In the end, the writer finds out how postcolonial feminism reflected through main character by analyzing data that already gathered using postcolonial feminism
approach, theory of gender stereotype, theory of hybridity and theory of postcolonial feminism.
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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The work analyzed in this thesis is a play entitled
The Music Lesson
written by Wakako Yamauchi. Yamauchi was born in Westmoreland, California. This play is taken from Shawn Wong’s
Asian American Literature: A Brief Introduction and Anthology
published on 1996 by Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc. Her mother and father both
issei
first-generation Japanese immigrant, were farmers in California’s Imperial Valley. Actually, there is not
much information related to this play, because it is not as popular as Yamauchi’s first play,
And the Soul Shall Dance.
Even though those two plays share the same settings which are dusty and isolated area, it was only
And the Soul Shall Dance
that won the Los Angeles Critics’ Circle Award for the best new play of 1977
.
The Music Lessons has forty-six pages from page 404 until 449,it consists of two acts and ten scenes. It was first adapted for stage in 1980. The story in this play is
set in the dusty and isolated farming community in Imperial Valley, California, September 1935. In addition,
The Music Lesson
was written based on Yamauchi’s short story entitled
In Heaven and Earth
1977.Wakako Yamauchi, like in her first play, tries to explore the suffering and hardships of the issei women who
came to America in the early 1900s. These women not only had to adjust to their settlement in America, but also to an often bitter arranged marriage. In this play,
Yamauchi also shows how cultural imperatives brought on by American education influences Nisei children the children of issei and how their desire to
assimilate is depicted throughout the story. Generally,
The Music Lessons
tells us about the struggle of an issei widow in the late 30s, Chizuko Sakata and her children. They live under poverty,
therefore, they have to work hard in order to survive. Chizuko is a farmer and she runs a piece of land to grow crops in an isolated area. Unfortunately, during their
settlement in California, they have to face prejudice, discrimination and segregation. They are limited in their opportunities for any kind of equal status
contact due to laws and customs applied there. Issei, for instance, they are not allowed to own land and to vote.
B. Approach of The Study
Since this thesis discusses how the idea of postcolonial feminism is carried b
y the main character in Wakako Yamauchi’s
The Music Lesson
, first, it is also important to know the concept of feminist approach in general. Feminist approach
is an academic approach to literary study that brings feminist perspective in the context of production and reception to analyze the literary works Goodman,
1996:XI. F eminist approach sees the literary text from women’s point of view
and it concerns with a culture constructed by patriarchal system that aims to silence and marginalize women in the favor of men.
Furthermore, feminism in relation with postcolonial theory, came out as a critique against western feminism which was shaped from the perspective of white
