A Comparison Of A Thesis On Estrella Alfon

The rationale of Jane Dacillo Alcantara’s thesis dated September 2012 titled ‘Feminist Reading of Estrella Alfon’s selected short stories” was woman empowerment. She emphasized in her rationale that although the empowerment of woman have already become a trend in the contemporary society there are traces of ‘machismo’ still existing. She made examples of women’s position in the workplace as well as in the literary world. Alcantara chose three works by Estrella Alfon who is known to be the most prolific writer of her time. According to Alcantara, Alfon’s works offered the best avenue for ‘feminist readings of text’. The sources of Alfon’s works were taken from a book anthology published in 1960 which was in Alcantara’s position. Alcantara used three literary theories to analyze the chosen works of Alfon. These theories were presented in a diagram which was included in foremost part of the thesis.

One of the theories Alcantara used to analyze Alfon’s works was the feminist theory which Alcantara consider very appropriate since Alfon was a female writer and “reading the stories using the feminist approach” would show a more realistic feminist perspective. Another theory used to analyze Alfon’s work was the Mimetic theory which Alcantara stated “gives the readers a clear and easy perspective on the reality of life”. It would also give beyond the text understanding of the human experience Alcantara cited. And lastly, Alcantara analyzed Alfon’s works using the Formalistic theory which is always the safest way to analyze a literary piece. The Formalistic theory as Alcantara quoted “determines meaning – organization, structure and language” and by the used of this theory a structural analysis of form would be revealed in the works of Alfon. Also, with the used of the characterization which is the most common feature of the Formalistic theory, Alcantara would be able to show the personality of a character.

Alcantara had to undergo three phases of analysis in treating Alfon’s works. She first had to apply the feminist theory to find out how the women characters conducted themselves in the situations presented in Alfon’s stories. She then explored the symbols and the images of women in Alfon’s works..Through this, process Alcantara was able to reveal Feminist events in plot structures where each character encounters yet they remain fearless. Alcantara had to characterize the women Alfon’s work to contract a deeper understanding of the portrayal of woman in contemporary society in which Alcantara found that women have different portrayals in society, particularly those women who break the stereotype. As a conclusion, Alcantara asserts that the selected stories of Estrella Alfon did have feminist manifestations. Alcantara then recommended a comprehensive analysis of women characters in fiction be observed to reveal feminism. She added that a clear portrayal of women’s states in the Philippine society be emphasized to reveal enriched feminist themes. Alcantara also suggested to research on the writer’s presence in the as well as locale color in the works of Estrella Alfon’s fiction.

Alcantara further stated that as study of how men are viewed in women’s text should be conducted for further research. The same treatment of data would be applied in the analysis of another female Filipino writer, Lakambini Sitoy. Sitoy published two collections of stories as well as a novel entitled ‘Sweet Haven’. Sitoy’s works also would provide a great avenue for feminist analysis of text. Three famous works by Lakambini Sitoy chosen from the books she published would also be analyzed using the Feminist theory and the Formalistic theory. The Mimetic theory is being considered but may not be included in the analysis of the data. The work on Lakambini Sitoy would basically copy that of how Alcantara treated her qualitative study on Estrella Alfon with exception of the Mimetic theory. Lakambini Sitoy has been known as Feminist writer so applying the Feministic theory into her work would be highly appropriate.

An analysis of the character, symbols and images in Sitoy’s work through the Formalistic theory would also be done to find out the feminist manifestations incorporated in the works. Sitoy’s work features women as its main characters as well as men who manifest feministic thinking. Characterization of not only the women but most probably also the men, in the stories would then be compared with the recent images of woman in contemporary society. The specific changes that took places in the recent years with regards to the empowerment of women in society would be analyzed as well as what factors affecting these changes. Most likely, the research would also include an analysis of how men are portrayed in Sitoy’s story is also considered as part of the future study.

The basic purpose of the study would not only be to reveal feministic manifestation in Lakambini Sitoy’s stories but also on whether these manifestations have changed over the years and what affected these changes as well as what factors are affected by these changes of.