WOMEN ON THE MARGINS AN ALTERNATIVE TO KODRAT? by Heather M. Curnow Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. University of Tasmania, Hobart School of Asian Languages and Studies October 2007 STATEMENTS OF OrtiONALITY / AUTHORITY TO ACCESS Declaration of otiginahtY: ibis thesis contains no material which has been acep ted for a degree or diploma by the University or any other institutions, except by way of hackground information and duly acknowledged in the thesis, and to the best of the candidate's knowledge and belief, no material previously published or written by another person, except- uthere due actabowledgement has been made in the text of the thesis. Statement of Authority of access: This thesis may be made available for loan and limited copying in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968. ,C70 11leather Cuniow Date: A,5 hit tibigki ittool ABSTRACT: WOMEN ON THE MARGINS During New Order Indonesia (1966 — 1998) women's roles were officially defined by the Panca Darma Wanita (The Five Duties of Women). Based on traditional notions of womanhood, these duties were used by the Indonesian State to restrict women's activities to the private sphere, that is, the family and domesticity. Linked with the Five Duties was kodrat wanita (women's destiny), an unofficial code of conduct, loosely based on biological determinism. Kodrat wanita became a benchmark by which women were measured during this period, and to a large extent this code is still valid today. In this thesis, I have analyzed female characters in Indonesian literature with specific identities that are on the periphery of this dominant discourse. The thesis comprises an introduction, six chapters, a conclusion and a bibliography. I preface each chapter with a brief historical and theoretical context. The first chapter (1) analyzes a mythological figure, the sorceress Calon Arang and her metamorphosis in literature over the last 50 years. Further chapters are devoted to (2) Selir (minor wives of Javanese aristocracy) and Nyai (indigenous concubines during the Dutch colonial period); (3) Ritual dancers (ronggeng or tayub); (4) Prostitutes; and (5) Lesbians. The implications of silence, madness and death for female characters are discussed in the final chapter of the thesis (6). In each chapter, I undertake a feminist reading of specific literary texts that feature the women I have categorized; discussing the markers of their marginality such as origins, rites of passage, dress and occupation of physical and social space, their agency and/or resistance to dominant patriarchal agendas, and the outcomes of their positions on the margins of society. In terms of chronological parameters, I have looked at images of indigenous women in selected works of Dutch colonial literature (1892 — 1954), and in Indonesian literature from 1896 — 1998. Finally, I have drawn on recent works by post-New Order young writers (1998 — 2005) that transgress the boundaries of propriety implied by the kodrat wanita code. As Catherine Belsey argues in her analyses of Sherlock Holmes stories by Conan Doyle, even the most shadowy and peripheral of feminine presences may succeed in disrupting the most logical of male narratives based on reason and scientific transparency.i It is these female presences, specifically those on the periphery of kodrat wanita, which I seek to identify and bring to the centre of attention and analysis. Belsey, C. 1985 "Constructing the subject, deconstructing the text", in: Warhol. & Price Hemdl 1997, Feminisms: an Anthology of Literary Theory and Criticism: 657-673. Macmillan, Hampshire ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My interest in literature about Indonesia and by Indonesians began in 1989, when I began to visit Indonesia regularly. At first, I read anything that was available in English, which included works of literature by Indonesian and Dutch writers in translation. From 1997, as I completed a Graduate Diploma of Asian Languages, I began to read Indonesian literary works in the original. My interests in images of Indonesian women began with these readings, initially inspired by a study of Y. B. Mangunwijaya's Burung- burung Man yar (The Weaverbirds), and followed by my Honours thesis on Ayu Utami's Saman. From there, it seemed a logical step to continue my investigations of women's images by choosing it as the theme for my PhD, commenced at the University of Tasmania in 2002. An Australian Postgraduate Scholarship awarded by the University of Tasmania enabled me to carry out my research and writing full-time for three years. I must thank, initially, Pam Allen and Richard Curtis for supporting my proposal to embark on a PhD in 2002. I also express my thanks to my co-supervisor Dr. Barbara Hatley, who, although based in Launceston, has always provided encouraging input and demonstrated an interest in my progress. Hisako Umeoka and Amanda Pink have provided willing and expert administrative help on many occasions. My greatest debt of gratitude is to my principal supervisor Dr. Pam Allen, without whom this thesis might never have reached completion. Not only does she share my passion for Indonesian literature and women's narratives; she also generously shared with me the contents of her private library, both literary and theoretical material. While insisting on high standards of scholarship, she has always been encouraging and positive, even when it seemed that I would never find my own path through the forest of academic writing and ideas on various aspects of my topic. I also wish to thank my friends in Indonesia, especially Dorothea Rosa Herliany (Magelang), who, in both her life and writing, is a shining example to feminists from anywhere in the world. Rosa has located and sent me some of the more obscure and out- of-print texts discussed in this thesis, and has helped me to maintain my sense of perspective (as well as my sense of humour). My great thanks also to BJD Gayatri, (Jakarta) with whom I had long and illuminating discussions by email in March 2006. Gayatri's pioneering activities as a writer and activist in the Indonesian women's and lesbian movements, and the detailed background information she made available, transformed and focussed the chapter on lesbians. I also thank Primanto Nugroho, for discussions about taledhek, tayuban and Mas Marco. Finally I want to thank my children, Virginia (Melbourne) and Azhari (Banda Aceh). They have supported me in different ways, most of all with their unconditional love, and their naive and unwavering confidence that I would find the strength to finish this study. Heather Curnow Yogyakarta, October 2007 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1.CALON ARANG: MASTER NARRATIVE OR WITCH POWER? 25 Setting the Scene CaIon Arang in Literature Black and White Morality: Images of Evil and Malice Alternative Voices: A Shift in Perspective Gerwani Politicized Women in Literature 2. CONSORTS, CONCUBINES AND COURTESANS 52 Setting the Scene Selir Selir In Literature Roro Mendut: Resistance until Death Gadis Pantai: Loss and Betrayal Concubines (Nyai) Concubines in Literature Colonial Narratives: Deceit and Decadence Dutch Indies Literature Rites of Passage Social Space, Silence, and a Campaign of Slander Nyai Ontosoroh: Resistance Tining: Compliance 3. DANCERS 101 Setting the Scene Dancers in Literature Colonial Hierachies of Race, Power and Gender Srintil: Prisoner of History, Illusions of Kodrat Late New Order Narratives of Desire and Ambivalence 4. PROSTITUTION 123 Setting the Scene Prostitution Prostitutes in Literature Images of the Prostitute / Entry to the Sex Industry Confrontation / Intervention Moralizing Agency and Outcomes Supernova and Dewi Ayu: Embracing the Profession 5. LESBIANS: GARLIC AMONG THE ONIONS? 152 Setting the Scene Lesbians in Literature Lesbian Texts and Subtexts: An Overview Lines: An Insider Text, a Spectrum of Connections Shalcuntala: The Duality of Gender Herlinatiens: Authorial Ambiguities Nayla: Rediscovering the Mother 6. SILENCE / MADNESS / DEATH 178 Setting the Scene Case Studies Ma Boejoeng (Tjerita Njai Dasima) Men Negara (Sukreni Gadis Bali) Marice (Btuung-bm.ung Manyar) Larasati (Burung-burung Manyar) Srintil (Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk) Annelies (Bumi Manusia) Roro Mendut (Roro Mendut) Mother (Saman) Upi (Saman) Tinung (Ca-bau-kan) Outcomes Silence Madness Death CONCLUSION 215 BIBLIOGRAPHY 223 WOMEN ON THE MARGINS: INTRODUCTION SETTING THE SCENE 'From a phallocentric point of view, women will then come to represent the necessary frontier between men and chaos; but because of their very marginality they will also always seem to recede into and merge with the chaos of the outside. Women seen as the limit of the symbolic order will in other words share in the disconcerting properties of all frontiers: they will be neither inside nor outside, neither known nor unknown.' (Toil Moi 1985: 167) As the title of this thesis suggests, I seek to reveal the existence of an alternative discourse to the mainstream gender ideal of kodrat wanita by analysing images of women on the margins in Indonesian and colonial Indies literature,' from the late nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century. Margins suggest a periphery, and a periphery is associated with a centre. The centre, in the case of Indonesia and its literature, is the dominant discourse of Panca Dhanna Wanita in New Order Indonesia (post 1965) as an officially prescribed set of obligations for women. However, the subtext of kodrat wanita, an implied code of conduct that has reinforced the ideal image for women as powerless,