Dissociative Effect and Reorientation of Consciousness in Yuni (2021) and He Named Me Malala (2015)
*This article was published in SUAR BENTANG in June 2023
Natasya Lawrencia, Danial Hidayatullah
1 English Literature Department, UIN Sunan Kalijaga Indonesia
2 English Literature Department, UIN Sunan Kalijaga Indonesia
20101050078@student.uin-suka.ac.id
danial.hidayatullah@uin-suka.ac.id
Abstract
This article aims to compare and investigate Yuni (2021) and He Named Me Malala (2015) in terms of how the sociocultural environment affects the main characters' psychological conditions. Despite the differences in their sociocultural conditions, both characters experience some similarities with the recurring trauma, dissociative effect, and reorientation of consciousness. The phenomenon is crucial to investigate because Franz Fanon has attempted to prove that psychoanalysis is not a universally applied theory. In addition, the purpose of this study is to find out the form of traumatic feelings experienced by the two main characters and identify how dissociative effects and reorientation of consciousness are presented due to traumatic events. The theory of literary trauma by Cathy Caruth is employed as the theory to be used in this research. The impact of Malala's and Yuni's traumatic experiences are significantly different. Yuni tends to have the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), while Malala tends to have a Post Traumatic Growth (PTG). PTSD is regarded as a severe condition that needs expert care to manage and recover from. PTG, on the other hand, describes the positive psychological improvements that certain people may experience after a traumatic occurrence. From these findings, what Fanon says depends on the surrounding situation of the subject.
Keywords: Trauma; consciousness; dissociative effect; movie; comparative
Abstrak
Artikel ini bertujuan untuk membandingkan dan menyelidiki Yuni (2021) dan He Named Me Malala (2015) dalam kaitannya dengan bagaimana lingkungan sosiokultural mempengaruhi kondisi psikologis tokoh utama. Terlepas dari perbedaan kondisi sosiokultural mereka, kedua karakter mengalami beberapa kesamaan dengan trauma berulang, efek disosiatif, dan reorientasi kesadaran. Fenomena ini penting untuk diselidiki karena Franz Fanon telah berusaha membuktikan bahwa psikoanalisis bukanlah teori yang diterapkan secara universal. Selain itu, tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui bentuk perasaan traumatis yang dialami oleh kedua tokoh utama dan mengidentifikasi bagaimana efek disosiatif dan reorientasi kesadaran yang dihadirkan akibat peristiwa traumatis. Teori trauma sastra oleh Cathy Caruth digunakan sebagai teori yang akan digunakan dalam penelitian ini. Dampak pengalaman traumatis Malala dan Yuni sangat berbeda. Yuni cenderung mengalami Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD), sedangkan Malala cenderung mengalami Post Traumatic Growth (PTG). PTSD dianggap sebagai kondisi parah yang membutuhkan perawatan ahli untuk dikelola dan dipulihkan. PTG, di sisi lain, menggambarkan peningkatan psikologis positif yang mungkin dialami orang-orang tertentu setelah kejadian traumatis. Dari temuan ini, apa yang dikatakan Fanon bergantung pada situasi di sekitar subjek.
Kata kunci: Trauma; kesadaran; efek disosiatif; film; komparatif
INTRODUCTION
A film by Kamila Andini, Yuni (Andini, 2021), tells the story of a girl who is still in high school and has the enthusiasm to continue her education to the college level but faces a dilemma when there are several men who want to propose to her. This film raises social issues regarding the role of a woman in a society with a dominant patriarchal culture. Moreover, the culture or myth that is still very powerful in the neighborhood where she lives says that "it is pamali if a girl refuses a marriage proposal", making her confused about continuing college or getting married at a young age. As when the news of her second proposal spread at school, Yuni's friend said,
Teman Yuni 1 :”Dengar-dengar, ada lagi orang yang datang melamar kamu kan Yun? Keluarga kamu pasti sangat bergembira.”
Yuni :”Tidak. Tidak juga.”
Teman Yuni 2 :”Siapa Yun kali ini? Pasti lebih baik dari yang sebelumnya.” Teman Yuni 1 :”Kata orangtua kita dulu, tidak baik menolak lamaran lebih dari dua kali, pamali.”
[Yuni’s Friend 1 :” I heard that someone has come to propose to you, isn't it? Your family must be very happy.”
Yuni :” No, not really.”
Yuni’s Friend 2 :” Who is he this time Yun? He must be better than the previous one."
Yuni’s Friend 1 :” Our parents told us that it's not good to reject a proposal more than twice, it's pamali”]
Yuni is expressing her disinterest in the proposal when she replies that her family isn't truly happy. The fact that Yuni's Friend 2 used the phrase "this time" suggests that Yuni had received numerous proposals in the past. The conversations' pragmatics concern the setting in which the words are being employed. For instance, Yuni's buddy is insinuating that Yuni has previously refused a proposition when she says that rejecting a request more than twice is not a smart idea. The term "twice" suggests that there is a cultural expectation at work, and the mention of "our parents" only serves to confirm this.
In terms of language, pamali is taboo. However, according to the terminology, pamali is a form of a taboo against cultural traditions that should not be done intentionally because it will bring misfortune to the person who violates it (Khomaeny, 2020). From this confusion, traumatic feelings emerged that led to her decision to end her life. Yuni (2021) is worth comparing with the following movie in terms of trauma and something that come along with it because in terms of comparative literary trauma, this comparison has not been done before.
He Named Me Malala (Guggenheim, 2015), a film by American director Davis Guggenheim, tells the life story of a Pakistani girl named Malala who voiced the struggle of all women in the world for their right to receive a proper education. However, in the middle of her journey, she experienced an incident with the Taliban who were against her struggle.
She was shot by the Taliban as soon as she dared to speak out for her rights. [Taliban (VO) :”Remember I know you! Listen carefully, when I'm willing to kill myself, others have no meaning to me!"]
Miraculously, from that traumatic incident, Malala recovered and committed to continue fighting for the right to education for women around the world.
In the two films analyzed, there are similarities in the events that cause traumatic feelings that affect the main character's behavior and decisions. Yuni was traumatized because her socio- cultural environment told her to get married after graduating from high school, and Malala was prohibited from getting a proper education by the Taliban. With this, the similarity between Yuni and Malala is how they live and develop in a strongly patriarchal culture. Trauma is an emotional experience that stimulates feelings of distress, such as anxiety, fear, or humiliation. Trauma is not an event but rather a reaction to an event, and it represents a continual negative response toward an event (Ringel & Brandell, 2012). In the psychoanalytic concept of Moore and Fine, they assume that trauma is representative of the disruption or destruction that arises when the psychic apparatus is suddenly confronted with stimuli that are too strong to cope with or be integrated by normal methods, either from the inside or outside. When the presumptive stimulus barrier or protective shield is violated, the ego is overwhelmed and loses its mediatory abilities. A state of helplessness continues, varying from total apathy and withdrawal to an emotional storm accompanied by disorganized behaviors bordering on distress. Autonomic disorder symptoms are commonly present (Moore and Fine
1990, p. 194) via (Ringel & Brandell, 2012). Trauma is classified into two types, impersonal and interpersonal. Impersonal trauma is related to oneself. As researchers have found out, both of the main characters experience impersonal and interpersonal trauma. Another group of psychoanalytic writers makes an argument that interpersonal trauma in general is much more troublesome and causes significant mental disorders than impersonal trauma (Ringel & Brandell, 2012). Traumatic experiences cause responses and values, such as the disruption and reorientation of consciousness. However, the values that emerge from these experiences are influenced by various individual and cultural factors that continue to be developed over time (Balaev, 2014).
Based on the background that has been explained, the theory of literary trauma by Cathy Caruth is employed as the theory to be used in this research. In Unclaimed Experience: Trauma, Narrative, and History, she cites Freud that trauma is a wound that exists in the human mind, this wound is difficult to heal, experienced quickly, and unexpectedly (Caruth, 1996). Trauma occurs when an individu experiences something that is beyond an individual's ability to process and manage. As a result, a person may feel incapable of forgetting or coping with the traumatic experience. In turn, the traumatic experience continues to haunt, affecting the individual's life, and remaining in the memory for a long period of time. Caruth also assumes that "trauma is never simply one's own", from which assumption it might be argued that trauma is essentially dissociative (Caruth, 1996). However, this dissociative trauma model claims that "one's own trauma is tied up with the trauma of another", which implies that
an individual's experience of trauma is tied up with another individual's similar experience of trauma. This happens because people who have experienced trauma often feel connected to people who had similar experiences. So it can be concluded that support from others who have similar experiences can help a person process the trauma in an effort to heal. The effects of trauma for an individual are also different from other individuals which are divided into 2, namely, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) where the effects of this trauma lead to negative things, and post- traumatic growth (PTG) where these effects lead to positive things. From the literary trauma theory used, researchers found 3 factors that influence the effects of trauma, namely (1) Extreme Experience, (2) Individual and Cultural Factors, and (3) Historical Past.
From the two research objects above, the researchers propose a problem the two main characters of the movie both have, the same gender and experienced traumatic events that are influenced by society. For example, in He Named Me Malala (2015), she was traumatized by being shot by the Taliban because she was fighting for her rights, which made her feel uncomfortable returning to Afghanistan and always getting threats from the Taliban. In the second film that showed a similar traumatic event, Yuni (2021), Yuni was traumatized because she was forced into marriage not only by her family but also by her socio-cultural environment. In addition, their traumatic experiences have a similarity. This can be implicitly reinforced by Fanon's opinion, which states that a person's psychology is formed and affected by social context factors, and the real conditions of psychic phenomena. What needs to be underlined here is that although Fanon
is denying that psychoanalysis is a universal theory, he is indirectly acknowledging it (Greedharry, 2008). So from these problems, questions arise,
(1) What are the things that trigger trauma from the main characters of the films Yuni (2021) and He Named Me Malala (2015)?, (2) How do experiences form trauma and produce other traumas based on cultural and psychological factors causing dissociative effects and reorientation of consciousness?
The purpose of this study is to find out the form of traumatic feelings experienced by the two main characters and to identify how dissociative effects and reorientation of consciousness are presented due to traumatic events. The dissociative effect is a condition where someone who experiences a traumatic event, feels separated from the traumatic experience and they feel that the event is experienced by someone else. This is a form of coping mechanism in their mind to protect themselves from traumatic experiences that are not easy to process. In contrast to dissociative effects, reorientation of consciousness is where the traumatized person is able to become reconciled with their trauma. This is usually done in trauma therapy where they are helped to identify their traumatized feelings and their mind can perform healthy coping mechanisms. They go through a process of changing the way they value themselves, others, and the world around them. This involves re- establishing a basic understanding of life and its surroundings.
There are two researches which discuss the same object material and become previous research. First, research was conducted by Dedi Efendi, Dodi Oktariza, Azmita Yakub with the title "Depiction of Malala's Struggle in Fighting for Gender Equality in the
Film He Named Me Malala". Based on their research, they concluded that Malala's efforts in gender equality in education and politics have a positive impact, such as giving other women the opportunity to get the right to education and human rights as seen in the movie He Named Me Malala (Efendi et al., 2010). Second, research was conducted by Mariesa Giswandhani with the title "Yuni: Representation of Female Stereotypes". Based on her research, she concluded that the movie Yuni was unable to change the patriarchal system, even at the beginning the movie tried to break the local cultural stereotype with the strong conviction of the main character, Yuni. The end of the movie is very realistic by portraying that women will tend to accept the stereotype (Giswandhani, 2022). These previous researches are significantly different in terms of the approach as well as the theory from mine.
RESEARCH METHOD
This research uses a qualitative descriptive method by collecting data through close reading, documents, journals, and other sources related to the object of research. Qualitative descriptive method is one of the research methods used to describe and comprehend phenomena by collecting information from various sources such as observations, interviews, documents, and so on and combining them with qualitative analysis to understand the meaning of the phenomenon (Merriam & J. Tisdell, 2015). This method describes a detailed picture and provides a deeper understanding of how individuals or groups understand and respond to these problems.
The data collection of this research is done by taking the discourses, practices, and signs,
reflecting both main character’s psychological conditions, especially the trauma. The scenes and the lingual units are the data element of this research. The psychoanalytical reading is done by finding the relations of the traumatic variables in the data, such as extreme experiences, individual and cultural factors, and historical pasts.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
This research is important to do. It deals with the comparison of the effects of trauma in these two films and how they have different responses to the feelings of trauma they experience, even though the experience of trauma is equally affected by cultural factors. It is known that the way a person controls feelings of trauma will depend on socio-cultural factors and psychological factors that affect both characters.
Triggering Feelings of Trauma
In Yuni (2021), Yuni is seen as silent in class, this is because she has just been proposed to by Mr. Damar, who is the person she thought could help her get a scholarship. She also became an easily irritated person, and there was a scene where Yuni wanted to take her friend's purple stuff, then her friend admonished Yuni.
Teman Yuni 1 :”Apapun yang dilihatnya, pasti langsung dicurinya.” Teman Yuni 2 :”Wajarlah, ungu kan warna kesukaannya, warna janda.”
[Yuni’s Friend 1 :”Whatever she sees, she'll steal it right away."
Yuni’s Friend 2 :”No wonder, purple is her favorite color, the widow's color."]
Her friend's words triggered Yuni to the traumatic experience she went through
before, which was about the proposal and marriage. So when the feelings of trauma are triggered, Yuni becomes angry and her actions are uncontrolled. The color purple in Indonesian cultural myths is known to have a negative view because it is interpreted as "the color of widows". After that, there is a scene when Yuni cries at her best friend, Sarah's wedding, as she knows that Sarah got married not by her desire, but by force. This triggered Yuni's feelings of trauma because based on socio- cultural factors where she was living, she saw the reality that people who marry because they are forced by culture will not be happy, and neither will Sarah. Furthermore, there is also a scene where Yuni meets her friend, Suci, then she tells her about her marriage experience, which triggers Yuni's feelings of trauma.
Suci :”Awalnya tidak ada masalah. Tapi kemudian beberapa kali aku keguguran. Kata dokter, itu karena rahim saya masih terlalu muda. Belum cukup kuat. Mungkin mantan suami ku malu aku tidak bisa hamil. Lalu dia memukuli aku, dan akhirnya aku pun trauma. Mungkin karena kita masih sama-sama belum mengerti kalua menjalani hidup berumah tangga itu sulit. Lalu, kami bercerai.”
[Suci :” There was no problem at first. But then I had several miscarriages. The doctor said it was because my uterus was still very young. Not strong enough yet. Maybe my ex-husband was ashamed that I couldn't get pregnant. Then he beat me, and I was traumatized. Maybe it's because we still don't understand that living a married life is difficult. Then, we divorced."] The dialogue's semantics shed light on a nuanced story of a failed marriage. The speaker talks about her several miscarriages, pregnancy-related medical
problems, and physical violence from her ex-husband. A reflective and introspective tone is suggested by the use of terms like "not strong enough yet" and "maybe it's because we still don't understand." The dialogue's pragmatics concern the setting in which the words are being employed. The speaker is talking about her failing marriage-related personal and emotional concerns. Phrases like "maybe my ex- husband was ashamed" and "maybe it's because we still don't understand" imply a sense of ambiguity and conjecture regarding the reasons behind the relationship's issues.
In He Named Me Malala (2015), she said that she felt anxious and had difficulty sleeping because every time she closed her eyes she felt she could see many scary things, which indicated that every time Malala wanted to sleep she would triggered to remember the traumatic experiences she had experienced. She also said that the Taliban usually killed their targets at night, so Malala would lock every door and gate because she was afraid that the traumatic experience would be repeated. Then, there is a scene where Malala had a conversation with a journalist. The journalist notices that Malala always avoids questions that talk about her suffering.
[Journalist :”I noticed something about you. You don't like to talk about your suffering. You avoid questions.” Malala :”I am?” *Malala smiles slightly* “Of course I am”
Journalist :” You don't like talking about it”
Malala :”Yes, I don’t know.]
Not only that, but Malala also often has flashbacks to the traumatic events she experienced.
[Malala :” I often have silence for a while. Sometimes I feel that I'm in England, but it's only for a short time. I
won't stay here forever. Then, when I think about Swat, I think it's just a memory. Things happen, and I will never see Swat anymore.”
Journalist :” What will happen if you return (to Swat) today?”
Malala :” If I go back to Swat, will I be shot? Of course."]
In Yuni (2021), what may trigger her trauma is that Yuni will feel sad and helpless if those around her talk about marriage or things related to marriage. Marriage according to Yuni is not something that has a good influence on her life, especially after seeing some of her peers who feel miserable after marriage, even though Yuni's parents and her socio-cultural environment depict that someone who chooses to get married will have a guaranteed future, but Yuni sees that the reality of marriage is not that pleasant. One of her friends, Tika, was living away from her husband because he didn't like living with her parents and hadn't come home to see Tika for a long time. Tika was unwilling to live with her in-laws because she would be told to take care of her husband's big family. So she decided to get a divorce and remarry so she wouldn't feel lonely. Hearing this, Yuni said,
Yuni :”Apakah kamu mau mengulangi kesalahan yang sama?”
Tika :”Yaa, apa boleh buat. Lebih baik seperti itu daripada menjadi seorang janda.”
[Yuni :” Do you want to repeat the same mistake?"
Tika :” Well, what can I do. It's better that way than being a widow."]
The conversation between Yuni and Tika illustrates their intricate interplay as Yuni tries to caution Tika against making the same mistakes she did in the past and Tika answers by taking a practical approach to weighing the pros
and cons of her circumstances. The conversation also makes reference to an underlying background, such as a previous relationship or choice that has hurt Tika. Ultimately, as both speakers attempt to manage a challenging circumstance, the pragmatics of the discourse convey a feeling of caution and surrender.
This is related to the patriarchal socio- cultural system that is still very much rooted in the society where Yuni lives, where many women of her age are married and then abandoned after having children or get harassed if they cannot produce children. In the patriarchal tradition, the gender discrimination experienced by women is not only caused by their genitals but also by their socio-class or social marginalization. It can be recognized that there are many intersectional systems that can have an influence on gender discrimination experienced by women, one of them is gender and class intersectionality. Social class disparities have an effect on people's education and skills. Higher social classes own cultural capital and have the power to access the education and skills needed to achieve higher social status (Bourdieu, 2010). In the film Yuni (2021), she is portrayed as a woman who is not very well-off in economics, even when she wants to continue her education at college, financial issue is also one of her obstacles. As when Mrs. Lies, the school teacher who guided Yuni explained about the scholarship, Yuni said,
Yuni :”Kalau saya mendapat beasiswa, itu mungkin bisa meyakinkan orangtua saya mengenai masalah ini (masalah ekonomi).”
[Yuni :”If I get a scholarship, it might convince my parents about this problem (economic problems)."]
Because of this, many men who have a significantly higher economy than her come to propose to her, and there's even one who will clearly pay Yuni a certain amount of rupiah if she is found to be a virgin on her wedding night.
She is being irritable when the highest point where Yuni could express all her emotions and fears about marriage. There are several symptoms of individuals who are being triggered by things that recall traumatic events, such as being easily startled, feeling nervous or "on edge", having a hard time getting to sleep, and being short- tempered (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, n.d.). In this case, Yuni is having angry outbursts while on a normal day, she can work through her problems calmly. This is due to the person that she trusted to help her get a scholarship proposing to her and "forcing" her to accept his proposal, then Yuni's response to her traumatized feelings is also influenced by the cultural construction that says it is forbidden to reject a proposal more than twice. Moreover, the role of her parents, who were supposed to support her in achieving her dreams, implicitly supported her in just getting married by saying,
Ibu Yuni :”Yang ibu tahu, bahwa banyak yang jadi sarjana, tapi pengangguran. Tetapi, apapun pilihan Yuni, jika itu membuat Yuni bahagia pasti Ibu dukung.”
[Yuni’s Mother :” What I know is that there are many people who become graduates, but are unemployed. However, whatever you choose, if it makes you happy, I will support you."] Yuni's mother seems to be giving her counsel or direction, implying that many graduates find themselves without jobs. She makes it obvious that she will support Yuni's decision regardless of
what it is, but her main concern is for Yuni to be happy. The purpose of Yuni's mother's speech act, which has a pragmatic purpose, is to reassure Yuni that her mother cares more about her happiness and well-being than just her ability to find work. This made Yuni depressed and in the end, she chose to follow the culture that had been formed in the environment where she lived.
However, this is quite different for Malala. Malala has difficulty sleeping and feels anxious every time she closes her eyes. This happens because the Taliban often kill their targets at night, so every night Malala feels anxious because she remembers the incident, then from her anxiety, she always makes sure that all windows and doors are locked. Sleep disturbances can be one of the effects of trauma in individuals who have experienced traumatic experiences. Sleep disturbances can be a sign of disruptions or transformations in the central nervous system that occur as a response to trauma. This can affect the individual's sleep habits and interrupt the body's ability to restimulate and recover during the night (Caruth, 1995). Insomnia or sleep disruption and nightmares related to recurring trauma are two of the most commonly associated and distressing symptoms of PTSD (Lies et al., 2019). Sleep disturbance is a relatively common symptom in trauma-affected individuals, and is frequently associated with distressing nightmares or flashbacks that can disturb sleep (Caruth, 1995).
Furthermore, avoidance symptoms are also frequently seen, especially where reminders that trigger memories of the past and violence are involved (Marsella, 2007). Malala felt that her trauma would be triggered if someone asked or talked about her
suffering caused by the Taliban. So her response was to avoid questions that would trigger her memories of the shooting. This can occur because trauma is not just one simple wound of the mind, but the unfolding story of a wound that is attempting to inform us of an unavailable reality or truth. This truth arises gradually, so it cannot be associated only with what is known, but also with what is unknowable through our actions and language (Caruth, 1996). The historical strength of trauma is not just that it is recurring after being completely forgotten, but that it is only being experienced for the first time in and through the forgetfulness that attaches to it (Caruth, 1995). Therefore, an individual's responses to certain situations that are resembling traumatic experiences are influenced by the experiences that are inherent in their minds. As a result, when a person is triggered by the traumatic feelings they can recapture the same feelings as when they experienced the traumatic incident, even if they are not able to recognize the connection between the trauma- resembling event and their actual experience.
Thus, each of the main characters Yuni and Malala has a distinctive way of triggering their feelings of trauma. Yuni would be feeling triggered by her feelings of trauma if someone comes to propose to her, hears news of a marriage that is not based on a will, or other things in relation to marriage. In addition, Yuni repeatedly experiences things that trigger her feelings of trauma and she lives in a place where she gets the traumatic experience, so the feelings of trauma will continue to persist. Meanwhile, Malala was feeling triggered by her traumatic experience at night when she was going to sleep, this was because the Taliban often killed
their targets at night. Then, another thing that triggers Malala's feelings of trauma is if someone starts talking to her or asking her about the shooting. After experiencing such trauma, Malala moved to the UK and attended school and healing therapy there, in which case she stayed away from places that could trigger her feelings of trauma. However, both Yuni and Malala also had different reactions to their feeling of trauma. Yuni's response to the feeling of trauma is that she turns into a more sensitive and irritable person. On the other hand, Malala's response are would tend to avoid the questions and try to redirect the conversation. It can be concluded that the things that trigger trauma for each individual are different depending on what traumatic events they have experienced, although the trauma they experienced was motivated by socio- cultural factors.
The Effect of Experiences
In Yuni (2021), it is shown when Yuni has just returned from school, then she notices a guest in her living room, namely Iman, the man who proposed to Yuni came with his family. This made Yuni startled. Then the news of the proposal spread very quickly to her neighbors, whose neighbors said that Yuni was very lucky because she was proposed to by an established man. It then shows Yuni's conversation with her grandmother,
Nenek Yuni :”Cucu perempuan Nenek sudah dewasa. Sudah bisa menikah.” Yuni :”Nenek ingin saya menerima lamaran Iman ya?”
Nenek Yuni :”Pernikahan itu adalah hal yang baik, tidak baik menolah rezeki kan?"
[Yuni’s Grandma :” Grandma's granddaughters are grown up. You can get married."
Yuni :”You want me to accept Iman's proposal, right?"
Yuni’s Grandma :” Marriage is a good thing, it's not good to refuse fortune, is it?"]
Though Yuni had the courage to reject Iman's proposal, the incident shaped her feelings of trauma. At the other time, she is proposed to for the second time by Mr. Dodi, an old man who already has a wife. This obviously caused Yuni under even more pressure because she was given 25 million and will be added if she proves to be a virgin on the first night they get married. Other than that, what made Yuni feel even more distressed was that the news of her second proposal also spilled into her school, one of Yuni's friends said that Yuni's family would definitely be very happy if Yuni accepted Mr. Dodi's proposal. After all, according to the culture around where Yuni lives, it is forbidden to reject a proposal more than twice, or called pamali.
In He Named Me Malala (2015), Malala agrees to the BBC's invitation to tell the public about her daily life in Swat Valley. By the time she agreed, she already understood the consequences of exposing the violence of the Taliban. Her father, who has a strong relationship with her, did not forbid her from doing so. He gave Malala the freedom to make her own choices. A few moments after Malala had the courage to represent all women in the world to get a proper education, she was threatened by the Taliban. [Taliban (VO) :”Remember I know you! Listen carefully, when I'm willing to kill myself, others have no meaning to me!"]
The statement "others have no value to me" implies that the speaker is willing
to cause harm to others in order to achieve their objectives. The context in which the words are employed is referred to as the pragmatics of the dialogue. The threat is likely being made in the context of a political or ideological confrontation because the speaker is identifiable as a Taliban member. The phrase "remember I know you" suggests that the speaker has some knowledge of or influence on the listener. Later on, her father received a phone call from a friend informing him that the school bus Malala was boarded was attacked by the Taliban. Malala was immediately taken to a military hospital and had emergency surgery, but the doctors doubted whether she would survive, given the severity of the shooting. Before the shooting started the Taliban were also constantly providing doctrine to Pakistani society. [Taliban (VO) :” As long as girls are covered, they will still get religious education. Any other type of education (other than religious education) is unnecessary for women."]
In Yuni (2021), the experience that forms trauma based on socio- cultural and psychological factors is a marriage plan that she doesn't expect. This experience can form trauma because marriage in her cultural environment is a blessing, and if you refuse a marriage it is the same as refusing fortune. This is very contradicting to Yuni's desire to continue her studies by trying to apply for a scholarship, which one of the requirements for getting a scholarship is an accomplished and unmarried student. Through Yuni's courage, she finally succeeded in rejecting Iman's proposal. However, the challenges she faced did not stop there. On the second proposal by Mr. Dodi, she got a re-traumatize experience toward marriage. According to the culture around where she lives,
there is an understanding that if a girl is marrying a well-established man, it is certain that her family will be proud and happy. Lyubomirsky explains that 40% of our happiness comes from controlling our daily thoughts and actions. Happiness will increase if we focus on self-development, such as taking care of our body and soul, increasing spirituality, and meditation (Lyubomirsky, 2007). What Yuni chooses to do to increase her happiness, which is to continue her studies, must be set aside because in this case, cultural factors are very influential in the actions she takes. As a result, this formed Yuni's personality who was easily irritable because she could not express her feelings and emotions. Caruth also discusses how trauma can shape a person's life through their own experiences (Caruth, 1996). Trauma often occurs by crossing the boundaries of language and our self-understanding of the world within. So culture has an important role in coping with traumatic experiences, and how we relieve emotions and overcome difficulties associated with trauma (Caruth, 1996).
The same thing also happened to Malala, a girl from Swat Valley who was shot by the Taliban because she had the courage to confront the media about how vicious the Taliban was. These things also form trauma based on socio- cultural factors. At that time, she already knew what consequences she would face if she dared to talk to the media about the Taliban, as well as her father. Malala's father gave his daughter the freedom to choose her own path in life. Malala's father was a teacher, who taught his students to be brave enough to fight against culture, traditions, and also taught them how to raise their voices. Of course, this was also taught to his daughter, Malala. This cultural factor from her parents shaped Malala's
personality who had the courage to act under pressure. This can happen because culture shapes a person's expression and perspective on how to fight under pressure that is taught either directly or indirectly. It also influences how a person manages and limits specific expressions and emotions, and provides a basic strategy on how to handle emotions (Drozdek & Wilson, 2007).
After the shooting she was treated intensively. Many doctors thought that Malala would not survive due to the severity of her physical and psychological injuries after the shooting. However, Malala did not easily give up on the impact of the shooting. She followed the healing process so that she could return to her normal life. Even after she recovered, she was happy to be invited to several television programs and share her life with the public. She said that it was an honor to recover after all this time so that she could speak out for her rights back. Although Malala had experienced such a traumatic event, she said that she came back with the same passion, ambition, hopes, and dreams. She also mentioned that Taliban bullets will not silence her strength and courage. Obviously, what she has been through has formed a new Malala. Nevertheless, it is not a weak person, but a stronger and braver person. A stronger sense of intimacy, connectedness, and the greatest freedom to be themselves, even expressing the socially unintended of oneself or one's experiences are also shared by people who have struggled with traumatic moments (Calhoun & Tedeschi, 2006). Rousseau's views developed by Hobbes (1588-1679) brought a new awareness that the societal role is very important as a determiner of changing human behavior (Drozdek & Wilson, 2007). The societal
role that Malala's trauma process has played may have come from her family, as she is very close to her parents and her siblings. Malala's passionate background may also have been influenced by how her parents educated her. Malala's father thinks that if we don't have the courage to stand up for our rights, we will lose our chance to exist, and our right to live. He also added that if something that is his right is violated and he is just silent without revolting, he would rather die than live. The way Malala fights for her rights is the same way her father fought for his rights. Malala describes her father as a person who is not easily giving up, a passionate, and intelligent person. The role of parents is also important in the trauma recovery process. Emotional support from parents supports children who have experienced traumatic events in understanding and coping with feelings of self-blame, guilt, and pain associated with the traumatic experience (Caruth, 1996).
Experiences that form trauma based on socio-cultural and psychological factors in Yuni lead to dissociative effects because Yuni continues to experience the same traumatic event repeatedly up to three times, which is when the third time she gets her traumatic experience, she feels unable to escape from her environment which is still very strong in a patriarchal culture. In this case, Yuni felt unsafe and threatened even in her own community. Then, when she was feeling dilemma or anxious, Yuni did not have enough parental and environmental figures to be able to share her anxiety. This is because many of her friends and family believe that getting married after graduating from high school is much better than continuing college. As a result, Yuni decides to accept Mr. Damar's proposal, although at the end of
the film Yuni chooses to leave her marriage and chooses to commit suicide or dissociative response as a form of self-defense. There are several aspects that can assist a person in recovering from feelings of trauma, which include:
(1) personal power, (2) relation to others, (3) new possibility, (4) valuation of life, (5) spiritual and existential change (Zieba et al., 2019). In this case, Yuni lacked sufficient personal power after experiencing a traumatic event, and as a result, Yuni, who was described by her friends as a brave figure, became a helpless woman. In the end, her choice of life was influenced by socio-cultural factors rather than her will. Moreover, Yuni lacks a significant appreciation for life, as evidenced by Yuni, who was initially very eager to continue her studies, bravely rejected all proposals, and ultimately chose to marry because her parents implicitly preferred her to marry rather than go to college. She follows Islam in her spiritual life, but she is not a devout Muslim. Even when she is depressed, she does not pray or make a plea to her god. In contrast to Malala's case. After her tragic event, she became even more determined to fulfill her dreams for the entire world. This happened because Malala has a parental figure who is very closely attached to her, especially her father. Then, Malala is also a devout Muslim. Malala explained to journalists that she never felt angry at the Taliban because Islam teaches its people about equality and forgiveness, so she felt she had forgiven the Taliban's flaws. Malala's personal strength, which includes a sense of independence and self-confidence, has improved during the recovery process.
CONCLUSION
The impact of traumatic experiences on Malala and Yuni are significantly different. Yuni is a high school girl who lives in an environment that is still thick with patriarchy. She is traumatized about marriage because she wants to continue her education at college, but her social environment supports Yuni to get married, which is the reality about marriage that she sees, contrary to the stigma of society which says that getting married is better than having an unclear future.
In this case, when she was triggered by her traumatic experience, she became more sensitive and irritable. In the end, she tends to have the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is indicated by her inability to process the trauma, which leads to suicide or dissociative effects as a form of self-defense. Meanwhile, Malala was a young girl who speaks out for her right to receive a proper education. However, because she lived in Pakistan, which was then colonized by the Taliban, she was considered to have disobeyed the Taliban's rules and was shot for her bravery. It was a traumatic experience for Malala, because the doctors who treated her after the shooting said that she would no longer be able to heal. Due to the physical and psychological trauma she experienced, when she was triggered by the traumatic memory, Malala chose to avoid it.
However, with the support of her family and social environment, Malala tends to have a Post Traumatic Growth (PTG) effect which is indicated by changes in Malala's attitude and behavior that can process her traumatic feelings so that she can recover to produce new soul or reorientation of consciousness. Those who have gone through or observed a terrible event may develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Flashbacks, avoidance, and hyperarousal are some of the symptoms, and they can seriously affect a person's capacity to function in daily life. PTSD is regarded as a severe condition that needs expert care to manage and recover from. PTG, on the other hand, describes the positive psychological improvements that certain people may experience after a traumatic occurrence. Increased resiliency, a deeper love of life, and a stronger feeling of personal development are a few examples of these improvements. PTG is a typical and adaptive reaction to trauma rather than a disorder or pathology. It is crucial to remember that not everyone who endures trauma will experience PTG or PTSD. Depending on the person and the specifics of the traumatic experience, the intensity of PTSD symptoms might change. The extent of PTG a person experiences might also differ greatly from person to person.
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