Peer-reviewed article
CHILD MARRIAGE IN SHORT STORIES FROM INDONESIA AND BANGLADESH: VICTOR, SURVIVOR, AND VICTIM
Novita Dewi ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This peer-reviewed article analyzes how child marriage is portrayed in short stories from Indonesia and Bangladesh. The study examines the socio-economic and cultural drivers of child marriage, including poverty, economic dependency, lack of education, and dowry systems, rather than attributing it solely to cultural backwardness. The authors show that literary depictions of child brides vary, portraying them either as reinforcing violence or as critically questioning patriarchal practices, with child brides taking on roles as victors, survivors, or victims.
Key points
- Child marriage in Indonesia and Bangladesh is driven primarily by poverty, economic dependency, lack of education, and dowry systems
- Mainstream feminist perspectives that blame minority cultures for child marriage are limited and insufficient
- Literary depictions of child marriage vary between those that perpetuate violence and those that critically examine it as a patriarchal practice
- Child brides are portrayed in different roles: victor, survivor, or victim, depending on the narrative
Limitations
This is a literary analysis rather than an empirical study, so it cannot quantify the prevalence of child marriage or measure outcomes for affected children. It focuses on how stories depict child marriage rather than the lived experiences and well-being outcomes of child brides themselves.
Abstract
Early marriage is a total destruction to the human rights of children. Contrary to the conviction that child marriage in rural, developing countries is inextricably linked with their cultural backwardness, violence against women need to be examined and addressed in terms of the specific socio-economic and cultural conditions as to why girls, adolescents and young women are forced to live and marry in their young age. This article examines two shorts stories from Indonesia to be analyzed comparatively with another story from Bangladesh to show the limit of mainstream feminist perspectives that often put the blame on minority cultures. The present study reveals that first, child marriages in both countries are largely driven by such factors as poverty, economic dependency, lack of education, and dowry in Bangladeshs case. Secondly, the ways in which authors depict child marriages vary, i.e. it is either perpetuating the violence in child marriage, or critically depicting child marriage as an aberrant patriarchal practice. Taken together, the child brides play their respective role as victor, survivor, or victim.