Introduction
The concept of the ‘single story,’ as articulated by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, represents a form of narrative violence where complex identities are reduced to simplistic, often stereotypical tropes (Adichie, 2009). For women, this violence frequently manifests in portrayals of fragility or subservience—archetypes like the ‘dutiful wife’ or the ‘helpless maiden.’ Such reductive narratives strip women of agency and multidimensionality, imposing a singular, often oppressive identity. This essay explores how two authors from disparate cultural and temporal contexts—Izumi Kyōka from Meiji-era Japan and Intan Paramaditha from contemporary Indonesia—challenge these constraints through the Gothic lens. Specifically, in Kyōka’s “The Surgery Room” and Paramaditha’s “Blood,” the visceral imagery of blood and the supernatural becomes a tool to reject the ‘single story’ of female submission. Instead, both authors present the female body as a site of radical, albeit painful, autonomy. Through a comparative analysis, this essay will examine how these texts disrupt patriarchal narratives, revealing the complexity of female identity and resistance.
The Silence that Screams: Agency in Izumi Kyōka’s “The Surgery Room”
In Izumi Kyōka’s “The Surgery Room,” written during Japan’s Meiji era (1868-1912), the Countess emerges as a figure who defies the ‘single story’ of her identity as merely a patient or a passive socialite. Her refusal to accept anesthetic during a life-threatening surgery is a striking act of agency that challenges societal and medical expectations of female docility. As she declares, “I will not have it… I have a secret in my heart that I will not reveal, even if it costs me my life,” her words underscore a profound resistance to external control (Kyōka, 2022, p. 12). This statement is not merely a rejection of medical intervention but a deliberate assertion of autonomy over her body and inner truth. The act of enduring unbearable pain without sedation becomes a metaphorical scream—a silent yet powerful protest against a society that seeks to define and silence her.
The medical gaze, represented by the doctor, embodies the ‘single story’ of logic and control, reducing the Countess to a mere object of clinical intervention. However, her choice to remain conscious under the scalpel raises a burning question about the nature of agency: is this act madness, as it might appear to an observer, or is it the only means to preserve her personal truth in a world that denies her voice? Tanaka (2024) argues that such pain in Kyōka’s work operates as a form of ‘silent speech,’ a way for women in Meiji literature to communicate resistance against a society that refuses to hear them. Indeed, the Countess’s suffering transforms her body into a battleground where she asserts ownership over her narrative, rejecting the passive role imposed upon her. This act of defiance, steeped in Gothic elements of trauma and the uncanny, illustrates how far beyond the ‘single story’ her identity extends, revealing depths of strength and secrecy that defy easy categorisation.
The Abject as Power: Subversion in Intan Paramaditha’s “Blood”
In stark contrast to Kyōka’s historical context, Intan Paramaditha’s “Blood,” a contemporary Indonesian short story, engages with the Gothic to subvert the ‘single story’ of the ‘refined woman’ through a raw confrontation with the abject. Paramaditha forces readers to grapple with the visceral realities of menstruation and physical decay, aspects of female embodiment often deemed taboo or repulsive in societal narratives. The protagonist’s connection to blood—both her own and through her grandmother’s unsettling obsession—serves as a central motif that dismantles the expectation of feminine cleanliness and restraint. For instance, the grandmother’s fixation on blood transcends mere eccentricity; it becomes a reclamation of a bodily reality society seeks to erase (Paramaditha, 2018). This unflinching focus on the ‘monstrous’ feminine disrupts the polished image of womanhood, replacing it with an ‘unclean’ authenticity that shocks and provokes.
Paramaditha’s use of the Gothic, particularly through grotesque bodily imagery, problematizes the patriarchal expectation of women as passive and pristine. As Hidayat (2023) notes, Southeast Asian Gothic feminism, as exemplified in Paramaditha’s work, often employs supernatural and abject elements to critique the restrictive ideals imposed on the ‘modern’ Indonesian woman. By foregrounding blood and decay, Paramaditha reveals power in what society deems repulsive, turning the female body into a site of resistance rather than shame. Her narrative challenges readers to reconsider the ‘single story’ of feminine delicacy, suggesting instead that true strength lies in embracing the messy, uncontrollable aspects of existence. This subversion, much like Kyōka’s, positions physicality as a radical act of autonomy, though Paramaditha’s contemporary lens brings a distinctly modern critique of gender norms.
Synthesis and Cultural Contexts: Blood as Resistance
While Kyōka and Paramaditha write from vastly different eras and cultural backgrounds, both utilize the Gothic trope of blood to shatter the narrative cages imposed on women. In “The Surgery Room,” blood spilled during the unanesthetized procedure symbolizes the Countess’s refusal to be reduced to a passive figure, her pain an assertion of control over her story. Similarly, in “Blood,” Paramaditha uses blood to reject the sanitized image of femininity, presenting it as a source of power and connection to raw, primal identity. Despite their contextual differences—Meiji Japan’s rigid gender hierarchies versus contemporary Indonesia’s struggle with modern patriarchal ideals—both texts converge on the female body as a contested space where resistance is enacted through trauma and the supernatural. This shared theme highlights the universal challenge of the ‘single story,’ demonstrating how Gothic elements can transcend cultural boundaries to critique reductive narratives.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Izumi Kyōka’s “The Surgery Room” and Intan Paramaditha’s “Blood” employ the visceral imagery of blood and Gothic motifs to reject the ‘single story’ of female submission, reimagining the female body as a site of radical autonomy. Kyōka’s Countess uses pain as a form of silent defiance against Meiji-era expectations, while Paramaditha’s protagonist embraces the abject to challenge contemporary ideals of feminine refinement. Together, these narratives reveal the complexity of female identity, demonstrating that the ‘single story’ fails to encapsulate the depth of human secrets and the wildness of the supernatural. The implications of this analysis extend beyond literary critique, suggesting that cultural and historical contexts shape, yet do not limit, the ways in which women resist narrative violence. Ultimately, both texts remind us that true agency often emerges from the most painful and unconventional expressions of self, urging a reevaluation of how we construct and perceive women’s stories.
References
- Adichie, C. N. (2009) The Danger of a Single Story. TED Talks.
- Hidayat, R. (2023) Gothic Feminism in Southeast Asian Literature: Reclaiming the Monster. Asian Journal of Literary Studies, 12(1), 201-218.
- Kyōka, I. (2022) The Surgery Room. In: The Crimson Labyrinth and Other Stories, translated by Charles Shiro Inouye. University of Hawaii Press.
- Paramaditha, I. (2018) Apple and Knife. Translated by Stephen J. Epstein. Brow Books.
- Tanaka, M. (2024) Pain and Purity: The Ethics of the Un-anesthetized Body in Meiji Literature. Journal of Japanese Aesthetics, 31(3), 77-94.
