1 Mother Portrait in Gorky’s Mother and Joesoef’s Emak: a Comparative Study
Deta Maria Sri Darta FBS-UKSW detamaria@yahoo.com
Abstract
Discussing women’s roles in patriarchal society is endless. Being a mother is one example of the role of a woman in patriarchal society. Most of the time woman as a mother is depicted stereotypically, but in these two novels the mother portrait is non - stereotypically. Mother, written by Maxim Gorky with the Russian background, while Emak, written by Daoed Joesoef during the Dutch settlement in Indonesia both picturize the circumtances. Being written by male authors, the mother figures in the two novels were depicted as strong, persistent, religious although less educated when they face problems related to their family, especially their children. The portrayals give examples of how women can have such effort to raise their children better, moreover to overcome their fear in order to bring up their children. The comparative study helps readers to see that although written by different authors from diverse countries with unlike cultural backgrounds, these two novels share some similarities. The similarities prove that some literary texts around the globe share universal aspects of life; thus promoting world literature. This paper would like to explore how the cross continent novels share similarities in portraying the figure of mother in which giving example that woman as a mother is described non – stereotypically in literary texts.
Keywords: mother portrait, similarity, non – stereotypically
I. Introduction
Most people might see mothers, who are housewives, are less important than fathers, who are the bread winner. To give undertanding that mothers’ roles are more than just being mothers to their children is hard to do, especially in patriarchal society. When we look deeper to every roles that mothers have, we will see clearly that mothers play important part to perpetuate the system. They are the agents that transmit the patriarchal values from one generation to another. Thus, their roles can not be neglected.
2 their consent. While if we see in reality, many mothers are strong, problem solvers, and important in the life of many people. We can find the example in the two novels about to discuss.
Being written by different authors with different backgrounds does not make the two novels, Gorky’s Mother and Joesoef’s Emak, completely different. Mother was written in 1946 in Russia during the reign of Stallin, while Emak was written in Indonesia, with the setting of Sumatera during the Dutch settlement. The story of both novels circles around the existence of strong mothers toward their family. This shows that although separated by different continents, the depictions are most likely similar.
With the help of comparative literature, one can see that the world is universal. As Goethe once proposed that there are some values universaly shared by people from different nations with different culture. Since literary texts can be examples of artefacts owned by a certain society, analyzing novels as one type of literary works helps us to undertand the culture of the society where the story takes place or made. By comparing two or more novels, we will be able to see how they are resemblence and to what extend their differences are. Moreover, we might be surprised with the fact that somehow some literary texts are intersect and interact one another.
This does not mean that all cultures across the world are the same, still separation contributes to some differences. The local culture or value gives distintive features to each of the work comes from different part of the world. Let’s examine Shakespear’s Romeo and Juliet and Indonesian folktale Roro Mendut and Pronocitro as an example. The forbidden love theme echoes between the two story, despite of their separation. However, the distance also contributes to the uniqueness that differs one to another. The exclusivity can be found in the form of the setting of the story or the framework in which the plot is developed. It creates certain atmosphere that composes the two stories in a different way.
3 see to what extend the universal value can do to bind the two novels discussed in the circle of world literature.
II. The Concept
The open door to Comparative Literature gives credit to Goethe’s term of world literature. Gaining its thriumps for several decades, the journey continues to a different perspective when René Wellek wrote The Crisis of Comparative Literature (1963). Some schoolars start to re-read and re-define the concept of Comparative Literature and its object of study.
Comparative Literature is not immuned from the influence due to the changes of time. In the globalization era, technology plays a significant role in every aspect of life, and literature should not deny its influence. Nevertheless, it does not mean that Comparative Literature is a minor subject to study. Moreover, the effects of the globalized world give new breeze to the study of Comparative Literature. Thus making the schoolars of Comparative Literature to be ready for the changes happen.
In redifining the idea of Comparative Literature, one cannot neglect the previous ideas. One of which is the idea of supranationality by Claudio Guillen (1993, p. 69 – 71). Supranational means the state of dealing with something across the national limits or boundaries. Supranational is wider that international. There are three models supranationality.
The first model is comparison between literary texts across nations because of genetic relationship. This means that the similarity is achieved through influence of contact. The example is the literary works that are written by authors sharing the same race but experiencing different cultures.
The second model is evaluation based on common socio-historical condition in genetically independent phenomena. It tries to examine the literay works through the socio-historical background of the nations to find any past relation between them to trace the connection easily. An example is that the fact that many nations experienced colonization, thus making them suffering the similar pressure. The settlement of one nation in other nation might also create cultural interaction between the people involved, mix married famalies can be a booster toward the cultural interface.
4 different countries using the objectives from the theory of literature. It also gives us opportunity to compare and contrast literary works from different countries without finding the prior connection among them in which sometimes creates a trouble. Analyzing literary texts from different countries, across the continents can easily be done as long as they share similar theme. Without having genetic relationship or sharing the same socio-historical circumtances, some fictions somehow share some similarities among their differences.
Intertextuality pins its place in the last model of supranationality. It comprises allusion and inclusion. A work is alluded to other works if it is inspired by the other one. Allusion may accur in the whole story or it can also be partial. While inclusion means that a work is included in another work. For instance, a poem is incorporated in a drama becoming one of the dialogue or object of discussion among the characters. Text as a product of society cannot escape from intertextuality.
In the globalized world, the idea of comparative literature face some challenges. René Wellek as cited by Ali Behdad and Dominic Thomas, says that “The most serious sign of the precarious state of our study is the fact that it has not been able to establish a distinct subject matter and a specific methodology” (2011, p. 1). Comparative study is thought to have no significant place in the modern era. The technology has made all aspect of human life needs to modify its existence, and comparative study is also not immune toward the changes. Furthermore, in order to conduct comparative study requires comparatist to observe when culture is digitalized and ideolect warps into cybertext as predicted by Jan Walsh Hokenson (2003, p. 73).
III. Mother portrait in the two novels
The following discussion will show the result of comparing two literary works. Some examples of the analysis are taken from the study conducted on some literary works in A Portrait of a Mother as an Agent of Change in Some Selected Fiction (2011). The book studied several literary works focusing on the portrayal of mother, but this discussion will take only two which share similar title; Mother by Maxim Gorky (1946) and Emak by Daoed Joesoef (2010).
5 descibed as a woman married to a bad tempered man who tortured her mentally and physically.
She has to take the course that comes out of her husband’s mouth. She complains but not aggressively. She keeps serving her husband with meals as he wants, although he asks for service scornfully. (Deta Maria, 2011, p. 38)
To make it worse, it is very common to have husband who had bad habit of drinking and cursing even to his children. This of course make Pelagea to be strong and struggle to stay and live within the family. We can see it from the discussion below
That condition might give no opportunity for people to question and fight against since it is considered as a normal way of life. But the fact that Pelagea does not follow the tradition of cursing and beating her only son is something else. She shows that she tries not to be the same as her elders. (Deta Maria, 2011, p. 39)
Although she has to face that kind of husband, she does not leave her family because she has one son. For the sake of her only son, she has to struggle once more, even after her husband’s death. In affection for her only son, she tries her best not to raise him to become like his father.
Pavel, the son, imitates his late father’s behaviour by coming home drunk, shouting to his mother when he asks meals...Thus it makes her sad. On the contrary she faces her son’s behaviour with such gentleness and affection. (Deta Maria, 2011, p. 39 – 40)
Being uneducated does not stop Pelagea to understand new thing. Along with her struggle in financial issue, she also has to keep herself together in understanding the fact that Pavel, her only son, is joining the movement against the government. She struggle to see how important the fight that Pavel does to make a better life for working class like them. The discussion below explains
6 The analysis above also shows how Pelagea struggle to put her courage to be Pavel’s hand extention when he was in jail. Although she is afraid, she is aware taht she has to do something to save her son and continue his fight.
Emak, the mother figure in Emak, also has to struggle, although in a different way. She is more fortunate compared to Pelagea. Her struggle is more on keeping her children educated, especially her daughters. It is due to the circumtances at that time where getting higher education for a girl is something uncommon and difficult to do. She does this because she does not want her children experiencing lack of education as she has. Although she is quite lucky to be able to read and write in Arabic.
The struggle faced by Emak in Emak is something else. It is not about how she has to keep the children without husband, but more on how she has to be firm in deciding the children’s education. It is because at that time (around 1930s) in Medan, South Sumatra, having higher education is not common especially for girls. Although Emak does not know how to read and write Latin letters, she knows how to read and write in Arabic. Understanding her own lack of education might become her greatest motive to send her children to school, although she has to do it against all odds. (Deta Maria, 2011, p. 42)
In order to give better education for her children, she had to face her society. To give room for her daugthers to taste formal education is even more.
Emak is very persistent in giving her children education. When she wants to send her children to Dutch school, she has to struggle and risks everything she has. It is because she lives under Dutch colonized, and sending the children to Dutch school is considered a betrayal.
The firm mother is seen in Emak when she decides that her children must move to a Dutch school to get better education. She shows that she contributes in the decision making and her husband tends to consent to her idea. At that time, most Indonesians saw the Dutch as enemy. People hated anything connected to Dutch. Emak’s brother is known as a patriot against the Dutch colonial government, hence making people talk behind her back regarding the decision to send her children to a Dutch school. But for Emak it is the only way to fight against the Colonial power. Here, she shares her brother’s opinion on why the Dutch can defeat the Indonesians for having more knowledge than the natives. Thus, in order to defeat them, Indonesians must also gain some knowledge. This is one of the reasons why she appears firm and strong. (Deta Maria, 2011, p. 45 – 46)
7 ultimate suffering is when she helps her son to distribute her son speech to mass people. She is beaten, choked, and finally dies in her attempt. The analysis below shows us how strong she is in facing her suffering:
She even suffers before she finally dies in order to help her son to reach other people from jail. She is in doubt whether to run before she is caught, but finally she decides to speak up and throws the leaflets to the crowd in the station where she gets caught. Although they beat her, they choke her, and treat her badly; she keeps delivering the message through her last words. (Deta Maria, 2011, p. 52)
Emak in her effort to give better education for her children, suffers from pressing her own ego. She is willing to stay in a modest house that is located in the area where schools are not far. Although her husband asks her to move to a bigger and better house, she refuses the idea since the new house location is too far from schools. She does not want to put herself into the first priority. For her, the children better lives depend on the education they get.
...Emak is willing to stay in the house which has become narrower since there is a road development project which reduces the house area. She does not want to move to other place, the place that her husband promised, because in the new place going to school is difficult. She used to live in a big house, but tries to make friend with the smaller house for the sake of her children’s education. (Deta Maria, 2011, p. 54)
Through the struggle and suffering, the mothers in the works studied self actualize themself, both consciously and unconsciously. Pelagea liberates herself by learning to read and helping her son to fight against the mainstream. Through her contact with Pavel’s friends, she touches their life and becomes their mother, the figure who takes care of them and someone that they respect: “Even one of Pavel closed friends, Andrei, considers her as the mother that he longs for sometimes. He even calls her nenko, an affectionate term for ‘mother’ used in the Ukraine” (Deta Maria, 2011, p. 61). She finally gains respect and experiences the feeling of being a true mother, not only for her on son but also for his friends.
8 not an easy way. She has to ignore people gossiping about her and asking her children not to listen to them. Her children are the witness on how Emak tries to break the existing norm under patriarchal value, not merely to merely fight but to show the beauty of equity between woman and man.
Although sharing some similarities, both novels have its own color. Both mothers live in the era of colonization (Pelagea lives under control from Stalin, while Emak lives when Indonesia was under Dutch government), but Emak is more fortunate because her husband understand equity between woman and man. He also support her very much.
Seeing the closeness between the two novels, we might have a suspicious thought that Emak, written far after, is inspired by Mother. However, if we look back Emak is a memoir which is written to show Joesoef’s honour to his mother, the prejudice is probably not right.
This has become a concern in the comparative study. The technology can make blur of the idea of universal value. The similar themes will emerge easier in many parts of the world in a very short time. It is way comparative study should find a new technique or method to keep its existence in the literary study. Adapting to the advance of the technology is unavoided by any disciplines, including comparative study.
IV. Conclusion
Comparative study helps us perceive similarities and spot differences when two or more literary works are compared and contrasted. The sample taken from the discussion shows that bearing the similar title might suggest that the two novels share similarities, the theme of mother portrayal echos in the two works. However when we look deeper in each of the work, we will graps that somehow each work has distinctive characteristics.
9 Moreover, the close relation between comparative study, world literature, translation, and cultural study make them interrelated one another. When we compare two or more literary works with different languages, we also get in touch with world of translation and of course with the idea of world literature. Meanwhile, the knowledge of local culture will give us advantage to see that each of the works compared has unique characteristics. Despite the debate over the existence of comparative study, we must believe that the discipline will grow and continue its journey floating in the new space of globalization era.
V. References
Behdad, Ali and Dominic Thomas (editor). (2011). A Companion to Comparative Literature. West Sussex: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Bernheimer, Charles (editor). (1995). Comparative Literature in the Age of Multiculturalism. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
Damrosch, David. (2003). What is World Literature?. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Deta Maria Sri Darta. (2011). A Portrait of a Mother as an Agent of Change as Seen in Some Selected Fiction. Saarbrücken: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing.
Dewi, Novita (editor). (2013). English Language Studies in Indonesia. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University Press.
Guillen, Caludio. (1993). The Challenge of Comparative Literature. trans. Cola Frazen.Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Levande, F. Caroline and Robert S. Levine (editor). (2008). Hemispheric American Studies. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.
