(De)construction of women’s images in select literary pieces of (her)stories in Southeast Asia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17509/psg.v13i1.15Keywords:
construction, decolonial-feminism, deconstruction, herstories, SEA womenAbstract
Feminism draws attention to advancing women’s rights and socio-economic development, more specifically, to obtain equality. However, this movement to exalt women’s status is lacking in the experience of Southeast Asia (SEA) women. This study looks into the construction of women in selected short stories. The study design is qualitative within a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of Norman Fairclough. To dissect the data, a literary analysis of the literary elements of short stories is the first step which directs its focus on women. Second, the women’s image is constructed or deconstructed based on decolonial feminism. A decision method framework was created to construct the characters in the herstories and if there is a need to deconstruct due to misrepresentation. It is revealed that the experiences of these women narrate the condition they live in. It is also seen that image is constructed when the description and feminist perspectives (general feminism and Decolonial feminism) are similar, meanwhile, when it opposes, a deconstruction based on decolonial feminism is required. The study has limitations on the sample literary pieces studied and does not generally scope the overall SEA society, therefore, further studies on literary pieces or genres representing all the SEA nations can provide a deeper exploration of this topic.
Downloads
References
Abbasovna. (2024). Southeast Asian identity culture: Dynamics, diversity, and integration in the context of globalization. Perfect Education Fairy, 2(1), 15-19. https://doi.org/10.56442/pef.v2i1.835
Anderl, F. (2020). Global or local solidarity? That’s the wrong question: relationality, aspiration and the in-between of feminist activism in Southeast Asia. Globalizations, 19(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2020.1838759
Apriani, F. & Zulfiani, D. (2020). Women’s leadership in Southeast Asia: Examining the authentic leadership implementation potency. Policy & Governance Review, 4(2), 116-127. https://doi.org/10.30589/pgr.v4i2.275
Atkinson, J. M. (2019). [Review of the book Gender and Islam in Southeast Asia: women’s rights movements, religious resurgence, and local traditions, Ed. by S. Schröter]. Cornell University Press, 108, 121-126. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/ind.2019.0015
Asia-Europe Foundation. (2013). Judges' pick: I Am A Bird | Kathrina Haji Mohd Daud | Brunei. Culture360.asef.org. https://culture360.asef.org/newsevents/judges-pick-i-am-bird-kathrinahaji-mohd-daud-brunei/
Basino, T., & Lamoureux, F. (2001). Teaching Asian literatures. Education About ASIA, 6(1), 7-11. https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/her-an-indonesianshort-story/
Bunnyāvong, U. (1999). Mother’s Beloved. (B. Inversion & D. Duffy, Trans.) University of Washington Press. (Original work published 1978)
Bahri, I., Wardiah, D. & Fitriani, Y. (2021). Analysis of the facts of stories and literary tools in a collection of short stories for the Girl Dancing in The Rain by Dewi Q. A’yun, et al. Advances in Social Science, Proceedings of the International Conference on Education Universitas PGRI Palembang (INCoEPP 2021), 565, 308-316. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.210716.057
Barthes, R. (1997). The Death of the Author. Fontana Press:
Bayazit, D. Z. (2020). The deconstruction of women image through advertising, Journal of Business Research-Turk, 12 (1), 429-439. https://doi.org/10.20491/isarder.2020.853
Bong, S. A. (2016). Women’s and feminist activism in Southeast Asia. In A. Wong, M. Wickramasignhe, R. Hoogland, and N.A. Naples (Eds.), The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality Studies (pp. 1-5). Wiley Online Library. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118663219.wbegss593
Booth, A. (2016). Women, work and the family: Is Southeast Asia different? Economic History of Developing Regions, 31(1), 167-197. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20780389.2015.1132624
Boytchev, P. (2015) Constructionism and deconstructionism. Constructivist Foundations 10(3): 355–363. http://constructivist.info/10/3/355
Bunda, S. (2023). The Construction of Cebuano Women [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Mindanao State University.
Chirino, P. (1890). Relación De Las Islas Filipinas Y De Lo Que En Ellas Han Trabajado Los Padres De La Compañía De Jesús. Imperenta de D. Esteban Balbas.
Datuin, F. (1999). Why gender goes not matter in Southeast Asian politics: Towards a feminist retelling of Southeast Asian his/herstories. Review of Women Studies, 9(1-2), 94-120. https://www.journals.upd.edu.ph/index.php/rws/article/view/3045
Foucault, M. (2002). What is an Author? In W. Irwin (Ed.), The Death and Resurrection of the Author. Greenwood Press
Gerlach, L., Fleschenberg, A., Knorr, L., & Heil, N. (2020). Decolonial-Feminist approaches in teaching and research: Exploring practices, interactions and challenges. International Quarterly for Asian Studies (IQAS), 51(3-4), 171-184. https://doi.org/10.11588/iqas.2020.3-4.13550
Gerard, K & McDonnell, J (2023) Valuing women’s empowerment: tracking funding in Southeast Asia. Review of International Political Economy, 31(3), 1022-1047. https://doi.org/10.1080/09692290.2023.2284875
Gerard, K. (2023). The political practices of gender experts: Repurposing women's empowerment. Globalizations, 21(4), 648-666. https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2023.2240150
González, Y. & Sánchez-Lasaballett, E. (2023): Storytelling, precarity and decolonizing practices. Globalizations, 22(7), 1276-1290. https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2023.2248867
Karimullah, S. S. (2024). A feminist critique of the practice of polygamy in the context of Islamic law and human rights. Indonesian Journal of Law and Islamic Law (IJLIL), 6(1), 38–53. https://doi.org/10.35719/ijlil.v6i1.354
Kwon, S. (2019). Hallyu and gender I: Women’s identities in transition in Southeast Asia. Asian Women, 35(3), iiii. https://doi.org/10.14431/aw.2019.09.35.3.i
Laeheem, K. and Boonprakarn, K. (2014). Domestic violence behaviors between spouses in Thailand. Asian Social Science, 10(16), 152-159. https://doi.org/10.5539/ass.v10n16p152
Manning, J. (2021). Decolonial feminist theory: Embracing the gendered colonial difference in management and organisation studies. Gender, Work & Organization, 28(4), 1203-1219. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12673
Mason, K., Cardamone, A., Holdren, J. & Retherford, L. (1995). Is the situation of women in Asia improving or deteriorating? East-West Center: http://hdl.handle.net/10125/3977
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Herstory. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved March 9, 2025, from https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/herstory
Nair, T. (2022). Gender and economic security in Southeast Asia. Asian Journal of Comparative Politics, 7(1), 29-44. https://doi.org/10.1177/20578911211038284
OECD (2024), SIGI 2024 regional report for Southeast Asia: Time to care, social institutions and gender index. https://doi.org/10.1787/7fc15e1c-en
Ong, A., & Peletz, M. G. (Eds.). (1995). Bewitching women, pious men: Gender and body politics in Southeast Asia. University of California Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1pnnrv
Pandapatan, A. M., Ali, A. A., Macarambon, A. T., Altamia, C. G., Ramos, N. U., Socor, N. U. H., Abaton, S. Z. A., & Pantao, A. G. (2025). Cultural challenges and preservation: The case of Higaonon of Rogongon, Iligan city. Global Scientific Journals, 12(12), 1673-1686. https://www.globalscientificjournal.com/researchpaper/Cultural_Challenges_and_Preservation_The_Case_of_Higaonon_of_Rogongon_Iligan_City.pdf
Partzsch, L. (2024). It’s a women’s thing? Narratives in ethical trade campaigns, Globalizations, 21(8), 1539-1555. https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2024.2378549
Poonsri, R. & Tuayrakdee, R. (2022). Southeast Asian literature in English: Gender and political issues in Laotian, Burmese and Vietnamese short stories. J-Lalite: Journal of English Studies, 3(1), 28-45. https://doi.org/10.20884/1.jes.2022.3.1.5708
Purnamasari, L. A. P. & Konety, N. (2023). Intersectional approach by youth feminist activism “Girl Up” in spreading gender equality values in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Philippines, and Vietnam). Riwayat: Educational Journal of History and Humanities, 6(3), 1136-1149. https://jurnal.usk.ac.id/riwayat/article/view/33784
Reid, A. (1988). Female roles in pre-colonial Southeast Asia. Modern Asian Studies, 22(3), 629–645. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X00009720
Satjasarrasin, W. (2008). เราหลงลืมอะไบางอย่าง. https://online.anyflip.com/hdtux/ahfg/mobile/index.html
Swastika, A. (2023). Reclaiming domestic space; Decolonial feminism and women’s sovereignty in Southeast Asia and beyond within the context of artistic practice. Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia, 24(1), 174-192. https://doi.org/10.17510/wacana.v24i1.1172
Tanyag, M. (2018) Sexual and reproductive health is a security issue for Southeast Asia. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 72(6), 495-499, https://doi.org/10.1080/10357718.2018.1534943
Visvanathan, N., Duggan, L., Wiegersma, N., & Nisonoff, L. (Eds.). (2011). The women, gender and development reader. (2nd ed.). Zed Books Ltd.
Yeoh, B. (2016). Migration and gender politics in Southeast Asia. Migration, Mobility, & Displacement 2(1): 74-88. https://doi.org/10.18357/mmd21201615022
Zawgyi, S. (1999). Zawgyi’s Collected Short Stories. (M. Zin, Trans.) Yarpyi Publishing House. (Original work published 1937)
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
