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Color symbolism and resistance in Shaila Abdullah’s Saffron Dreams
Abstract
This study analyzes how Shaila Abdullah's Saffron Dreams portrays and resists Orientalists' stereotypes of Muslim women. Through Saffron Dreams, Abdullah attempts to put up a fight against the negative stereotypes of Orientalists toward Muslim women. It is shown based on how the main protagonist is portrayed as a Muslim Pakistani-American woman who lost her husband in 9/11, experiencing mistreatment from her host land society due to the spreading negative stereotypes of Muslim women. By utilizing Close Textual Analysis, this study focuses on examining how the novel depicts and resists the Muslim women's stereotype by Orientalists. This study discovers that the novel repeatedly portrays that Muslim women are perceived as oppressed by men and patriarchy who are forced to do arranged marriage and use hijab and also as the "Other" or dangerous foreigners unaccepted as part of Western society. Indeed, the novel depicts the main protagonist's response to orientalists’ perspectives of Muslim women through the repetitive use of color symbolism, such as red, black, white, green, blue, brown, orange, gold, and yellow for the main protagonist representing her resistance of orientalism.
Simbolisme warna dan perlawanan dalam Saffron Dreams karya Shaila Abdullah
Penelitian ini menganalisis bagaimana novel Saffron Dreams karya Shaila Abdullah menggambarkan dan melawan stereotip para orientalis terhadap perempuan Muslim. Melalui Saffron Dreams, Abdullah mencoba untuk melakukan perlawanan terhadap stereotip negatif para orientalis terhadap perempuan Muslim. Hal ini ditunjukkan melalui bagaimana protagonis utama digambarkan sebagai seorang wanita Muslim Pakistan-Amerika yang kehilangan suaminya dalam peristiwa 9/11, yang mengalami perlakuan buruk dari masyarakat di negara asalnya akibat stereotip negatif terhadap wanita Muslim. Dengan menggunakan Analisis Tekstual Mendekat, penelitian ini berfokus untuk melihat bagaimana novel ini menggambarkan dan melawan stereotip perempuan Muslim yang dibuat oleh para orientalis. Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa novel Saffron Dreams berulang kali menggambarkan bahwa perempuan Muslim dianggap tertindas oleh laki-laki dan patriarki yang dipaksa untuk melakukan perjodohan dan menggunakan hijab dan juga sebagai "Liyan" atau orang asing yang berbahaya yang tidak diterima sebagai bagian dari masyarakat Barat. Novel ini menggambarkan respon protagonis utama terhadap perspektif orientalis tentang perempuan Muslim melalui penggunaan simbolisme warna yang berulang-ulang, seperti merah, hitam, putih, hijau, biru, coklat, oranye, emas, dan kuning untuk protagonis utama yang mewakili perlawanannya terhadap orientalisme.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17977/10.17977/um015v52i12024p129
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