The Jews under Roman Rule

all in sequence of time. The related studies also give contribution to the related background of this research as they also share some important historical data. The related studies in this research are used as the starting point from where the writer begins to develop the postcolonial biblical study. There are also some related theories used in this research to answer the research questions. As this research discusses about a struggle of defending national identity of a nation which lived in the context of imperialism, the theory used here is Postcolonial theory. Avoiding any jumping observation to the main problem, the writer uses two intrinsic theories as the beginning to make this research fully understandable. The first intrinsic theory is the theory of characterization. This theory gives contribution in giving the writer understanding of how to know the characteristic or quality of a character, which in this research is Jesus, using some methods. This theory, used in the first research question, helps the writer to determine the characteristics of Jesus which show his reinterpretations of Torah. The second intrinsic theory is the theory of conflict. This theory gives contribution in giving the writer understanding of what makes conflict, how the different ideas can lead to clash. This theory, used in the second research question, helps the writer to know how Jesus criticism of Torah can trigger a clash with the Jews, especially the Jewish authorities. After that, in the third research question, the writer uses Postcolonial theory. This theory gives contribution as a whole about the impact of imperialism experienced by the Jewish people. There are three specific parts of this theory related to the problem in this research. First part is the theory of identity. This theory gives contribution in giving understanding of the Jewish identity; who they are and how they are related to others. This theory explains how the Jewish people identify and enunciate their selves as they are in the hybrid situation, contaminated by the colonizer‟s culture. The theory of national identity is also used here. This theory gives contribution in giving understanding of what makes a national identity, how it emerges and why it is so important for the Jewish people. The last theory is the theory of hybridity. This theory gives contribution in giving underst anding of the mix of culture. This theory explains how the colonizer‟s culture can be internalized by the colonized people. This theory is used to see the status quo of the Jewish people who in fact have contaminated by the colonizer‟s culture and ideology. As this research uses Postcolonial theory, it certainly needs some historical data or background to understand what happened in the past that influence the problems in this research. The writer takes some historical studies and data from some reliable sources about the history of the Jewish nation which are mostly about living under imperial rule. In this part, there are for different eras of imperialism; Babylonian, Persian, Greek, and Roman era. This part gives contribution in sharing some specific colonial influence of each era to the construction of Jewish as a nation. This background certainly gives the reason of why the Jewish authorities defend their national identity and decide to persecute Jesus. 45

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

Object of this study is four Gospels in a bible, the Good News Translation version. This Bible is a Catholic edition which was published by American Bible Society in New York. This bible was first published in 1979 but revised in 1992. The one that is used in this research is the revised one. This book presents both Old Testament and New Testament with the addition of Deuterocanonicals Apocrypha. Both testaments conceive the imperial domination over the people. This bible generally shares information about the civilization of the Jews in antiquity. It tells how the Jewish people make their nations and live under the control of other nations. The Old Testament mostly shares how Jewish people, under imperial rule, begin and establish their new life in the “promised land” after the exodus from Egypt. This part also contains the rules and laws of Judaism, the Jews’ religion. While the New Testament mostly shares the presence of a Jew named Jesus, the so-called Messiah, who conflicts with the other Jews concerning national identity. This part also tells the rise of early Christianity.

B. Approach of the Study

In analyzing a literary work, a literary approach is really needed. In this research, the writer uses Postcolonial approach. Peter Barry in An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory second edition said that postcolonial criticism deals with the issues of cultural difference in literary texts Barry, 2002: 198. He also mentioned some ways postcolonial critics do to apply the theory in a literary text. Some of the ways that are used in this research are first that postcolonial critics questioning the cultural difference and diversity Barry, 2002: 199. In this case, as the Jews was the ex-colonized nation and at the time they still lived under Roman rule, this means that they lived in a postcolonial context and as the consequence, there must be cultural difference and diversity that the writer analyze. He also added that postcolonial critics celebrating hybridity and “cultural polyvalency ” which means to show where individual belongs to more than one culture Barry, 2002: 199. In this case, as the consequence of being colonized, there was a result of double identity hybridity which the writer also found in the object of the study. Sugirtharajah, regarding Postcolonial criticism, says that Postcolonial theory is an emerging discourse in the former imperial era. He also mentions two aspects of Postcolonial theory to see how the former Western empires. The first aspect is to analyze many strategies the colonizers shaped image of the colonized. In this part, Postcolonial theory tries to scrutinize the way how the colonizers see or recognize the colonized people. The second aspect is to see how the colonized people “went beyond” those strategies made by the colonizers to articulate their identity “self-worth, and empowerment” Sugirtharajah, 2006: 7. In this part, Postcolonial theory tries to see the struggle of the colonized people to make a breakthrough; break the images their colonizers made and make their own voice.