| dc.description.abstract | This research tries to uncover the issue of women’s subordination in Nawal
El Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero. This story represents the subordination of
women to the main character.
The theory of representation by Stuart Hall (1997) and the discursive
approach by Michel Foucault are used as the main theory to find the discourse of
women’s subordination in the novel. Women’s subordination process throughout
the novel is divided into three categories. Two kinds of data are used in this
research. The first one is the primary data which are taken from the dialogues and
narratives in Woman at Point Zero. Then, the secondary data are the data that are
taken from books, journals, web, interviews, and other sources that are related to
the topic of this research.
In the analysis process, first, I do the textual analysis. The theory of
representation by Stuart Hall and the discursive approach by Michel Foucault are
used to find the discourse of women’s subordination in the novel. The form of
subordination is divided into three categories which is proposed by Sultana in her
article. In doing textual analysis, I connect those three categories of subordination
with the contextual background of the story. The analysis of contextual background
is also aimed to uncover the critical positions of the author whether the author
supports or resists the issue of women’s subordination.
This research shows that the subordination of women subjects is represented
in Woman at Point Zero. The patriarchal society of Egypt in the 1980s as the
background causes the subordination of women subjects to appear in the novel. In
the 1980’s era, women are put in the second class. Thus, they get subordinated, violated, exploited, and being powerless. Through the resistance of Firdaus, Nawal
El Saadawi has shown her point of view on the issue of women’s subordination. In
conclusion, she stands for gender equality. | en_US |
