The Politics of Gender Representation in Charles Bukowski’s Poetry: Between Ambivalence and Misogyny

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-44
Author(s):  
Chaymae Achami
Keyword(s):  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Gender Politics ◽  
Gender Representation ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
Literary Works ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Realistic Approach ◽  
Positive Representations ◽  
Representations Of Women

The German poet and novelist Charles Bukowski has always been surrounded with controversy throughout his life. However, interestingly, it is his politics of gender representation that mostly triggers feminists and researchers together to condemn him for being misogynist, showcasing a degrading image of female characters in his prose writings. The latter genre is seemingly insufficient to directly accuse Bukowski and his literary works of misogyny. While some of his novels attest to a demeaning yet controversial representation of women, his poetry offers a nuanced version wherein heterogeneous portrayal of women becomes prevalent and therefore allowing the space for readers to encounter poems with an amalgamation of positive representations of women—being independent and intellectual. Because the misogynistic representation in Bukowski’s works is open to various interpretations, rushing into a compilation of hateful judgments concerning the author himself lacks justification and argument. In line with this background, the present paper discusses the limitations of the conclusions drawn with regard to Bukowski’s gender politics, arguing that there is a space in-between worth exploring in his literary works. Through a close reading method of textual analysis, the paper concentrates on selected poems from Bukowski’s collection Love is a Dog from Hell (1977) in order to contrast the positive and negative depiction of women. The paper, in other words, strives to bring into question the extent to which misogyny and ambivalence take roles in Bukowski’s gender representation of the female characters. The analysis undertaken has revealed significant results, in which Bukowski’s poetry comes to expose a more ambivalent and realistic approach towards gender—a reading which is highly needed in order to consider the different perspectives and possible interpretations of an author’s work before limiting it, or the author in person, to a set of stereotypical judgment.

scholarly journals Female agency in the films of Jean Renoir

2021 ◽  
pp. 095715582110129
Author(s):  
Barry Nevin
Keyword(s):  
Gender Relations ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
Female Identity ◽  
Gender Representation ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
Female Agency ◽  
Close Analysis ◽  
Male Power ◽  
Jean Renoir ◽  
The Relationship

Although Jean Renoir’s oeuvre has been extensively debated since the emergence of the politique des auteurs in the pages of Cahiers du cinéma, his representation of gender relations has sustained less discussion than his signature formal style. This article posits that Renoir’s films provide a valuable means of identifying how gender, specifically female identity, affects temporal trajectories in cinema. First, it illustrates Gilles Deleuze’s understanding of crystallisation and situates it in relation to current scholarship on gender representation in the director’s work. Second, it conducts a close analysis of the relationship between female identity and crystallisation through a close analysis of the central female characters of La Règle du jeu (1939) and The Golden Coach (1952). This article ultimately argues that whether these characters belong to an upper-or lower-class stratum, they are subordinated to male power, which plays a determining role in the range of potential futures available to them.

HATIMU AISYAH KARYA ZURINAH HASSAN MENERUSI PERSPEKTIF ELAINE SHOWALTER MODEL BAHASA

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-62
Author(s):  
NUR ZALIKHA MAT RADZI ◽  
NASIRIN ABDILLAH ◽  
DAENG HALIZA DAENG JAMAL
Keyword(s):  
Language Model ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
Language Models ◽  
Symbolic Language ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
Literary Works ◽  
The Past ◽  
Historical Practices

Hatimu Aisyah karya Sasterawan Negara ke-13 iaitu - Zurinah Hassan, yang juga penerima Anugerah Hadiah Penulis Asia Tenggara (SEA Write Award) pada tahun 2004. Rentetan kejayaan beliau, telah menjadi tumpuan para pengkaji untuk meneliti aspek mengenai pengarangan wanita. Hatimu Aisyah merupakan novel pertama dihasilkan oleh Zurinah Hassan yang menekankan mengenai amalan adat resam zaman terdahulu sehingga ditelan arus pemodenan zaman. Novel Hatimu Aisyah mengetengahkan gambaran wanita yang mengutamakan adat dalam konteks perjalanan hidup bermasyarakat. Kajian terhadap karya Zurinah Hassan ini, bersandarkan kepada Model Bahasa Gagasan Elaine Showalter dari perspektif ginokritik untuk melihat watak-watak wanita. Antara Perbincangan dalam kajian ini adalah berfokuskan kepada simbolik bahasa dan bahasa sebagai ekspresi kesedaran wanita. Hasil dapatan keseluruhan kajian menunjukkan bahawa Zurinah Hassan menggunakan bahasa yang bersesuaian dengan gagasan bahasa daripada Elaine Showalter tetapi agak kurang menyerlah. Hal ini disebabkan keterbatasan penggunaan bahasa selaras dengan sosiobudaya masyarakat Melayu. Penemuan kajian ini dalam model bahasa wanita dapat dilihat menerusi simbolik bahasa dan bahasa sebagai ekspresi kesedaran wanita. Hasil manfaat dan kepentingan diperolehi masa hadapan dapat dilihat bahawa golongan wanita menzahirkan protes dan kritikan menerusi corak penulisan karya mereka meskipun masih dalam keadaan terkawal.   Hatimu Aisyah the 13th National literary works, namely-Zurinah Hassan, who is also the recipient of the Southeast Asian Writer award (SEA Write Award) in 2004. His success string has been the focus of researchers to examine the aspects of women's writings. Hatimu Aisyah is the first novel to be produced by Zurinah Hassan that emphasizes on the historical practices of the past, having swallowed the current modernization of the day. The Hatimu Aisyah Novel highlights the portrayal of women who are customcentric in the context of the communities life. Studies on Zurinah Hassan's work are based on the language Model of Elaine Showalter from the perspective of Ginokritik to see the female characters. Among the discussions in this study are focused on symbolic language and language as a expression of women's awareness. The overall findings of the study showed that Zurinah Hassan used a language that fits the language idea of Elaine Showalter but was somewhat less striking. This is due to the limitations of usage in line with the Malay social. The findings of this study in female language models can be seen through the symbolic language and language in the expression of women's awareness. The results of the benefits and interests gained future can be seen that women are in their protest and criticism through their work writing patterns despite being controlled.

scholarly journals IDENTITAS DIASPORIS TIGA GENERASI PEREMPUAN CINA DALAM ONLY A GIRL KARYA LIAN GOUW (Diasporic Identity of Three Generations of Chinese Females in Only A Girl Written by Lian Gouw)

ATAVISME ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-31
Author(s):  
Ratna Asmarani
Keyword(s):  
Literary Analysis ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
Great Role ◽  
Two Cultures ◽  
Three Generations ◽  
Library Research ◽  
Diasporic Identity ◽  
The Social ◽  
Family House

Identity is crucial in a person’s life. Diasporic identity is much more complicated because it involves at least two cultures. The focus of this paper is to analyze the diasporic identity of three generations of diasporic Chinese females as represented in Lian Gouw’s novel entitled Only a Girl. The data and supporting concepts are compiled using library research and close reading. The qualitative analysis is used to support the contextual literary analysis combining the intrinsic aspect focusing on the female characters and the extrinsic aspects concerning diaspora and identity. The results shows that each Chinese female character has tried to construct her own diasporic identity. However, the social, cultural, political, educational, and economic contexts play a great role in the struggles to construct the diasporic identity. It can be concluded that the younger the generation, the braver their effort to construct their diasporic identity and the braver their decision to take a distance with the big family house eventhough they have to face stronger and more complicated conflicts to realize and actualize their personal construction of diasporic identity.

scholarly journals A PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE MAIN CHARACTER IN MARSIRAJI THAHIR’S KABAR BUNGA

Lire Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-164
Author(s):  
M Afifulloh
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Aspects ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Main Character ◽  
Psychological Approach ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
Literary Works ◽  
Psychological Analysis ◽  
The Impact

This paper aims to describe the female characters in the novel Kabar Bunga by Marsiraji Thahir, the conflicts and its causes, and the impact of the conflicts experienced by women in the novel Kabar Bunga by Marsiraji Thahir. This novel is examined by a psychological approach in literature, a literary approach that emphasizes the psychological aspects of the types and laws of psychology that can be applied to literary works. The data is qualitative since the purpose of this research is to explain or describe the phenomena of the researches deeply. The data were obtained by categorizing all the related dialogues in the story, then psychologically analyzed. Triangulation was used to validate the data.  After finishing all the steps of analyzing data, the interpretations were made based on the data and the theory. The results of the research were, psychologically, the main character in this novel is described as a person who often feels worried, frightened, keeping the reality up, and she is burdened by the problems faced. This portrayal is the representation of Wulan as a woman and woman emotionally and mentally is depicted as a weakness persona without having the ability to solve the problems.

scholarly journals INDIGO DALAM NOVEL SUPERNOVA AKAR KARYA DEE LESTARI: KAJIAN PSIKOLOGI SASTRA

EDU-KATA ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-148
Author(s):  
Erna Rakhmawati
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Text Analysis ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Literary Works ◽  
Analysis Techniques ◽  
Descriptive Research ◽  
Qualitative Descriptive ◽  
The Subject

The background of this research is many indigo events in the community and many indigo literary works. Indigo research in the  “Indigo dalam Novel Supernova Akar Karya Dee Lestari:Tinjauan Psikologi Sastra,” first aims to find the description of the indigo abilities experienced by the characters, secodly to find the causes of indigo experienced by characters, and thirdly to find out the type of indigo experienced by characters in the Supernova Akar. The research includes qualitative descriptive research on data analysis techniques using textual analysis or text analysis. The subject of this study is a character in the Supernova Akar. The result of research that is narated by Dee lestari source are; 1)levitasi, 2) procegnition, 30 psicometri, 4) teleportasi, and 5) clayvoyance. Indigo causes experienced by characters in the Supernova Akar are; 1) a gift from God, 2) from offspring, and from training. The type of indigo experienced by characters in the Supernova Akar are; humanis and artis.

scholarly journals Seen through his eyes: The representation of female characters in Béla Bartok's stage works

New Sound ◽  
2015 ◽  
pp. 39-54
Author(s):  
Mina Božanić
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Studies ◽  
Female Character ◽  
Gender Representation ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
Personal View ◽  
Specific Relationship ◽  
Images Of Women

The question of gender representation in Béla Bartok's (1881-1945) stage works is discussed through the prism of cultural studies, with reference to the intellectual, social and political atmosphere in which the composer shaped his ideas. In this sense, it is provocative to question how the stereotyped images of women influenced/merged with Bartok's personal view on women, or is it, maybe, possible that one intimate conception of female characters, reflected the composer's specific relationship toward women? The treatment of the female character will be shown through the analysis of the plot and key scenes in Bartok's stage work.

The concept of baxt in the bilingual short-story collection glücksmacher - e baxt romani by Samuel Mago and Károly Mágó

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-241
Author(s):  
LORELY FRENCH
Keyword(s):  
Short Story ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Short Story Collection ◽  
Award Winning ◽  
History Of ◽  
Story Collection

This article presents a close reading of the Romani characters and their actions in five stories by Viennese Romani writer and activist Samuel Mago and in two stories by his brother, Hungarian award-winning journalist Károly Mágó, in their bilingual Romani and German collection glücksmacher - e baxt romani. Brief biographies and an outline of the history of Roma and antiziganism in Austria provide background to textual analysis that focuses on how characters in the stories engender baxt/“Glück,” which means both happiness and luck. This dual meaning has inspired philosophical, psychological, economic, and anthropological studies, but literary scholars have rarely examined the concept in texts by Roma. For the protagonists in the brothers’ stories, happiness and luck become based less on monetary fortunes than on other means to live and survive in dark times of persecution and discrimination. The characters’ decisions unveil perceptions of baxt that rely largely on acquiring food, preserving and passing down family heirlooms, receiving an education, and freeing oneself and one’s family from persecution.

Creating Gendered Images of the Soldier Figure in Literary Works

2019 ◽  
pp. 97-120
Author(s):  
Yan Xu
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Military Academy ◽  
Literary Works ◽  
Social Sphere ◽  
Participation Of Women ◽  
Female Soldier

The fourth chapter operates as a deviation from the previous chapter by looking at a literary perspective of the soldier image through works by writers with direct army or combat experiences. Moreover, this chapter also aims to examine how these writers managed to assert their own influence as social critics, to achieve personal independence, and to advocate for women’s political participation. Xu offers a close reading of three different literary works, including one by a female soldier who had studied at Whampoa Military Academy, in order to critically inspect the gendered images of soldiers and advocate for the participation of women within the political and social sphere of the time.

Difficult Women: Changing Representations of Female Characters in Contemporary Television Series

2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-129
Author(s):  
Svenja Hohenstein ◽  
Katharina Thalmann
Keyword(s):  
Female Characters ◽  
Television Series ◽  
Female Representation ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Feminist Discourse ◽  
Tv Shows ◽  
Representations Of Women

Abstract Starting out with a brief overview of recent TV series that feature complex and complicated female characters – or, as we call them, ‘difficult women’ – this introduction investigates the changing manner in which women have been represented on TV in previous decades. Demonstrating that especially TV shows of the 2010s undermine and work against traditional and stereotypical portrayals of women on TV and instead establish feminist discourses, we argue that this time period can be defined as a pivotal moment with regard to changing representations of women on TV. Using Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black as an example, we also show that TV series that feature difficult women make use of the very techniques and conventions of what Jason Mittell has described as ‘Complex TV’ in order to consciously engage with questions of female representation on TV and to create a feminist discourse that works against sexist tropes and stereotypes.

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