THE CHANGING OF ABORIGINAL WOMEN’S ROLE IN AUSTRALIA AS REPRESENTED BY THE FIVE MAIN CHARACTERS IN MARIS’ AND BORG’S WOMEN OF THE SUN
THE CHANGING OF ABORIGINAL WOMEN’S ROLE IN
AUSTRALIA AS REPRESENTED BY THE FIVE MAIN
CHARACTERS IN MARIS’ AND BORG’S WOMEN OF THE SUN
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
Paulina Dian Maharani
Student Number: 994214168 Student Registration Number: ----------------------------
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Finally I could finish this thesis; my first and deepest gratitude is for Father in heaven, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, and Holy Mary. These recent years have been the toughest time in my life and it is for Thy guidance I finally manage to get myself up to complete this thesis and get on with my life.
I believe I could not have completed my thesis without the guidance and great patience from my advisor Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum. Next, I need to give a great abundance of gratitude to Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum. as my academic advisor and thesis co-advisor. Furthermore, I thank all lecturers and staffs of English Letters Department for the time and assistance they share for many years of my study.
Next, I would like to thank my beloved Dad and my late Mom who always pour me unconditional love and guidance. Thanks for guiding me to grow up and showing me the strength to face this unpredictable life. I also deeply thank Suci, Kiko, Seba, Eyang Putri Wedi, and my Mom’s siblings, my cousins and Om Agung and family for their love and support in joy and pain.
Next, my special thanks go to Melly, Leak, Rush2, Poer, Rion, Ableh, Boni, Nugi, Iyut, Iin for their unbelievable flowing support and care; MoniXXX, Nay, Deni, Rio, Wawan, Estu, Lina, Lucky, Petrus, all the girls in Parkit 5, and all Sing 99ers. I also thank Dius’ parents, Om momo and Mas Aan for welcoming me and kindly letting me intrude their space to complete this thesis.
Finally, I thank my precious Claudius Cahyo Pulung simply for being him. I would have strayed on another path without him entering my life.
Paulina Dian Maharani
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ........................................................................................... i APPROVAL PAGE ................................................................................. iiACCEPTANCE PAGE ........................................................................... iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................ vABSTRACT ............................................................................................. vii
ABSTRAK.................................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ............................................................ 1 A. Background of the Study .......................................................... 1 B. Problem Formulation ................................................................ 4 C. Objectives of the Study ............................................................. 4 D. Definition of Terms ................................................................... 5 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ........................................... 6 A. Review of Related Studies ....................................................... 6 B. Review of Related Theories ....................................................
7 1. Character ....................................................................... 7 2.
Characterization ............................................................ 8 3. Post-Colonialism .......................................................... 10 4. Society in Literature ....................................................... 11 5. Culture .......................................................................... 11 6. Feminism ...................................................................... 12 C. Review of Socio-Historical Background .................................. 17 D.
Theoretical Framework .............................................................. 20
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ........................................................ 22
A. Object of the Study .................................................................... 22 B. Approach of the Study ................................................................ 23 C. Method of the Study ................................................................... 24CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ..................................................................... 25
A. Australian Aboriginal Women’s Role as Represented in the Five Main Characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun .......... 26 1. Australian Aboriginal Women’s Role as Represented in the Character of Towradgi ..............................................26 2. Australian Aboriginal Women’s Role as Represented in the Character of Alinta .................................................
28
the Character of Maydina ..............................................
31 4. Australian Aboriginal Women’s Role as Represented in the Character of Nerida .................................................. 34
5. Australian Aboriginal Women’s Role as Represented in the Character of Lo-Arna .............................................
37 B. The Changing of Australian Aboriginal Women’s Role as
Represented by the Five Main Characters in Maris’ and Borg’s
Women of the Sun ..................................................................... 38 1.
The era before the White Men Colonialism .................. 38 2. The Era of the White Men Colonialism ........................ 43 3. The Era of Post-Colonialism ....................................... 47
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ............................................................... 51
BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................... 55
ABSTRACT
PAULINA DIAN M. The Changing of Aboriginal Women’s Role in Australia as
Represented by the Five Main Characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the
Sun. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma
University, 2008.Women of the Sun , a novel written by Hyllus Maris and Sonia Borg, is the
object of this study. In this novel consisting of 175 pages, Maris and Borg try to reach the Australian people and tell the story of the Aborigines, especially about the Aboriginal women and what they have to experience and fight for during and after the British colonialism in Australia.
The study is about the changing of the Aboriginal women’s role in Australia. The problems to be solved in this study are: 1) How does each of the five main characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun that are Towradgi, Alinta, Maydina, Nerida and Lo-Arna reflect the Australian Aboriginal women’s role? 2) What kind of changing happens to the Aboriginal women’s role in Australia, as represented in the five main characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun?
To solve those two problems, the writer conducted a literary research by gathering some information about the novel and Australian Aboriginal socio-cultural history. The thesis employs Feminist Approach in its analysis. This thesis also applies some theories on feminism, theories on character and characterization, theories on post-colonial study and theories on culture and society in literature. Those theories are applied in this thesis in order to aid the author understand about Aboriginal women’s role in Australia from each of the main characters and what happened towards the role through three different times of pre-colonialism, colonialism and post-colonialism in Australia.
The answer to the first problem is that each of the five main characters represents different Australian Aboriginal women’s role in social, economic, religious and marriage life and in parenting. The second is that within the white colonialism, which provokes cultural infiltration towards the Aboriginal culture and changes the Aboriginal society, the Aboriginal women’s role in Australia has experienced changing; they have lost many of their individual and social rights as a woman and as a human being and their role in every aspect of life has mostly degraded.
This study finds out that the Aboriginal women have their role changed rapidly and significantly during the white men colonialism, and, unfortunately, most of the changing is negative and degrading.
ABSTRAK
PAULINA DIAN M. The Changing of Aboriginal Women’s Role in Australia as
Represented by the Five Main Characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the
Sun. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma
University, 2008.Women of the Sun , novel yang ditulis oleh Hyllus Maris dan Sonia Borg,
adalah obyek dari studi ini. Di dalam novel yang terdiri dari 175 halaman ini, Maris and Borg mencoba untuk meraih masyarakat Australia dan memaparkan kisah kaum Aborigin, terutama tentang para perempuan Aborigin dan tentang hal yang harus mereka alami dan perjuangi selama dan setelah masa kolonial Inggris di Australia.
Studi ini mengupas tentang perubahan yang terjadi pada peranan perempuan Aborigin di Australia. Permasalahan yang harus diselesaikan dalam studi ini adalah: 1) Bagaimana masing-masing dari lima tokoh utama dari Women of the
Sun karya Maris dan Borg, yaitu Towradgi, Alinta, Maydina, Nerida dan Lo-Arna
mencerminkan peranan para perempuan Aborigin Australia? 2) Perubahan apa yang terjadi pada peranan para perempuan Aborigin di Australia, seperti yang telah direpresentasikan dalam lima tokoh utama dari Women of the Sun karya Maris dan Borg?
Untuk menyelesaikan kedua permasalahan tersebut, penulis mengadakan penelitian literatur dengan cara mengumpulkan informasi mengenai novel tersebut dan mengenai sejarah sosial budaya masyarakat Aborigin. Studi ini menerapkan pendekatan feminis dalam analisisnya. Selain itu, studi ini juga menerapkan teori feminisme, teori karakter dan karakterisasi, teori studi post-kolonial, serta teori mengenai masyarakat dan budaya dalam literatur. Penggunaan teori tersebut pada studi ini bertujuan untuk membantu penulis dalam memahami peranan perempuan Aborigin di Australia dari tiap-tiap karakter utama dan apa yang terjadi terhadap peranan tersebut selama masa pre-kolonial, konial, dan post-kolonial di Australia.
Jawaban untuk permasalahan pertama adalah bahwa setiap karakter utama mencerminkan berbagai peranan perempuan Aborigin yang berbeda dalam kehidupan sosial, ekonomi, agama, dan keluarga. Jawaban untuk permasalahan kedua adalah bahwa di dalam era klonial bangsa kulit putih, yang memicu infiltrasi budaya dalam kebudayaan Aborigin dan mengubah masyarakat Aborigin, peranan perempuan Aborigin Australia telah mengalami perubahan; mereka kehilangan sebagian besar dari hak sosial dan individual mereka dan peranan mereka mengalami penurunan nilai.
Studi ini menemukan bahwa perempuan Aborigin mendapati peranan mereka berubah dengan cepat dan signifikan selama masa kolonial bangsa kulit putih dan, sayangnya, sebagian besar dari perubahan tersebut adalah perubahan yang buruk.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Literature is a work of written art. It can be formed as poetry, prose, drama,
short story, novel, etc. Reading a work of literature can bring enjoyment, and the ecstasy of literary works will carry our emotion away as if we considered ourselves as one of the characters. Most people shed tears when they read romantic love story; giggle, read hilarious and funny novel; and gnash their teeth, read the invasion and the discrimination in a story such as Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun.
Besides enriching our emotion, literary works can also enrich our knowledge. In fact, they can even influence our point of view towards our belief, culture, ideology, principle, etc. William’s statement in Response to Literature (1965: 7) supports the writer’s opinion.
Literature gives us a special knowledge of life that is not identical with that of real experience but provides a profitable supplement. In terms of intellectual and critical values, it is actually possible for a well-read person to make nature of life without having a great deal of experience.
Wellek adds that it is not only the readers that can get benefit from literary works, but the writers can too. The writers can share their experiences and ideas with the readers in literature (1956: 36). There are a lot of authors that speech their desire or ideology thorough their works so they can be easily accepted and understood, even followed by anyone reading them.
This sharing of ideology throughout literary works is somehow not difficult to do because literary works in so many ways are the representation, the reflection of human real life. Through literary works, authors pour their vision about how they see the reality of human situations, problems, feelings and interactions (1956: 96). The readers often find the stories told in literary works, whether the depiction of the characters traits or the incidents happening to them and the society they are into, similar to what they have been facing and experiencing in their real life, whether as an individual or as part of a society.
Hyllus Maris and Sonia Borg wrote their novel based on the reality of human story as well, which in this case is the experience of the Australian Aboriginal females, about what they have been undergoing in their society through decades. Their novel, Women of the Sun, first published in 1985, tells us about the life of five different Aboriginal female characters in Australian continent from different eras, showing how the Australian Aboriginal society has been changing from time to time, before and after the white men invasion.
As Estelle B. Freedman stated in No Turning Back: the History of Feminism
and the Future of Women (2003: 1-3), women and their roles are one of the issues
that are widely discussed now and then, and there have been slow but significant changes related to the development of this issue that occur through centuries in every society in all nations in the world. each society she lives in and concerning that each society has got different cultures and been experiencing different changes too, she then must have been going through different development related to her roles in her society. Thus, each society must have got its own different issues on women and its own history about the changing of women’s role that takes place in it for ages (2003: 9).
Women of the Sun vividly gives depictions of the pain as well as the pride of
the five female main characters in struggling for their life and their identity, not only as an Aborigine, but also as a woman. Reading the novel, women somehow hold quite important role in the Aboriginal society and are not positioned under men. As native Aboriginal born, women are considered to have the natural sense about the culture and the love and respect of nature, which is essential in their culture. Moreover, the novel shows that it is important, even almost obligatory for them to pass on their culture, their belief towards the nature and their native identity to their children, as well as the pride of being born as an Aboriginal. A female in Aboriginal tribe has significant role since she is the one that will carry on the knowledge to their descendants. Yet, the novel also depicts some obstacles they are forced to face from the prejudice against both the Aborigine and women that comes from the patriarchal society they live in at that time, during and after the first invasion of the white men. Thus, as Aboriginal women, their role in the society seems to have undergone significant changes.
The novel, telling about the bitter life experiences of the five different Aboriginal women struggle in it, as if trying to give in picture to the readers about how Aboriginal women’s role in Australian Aboriginal society have been through changing. Therefore, the writer is challenged to reveal Aboriginal women’s role and how the changing they have been gone through in the Australian Aboriginal society as represented by the story of the five main characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun .
B. Problem Formulation
In this analysis, the writer has two problems as follows: 1. How does each of the five main characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the
Sun that are Towradgi, Alinta, Maydina, Nerida and Lo-Arna reflect the
Australian Aboriginal women’s role? 2. What kind of changing happens to the Aboriginal women’s role in Australia, as represented in the five main characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun?
C. Objective of the Study
In this study, the writer will observe the story of the five Australian Aboriginal female main characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun that are Towradgi, Alinta, Maydina, Nerida and Lo-Arna to learn how Australian Aboriginal women’s role is before understanding how the changing of Aboriginal women’s role that takes place in Australia is.
The purpose of the study is, first, to reveal how each of the five main characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun, as seen from the beginning up to the end, gives depiction of Australian Aboriginal women’s role. The second is to reveal the changing of Aboriginal women’s role in Australia, as represented by the depiction of Australian Aboriginal women’s role that is reflected in the five main characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun.
D. Definition of Terms
To make this thesis easier for the readers to comprehend, here is a brief explanation of the terms that will be used.
1. Aboriginal According to Hornby’s Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current
English (1987: 2), the term Aboriginal is an adjective form of a word to entitle race of
people that is known to inhabit a region from the earliest times, ever since the region was first known.
2. Australian Aboriginal Understanding the term Aboriginal as explained earlier above, the term
Australian Aboriginal then is an adjective form of a word to entitle a race of people that is known to inhabit Australian region. In other words, Australian Aboriginal is the adjective term that refers to the first, or the earliest inhabitant of Australian region.
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies The story of Women of the Sun, that was originally a television series, became famous because it lifted up the Aboriginal discrimination issue in Australia. Alinta, the Flame had best represented the first fight of the Aborigines against the
white people who invaded their homeland. Yogi Yanuarto, in his undergraduate thesis Post-Colonialist Characters in Maris' and Borg's Women of the Sun, stated that the novel tried to represent the post-colonialism thorough its major characters that are both Aborigine and women. These two factors –being an Aborigine and being a woman– were both the object of colonialism; The Aborigine was discriminated under the colonialism of the white people in their own land and women were marginalized under the colonialism of the patriarchal society wherever they were (2005: 5).
Related to what Yanuarto remarks in his study, there are some impacts brought by the colonialism of the white men in Australia. Understanding this, the writer is challenged to reveal the impact brought by the colonialism towards one aspect of the Australian Aboriginal society, which is the Australian Aboriginal women’s role as represented in the five Australian Aboriginal female main characters
B. Review of Related Theories
The theories to be reviewed here are those that are related to the character and characterization, the post-colonialism, society in literature, culture and feminism.
They are: 1.
Character There are two meanings of character: character as a figure in a literary work, for example, in this novel there are Towradgi, Alinta, Maydina, Nerida, and Lo-Arna; and character as personality, which is the mental and moral qualities of a figure, as when we say that X’s character is strong, or weak, or immoral, or whatever (Barnet, Berman, and Burto, 1988: 71).
Kenney divides characters into two categories that are simple characters and complex characters. The simple characters generally have just one dominant trait or at most very few traits in clear and simple relationship to one another. Simple characters often seem less representation of human personality since there is only one particular attitude or obsession belonging to this type of character. On the other hand, complex characters are usually more like human beings than simple characters since we can see all sides of these characters (1998: 27).
Forster defines that characters can be divided into flat characters and round characters. Flat characters are constructed round a single idea or quality. One great advantage of flat characters is that they are easily recognized whenever they come in, recognized by the readers’ emotional eye, not by the visual eye which merely states remember them afterwards. Round characters tend to have more than one trait or qualities. They are more complex and cannot be easily recognized. The readers cannot remember the characters easily because they posses many attitudes and behaviors like a real human being (1977: 45-47).
Characters, as figures in a literary work, are divided into two, namely main or major characters and minor characters (Abrams, 1981: 20). A story usually has a character who is the subject of the story. However, not all stories have one main character only. Stanton remarks that main character is the one that is relevant to every event in the story that causes some significant changes in him or her and gives effect to the story development (1965: 17). It means that a story may have more than one main character if the characters are involved in every event in the story and hold important role in developing the story and also their own character development.
2. Characterization
Characterization is an important part in creating a literary work because it is a way to portray characters in the story. Baldick (1990: 34) defines characterization as a representation of person so that they exist for the readers as lifelike. The characterization may include direct methods, which give the attribution of qualities in description or commentary, and indirect (or dramatic) methods that invite readers to infer qualities from characters’ actions, speeches, or appearances.
If the author does not give such clues or descriptions, we still can perceive traits of a character by considering these following points: a.
What the character says. But, be careful not to forget that the characters may be hypocritical or may be self-deceived. We will have to detect this from the context.
b.
What the character does.
c.
What other characters (including the narrator of the story) say about the character. Those statements may be accurate or may be biased in one way or another.
d.
What other characters do (others may illuminate the figure that we are writing about in the work, figures that do or do not engage in actions resembling the actions of our figure). The other characters’ action may help to indicate what the character could do but does not.
Abrams (1981: 21) gives two broad distinctions of alternative methods for “characterizing” the person as a narrative. Those are showing and telling. First, in showing, the authors merely present their characters talking and acting. This leaves the readers to infer what motives and dispositions lay behind what they say and do. In other words, “in showing” the readers must help themselves to interpret the significance of the characters’ speech and action in the story. Second, in telling, the authors themselves describe and often evaluate the motives and the dispositional qualities of the characters. It will make the readers easily catch the motives and dispositions of the characters from the lines the authors give in the story.
3. Post-colonialism
Stephen Slemon, in Kambysellis’ Post-colonialism: The Unconscious
Changing of a Culture , remarks the term post-colonialism as “the need, in nations or
groups which have been victims of imperialism, to achieve an identity uncontaminated by universalistic of Eurocentric concept and images” (http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/landow/post/poldicourse/mallya1.html).
Post-colonialism refers on the colonial influences, from the arrival until, and even after the department of the colonist. It affects not only in the time which the colonist no longer exist.
Leela Gandhi adds that: …despite its interdisciplinary concerns, the field of post-colonialism studies is marked by a preponderant focus upon “post-colonial literature” … to those literatures which have accompanied the projection and decline of British imperialism… (1998: 141).
Ashcroft, in The Empire Writes Back, says that post-colonial literature: …has in common beyond their special and distinctive regional characteristics … emerged in their present form out of the experience of colonializaton and asserted themselves by foregrounding the tension with the imperial power, and by emphasizing their differences from the assumption of the imperial center… (1989: 2). Post-colonial literature describes the experiences set in the context of societies that represent their ethnic groups. The societies have to deal with the problems that emerge as the consequences of the existence of colonialism. It is responsive to the historical condition of suppression, that is the condition when the indigenous come into contact with the colonist, not only their beliefs and customs, but also all aspects which embody the culture of both sides.
4. Society in Literature A primary assumption about a novel is that it will report the actions of individual characters with sufficient and abundant details to create an illusion of authenticity when related to the material facts of the everyday world. That is why the one word most often used to describe a novel is the word “realistic” (Rohberger, 1971: 29).
A novel is a literary work which is created as the means of the authors’ expression in responding to the contemporary experiences they undergo in their own time. It expresses the essence or abridgement of those social processes the authors have viewed through their own eyes (Brooks, 1952: 13).
As authors are member of society, their work can be studied as a social document. Authors depict their society to speak truth about men and women are, individually or communally, and what they might be (Langland, 1984: 221).
Wellek and Warren support this statement, saying “literature is not merely a reflection of social process, but the essence, abridgement, and summary of all history” (1963: 95). Literature cannot only be seen as a social document, but it significantly has more values that the history implies in the literary work.
5. Culture E.B. Tylor in Murray’s Introductory Sociology defines culture as the complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, moral, law, custom, habit generation (1946: 163-164). Those become foundation of what man as a member of a society must and must not do. In other words, they become the group expectation.
Thus, the member of the same group expects that other members will act in a certain way toward themselves under certain prescribed circumstances (Merril, 1953: 28).
The expectation in one group may be different from the expectation in the other group.
Man may assume that his culture is better than other since his culture has been stretching over generations and has become part of his life. He may judge the other culture subjectively. Murray states that the lack of objectivity leads to the assumption that a culture is superior to other cultures which is viewed with suspicion and distrust. Such attitude is known as ethnocentrism (1946: 165).
Hunt states that when two different cultures come into contact, they will collide, which then will come into conflict. The judgments of values of religions, social life, and customs will be made in the perspective of values implanted in one’s own society. In short, the judgment is made subjectively. The conflict when two cultures collide is not always a physical conflict (1955: 31-32).
6. Feminism
Estelle B. Fredman in her book No Turning Back defined feminism as: …a belief that women and men are inherently of equal worth. Because most societies privilege men as a group, social movements are necessary to achieve equality between women and men, with the understanding that gender always intersects with other social hierarchies.
While women may participate in a variety of social movement, they cannot be feminist, unless they explicitly address justice for women as a primary concern, in a patriarchal society. Thus, human rights or nationalist movements that insist on women's human rights and women's full citizenship may be feminist, while those that overlook or affirm patriarchal authority cannot.
Referred to Estelle argument, the idea of feminism, then, took place when there is a person or event that (try to) defend the right of women as human being equal to men, speak aloud for women’s equal competence to men's in social activities or movements and also their ability to gain a better life and opportunity to have a better career, and proudly declare that it is the justice for women that becomes their primary concern.
As implied from Estelle argument, the roles that feminists (try to) pursue for equality are those related to activities or movements in gaining a better life, both socially and individually, such as politic, education, economy, marriage and parenting.
However, as every women movement agrees to that idea of feminism, there are some women movements who believe that there are more obstacles to face to reach women’s rights in some society. Black, non-Anglo and Third World feminists argued against the idea that gender was necessarily the most fundamental oppression.
They proclaimed that race and ethnicity, racism and colonialism were at least as important in shaping women's lives.
White Western feminism was criticized for attempting to universalize the countries, and for failing to engage with questions of racism. Race is gendered, and gender is raced. Sexism and racism overlap and intersect, and this intersection is now the subject of a rich and fertile feminist literature (http://www.xyonline.net/racism.shtml).
Michael Kimmel in Men, masculinities and social theory describes a confrontation in a feminist seminar between a white woman and a black woman, over whether their similarities as women were greater than their racial differences:
"The white woman asserted that the fact that they were both women bonded them, despite racial differences. They shared a common oppression as women, and were both 'sisters under the skin'. The black woman disagreed. "'When you wake up in the morning and look in the mirror, what do you see?' she asked. "'I see a woman', replied the white woman hopefully. "'That's precisely the problem', replied the black woman. 'I see a black woman. For me race is visible every minute of every day, because it is how I am not privileged in this culture. Race is invisible to you which is why our alliance will always feel false and strained to me.'" (http://www.xyonline.net/racism.shtml).
At the simplest level, we must recognize that women of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds have different experiences of gender diversion. 'Being a woman' means different things in different cultures and among different ethnic groups.
In 1990, New South Wales held its first Aboriginal Women's Conference. The agenda was set by Aboriginal women from all over New South Wales and over 400 Aboriginal women participated in the conference. The conference addressed a number of issues of concern to Aboriginal women such as housing, education and For over 2000 generations our people have stood on this land. As women we had our own special relationship with the land. Whilst we had the same status as men, we still remained sacred and separate. We had rights as individuals. We were able to exercise well-defined rights of ownership of the inherited regions of our tribal territories. Inheritance was through the mother's side. We were recognized as being economically productive. Our work is valued because of our role as mothers and food gatherers. Women's labor provided consistent food for the whole group. We had our own magic. We had our own religion. We had our own rituals. We had our own ceremonies and corroborees. All to which men had no access (NSW Women's Coordination Unit, 1991: 8). Aboriginal women face both racism and sexism. They do not always like the idea of being classed as a feminist because they feel that to be this they have to leave their men behind or leave their community, rather than recognizing the rights of women as individuals. Before making judgments, it must be remembered that Aboriginal women have additional barriers which non-Aboriginal women do not have to face, stemming from a drastic and rapid change in lifestyle, changed roles and responsibilities and a shift in power structures within communities (http://www.schoolnet.ca/Aboriginal/issues/women-e.html).
It was, and continues to be, easiest for the new white population that invade the land of Australia to force their own sexist and racist value system upon the indigenous people of Australia. White women had their "place" determined by white men. The assumption was that Aboriginal women would have the same, if not lower, social position. The new population simply never considered that Aboriginal society placed equal importance on all members of society. As a result, Aboriginal women were denied a place in the new patriarchal society of white politics, power and
Aboriginal women have suffered in silence for generations against a backdrop of race, class and gender in Australian history, and yet ironically, the women movement in Australia has increased momentum and achieved many milestones for Australian women. So, as non-Aboriginal women have been organizing and fighting for women’s rights, the positioning of Aboriginal women has remained stagnant.
The absence of Aboriginal voice in Australian feminism has a distinct, historical context. According to Aboriginal writer, Bronwyn Lea Fredericks, gender, in Australia, as elsewhere, is lived through racism, sexism, and class, and that Aboriginal women have remained on the margins of feminist debates. Aboriginal women generally find little comfort or support from the non-Aboriginal women in Australia who are active participants in the marginalization and the denial of human, civil, political, legal, sexual and Indigenous rights of Aboriginal women. Fredericks states “their attitudes, like male attitudes, were and are forged within different race, class, sex, colonialist, and neo-colonialist practices.” The Australian Women’s Movement has not questioned its position of ‘whiteness’ and how this position has impacted the discourse and knowledge of the Australian Women’s Movement and how it has affected the Aboriginal women (http://www.newtopiamagazine.net/content/issue18/oped/Aboriginal.php).
Aboriginal women find it hard to embrace the collective feminism in Australia since non-Aboriginal women argue for something which Aboriginal women of. It is only when non-Aboriginal women in Australia recognize and deeply understand how race and class shape gender in Australia with concerted effort, and with passionate intent that collective feminism will have a foot to stand on (http://www.awid.org/go.php?stid=1454).
C. Review of Aboriginal Socio-historical Background in Australia
The Australian Aborigines are the native of Australia that first inhabited the continent. As referred in An Introduction to Aboriginal Society, some anthropologists affirm that the firsts of the Aborigines entered the northern Australia and spread throughout the continent. However, there are some who argue that they first settled the eastern seaboard before settled the inlands later on. There are also different arguments about when the firsts of the Aborigines entered Australia, but the latest study shows that the first arrivals approximately took place more than 40.000 years ago. Australia anthropologists state that the history of the Aboriginal first inhabitant in the continent is not quite clear since the Aborigines consist of many different tribes that spread in almost every part of the continent, and there are some, which seem to have different culture (Edwards, 2005: 10-15).
However, the diversity of Aboriginal tribes and culture was unified in one belief system, which was called as The Dreaming (Edwards, 2005: 16). The Dreaming was the center of all Aboriginal socio-cultural life that based their social hierarchy, set of laws, traditions, rituals, and the way of daily living. In The with the nature since all human were considered to be part of the nature as well as the nature was part of human themselves.
This concept of harmony between humankind and the nature also meant that human had no ownership of the land as part of the nature. Humankind was considered to be attached to the land in the same way as how the animals and the plants were being part of the land. In keeping the harmony with the nature, the Aborigines foraged and hunted for food and water in adequate amount, enough only to provide food for the whole clan in one day or two. They especially left sufficient water supply for animals, even some water sites were sacred and were forbidden to use, to keep the balance of the nature and other living creatures (http://www.janesoceania.com/australian_Aboriginal_anthropology1/index1.htm).
As the white men’s first arrival in the Australian continent in 1788 and moved inland furthermore, the Aborigines began to lose their hunting grounds, their watering holes, and in fact their source of life. To the Aborigines, to whom the land was part of their life and the future of their group, land was not something to be bought and sold - it was not a commodity for exchange. But, the white men believed that land could not only be bought and sold, but also taken to be exploited by productive agriculture, and that those who carried out this obligation had some kind of "moral right" to the land. They assumed that their ways were superior to those of the Aboriginals, and that people who did not try to "improve" the land of their birth by agriculture were not only inferior beings, but also deserved to have their country
The white men, especially the Christians, also believed that the Aborigines were practicing satanic cult with all their totems, their rituals, and their dancing. The Aborigines were forced to throw away their own culture and identity; their names were changed into Christian names and they were forbidden to use their old native names, even to speak in their mother tongue (http://www.janesoceania.com/australian_Aboriginal_anthropology/index1.htm).
The Aborigines were considered to be inferior beings under the whites, especially the Aboriginal women who were treated no more than slave and sex object and were underestimated for their competency in nursing their own children. The white men then separated the Aboriginal children from their parents and put them into different institution of the youth Aborigines as to “civilize” those children from the earliest age, away from their incompetent, “bad-influenced” parents, and to give them proper training so they would be “useful” in the society. The girls were taught the domestic duties and the boys were taught the laboring skill, especially skills needed for cattle and farming (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2242/is_1655_283/ai_112095012).
Within more than two centuries after the white men’s arrival, there were wars between the Aborigines and the new comers. There were massacres on both sides, mostly on the Aborigines’ during that period. The settlers, having their cattle stolen by the hungry Aborigines, often justified themselves to kill any of the Aborigines in sight, even children. Even, in 1830 until 1832, there was money reward And for those and many other reasons, the Aborigines took revenge and they would soon be killed back by the white men also for revenge, and on and on that circle of revenge went.
The government then tried to cope with the furious conflicts and tried to gain control of the Aborigines by pointing a Protector of the Aborigines. They also stated policy that killing was a crime for both the settlers and the Aborigines and that both parties would be trialed and sent to jail committing it. However, that new policy did not work properly since the trial was held by the white government and had tendency to let loosen the whites than the Aborigines. And the massacres followed it were the new kind of the law based ones since the killing were then mostly done by the police officers. The condition suffered by the Aborigines was so terrible, that the Anglican Minister Reverend E. Gribble stated that the natives in Australia were the worst treated in the world (http://www.natsiew.nexus.edu.au/chronology/info_fset.html).
That condition continued on to the next century, even after Australian was declared independent in 1901. However, the supports stood for the Aborigines’ right had been continuing to come more and the Aborigines started to fight without violence. There were strikes and protests from the Aborigines for a better opportunity in job, education, and housing and, most importantly, the admittance of secured national citizenship and equal status for Aborigines. Citizenship rights for all Aborigines were then recognized following a referendum on the issue in 1967, but the
(http://www.acn.net.au/articles/australianhistory/).
D. Theoretical Framework
There are two problems in the previous chapter in order to find the idea of feminism in the Aboriginal culture. The first problem that questions how the five main characters from the beginning up to the end of the novel represents Australian Aboriginal women’s role will be answered by applying the theory of character and characterization, theory of culture, theory of society in literature and feminism. The findings then will lead the writer to learn about the role of Australian Aboriginal women in their society, from the beginning up to the end of the novel, which also means from before the white men invasion up to the time of the post-colonialism of the white men in Australia. As to answer the second problem, that questions the changing of Australian Aboriginal women’s role, the writer will organize the findings of the first problem and then analyze them with the theory of post-colonialism, before dividing them into three eras as represented in the novel. These three eras are the era before the colonialism of the white men, the era during the colonialism of the white men, and the era after the colonialism of the white men. Thus, the writer will be able to see the changes of the Aboriginal women’s role that took place in Australia.
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study Women of the Sun , the novel used in this study, is written by Hyllus Maris
and Sonia Borg in 1982, who, in the afterwards of the novel, remarks it as a permanent reprint of its original television mini-series in 1980s to preserve the growing attention towards the Aboriginal issues brought up in it. The original television mini-series was a booming in Australia at that time, that it had received several national and international awards, bringing up the condition of the Australian Aborigines that had to face discrimination and racial prejudice and also the struggle of Australian Aborigines ever since the white men had invaded their homeland.
The writer uses the first edition of the novel, printed in 1985 by Penguin Books, Australia. In their novel consisting of 175 pages, the authors present the story in five chapters, in which each chapter tells the story about each of five different Australian Aboriginal female main characters, and how they live and struggle for their native identity during the colonialism in Australia. Each of these Australian Aboriginal female main characters lives in each of five different eras of the white men colonialism, started from the first time of the white men invasion in the Australian continent in 1700s, continued to the time during the white men story is told from the third man point of view in a serious, dramatic way that attracts the sympathy and empathy to the characters and the issues brought up by the novel.
B. Approach of the Study
The approach used in this study is feminist approach. As stated in A
Handbook of Critical Approach , one of the goals of feminist approach is to expose