Enchi Fumiko's Komachi Hensoo and Toeti Heraty's Calon Arang: Kisah Perempuan Patriarki: The Recreation of Myth from Woman's Perspective

PASARIBU, Rouli Esther

doi:2018.7.1.45

The Journal of Japanese Language Literature Studies > Volume 7(1); 2018 > Article

Special Issue: Southeast Asia and Japanese-Language Literature

Border Crossings: The Journal of Japanese-Language Literature Studies 2018;7(1): 45-58.
doi: https://doi.org/10.22628/bcjjl.2018.7.1.45

Enchi Fumiko's Komachi Hensoo and Toeti Heraty's Calon Arang: Kisah Perempuan Patriarki: The Recreation of Myth from Woman's Perspective

Rouli Esther PASARIBU

インドネシア大学人文科学部日本学科講師

円地文子の｢小町変相｣とテュティ․ヘラティの｢チャロン․アラン：家父長制度の犠牲者である女性の物語｣ ――女性の視点における伝説の語りなおし*

Correspondence Rouli Esther PASARIBU ,Email: rouliesther@gmail.com

Published online: 30 December 2018.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

ABSTRACT

This study observes how the myths of Onono Komachi and Calon Arang are recreated and reinterpreted by a Japanese and an Indonesian woman writer, Enchi Fumiko and Toeti Heraty. By comparing Enchi’s Komachi Henso and Herati’s Calon Arang：The Story of A Woman Sacrificed to Patriarchy, this study aims to investigate universal values of patriarchy from different regions and explore how women writers attempt to rattle dominant discourses on how women should be positioned in society. This study applies the textual analysis method using a gender perspective, focusing on the process of recreating the myths of Onono Komachi and Calon Arang. Three key findings emerge from the analysis. First, in patriarchy-dominant discourse, both Onono Komachi and Calon Arang are depicted as bad and cruel women. They refuse to submit to patriarchal norms, and this refusal positions them at the periphery of society. Second, Enchi and Heraty recreate these legends by giving voice to a woman’s perspective. In Enchi’s Komachi Henso, Komachi refuses to submit to a Buddhist priest at the end of her life, instead seducing him eternally. This act can be read as a creation of a rebel woman questioning patriarchal values. In Heraty’s Calon Arang, the narrator explains how Calon Arang is treated unfairly in patriarchy society. The narrator attempts to highlight the socio-cultural conditions faced by Calon Arang. Third, it is found that the act of recreating stories is the author’s means to challenge the established myths of patriarchy. Women writers from different regions-in this case Japan and Indonesia-share similar experiences and strategies in voicing their perspective by recreating the established myths of their society.

Keywords: Recreation, Patriarchal Society, Women Writers, Women’s Anger

キ―ワ―ド: 語り直し, 家父長制度社会, 女性作家, 女性の怒り