Subjektivitas Perempuan pada Tokoh Siska dalam Novel Dimsum Terakhir Karya Clara Ng: Kajian Postfeminisme Rosalind Gill

Abstract

Postfeminism presents female subjectivity within a patriarchal culture, as seen in the character Siska in Clara Ng’s novel Dimsum Terakhir. This study aims to describe the representation of female subjectivity and the paradox of freedom experienced by Siska in Dimsum Terakhir. The focus of this study is Siska’s subjectivity, which includes individualism, choice, and empowerment, as well as the paradox of agency, which includes self-surveillance and the makeover paradigm. This study uses a descriptive qualitative method to interpret female subjectivity represented through the character of Siska. The data source is Clara Ng’s novel Dimsum Terakhir. The data were collected through the stages of data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing and verification. The results show that female subjectivity is represented through Siska’s freedom of choice and empowerment as an independent contemporary career woman. However, this freedom also shows a paradox of agency that is influenced by external factors, such as strict self-surveillance, consumerism, and the makeover paradigm. This study offers a new perspective in feminist literary studies by viewing women as subjects with agency. It contributes to the study of postfeminist subjectivity in Clara Ng’s novel Dimsum Terakhir by showing that women’s agency in a neoliberal context can also involve self-surveillance. This study also shows a paradox in which women’s freedom to make their own choices can become a form of self-control over their bodies and behavior, encouraging them to regulate themselves according to the standards constructed by their social environment