The Concept of Family in the Selected Novels from the Emerging Countries: A Sociological Analysis

This paper determined the concept of family from a sociological perspective, as reflected in the selected novels from the emerging countries. This also presented the sociological factors (i.e. cultural, economic and political) relating to the concept of family in the selected novels, the concept of family drawn in the selected novels from the emerging countries under study and the similarities and/or differences in the concept of family the authors of the selected novels show in their respective works. The Expanded Sociological Analysis (ESA) was used to explore the cultural, political and economic aspects of the novels supported by Marxist Literary Criticism particularly the following models: Lukacs' The Reflection Model, Lucien Goldmann's The Genetic Model and Epifanio San Juan's The Society and Critical Theory. The data used in this study were primarily the texts of the six (6) novels from the emerging countries. The analyses of the six (6) selected novels from the emerging countries revealed the following concepts of family: to protect the image of the family, the Egyptian parents (Kamel Efendi and Samira) portray and exercise the patriarchal matriarchal egalitarian rule over their children in The Beginning and the End, as the Columbian parents (Jose Arcadio Buendia and Ursula Iguaran Buendia) in One Hundred Years of Solitude do. However, the Vietnamese mother imposes the matriarchal rule in the Paradise of the Blind and the heroines (Mama Elena) in Like Water for Chocolate, and (Emy) in Mass. By contrast, the Jamaican father (Winston) in The Family solely over practices the patriarchal rule. A Close Mini-Society where all the members of the family try to live together in times of happiness and sadness is apparent in Mahfouz's and Sionil Jose's novels. One very important concept of family revealed in the mother's authority figure is seen in Mahfouz's novel (in the absence of Kamel Efendi) and in Thu Huong's as well as in Esquivel's work, including Sionil Jose's strong woman character, clearly seen is the multitude of social bonds based on consanguinity rather than on household among family members, be it in the novels of Mahfouz, Garcia Marquez, Thu Huong, Esquivel, Emecheta, and Sionil Jose. The social concept of family where every member lives together and does things together like solving problems and contributing to a peaceful environment, stands out very clearly in the works of the men and women novelists under study. Lastly, the voluntary association concept that is, spouses can leave, children have outside resources to rely on if they perceive the family crumbling, is markedly present in Emecheta's The Family.