Woman Identity Representation in Laki’s Proverbs

This paper intended to investigate how women's identity is represented in Laki's proverbs. Theoretical framework of the paper is based on Stuart Hall, Jenkins, Giddens and Castells' notion on identity. The methodology of this study is a qualitative content analysis. Data was collected through documentation and interview. Data were analyzed based on the categorization technique. At the first level of analysis, we can refer to the representation of a woman as a being with the negative identity attributes, including instrumentality, irrational, immoral, and dependence, and positive identity attributes, such as wise, respectable, and pillar of the house. On the second level, findings indicated that the identity with which Lak's women have been represented partly differ from that of the dominant culture represents on the women's identity. In other words, the categories obtained to represent women are not similar in Laki's proverbs. This represented image can be categorized into three categories of Dot (daughter), Da (mother), and Daya (old woman). Among from these three groups, the identity of the mother age group was represented more positive than that of the two other groups, and the old woman's identity was represented more negative than the rest.