission, and when they did, they had to obey his rules.

“Everyone is equal. Allah said 26 so. His prophet preached the same.”

change the rules and turn the whole planet upside down.”

2 Freedom Yasmina “And hugging and snuggling your 34 husband is wonderful... I am so happy your generation will not have to share husbands anymore.”

Table 2

The Ways of Female Characters Shape the Feminism Thoughts in Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood

Feminism Female No Thoughts Characters Corpus Page 1 Storytelling Mother "You have to learn to scream 9 and protest, just the way you learned to walk and talk..."

“As soon as she entered King 16 Schahriar’s bedroom, she started telling him such a marvelous story, which she 10

cleverly left hanging at a most suspenseful part that he couldn’t bear to part with her at dawn. So he let her live until the next night, so she could finish her tale. But on the second night, she told him another wonderful story, which she was again far from finishing when dawn arrived, and the King who had to let her live again. The same thing happened the next night, and the next, for a thousand nights, which is almost three years, until the King was unable to imagine living without her. By then, they already had two children, and after a thousand and one nights, he renounced his terrible habit of chopping off women’s heads.” Fatima “I wanted to learn how to talk 19 Mernissi in the night.” 2 Education Mother “Of course you will be happy! 64 You will be a modern educated lady. You will realize the nationalist’s dreams. You will learn foreign languages, have a passport, and speak like religious authority…as illiterate and bound by tradition as I am; I have managed to squeeze some happiness out of this dammed life. That is why I don’t want you to focus on barriers and frontiers all the time. I want you to concentrate on fun and laughter and happiness. That is a good project for an ambitious lady.”

“Who is benefitting from a 200 harem? What good can I do for our country, sitting here a 11

prisoner in this courtyard? Why are we deprived of education? Who created the harem, and for what? Can anyone explain that to me?” 3 Theater Chama “Squeezed between the silence 128 of the Sahara Desert in the south the furious waves of the Atlantic Ocean in the West and the Christian invaders’ aggression from the North Moroccans recoiled in defensive attitudes, while all the other Muslim nations have sailed away into modernity. Women have advanced everywhere except here. We are a museum. We should make tourists pay a fee at the gates of Tangier!”

Habiba “The main thing for the 214 powerless is to have a dream. True, a dream alone, without the bargaining power to go with it, doesn’t transform the world or make the wall vanish, but it does help you keep a hold of dignity.”

person can change that situation and make the planet go around the other way, and that is you. If you stand up against scorn, and dream of a different world, the planet’s direction will be altered. But what you need to avoid at all costs, is to let the scorn around you get inside. When a woman starts thinking she is nothing, the little sparrows cry. Who can defend them on the terrace, if no one has the vision of a world without slingshots?”

“When you happen to be 114 trapped powerless behind walls, stuck in a dead-end harem, you dream of escape. And magic flourishes when you spell out that dream and make the frontiers vanish. Dreams can change your life, and eventually the world. Liberation starts with images dancing in your little head, and you can translate those images in words. And words cost nothing!”

2. Data Analysis

In this analysis, the writer finds two feminism thoughts that appear

in the story through female characters, they are:

1. Gender Equality

In Dreams of Trespass, most women disagree with the gender

inequality that emerges in harem. Harem is a place where women are

oppressed and cordoned off the outside world. They are subordinated and 13

do not get their rights as well as men. According to the story, women who lived in harem did not get high education so women were illiterate. They were required to follow the traditions and cultures that were actually emerged from the patriarchal system.

Mother jumped on the chance for Mernissi as educated person and kept fighting for her to be enrolled to a nationalist school when the 14

Moroccan nationalists began to encourage women’s education. It was opportunity to learn and be educated in the manner of the Western system that supported Mernissi to be a smart woman. This showed that mother had adopted ideas that were more modern, and tried to change Mernissi’s thought within the harem as best she could.

2. Freedom

The writer can see how the female characters tried to create the freedom in harem. Optimistically, Mernissi’s mother believed that the situation for her and her daughter would be different, that Mernissi would be able to be educated, independent and happy. The restrictions of the harem do not present the problems that mother and Yasmina have had to deal with. These ideals of freedom, of being able to live as free women who are able to enjoy her life outside the harem and many of the restrictions imposed upon women. These dreams and hopes are also demonstrative of the efforts the female characters to earn and obtain rights for Mernissi that allow her an equal place with men in society.

could stop in the future: “And hugging and snuggling your husband is wonderful... I am so happy your generation will not have to share husbands anymore. (Mernissi 1994, 34).

Besides, the powers of the words which are very important to

Arab women appear in this story as it opens worlds, creates variety, and provides sensuality and inspiration. Mernissi’s aunt, Habiba who could take her listeners all over the world, said:

The writer finds that both of aunt Habiba and Chama transform their feminist thoughts through the theater. They also always talk about the freedom and having great dream as written by aunt Habiba: “The main thing for the powerless is to have a dream. True, a dream alone, without the bargaining power to go with it, doesn’t transform the world or make the wall vanish, but it does help you keep a hold of dignity.” (Mernissi

1994, 214).

Dreams of Trespass: Tales of Harem Girlhood

There are several ways that they use to shape the feminism thoughts in the novel, they are:

1. Storytelling

Mernissi the story of how women should act wisely and sensibly such as A

Thousand and One Nights.

Besides, one of Mernissi’s aunts, Habiba is also able to tell story as well as mother. She knows how to talk in the night. Her tales make

Mernissi long to become an adult and an expert storyteller herself: “I wanted to learn how to talk in the night.” (Mernissi 1994, 19).

2. Education

Mernissi into the new school. In the western style school she could learn math, science, and other subjects that will help her to build a better life for 18

her. Although the older women were denied to learn and to read, they found peace in smaller victories.

3. Theater

Fatima Mernissi.

Aunt habiba and Chama can apply their feminist thoughts through the theater. They also never stop talking about the freedom and having great dream. As written by aunt Habiba: “The main thing for the powerless is to have a dream. True, a dream alone, without the bargaining power to go with it, doesn’t transform the world or make the wall vanish, but it does help you keep a hold of dignity.” (Mernissi 1994, 214).

There is one aspect of traditionalism that she respects and agrees with.

That is the one that has allowed her to move into this harem away from her husband: 19

“Aunt Habiba, who had been cast off and sent away suddenly for no reason by a husband she loved dearly, said that Allah had sent the Northern armies to Morocco to punish the men for violating the hudud protecting women. When you hurt a woman, you are violating Allah’s sacred frontier. It is unlawful to hurt the weak. She cried for years.” (Mernissi 1994, 3).

Chama frequently put on plays that challenge the harem and mock traditionalism but often performs it in such a way that it is somewhat acceptable:

Magic flourishes throughout this theater as it educates and entertains the audience. It is wonderfully performed and has the power to open Western eyes to a world often objectified and trivialized. In the process, it creates a new appreciation and understanding for the varied lives of Arab women. Then, the theater has influenced and has shaped women including Mernissi to have a big dream because it will deliver women to get what they want. 20

D. Conclusion

In Dreams of Trespass, the writer finds the feminism thoughts regarding to the harem life according the concept of gender inequality and freedom that are shaped by the female characters. Those are part of feminism thoughts that appear in the story.

CURRICULUM VITAE

A. PERSONAL DATA

Name : Mudrika Anisahri Address : Jl. Pertamina B No: 34 jatiraden-jatisampurna Bekasi Phone : 085 719192428 Date of Birth : July 16, 1987 Religion : Islam Sex : Female Marital Status : Single Nationality : Indonesian

B. EDUCATIONS

 MA Darul Ulum 1, Bogor, 2001-2004  English Letters Department, Faculty of Letters and Humanities , State Islamic University “Syarif Hidayatullah” Jakarta, 2005-2011.