Comparative Voices of Resistance: Gender and Power in Japanese and Balinese Novels (1989–2019)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24843/JKB.2025.v15.i02.p11Keywords:
patriarchy, gender resistance, deconstruction, Japanese and Balinese literatureAbstract
The resistance to patriarchal domination in Japanese and Balinese societies between 1989 and 2019 is reflected in various literary works that portray women's struggles against restrictive social norms. In this vein, this study compares the forms and meanings of resistance depicted in the Japanese novels Out by Natsuo Kirino and Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata with the Balinese novels Tempurung and Kenanga by Oka Rusmini. Using qualitative research with a cultural studies approach, it identifies two shared forms of resistance: rejection of traditional gender roles and struggle for bodily autonomy. Differences appear in the forms, with radical resistance in the Japanese novels and subversive resistance in the Balinese novels, and in the backgrounds, where structural oppression shapes the Japanese texts while traditional customs influence the Balinese texts. Ultimately, these narratives critique both Japanese patriarchy and Balinese customary traditions that constrain women’s identities and choices.
References
Allen, P. (2007). Marrying up in Bali (Inside Indonesia). https://www.insideindonesia.org/editions/edition-6641/reviews-marrying-up-in-bali
Alvionita, Frisca Nabila; Hartono, H. (2024). Superiority of Female Characters in the Novel Kenanga and Tempurung by Oka Rusmini. East Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 3(2). https://doi.org/10.55927/eajmr.v3i2.8205
Aveling, H. (2010). Outcaste by Choice: Traditional Legends and Gendered Power in a Short Story by Oka Rusmini. Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies, 7(2). 10.5130/portal.v7i2.1416
Barker, C. (2014). Kamus Kajian Budaya. PT Kanisius.
Beauvoir, S. (1953). The Second Sex: Introduction (Diterjemahkan oleh Parsley). Lowe and Brydone (Printers) LTD.
Bourdieu, P. (1992). The Logic of Practice. Stanford University Press.
Brinton, M. C. (1993). Women and The Economic Miracle: Gender and Work in Postwar Japan. University of California Press.
Butler, J. (1999). Gender Trouble: Feminism and Subversion of Identity. Routledge.
Caputo, J. D. (2021). Deconstruction in a Nutshell (A Conversation with Jacques Derrida). Fordham University Press.
Charlebois, J. (2014). Japanese Femininities. Routledge.
Creese, H. (2004). Reading the Bali Post: Women and Representation in PostSuharto Bali (Published in Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context) (Issue 10).
de Zepetnek, Steven Tötösy ; Mukherjee, T. (2013). Companion to Comparative Literature, World Literatures, and Comparative Cultural Studies. Cambridge University Press India Pvt. Ltd.
Derrida, J. (1967a). Of Grammatology. John Hopkins University Press.
Dwipayana, I Kadek Adhi; Artajaya, G. S. (2018). Hegemoni Ideologi Feodalistis dalam Karya Sastra Berlatar Sosiokultural Bali. Journal of Bali Studies, 08(02), 85–105. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.24843/JKB.2018.v08.i02.p06
Eagleton, T. (2012). The event of literature. Yale University Press.
Ensiklopedia Sastra. (2016). Oka Rusmini. https://ensiklopedia.kemdikbud.go.id/sastra/artikel/Oka_Rusmini
Geertz, C. (1973). The Interpretation of Cultures. Basic Books, Inc.
Giroud, F. (1961). The Second Sex. In Yale French Studies (Issue 27, p. 22). https://doi.org/10.2307/2929315
Hall, R. E. (2012). Domestic Violence Among The Japanese: Implications for The Psychology of Victimization. Psychologia, 55, 280–290. https://doi.org/10.2117/psysoc.2012.280
Harold Bloom, Paul De Man, Derrida, Geoffrey H. Hartman, H. M. (1979). Deconstruction and Criticism. Routledge and Kegan Paul LTD.
Hooks, B. (1984). Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center. South End Press.
Ifah; Anwar, Fithyani; Risman, Y. El. (2024). Problematika Perempuan dalam Novel Out Karya Natsuo Kirino. NAWA: Journal of Japanese Studies, 1(1), 10–21. https://doi.org/10.69908/nawa.v1i1.35020
Jaseel, P; Gaur, R. (2022). Precarity and Performativity in Post-Fordist Japanese Workplace: A Reading of Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman. Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n1.03
Kikuchi, D. (2016). Convenience Ttore Worker who Moonlights as an Author Wins Prestigious Akutagawa Prize. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/07/20/national/convenience-store-worker-who-moonlights-as-novelist-wins-prestigious-akutagawa-prize/
Kirino, N. (1997). アウト(上). Kodansha LTD.
Kirino, N. (2005). Out. Vintage.
Kurnia Maisaroh, Engkin Suwandana, A. A. M. (2022). Feminisme dan Nilai Pendidikan Karakter dalam Novel Gadis Minimarket Karya Sayaka Murata. Prosiding Semnaspendidikan, 1.
Lærkesen, R. B. (2022). Sayaka Murata The Power of Stories Saved Me. https://channel.louisiana.dk/video/sayaka-murata-the-power-of-stories-saved-me#:~:text=It’s more than curiosity.,og Samling%2C and Fritz Hansen.
Lebra, T. S. (1984). Japanese Women: Constraint and Fulfillment. University of Hawaii Press.
McClain, J. L. (2002). Japan: A Modern History. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Moi, T. (1985). Sexual/Textual Politics: Feminist Literary Theory. Methuen & Co. Ltd.
Morris, Rosalind C;Spivak, G. C. (2010). Can The Subaltern Speak. Columbia University Press.
Murata, S. (2018). Convenience Store Woman. Grove Atlantic.
Noriko Murai, Jeff Kingston, T. B. (2020). Japan in the Heisei Era (1989-2019). Routledge.
Page, B. (2019). Granta buys new Sayaka Murata novel. https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/granta-buys-new-murata-novel-942086
Pertiwi, I Gusti Ayu Andani; Sari, I.A. Laksmita; Putra, I. N. D. (2020). Bentuk-Bentuk Dekonstruksi Ideologi Gender dalam Novel Bebas dan Grotesque: Gaib Karya Natsuo Kirino. Aksara, 32 (1), pp. 15--30. http://dx.doi.org/10.29255/aksara.v32i1.487.15-30
Philosophy, S. E. of. (2023). Simone de Beauvoir. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/beauvoir/#SecoSexWomaOthe
Picard, M. (1996). Bali: Cultural Tourism and Touristic Culture. Archipelago.
Putra, I. N. D. (2011). A Literary Mirror: Balinese Reflections on Modernity and Identity in the Twentieth Century. KITLV Press.
Rusmini, O. (2003). Kenanga. PT Gramedia Widiasarana Indonesia.
Rusmini, O. (2010). Tempurung. PT Gramedia Widiasarana Indonesia.
Scott, J. C. (1985). Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance. Yale University Press.
Seaman, A. C. (2006). Inside OUT: Space, Gender, and Power in Kirino Natsuo. Japanese Language and Literature, 40(2). https://doi.org/10.2307/30198010
Showalter, E. (1985). The Female Malady: Women, Madness, and English Culture, 1830-1980. Penguin Group.
Sunarti, S. (2016). Oka Rusmini Mengkritik Tradisi Bali dalam Novel: Tarian Bumi, Kenanga, dan Tempurung. Kandai, 12(1), 85–101. https://doi.org/10.26499/jk.v12i1.74
Takemaru, N. (2010). Women in the Language and Society of Japan: The Linguistic Roots of Bias. McFarland & Company, Inc.
The Japan Times. (2003). Interview With Kirino.
Vats, R. (2023). Natsuo Kirino’s “Out”: Relevance of The Tittle in Exploring The Female Experience in Turn of The Century Japan. International Journal of English Language, Literature, and Translation Studies (IJELR), 10(1). https://doi.org/10.33329/ijelr.10.1.151
Villa, L. F. (2019). Classic Patriarchal Values and Their Effects on Working Japanese Women. Revista Mundo Asia Pacifico, 8(14). https://doi.org/10.17230/map.v8.i14.04
