POWER RELATIONS REPRESENTED IN BURNT SHADOWS AND HOPE AND OTHER DANGEROUS PURSUITS

Muhamad Arifin Ilham

Abstract


This paper examines the critics of power in Burnt Shadows and Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits. As a literary study, this paper tries to find the main cause of the political and economic downfall of colonized countries and countries destined for immigrants and diasporas mentioned in the text by focusing on political clashes between policy makers and the people through power relations, a theory suggested by Michel Foucault to deconstruct interlinked power distribution among social hierarchies. These novels talk about the dynamic life of a post-war family and immigrants, victims of the policy makers who hold the power over the people. The ignorance over millions of human lives turns them into mere statistics rather than sentient beings. Therefore, this paper argues that these novels try to evoke humanity’s issues by intertwining storytelling for every chapter through characters’ intrigues of life related to the actual real-world problem. This paper uses a descriptive qualitative method, analyzing textual evidence written in the narratives. The findings indicate that the characters express their resistance through personal traits, pop-culture references, and acts of defiance against those in power, despite feeling powerless.

Keywords


Power Relations, Governmentality, Muslimah Literature;

Full Text:

PDF

References


Abunasser, R. (2016). The deterritorialised self in Laila Lalami’s Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits. The Journal of North African Studies, 21(2), 182–198. https://doi.org/10.1080/13629387.2016.1130931

Alami, A. I. (2012). Illegal crossing, historical memory and postcolonial agency in Laila Lalami's Hope and other dangerous pursuits. The Journal of North African Studies, 17(1), 143–156.

Bauböck, R., & Faist, T. (2010). Diaspora and transnationalism: Concepts, theories and methods. Amsterdam University Press.

Cohen, J., & van der Meulen Rodgers, Y. (2021). The feminist political economy of Covid-19: Capitalism, women, and work. Global Public Health, 16(8-9), 1381–1395.

Cox, M. (2012). Power shifts, economic change and the decline of the West? International Relations, 26(4), 369–388.

Crippa, A., d’Agostino, G., Dunne, J. P., & Pieroni, L. (2025). Conflict as a cause of migration. Oxford Economic Papers, 77(2), 596–618.

Czarnecka, A. (2018). The network on/of power relationships: What can be seen through Michel Foucault’s lens? Krakowskie Studia z Historii Państwa i Prawa, 11(3), 357–370.

Djohar, H. I. (2024). Rewriting Islam: Decolonialism, justice, and contemporary Muslimah literature. The Ohio State University Press.

Ferreira-da-Silva, A., Pereira, J. M., Lopes, A., Magalhães, C., & Moreira, R. (2015). Foucault’s perspective of performance appraisal in public administration. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6(2), 375.

Foucault, M. (1980). Power/knowledge: Selected interviews and other writings. The Harvester Press.

Foucault, M. (1991). Governmentality. In G. Burchell, C. Gordon, & P. Miller (Eds.), The Foucault effect: Studies in governmentality (pp. 87–104). University of Chicago Press.

Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison (A. Sheridan, Trans.). Vintage Books. (Original work published 1975)

Huff, R. (2014). Transnationalism: Globalization, migration & identity. In Encyclopedia Britannica.

Jewkes, R., Morrell, R., Hearn, J., Lundqvist, E., Blackbeard, D., Lindegger, G., Quayle, M., Sikweyiya, Y., & Gottzén, L. (2015). Hegemonic masculinity: Combining theory and practice in gender interventions. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 17(Suppl 2), S112–S127.

Koskimaa, V., Rapeli, L., & Himmelroos, S. (2024). Decision-makers, advisers or educable subjects? Policymakers' perceptions of citizen participation in a Nordic democracy. Governance, 37(1), 261–279.

Lalami, L. (2005). Hope and other dangerous pursuits. Algonquin Books.

Lynch, R. A. (2014). Foucault's theory of power. Routledge.

Mamah, A. B. (2020). Crossings in Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits, by Laila Lalami. Research in African Literatures, 51(3), 25–42.

Ottervik, M., & Su, Z. (2023). Gender system and corruption: Patriarchy as a predictor of “fairness”. Governance, 36(2), 629–649.

Ring, D., & Grasso, C. (2022). Beyond bribery: Exploring the intimate interconnections between corruption and tax crimes. Law & Contemporary Problems, 85, 1.

Segall, K. (2019). De-imperializing gender: Religious revivals, shifting beliefs, and the unexpected trajectory of Laila Lalami’s Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits. Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, 15(1), 75–94.

Shamsie, K. (2009). Burnt shadows. Bloomsbury.

Simanjuntak, M. B., Rahmat, A., Setiadi, S., Suseno, M., Romdani, R., & Lumingkewas, M. S. (2022). Power relations in the story of “Nommensen Bertemu Raja Panggalamei” by Patar Pasaribu. Jurnal Pendidikan Tambusai, 6(2), 8552–8557.

Sommer, B. (2018). Chaotic masculinity in gangster films. [Penerbit tidak diketahui].

UNHCR. (2023). Annual results report Türkiye.

Woodruff, T., Kelty, R., & Segal, D. R. (2006). Propensity to serve and motivation to enlist among American combat soldiers. Armed Forces & Society, 32(3), 353–366.

Yakubu, D. J., & Onwuegbuchulam, N. A. (2025). Barriers and opportunities for increasing female participation in political process especially in traditional patriarchal societies. International Journal of Law, Politics and Humanities Research, 7(6).




DOI: https://doi.org/10.18860/prdg.v8i1.39416

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Member of:

Crossref

Indexed by:

SintaGoogle Scolar Sinta  MorarefSintaSintaSinta

Editorial Office

Department of English Literature

Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang
Jalan Gajayana 50 Malang, Jawa Timur, Indonesia 65144
Phone (+62) 341 551354, Facsimile (+62) 341 572533
e-mail: paradigm@uin-malang.ac.id

Creative Commons License
PARADIGM: Journal of Language and Literary Studies by Department of English Literature is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://ejournal.uin-malang.ac.id/index.php/paradigm.

View My Stats | Follow Us on Instagram