WOMEN’S OPPRESSIONS AND STRUGGLES IN BUCHI EMECHETA’S SECOND CLASS CITIZEN AND MONICA ALI’S BRICK LANE
Wahyu Wardani 1), Budi Darma2), and Fabiola D Kurnia3) Language and Literature Education Study Program, Post Graduate Program, State University of Surabaya wahyuwardani@mhs.unesa.ac.id
Abstract
This study is conducted to investigate how women’s oppressions and struggles described in Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen and Monica Ali’s Brick Lane, and in what way women’s oppressions and struggles in Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen and Monica Ali’s Brick Lane are different. This study applies Postcolonial feminism approach, that is, Mohanty’s analysis of Third World women’s oppression and struggle. In addition, this study also applies the concept of American school of Comparative Literature to find out the differences of women’s oppressions and struggles in Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen and Monica Ali’s Brick Lane. The results of the study show that the women characters in both novels experience gender, racial, and class opressions as the product of the patriarchal and postcolonial tradition in the society. Accordingly, the oppressions lead the characters into struggles to confront the oppressions through the process of consciousness, gaining powers and agencies. Moreover, as the novels come from different countries which have diferent sociocultural background, there are many differences in the way the women are oppressed and struggle to confront the oppression. This study implies that women from any socio-cultural background should empower themselves to be equal with men and women of all colors.
Keywords: Women’s oppressions, Women’s struggles, Agency, Postcolonial feminism, Comparative Literature, American School
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