DEMOLISHING ANDROCENTRIC CULTURE AND VALUES IN QAISRA SHAHRAZ’S ZEMINDAR’S WIFE

ABSTRACT
Nufus, Ainun. 13.05.111000.21. “Demolishing Androcentric Culture and Values in Qaisra Shahraz’s Zemindar’s Wife”. Thesis. English Study Program, Faculty of Social and Cultural Sciences, University of Trunojoyo Madura. Advisor: Prof. Dr. Suryo Tri Saksono.
Over several decades, women in many countries have voiced their opinions on the importance of gender awareness and erase the perception that women are contemptible, not feasible, inferior and oppressed from birth. Feminist go further on struggling women’s right not only in front of law and broader community, but also in literature or particularly men’s writing, because they see the language expressed by male is a part of male-centeredness, things that precisely women trying to avoid it.
This research explores androcentric society in rural Pakistan which is viscious with its androcentric culture and values. The main characters in this story are Safaraz Jhangir or commonly mentioned as The Zemindar and his wife namely Chaudharani Noor Shahaba. Intertwined with androcentric discussion comes the theory of gynocritics. Gynocritics evaluates women’s writing and its relation to women’s body, women’s linguistics, women’s psyche, and women’s culture discussion which is highlighting Chaudharani character in Zemindar’s Wife. This research applied feminism methodology by using gynocriticism as a tool of analysis to analyze the content of text which is considered patriarchal. The role of the researcher is to give voice to hitherto silenced group and facilitate her own discoveries. After the researcher highlights androcentric culture and values, she attempts to show how feminism gathered momentum.
The data are collected from the characters and narrator’s explanations. The researcher finds there are total 46 quotations in Zemindar’s Wife. There are 13 quotations which discuss androcentric culture of Pakistan society and 10 quotations concern about their androcentric values. In the second subchapter, the researcher finds 23 quotations which reveals pillars of gynocentrism. There are 5 quotations in Chaudharani’s physical appearance, 9 quotations in Shahraz language use, 4 quotations in Chaudharani’s psyche and personality discussion, and the last subchapter is about women’s traditions, the researcher found 5 quotations. The result of this research is Qaisra Shahraz succeed demolishing androcentric culture and values by focusing on four pillars of gynocentricism which concerned about women’s writing and its relation to women body, linguistics, psyche, and culture.
Keywords: Androcentric Society, Androcentric Culture, Androcentric Values, Gynocriticism, Zemindar’s Wife.