Chapter II Theoretical Framework Gill (1995, p.3-4) said that poetry is about the choice of words that will be used and the arrangement of words which can catch the reader s and the listener s attention. He also said that poetry consists of ideas, feelings, places, people, and events; in which poetry can also make the reader argue, explore their feelings, and create some pictures from poetry. While Arp (2005, p. 2) explained, poetry could be seen as a kind of language that says something more and have more intense emotion than other ordinary language. The quotations above have summarized that poetry is the form of words that has more meanings than it is seen and also has more intense emotion than other ordinary languages to get the intention from the readers and listeners. There are ideas and feelings inside the poetry which can be seen from places, people and events. So, poetry is a literary work that has deeper meanings and emotion. There are two kinds of theories that will be discussed in this chapter. They are the main and supporting theories. The main theory is feminism and the supporting theory will support the main theory. The main theories in this thesis are gynocriticism and binary opposition. The supporting theory will include the elements of textual interpretation of poetry. They are denotation-connotation, figurative languages and themes.
2.1 Elements of Poetry Every poetry has essential elements that construct it to be a good poetry. DiYanni (2000, p.413) explained that basic elements of poetry are needed, so that the reader can interpret and understand the poem well. Each element of the poetry can construct a poem into a good one. The elements of poetry can also be considered as textual interpretation of poem. DiYanni (2000, p.431) also explained that the elements of a poem include the speaker s voice inside the poem, diction, syntax, imagery, figures of speech, sound effects, rhythm and meter, and structure. From what Diyanni has explained, there are eight elements of poetry that usually exist in poems. However, the elements of poetry that will be used in this research are denotation-connotation, figurative languages, imagery, tone and theme. 2.1.1 Denotation-Connotation theory Basically, denotation and connotation are used to differentiate the meaning or the extension of a word that has more than one meaning. Denotation and connotation have different function in analyzing a word. Arp (2005, p.41) explained that there are three basic parts in poem, such as: sound, denotation and connotation. Those three basic parts create words in the poem that consist of tone and meaning. Sound creates tone while denotation and connotation create the meaning of words. So, it is clear that to understand the meaning of words, denotation and connotation are needed. According to Arp (2005, p.41), denotation is the dictionary meaning or the basic meaning of a word and connotation is the other meaning beyond the word. Gill (1995, p.21) added that connotation is a set of meaning from a word according to what situation the word is used. When
words are analyzed in a poem, denotation is used to understand the actual meaning of the poem according to the content of the poem. It is because every single word has its own denotation meaning. Connotation, however, can be sought from the denotation meaning of a word. Connotation is important in poetry because some words in poetry have implicit meaning that can be found through connotation meaning. Gill (1995, p.21) said that there will be some words that are prominent in the context from poetry. That is why a number of connotations are needed. Connotation meaning is used to a word that seems dominant among other words. It is because poets usually use this kind of word to deliver messages of the poem. According to Arp (2005, p.41), the example of denotation and connotation is the word home. In denotation meaning, home means a place where one lives. However, in the connotation meaning, home can mean security, love, comfort, and family. There are more than one connotation meanings in the example and the meanings depend on the context of the poem. 2.1.2 Figurative languages Arp (2005, p.70) explained that figurative language is used to deliver more messages to the reader because figurative statements contain more meanings than literal statement. It also gives more varieties to the language. The definition of figurative language itself is the way of saying something that is different from the ordinary way. This means that figurative language is very important in poetry because it can give more varieties of meaning to the poetry. There are different perceptions on what the various kinds of figurative language are. Leech (1998, p. 142-185) separated figurative language into paradox, synecdoche,
metaphor, metonymy, hyperbole, litotes, apostrophe and irony. While Arp (2005, p. 69-134) defined figurative language into simile, metaphor, personification, apostrophe, metonymy, symbol, allegory, paradox, overstatement, understatement and irony. Kinds of figurative language that Leech and Perrine said are almost the same. However, not all of them are used in this thesis. The figurative languages that will be used are symbol, metaphor, metonymy, personification and paradox. The figurative language that will be discussed first is symbol. According to Arp (2005, p. 91), A symbol may be roughly defined as something that means more than what it is. Gill (1995, p. 30) also said that a symbol is what a word stands for itself and symbol usually stands for something in reality. From the previous quotations, a symbol is something represented by a word in poetry. Symbol can be found by relating the word with something in real life. Almost every poem has some words that represent symbols because usually the poet expresses the poem using symbols. Arp (2005, p. 91) added that The symbol is the richest and at the same time the most difficult of the poetic figures. This quotation means that even though a symbol is considered as something full of meaning, it is also considered as the most difficult part of figurative languages. That is because symbol is not precisely the same for everyone. It could be different according to the readers mind and perception of the word. The next figurative language that will be discussed is metaphor. Arp (2005, p. 70) said that metaphor is used to compare things that are unlikely the same. The comparison happens when the figurative term can be defined for its literal term. Gill (1995, p. 24) added that it is not just comparing one term with the other, but inside the poetry, the term is representing the other term. The quotations explained that metaphor is a comparison between two things or more that
have different meaning. In the poetry, metaphor can also be seen as the word that is said to be the same like the other. According to Arp (2005, p. 70-71), the example of metaphor is the first line of The Hound poem which is Life the hound. Life is compared with a hound where Life is the literal term while hound is figurative term. Leech (1998, p.151) added another metaphor of life which is Life s but a walking shadow, a poor player. From the example of metaphor, life is absolutely not a hound or a show or a poor player. The poet tries to describe life with other words that are not connected with it. Another figurative language that will be discussed is metonymy. Arp (2005, p.77) defined that metonymy is the figurative language that uses a word that closely related with the things that the poet actually meant. Leech (1998, p. 152) also described that metonymy is a figure of speech using some terms related with what it wanted to say. Those two quotations mean that metonymy in poetry is the uses of something that relate with the actual word that poet wanted to say. It might have some closer meaning with the actual word. The example of metonymy from Leech (1998, p. 152) is lands belonging to the crown. The metonymy in this sentence is crown which has close relation with the empire or kingdom. That is because King or Queen who rules the Kingdom usually wears a crown as the symbol of their power. This means that the land belongs to the king or a kingdom. The next figurative language that will be discussed is personification. Arp (2005, p.73) explained that personification is a figurative language which gives attribute of a human being to an animal, an object, or a concept. Based on Arp s quotation, personification is a figurative language in which an animal, an object or a concept is given the ability of human. Gill (1995,
p.29) also adds the same thing by saying that personification happens when human qualities are given to some non-human things. Basically, personification can be found in poetry when there is human behavior happen to a non-human thing. Some examples are in Mirror by Sylvia Plath and To Autumn by John Keats. Sylvia Plath personifies an object which is a mirror when she makes the object become something that can speak and think. John Keats also personifies a season by describing it as something sitting careless on a granary floor or on a half reaped furrow sound asleep. ( Arp, 2005, p. 73-74). Plath and Keats personify something non-human because they make those things become things that only human can do. In a logical explanation, a mirror does not have the ability to speak and think, and a season also does not have the ability to sit or sleep. That kind of explanation has formed a word or a poem called as personification. The last figurative language that will be discussed in this chapter is paradox. Gill (1995, p. 35) said, A paradox is an apparent contradiction which says something strange yet true.. From what Gill has said, paradox is a figurative language in which the poet describes something that is contrary to the usual term yet it is true. Arp (2005, p.112) also added that a paradox is a form of contradiction that exists in a poem but somehow true. This contradiction may be a situation or a statement. The quotations above defined that a paradox usually happens in a poem when there is a situation or statement contrary to the usual situation, yet this situation or statement is somehow true. The example of paradox from Leech is War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. (George Orwell, 1984). Leech (1998, p. 142) explained that what Orwell s slogan created make people believe in something that is the opposite of it. The use of antonyms is the
simplest and boldest way of making a paradox. It is easier to analyze paradox in the poem through antonyms. The expectation of the poet that the reader will be shocked by the effect of paradox has leaded to find the figurative language with the antonym form. 2.1.3 Imagery Poetry has been known as the most powerful literature using only few words. One of the elements of poetry that represents the image of the poets mind using word is imagery. According to Thorne (2006, p. 73), imagery can be defined as a descriptive language used to represent people, things, places, actions and experiences. Imagery becomes a special way to analyze the image that the poet tries to describe using words. The description could be people, things, places, actions or experiences. Kennedy (2010, p.711) said that an image in poem may occur in a single word, a phrase, a sentence, or even the entire short poem. Imagery in poems can have the form of a word, a phrase, a sentence, or the entire short poem. Common forms of imagery that usually found in poem are image that occur in a single word, a phrase or a sentence. However, it is possible in Haiku, the entire poem is imageries. There are few kinds of imagery that can be found in the poetry. Arp (2005, p.55) explained that there are seven imageries that can be found in the poetry. Those imageries are visual imagery that occurs most frequently in the poetry, auditory imagery that represents a sound in poetry, olfactory imagery that represents a smell, gustatory imagery that represents a taste, tactile imagery that represents touch, organic imagery that represents internal sensation, and kinesthetic imagery that represents movement. Even though there are seven kinds of imageries that can be found in the poetry, sometimes not all of them exist in poetry. Visual imagery is the imagery that is usually found out
most of the time in the poetry. Some of those imageries can also be found depend on what the poetry is talking about. Imagery analysis in this thesis is used to explain more about the women s experiences that the poet put in the poetries. 2.1.4 Tone In the spoken language, tone is a way to reflect the emotion of the speaker. That is because the speakers may say anything that they want directly to other persons. However, in poem, tone of the poet may be a little bit difficult to catch. Arp (2005, p. 161) explained that in the literature, tone can be defined as the way of the poet attitude toward something. It also known as the emotional coloring or emotional meaning of the poem. Even though tone can be a little bit tricky, there is a way to find tone in a poem. Arp (2005, p.161) said that almost all the elements of poetry can be used to find the tone of the poem. Some of those elements of poetry are connotation, imagery, metaphor, irony, understatement, rhythm, sentence construction and formal pattern. From what Arp has explained, elements of poetry could be used to define the tone of the poem. That is because the essence of the poem can be caught by using the elements of poetry. From those essences of the poem, tone can be defined. 2.1.5 Theme Theme can be defined as the main point or main idea of a literary work. It determines what the poet is saying in the poetry and also the message that the poet trying to send to the reader. DiYanni (2000, p.482) explained that theme is an abstraction or generalization drawn from the details of literary work. It also refers to an idea that implicit in a work.
It can be defined that theme is an idea evolved from the implicit meaning in poetry. However, theme is not always easy to find in poetry. That is why to analyze theme, special intention must be needed to explain the exact idea of the poem. The analysis should be made by considering the relation between all elements in the poem, so that the idea is too general or too simple as a theme. DiYanni (2000, p.483) also explained that there is a possible way that a poem has more than one theme. That is because the freedom of the readers to interpret the poem from their own perspective. It is clear that in poem, readers have different perception that leads them to have more than one thought about the themes inside the poem. However, there is always the main theme of the poem which is the main message from the poet to the readers. 2.2 Feminism movement Gender discrimination is believed to be a sensitive issue in the society. There are many gender discrimination problems that still existed in some country. Feminism is one of the movements created from gender discrimination issue. According to Barry (2009, p.121), the women movement in 1960 was not the first start of feminism movement. It was a reform from an old traditional feminism thought that discussed about the issue of women s inequality in a society. The feminist movement started long time before 1960 even though the movement of the feminism at 1960 was more well-known than before. Tolan in Waugh s book (2006, p. 319) has explained that the history of feminism movement is divided into two waves. The first wave started from 1830 to 1920 and it was the best recalled as the right to vote movement. The second wave began during Women s liberation and has happened from 1960 until these days. It is obvious that women s equality
movement has begun since 1830 until now. However, the exact feminism movement happening nowadays is influenced by the feminist movement in 1960. The explanation of both waves will be provided below. In the first wave, there are several famous writers because of their theories of feminism. They are Virginia Woolf (1882 1941) and Simone de Beauvoir (1908 1986). According to Barry (2009, p.121), A Room of One s Own by Virginia Woolf has suggested about the unequal treatment that women received in education, marriage and motherhood. Tolan in Waugh s book (2006, p.320) added that Simone de Beauvoir in her book, The Second Sex, has explained about an epic note of gender division throughout history, examining biological, psychological, historical, and cultural explanations for the reduction of women to a second and lesser sex. Virginia Woolf theory referred more to the condition of women at her time which was around 18 th century. She revealed the fact about the unequal situation that women received from the society. Simone de Beauvoir theory was quite different from Virginia Woolf. De Beauvoir s theory referred more to the historical, biological, psychological and cultural explanation on why women have become the oppressed victim in society. In the second wave, there are also several writers that wrote about feminism. They are Kate Millet (1934 present), Elaine Showalter (1941 present), Julia Kristeva (1941 present), and Helena Cixous (1937 present). According to Barry (2009, p.130), Kate Millet in her book, Sexual Politics, wrote about her disagreement on Freud theory which was the main reason of the patriarchal attitudes against feminist. Tolan in Waugh s book (2006, p.328, 335, 336) also explained about Elaine Showalter, Julia Kristeva and Helena Cixous. Elaine Showalter with her book, A Literature of their Own, came up with the term gynocriticism which aimed to increase
the number of female authors. Julia Kristeva explained that Western philosophy was based on the oppression of difference in which everything deviated from norm was prohibited. Helena Cixous in one of her famous essays, Sorties, has described the reason of male domination process was because of the series of binary opposition. The second wave writers above have shown some differences in their theories. Kate Millet argued on Freud s theory which became the main reason of the patriarchy idea on women. Elaine Showalter created gynocriticism which focused on the analysis of women literature. Julia Kristeva s explaination about the reason of women oppression in the society is because of the Western Philosophy. Helena Cixous came up with the theory of binary opposition which was one of the processes on male domination. All of those writers had their own opinion on feminism movement. Even though there are many theories that came from the first wave writers, they will not be used in the thesis. Audre Lorde poems that will be used in this thesis were published in the second wave of feminism. So, the feminism theories that will be used are only from the second wave. Those theories are gynocriticism by Elaine Showalter and the hierarchical binary opposition by Helena Cixous. 2.2.1 Gynocriticism in literature In 1977, Elaine Showalter came up with her works, A Literature of their Own. She created the term gynocriticism in order to define the way of analyzing women s literature. According to Tolan in Waugh s book (2005, p.329), Showalter explained that women s literature formed a subculture in the literary tradition. Women s writing had its own characteristics, pattern, themes, and different identity. The quotation above explains what Elaine Showalter
suggested that women s literature represented subculture in the literature. She also suggested that women s writing had its own analysis field. Women s writing had its own characteristics, pattern and themes, and also different identity than men s. Tandon (2008, p. 84) mentioned that Elaine Showalter has created gynocriticism in order to give the new type of women s works analysis based on the women s experience rather than to analyze it with specific theories that is used to analyze men s works. It can be seen that gynocriticism was created specifically to explain women s works through women s experience. Before gynocriticism existed, women s works were usually analyzed based on theories that were used to analyze men s works Wolfreys (2006, p.73) also added that gynocritics s purpose was to be the study of literary works by women and this purpose has liberated women s works from men s works. The purpose of gynocriticism was to separate the analysis of women s works from men s perspective. Women s works were no longer needed to be compare with men s work because they are different. Both women and men s works have their own specific characterizations which differentiate them from each other. Showalter s explanation proved that women s literature can be analyzed by using specific ways. Women s experience was also counted as the point that influenced women s writing. Tolan in Waugh s book added (2006, p.329), gynocriticism examined how female experience was reflected in women s literature. This means that women s literature can be analyzed by using women s experience as its references. It is possible that every literature written by women was based on women s experiences.
It is clear that Showalter agreed that there was a difference between women s writing and men s writing. This difference was barely noticed by the society at that time. Selden (2005, p. 127) explained that Showalter divided women s literature into three historical traditions. The first is feminine phase (1840 1880). This phase where women imitated male s norm and aesthetic standard. The second is feminist phase (1880-1920) which is radical feminism. Women in this phase protested against male norm and suggest separatist position. The third is female phase (1920 onward). This phase specifically focused on women s writing and women s experience which would be defined as self-discovery. Showalter suggestion on three phases of women s literature was adjusted according to the condition of women s literature. The first phase, feminine, occurred from 1840 to 1880. This phase was in the condition where women still imitated men s norm in writing. The next phase, feminist, occurred from 1880 to 1920, where women protested against male norm and suggested the separate position between both. The last phase, female, occurred from 1920 onward. This phase focused on the women s writing and women s experience where it was defined as self-discovery. According to Barry (2009, p.123), Showalter explained that the subjects of gynocriticism are the history, styles, themes, genres, and structure of writing by women; the psychodynamics of female creativity; the pathway of the individual female career; and the evolution of the female literary tradition. Tandon (2008, p.84) also added that according to Elaine Showalter, gynocriticism should look at the history, styles, themes, genres, and structures of women s writing. Both Barry and Tandon s explanation about gynocriticism analysis has defined that history, styles, themes, genres and structures are very important because women s experience can be seen through them. From all of the gynocriticism subjects above; only styles, themes, and
structure of writing by women will be discussed. The analysis will relate the poems with the gynocriticism subject and women s experiences. Styles in the gynocritics have a lot of meanings. However, styles in poetry are used to create several effects on the poetry. According to Thorne (2006, p. 48 50), styles are chosen to deliver a certain mood, situation or people. Styles in poetry have many aspects in it. There are several aspects in poetry styles such as: tone, imagery, connotation of words and figurative languages. Tone in the poem reflects the poet s view toward the ideas that she or he created. Imagery in the poem shares the experience of the persona. Connotation in poem is associated with a word s implicit meaning. Figurative languages in poem represent the message that the poet wants to deliver to the reader with style. Theme in gynocriticism is describing more about the whole ideas that existed in this poem and relating those ideas with the women s experiences. Not all themes inside the poem are relating to the women s experiences. Only the themes that are describing the specific event of feminism are relating with gynocriticism. 2.3 Binary opposition in literature Basically, binary opposition means a pair of words opposed each other and that pair is already fixed. However, in literature, binary opposition is known as pairs of mutual signifiers that represent the category that logically opposed and can be found in the common speech. Tolan in Waugh s book (2006, p.336) has explained that in the Cixous s most famous essays, Sorties, describing the reason of male domination process is a series of binary oppositions, in which one half of the binary is always superior to the other half. In this system of thinking, women will always be the inferior half of the equation.
From the Cixous description, binary opposition is one of the reasons why men are superior until now. The binary opposition has helped the process of male domination philosophy. In this system, one of the binary oppositions is considered as superior to another half which leads to the thought that women will always be the inferior one from the binary. Cavallaro (2003, p.24) also adds that binary oppositions have been used throughout history to state men s superiority over women. Cavallaro also mentions the examples of binary opposition are activity/passivity, sun/moon, culture/nature, day/night, father/mother, head/heart, intelligible/sensitive, logos/pathos, man/woman. Selden (2005, p.129) also added that binary opposition (man/woman, black/white) emphasizes the difference between groups of people in which it manipulates the society and cultural way and cause one group to dominate or oppress another. From Selden quotation, it is clear that binary opposition is known for the difference between two terms which manipulating the society so that men have higher position than women. The result of the manipulation is the domination of one group and the oppression is from another group. In this case, there is male domination and female oppression. Some society tools like culture, society, speech, philosophy can be found in this kind of system. Stark (2007, pp.298) explains that Toril Moi describes Cixous s theory of binary opposition is consisting of masculine and feminine sides which men always in left and women always in right. According to Stark, there are men and women element in the binary opposition where male always in the left and female always in the right. This means male are always in the positive side while female always in the negative side.