Theory of Postcolonial Feminism

states that feminism also has a strong emphasis on ‘constructedness’ of feminity that concern with conditioning and socialisation, and how the images and representations of femininity affect literary works and culture. All these formulations are ways of avoiding the assumption that femininity is universal and unchangeable. According to the feminist criticism in the 1970s, female characters created by male tend to represent stereotypes of actual women and constructed by patriarchy. These women are fictional women who men think women actually are. 1970s was the period when the critical attention on mechanisms of patriarchy took place; it is the cultural stereotypes ‘mind-set’ in men and women which perpetuated sexual inequality Barry, 2002:122. Female sexuality does not casually exist from the beginning, but it is constructed by experiences and adjustments to particular situations. For instance, in the nineteenth century fiction, it hardly finds female characters who work for a living unless they are urged by dire necessity. From the example, we learn that women roles in the family can be changed out of the circumstances they live in. Shulamith Firestone as cited by Rosemarie Tong in Feminist Thought argues that women’s sexual passivity comes from emotional, economic and physical dependence on men, therefore, it is not naturally given Tong, 2009: 133-134. This thesis also uses postcolonial theory along with theory of feminism, since it discusses the struggle of an Issei widow seen through postcolonial feminist perspective. Postcolonialism concerns about issues of race, nation, empire, migration, and ethnicity with cultural production. It is one of critical theories which also focus on some specific issues including issues of gender or feminist criticism Barry, 2002: 198. In the other words, postcolonialism can be compared to concept of patriarchy in feminist thought, which is applicable to the extent that it indicates man domination over women. Hans Bertens in The Basics Literary Theory writes, Postcolonial studies critically analyses the relationship between colonizer and colonized, from the earliest days of exploration and colonization. It examines how these texts construct the colonizer’s usually masculine s uperiority and the colonized’s usually effeminate inferiority and in so doing have legitimated colonization. It is especially attentive to postcolonial attitudes —attitudes of resistance—on the part of colonized and seeks to understand the nature of the encounter between colonizer and colonized. Bertens, 2008: 174-175 Moreover, Helen Carr as cited by Loomba says that in the language of colonialism, non-Europeans occupy the same symbolic place as women and they are not seen as a part of culture but as a nature. Women are depicted as passive, child-like unsophisticated and as a group of people with no initiative, no intellectual powers and who are outside society. Meanwhile, in the relation with racial discrimination, Loomba also cites that ‘lower races represent the ‘female’ type of human species, and females the ‘lower race’ of gender’ Loomba, 1998: 159-160. Postcolonial feminism emerges as the response of a perspective that feminism tends to focus on west women’s experiences. In addition, it also endeavors to make feminism can be applied to all women around the world. In the other words, postcolonial feminism aids to direct feminism from universality to individual experience because each woman has different experience out of their culture, race and nation. Ania Loomba in ColonialismPostcolonialism also states that postcoloniality is like patriarchy, it is articulated alongside other economic, social, cultural, and historical factors, therefore, it works quite differently in practice in various parts of the world Loomba, 1998: 19.

3. Theory of Hybridity

Hybridity is a situation in where individuals or groups belong to more than one culture at once for instance, that of the colonizer, through colonial school system, and that of the colonized, through local and oral tradition Barry, 2002: 199. The hybridity becomes a central in postcolonial theory, as it attempts to stabilize the status quo Loomba, 1998:173-174. Homi Bhabha, as cited by Loomba, states that hybridity emerges due to the failure of colonial discourse to obtain fixed identity and it more adequately describes the dynamics of the colonial encounter Loomba, 1998:105. The first-generation Japanese immigrant Issei tends to be the traditional ones, meanwhile their American- born children Nissei are more American as they interact with white people more often than their parents do. Therefore, culturally, there is a gap between Issei and Nisei. Nisei is mostly hybrid, because they adopt two cultures, a culture of native Japanese and American culture. Furthermore, the Japanese immigrant in America is a minority group, they have tendency to live in a colony to keep their native culture exist while they also try to assimilate with American culture. Frantz Fanon in The Wretched of the Earth as cited by Peter Barry argues that the first step for ‘colonalised’ people in finding a voice and a identity is to reclaim their own past Barry, 2002: 193. Fanon tries to convey that actually postcolonialism also concerns on recalling the past in order to get that feel to be accepted and to find a true identity.

4. Theory of Gender Stereotype

Jane Pilcher in Fifty Key Concepts in Gender Studies states that the notion of stereotype was first introduced into social science in 1920s and it was understood as a typical image that comes to mind when talking about particular social group. In the other words, stereotype can be defined as a standarised and often pejorative concept or image held about an individual on the basis of their gender. Pilcher also shares some views about gender stereotype arguing that masculine characters tend to be depicted dominating and have wider range of roles, while feminine characters tend to be stereotyped in domestic settings. Meaning to say, women are seen either as sexual objects, housewives or in jobs that reflect their domesticcaring role. Pilcher, 2004:167 Mary Wollstonecraft, as cited by David Glover and Cora Kaplan in Gender , notes that women are shaped, not born: every thing that women see and hear will give impressions, call up emotions, and associate ideas, that bestow a sexual character to mind Glover, 2000: 10. Based on these views, we can tell that gender stereotype has something to do with socialisation, such as families, education system and media. It’s been discussed earlier that the practice of colonialism similar to patriarchy, it oppresses the minority which is usually described as effiminate. In colonial discourse, female bodies are considered as conquered land Loomba,