The Patriarchal Power for Traditional Chinese Women in Pearl S. Buck’s “The Good Earth”

Mosleh Habibullah; Ulfa Sufiya Rahmah

doi:10.19105/ojbs.v17i1.8575

Mosleh Habibullah English Teaching Learning Program, Tarbiyah Faculty, Institut Agama Islam Negeri Madura, Pamekasan 69371
Ulfa Sufiya Rahmah Indonesian Teaching Learning Program, Tarbiyah Faculty, Institut Agama Islam Negeri Madura, Pamekasan 69371

https://doi.org/10.19105/ojbs.v17i1.8575

Abstract views: 601 ,

PDF downloads: 605

Keywords: Patriarchy, Traditional Chinese, Women role

Abstract

The subordination of women in society has become a common phenomenon. The woman's life in traditional Chinese culture is portrayed as someone who must be obedient, submissive, polite, have manners, and be loyal to her husband and others. The Good Earth novel reflects the life of traditional Chinese women in patriarchal power and the role of female characters. This study aims to describe the Chinese community traditions that govern women's lives in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and elucidate the orthodox tradition's effect on the role of female characters. The method applied was Library Research through the Sociological and Psychological Approaches. The data were obtained from The Good Earth novel and secondary data, such as the library, books, critics, writer’s biography, and a novel summary. The research revealed that women had a low position in social status in ancient China. We are familiar with the name of the patriarchy set by Confucius, as illustrated by figure O-lan, Wang Lung's wife as a female character in the novel and character theories, and his contribution will be used as the basis for analysis. The research summarizes that the teachings of the Confucian Philosophy of Culture influence patriarchal power.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Mosleh Habibullah, English Teaching Learning Program, Tarbiyah Faculty, Institut Agama Islam Negeri Madura, Pamekasan 69371

MOSLEH HABIBULLAH is an English Lecturer at English Teaching Learning Program, Tarbiyah Faculty, Institut Agama Islam Negeri Madura, Pamekasan. His research interests include English Literature and Translationas as learning media in lectures.

Ulfa Sufiya Rahmah, Indonesian Teaching Learning Program, Tarbiyah Faculty, Institut Agama Islam Negeri Madura, Pamekasan 69371

ULFA SUFIYA RAHMAH is an Indonesian lecturer at Indonesian Teaching Learning Program, Tarbiyah Faculty, Institut Agama Islam Negeri Madura, Pamekasan. Her research interests include Madura Literature and Pramasastra as learning media in lectures.

References

Abrams, M. H. (1999). A Glossary of Literary Terms (7th ed.). Boston: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.

Beauvoir, S. D. (2011). The Second Sex (1st edition; C. Borde & S. Malovany-Chevallier, Trans.). New York: Vintage.

Buck, P. S. (1994). The Good Earth (Enriched Classics Series). Washington: Washington Square Press.

Chang, S. (2020). Chinese Women, Marriage and Gender: Exploring the Idea of Women and Marriage Over Time in the Context of China. (Thesis, University of Windsor). The University of Windsor, Sunset Ave, Windsor. Retrieved from https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/major-papers/109

Chauhan, P. S. (1994). Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth: The Novel As Epic. In E. J. Limpcomb, F. E. Webb, & P. Conn (Eds.), The Several Worlds of Pearl S. Buck: Essays Presented at a Centennial Symposium, Randolph-Macon Woman’s College (pp. 119–124). Connecticut: Greenwood Press.

Conroy, H. (2014). Female Body Modification Through Physical Manipulation: A Comparison of Foot-Binding and Corsetry (Thesis, Carrol College). Carrol College, Montana. Retrieved from https://scholars.carroll.edu/handle/20.500.12647/2490

Ebrey, P. B. (2002). Women and the Family in Chinese History. Oxford: Routledge.

Fan, X., & Wu, L. (2023). The Shaping of a Gender Norm: Marriage, Labor, and Foot-binding in Historical China [SSRN Scholarly Paper]. Rochester, NY. Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=4441075

Gao, X. (2000). Pearl S. Buck’s Chinese Women Characters. London: Susquehanna University Press.

Han, Q. (2012). An Overview of Traditional Chinese Family Ethics. Quarterly Journal of Chinese Studies, 1(1), 85–99.

Hannam, J. (2013). Feminism. London: Pearson/Longman.

Huaid, S. M. (1969). The Changing Nature of Family Values in Pearl Buck’s House of Earth (Thesis). South Dakota State University, United States of America.

Irmadani, A. N., Supiastutik, S., & Astutiningsih, I. (2019). The Representation of Woman’s Oppression in Lisa See’s Snow Flower and The Secret Fan. SEMIOTIKA: Jurnal Ilmu Sastra dan Linguistik, 20(1), 14–25. https://doi.org/10.19184/semiotika.v20i1.12832

Jan, G. V. (2011). Social Construction of Gender in The Good Earth (Research Project). University Tunku Abdul Rahman, Perak, Malaysia.

Lee, W. (1995). Women’s Education in Traditional and Modern China. Women’s History Review, 4(3), 345–367. https://doi.org/10.1080/09612029500200092

Lepore, R. (2019). Chinese Women in the Early Twentieth Century: Activists and Rebels (Undergraduate Honors Thesis, University of Colorado Boulder). University of Colorado Boulder.

Lerner, G. (1987). The Creation of Patriarchy. Vol 1. Women and History. In T. H. Nielsen (Ed.), Acta Sociologica (Vol. 30, pp. 229–232). New York: Sage Publications Ltd. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/4194683

Loo, N. (2018, February 8). Survivor of Ancient Chinese Practice of Foot Binding Shares Her Story. Retrieved May 8, 2023, from WGN-TV website: https://wgntv.com/news/cover-story/survivor-of-ancient-chinese-practice-of-foot-binding-shares-her-story/

Lorber, J., & Farrell, S. A. (Eds.). (1990). The Social Construction of Gender (1st edition). Newbury Park, Calif: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Pramesti, T., Litaay, A. G. M., Cesarianti, F. M., & Kamayan, B. (2021). Multiple Forms of Oppression on Women in Muna Masyari’s Damar Kambang and Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns. The 9th Literary Studies Conference, 66–72. Universitas Sanata Dharma, Yogyakarta.

Rosenlee, L.-H. (2023). Gender in Confucian Philosophy. In E. N. Zalta & U. Nodelman (Eds.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2023). Standford: Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2023/entries/confucian-gender/

Rosenlee, L.-H. (2007). Confucianism and Women: A Philosophical Interpretation. New York: SUNY Press.

Ruoqi, C., & Jie, L. (2020). A Study of Chinese Images in Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth. Linguistics and Literature Studies, 8(5), 264–268. https://doi.org/10.13189/lls.2020.080505

Scott, W. S. (1970). Five Approaches of Literary Criticism: An Arrangement of Contemporary Critical Essays. (5th printing edition). Johannesburg: Collier-Macmillan.

Shils, E. (2007). Tradition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/178104

Spencer, M. (1982). Foundations of Modern Sociology (3rd ed.). New York: Prentice-Hall.

Sudjiman, P. (1991). Memahami Cerita Rekaan (2nd ed.). Jakarta: Pustaka Jaya.

Yao, X. (2015). The Encyclopedia of Confucianism (1st ed.). London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315810751