Kumar 119. In other words, mimicry does not simply copy or imitate the object, but it also has double vision which is having two goals resemblance and
mockery, and the forked tongue which means what they say is different from what is on their heads. According to Bhabha, mimicry is imitating language,
culture, manners and ideas in an exaggerative way Tibile 87. It means that mimicry is
not the colonized‘s servage, since it creates repeated actions with difference Tibile 87. This mimicry is also
―a form of mockery as Bhabha‗s Post- colonial theory is a comic approach to colonial discourse because it mocks and
undermines the ongoing pretensions of colonialism and empire ‖ Tibile 87. In
short, mimicry is one reaction toward stereotype of the Orient and the Occident.
3. Ambivalence
In addition to mimicry, there is also ambivalence which appears in the novel.
The term ‗ambivalence‘ first was developed in psychoanalysis to describe a continual fluctuation between wanting one thing and wanting its opposite Sawant
4. Ambivalence is sometimes called ―in-betweenness‖ where it is in a position
that is not 100 agreeing with one side or feeling entirely one way. It describes the complex mix of attraction and repulsion that characterizes the relationship
between colonizers and colonized. Ambivalence sometimes is used synonymously with hybridity. Ambivalence is a crucial concept in Post-colonial theory which
associated with cultural signs, colonial practices and the colonized cultures Tibile 79.
Bhabha denies Fanon‗s idea which talks about the black who are asked to
be ‗white‘ is part of the colonial power and says that it can destroy colonial hegemony. He even emphasizes that there are many indeterminacy in the
relationship of the colonizer and the colonized. So through hibridity, here the colonized could speak and answer the question of Spivak which is
“Can the Subaltern Speak?” Tibile 82. I think the word ‗indeterminacy‘ there means a
mixed feeling, so the colonized have feelings of both love and hate toward the colonizers. Although the colonized try to be similar with the colonizer, but they
still keep their difference. So, sometimes the colonized feel in limbo.
4. Hegemony
The next theory is hegemony. The idea of hegemony is discussed by Anthonio Gramsci who was an Italian Green. Hegemony is not only related to economic
matters, since it becomes an important part of Marxism. Here, the term hegemony
is like ―an internalized form of social control which makes certain views seem
natural or invisible so that they hardly seem like views at all, just the way things are‖ Barry 165. In other words, hegemony means that citizens believe that they
have freedom, their position in society and their state of life is where they are supposed to be. But actually they do not realize that they are being controlled and
are bound by government‘s ideology and power. As a result, the colonized cannot
freely express their thoughts and life, and they are less likely to protest or fight back.
Summary of Text
Only a Girl novel tells about the Ong family who lived in Bandung in the colonial Dutch East Indies. Nana had two sons and two daughters named Chip,
Ting, Sue and Carolien. Prosperous is the right word to describe the family, because the two sons had a high position in the government due to their late father
who also worked for the Dutch. And Sue, the older sister, was married at 16 but her husband died in the typhoid epidemic. Because their father passed away, it
made the oldest son, Chip, has an important role in determining the decision, including determining a future husband for Carolien.
But Carolien was really stubborn; she preferred her boyfriend named Po Han. Carolien
‘s family disagreed with their relationship, because they thought Po Han was only a salesman who did not have a steady job. Besides that, Ocho, Po Han‘s
grandmother also didn‘t like Carolien, because her strong Chinese culture made
her think that a woman should not work, but that she should stay at home and do housework. Despite the disapproval of both families, Carolien and Po Han
remained married on Carolien ‘s birthday and lived in Po Han‘s house. While they
were on their honeymoon, Ocho visited a dukun to prevent Carolien ‘s pregnancy.
But it did not work out, and Carolien gave birth to baby girl named Jenny. Carolien had a big dream for Jenny; she wanted Jenny to be a lawyer;
that‘s why Carolien always demanded Po Han to leave his job as a photographer because
their financial situation was getting worse. But Po Han didn‘t want to, then
Carolien divorced him and looked for a job to raise Jenny. One da y, Po Han‘s
hard work paid off; he won the prize to go and study to Holland. When the Japanese had an alliance with Germany, and the Japanese
replaced the power of the Dutch in Indonesia, it made the Ong family worried.
Unfortunately, Chip also was proven to work for the Dutch and showed an uncooperative attitude, so he died at the hands of the Japanese. But after the
American bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, their lives began to improve. Jenny‘s school is reopened and she could back to school again.
For almost 10 years Carolien didn‘t meet Po Han, and then Po Han was
back from Holland. And Carolien asked Jenny to see her father and ask him for school fees. And after that, Jenny‘s relationship with her father was getting closer
and better. But still, Ocho didn‘t like Jenny and told her that her parents got divorced because of her and because her mother demanded too much to Po Han,
so Po Han could not be a great photographer. It made Po Han get mad and he told Ocho to stay away from Jenny. But not long after that, Ocho died because she got
badly injured after falling off the porch. When the Dutch formally recognized the sovereignty of Indonesia, the
Dutch system was gradually abolished, and the Ong family got other problems. Jenny, for example, had difficulty when suddenly the school changed the language
of instruction into Bahasa Indonesia, whereas Dutch was the only language that she knew. Then Els and Eddie decided to marry as a Dutch and Indo without the
permission of their parents. Besides that, after Jenny met Lam Ching, her life
changed. She became such a wild girl who kissed and made love with her boyfriend. And misfortune increased again, with the death of Nanna.
Finally, Jenny got a scholarship to study abroad in America. There, she was going to become a veterinarian. And her father supported her; although at the
first, her mother disagreed with her decision, because she wanted her to become a lawyer. But at last, she succeeded to make Jenny to become an independent
woman.
Discussion
This paper examines the element of Post-colonialism that exists in Only a Girl novel. This novel is written by Lian Gouw to tell the story about natives,
especially Chinese who live in Indonesia in the Dutch Colonial Era. In this novel, there is a borrowing of culture or cultural imitation toward the Dutch; for example
the Chinese characters mimic the Dutch‘ language and culture. Since they adopt
the Dutch culture, it makes Nanna‘s family declares themselves that they are part of the Dutch. As a result, they apply colonial gaze by looking down at the natives
and low- class Chinese. Not only that, Nanna‘s family feels that they have power
and freedom. Unfortunately, those power and freedom are unreal; they cannot be obtained. In fact, their lives will never be the same as the Dutch and are controlled
by the Dutch. In addition, there is also ambivalence, or a feeling of both love and hate toward the Dutch. So the characters
sometimes feel ‗in-betweenness‘; they imitate the Dutch but in some cases they still hold tightly to their Chinese culture.
1. Mimicry in the Characters of Only a Girl Novel
