Representations of Indonesian Women’s Oppression During Postcolonial Time as Portrayed in Patrick Sweeting’s Novel Jaipong Dancer

Abstract

This research studies the novel Jaipong Dancer written by Patrick Sweeting for the purposes of examining the representations oppression of Indonesian women during the postcolonial era, specifically since the Indonesian independence in 1945 to the late 1960s, through the character of Yahyu. Feminism and Postcolonialism as theoretical frameworks, including Spivak’s postcolonial feminist theory, Anne McClintock and Mohanty’s notion of the idea of double colonialism, were employed in the analysis to investigate how the two forms of domination between patriarchy and imperialism are involved in the domestication and oppression of women in Indonesia. The analysis reveals the roles of Indonesian women from the smallest scope of the family institution, to the larger scope at the societal level. Through a close reading of the novel, this research demonstrates women’s oppression by the former colonizers and local Indonesian men, particularly through the portrayals of Jaipong dancers. The analysis reveals that Jaipong dancers can be the susceptible targets of oppression during the Indonesian postcolonial period as a result of the Western males’ fantasies of Indonesian women and their sexual desires. This Independent Study also indicates that patriarchy and colonialism support each other in oppressing women, by the fact that men and women experience colonization differently. Women, in this case, are doubly oppressed both by patriarchal and colonial powers. The two main representations found in this study involve the protagonist character of Yahyu being portrayed as a victim, and as an oppressed woman in postcolonial Indonesia. The oppression includes sexual abuse and harassment. Moreover, the second representation of Yahyu involves her developing character by the end of the story, in which she resists against all forms of oppression as her attempts to decolonize herself and her country.