Abstrak Artikel ini membahas dua cerita pendek, yakni Hair Jewellery karya Margaret Atwood dan The Blush karya Elizabeth Taylor. Kedua cerpen menunjukkan bagaimana tokoh perempuan menegosiasi dan mengupayakan subjektivitasnya dalam suatu konteks kultural dan sosial tertentu. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menunjukkan bagaimana subjektivitas perempuan ditampilkan melalui deskripsi fisik tokoh utama, perilaku serta pandangan tokoh tersebut terhadap dirinya, serta bagaimana tokoh mempersepsi tubuh dalam membentuk subjektivitasnya di dalam konteks budaya yang berkelindan. Dengan berfokus pada isu tubuh dan penubuhan para tokoh perempuan, isu kelas, relasi personal para tokoh perempuan, serta bagaimana mereka melakukan perlintasan yang terus-menerus antara ranah domestik dan publik, artikel ini berargumentasi bahwa kedua cerpen menampilkan tokoh perempuan yang berusaha merangkul dan membangun subjektivitas perempuan yang feminin dan feminis. Kedua cerpen menampilkan berbagai bentuk subjektivitas yang tidak ajek dan senantiasa berproses. Subjektivitas juga digambarkan berimplikasi kepatuhan, penolakan, dan transgresi terhadap norma gender. Kata kunci: cerpen, perempuan, subjektivitas, Elizabeth Taylor, Margaret Atwood Abstract This article examines two short stories, namely Hair Jewellery by Margaret Atwood and The Blush by Elizabeth Taylor. The two stories show how the female characters negotiate and develop their subjectivities within a certain cultural and social context. The article aims to elaborate on how woman’s subjectivity is presented through the physical descriptions of the main characters, their attitude and behavior toward themselves, and how their perception of how their body contributes to the formation of their subjectivity within a cultural and social context. By focusing on the issues of woman’s body and embodiment, the female characters’ personal relations, and the continuous traversion between domestic and public spheres, the article argues that both stories present women who strive to embrace and develop feminine and feminist woman’s subjectivity. Both stories present a varied forms of subjectivity, all of which is not fixed and is always in-process. Subjectivity is also portrayed to imply different degrees of acceptance, rejection, and transgression of gender norms. Keywords: short stories, women, subjectivity, Elizabeth Taylor, Margaret Atwood
A STORY OF HER OWN: MEMORY AND NARRATIVE IN SHORT FICTION BY MARGARET LAURENCE, ALICE MUNRO AND MARGARET ATWOOD
