Journal of English Language and Education
Vol 10, No 5 (2025)

From Subaltern to Subject: Women's Struggle Against Patriarchy in North Country (2005)

Sa’adah, Zumrotus (Unknown)
Nurhamidah, Idha (Unknown)
Muna, Nailil (Unknown)
Praptawati, Destary (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
08 Oct 2025

Abstract

Women’s struggles against patriarchy remain a crucial subject in feminist and postcolonial scholarship, yet limited attention has been given to how cinema contributes to theorizing subaltern subjectivity. This study addresses the gap by analyzing North Country (2005) through feminist criticism and postcolonial theory, particularly Spivak’s concept of the subaltern. The purpose is to examine how women’s silenced voices in patriarchal structures are represented and how subaltern subjectivity transforms into political agency. Using qualitative textual and film analysis, the study integrates Spivak’s subalternity with Butler’s performativity, Foucault’s disciplinary power, Fraser’s redistribution and recognition, and Mohanty’s transnational feminism. Findings show that the mine functions as a patriarchal microcosm, but resistance and solidarity enable women to reclaim voice and agency, redefining the feminist maxim “the personal is political” and extending its resonance transnationally. The study concludes that North Country (2005) is a cultural artifact dramatizing the journey “from subaltern to subject,” underscoring cinema’s role as a theoretical production.

Copyrights © 2025






Journal Info

Abbrev

jele

Publisher

Subject

Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media Other

Description

Journal of English Language and Education (pISSN: 2597-6850 and eISSN: 2502-4132) is a journal that focuses on researching or documenting issues in education, language education, applied linguistics, English education, English language teaching, English Literature, language assessment and ...