Willa Cather's Notion on Traditional American Women in the Novel My Antonia: An Approach of Genetic Structuralism

Abstract

This article discusses the traditional American woman initiated by Willa Cather in the novel My Antonia. It was written in 1913 which describes the social conditions of the frontiers in the farming areas of the American West in Nebraska, Hastings, Black Hawk, Lincoln, and others. Frontiers generally still maintain traditional values in the survival of their families, especially Nebraska. The literary study method used in this article is the Genetic Structuralism Approach which emphasizes the sociological analysis of literature based on the structural meaning of literature and literary genetics. This approach is very appropriate to be used to find universal values documented in literary works which are termed vision du monde or world views. This research found Willa Cather's imaginative ideas about traditional American women in the novel My Antonia which includes aspects of performance, position, role, identity, and perspective. Traditional women's performances have the same appearance and clothing as traditional women in general in America. The traditional position of a woman is as the wife of her husband and the mother of her children. The role of traditional women is to take care of the household and to maintain the continuity of family life. Traditional women's identity is a housewife. The perspective of traditional women is to devote all their souls and bodies for family happiness, domestic harmony, and maintaining good relations with neighbors. Then Willa Cather's notion of traditional American women is full domestication and partial domestication.