Theory of Characterization Review of Related Theories

and the attempt to govern the indigenous inhabitants of occupied lands ” Boehmer, 2005: 2. In this case, the colonizer came and took anything over to be their own. Ashis Nandy in his book, The Intimate Enemy, has the same idea that there are two forms of colonialism which first is the „”physical conquest of territory and the second one is the colonization of the minds, selves and cultures ” Nandy, 11: 1983. He also added that the first mode was used in violent, force and greed. The second one is that the rationalist, modernist, liberals who had a notion to civilized the uncivilized. Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin in their book, Key Concept of Post-Colonial Studies say that: Post-colonialism or often postcolonialism deals with the effects of colonization on cultures and societies Ashcroft, Griffiths, Tiffin, 1998: 186. This means that postcolonialism is about colonization and its impact in the societies. This term was sometimes used by some historians after the Second World War era. Despite of the fact, from the late 1970s this term has been used by some literary critics in order to analyze some kind of problems of colonization and its impacts toward cultures. Before that, in 1960s, this field used to focus on the study of Commonwealth literature or the New Literature in English and then it was used to know about the political, linguistic, and cultural experiences from the societies that lived under the European control Ashcroft, Griffiths, Tiffin, 1998: 186. Bill Ashcroft in his book, The Empire Writes Back as cited in Shrikant B. Sawant‟s “Postcolonial Theory: Meaning and Significance” said that postcolonial term is used to cover the cultures which are affected by the imperial process from its beginning of the colonization until present days. In this case, after the colonization time, the colonizer gives the indigenous people rights to gain their independence by “overcoming political and cultural imperialism” Ashcroft Griffiths, Tiffin, 1989:2. Concerning Postcolonial Biblical Study, Segovia in Sugirtharajah also gives his explanation about Postcolonial theory Sugirtharajah, 2006: 5. He mentions three ways of postcolonial theory in analyzing biblical texts. He finds out that first, that imperial reality is real and always existed then does take part in the construction of the texts of Judaism and early Christianity. The second one is that the colonial motives cause the Western interpretation of Jewish and Christian texts. The presence of the early biblical critics from former empire also wants to make the destabilization of those texts Sugirtharajah, 2006: 5. Sugirtharajah himself says that Postcolonial study is a way to deal with the “textual, historical, and cultural articulations ” of a society or nation which is transformed and constructed by colonial reality. Sugirtharajah, 2006: 7. He also mentions two aspects of postcolonialism which are used in postcolonial biblical interpretation. First aspect is that to observe how the imperial power constructs the image of the colonized people. The second aspect is to observe how the colonized people struggle to break that image, go far beyond it and enunciate their identity, “self- worth and empowerment ” Sugirtharajah, 2006: 7. Postcolonialism shows how the past influences the construction of the present.

3.1. Theory of Identity

Before knowing what national identity is, it is better to know what identity is. Identity is about „who we are‟ and the existence of ourselves. Stuart Hall, David Held, Don Hubert, Kenneth Thompson in, Modernity An Introduction to Modern Societies mentioned three concepts of identity. It is “a the enlightenment subject, b the sociological subject, and c the post-modern subject ” Hall, Held, Hubert, Thompson, 1996: 597. The enlightenment subject was based on the conception of human person as fully centred, unified individual, endowed with the capacities of reason, consciousness, and action, whose „center‟ consisted of an inner core Hall et al, 1996: 597. Here, the inner core he meant is still essentially the same ever since one has been born. He stated that this is very “individualist” concept as it looks only to the center of oneself Hall et al, 1996: 597. For the sociological subject, Hall mentioned that this subject is not an autonomous and self-sufficient but it needs the “specific others” who imposes the culture in the world he or she lives Hall et al, 1996: 597. In this case, identity connects oneself and the outside the society. Through “interaction” with the outside world, the essence of “the real me” then is shaped, formed and modified. So it can be said that identity is the bridge between oneself or personal and the outside world or public world Hall et al, 1996: 597. Hall also adds that the logic of identity is like the logic of “true self”. The language it uses conceives the experience and the origin of a person that tells where he or she comes from. However, identity is a never-complete process, it is always in process and constituted within representation. The point is about being positioned or “in context ”. Hall uses the thought of Derrida that identity needs the relation with “Other”. This “constitutive other” then constructs identity. Concerning to cultural identities, Hall says that it is not something already existed or surpasses place and time. Rather, it comes from history. It is not a fixed origin of people where they can claim it as an absolute or final place to “Return”. Cultural identities are constructed through memory, myth, narratives, and fantasy. It is not an “essence” but “positioning” as it is a process of identification through culture and history. It is the name we give wherever we are in different ways of positioning by. The third concept of identity Hall mentions is the post-modern subject. For the post- modern subject, Hall mentioned that Identity becomes a „moveable feast‟: formed and transformed continuously in relations to the ways we represented or addressed in the cultural systems which is surround us Hall et al, 1996: 598. In this case, the subject gets different identities at different times. It is not the biological but historical matters. We are pulled to different directions as there are many different or contradictory identities. This brings us to the shifting. “We are confronted by a bewildering, fleeting multiplicity, of possible identities ” Hall et al, 1996: 598.

3.2. Theory of National Identity

Before going to the description of what a national identity is, it is better to understand what a nation is. Anthony D. Smith in his book, National Identity, gives a definition of a nation as: