The Politics of Power over Women’s Bodies: Japanese Imperial Hegemony and the Construction of Jugun Ianfu in the Novel Perawan Remaja dalam Cengkeraman Militer

Abstract

This research article aims to understand and describe how the Japanese Imperialist hegemony over the formation of the Jugun Ianfu system is represented in the novel Perawan Remaja dalam Cengkraman Militer by Pramoedya Ananta Toer, as well as explain how the practice reflects the politics of power over women's bodies. By using qualitative methods and hermeneutic approaches in the framework of Michel Foucault's body political theory, the results of this study show that the practice of exploitation of women in the novel is not just a form of physical violence, but a manifestation of a hegemonic and veiled power system. Women's bodies are used as tools of the state through the process of dehumanization, identity removal, and silencing of voices. In the novel's narrative, the female body is no longer owned by herself, but rather is fully regulated by the military as part of the war strategy. This reflects how Imperialist power makes the body a political territory, and this novel becomes a space to expose and counter the practice of power that normalizes the oppression of women's bodies.