Literature as a part of science has given big contribution for human life. Literature

not only talks about the literary text, but, it is also as a kind of media that can be telling

and recorded the historical events in it. By reading the literary text and doing the close

reading, the readers are possible to get the information about what was happened in the

era when the text published.

However, it is not easy to find or get the information in the literary text, because to

find it the readers must be able to analyzing the text first. There are many theory and

approaches that could be used in the processing of analyzing the literary text. For instance,

each of the theory has the specific focus and limitation during the process of analyzing the

text. One of the theories that usually use by the reader and the literary students to

analyzing literary text is post colonial theory.

Generally post colonial theory has close relations with the history events calls

imperialism. In the post colonial terminology imperialism means an ideological concept

which upholds the legitimacy control of one nation by another. So, imperialism also as a

process to take a nation becomes under controlled by the other nation. Not only that the

practice of imperialism’s ideology itself finally produced the action calls colonialism. In the

process of colonialism there are two sides exist in it. The first is the Colonizer. Colonizer

means the people or the nation that colonized the other people and nation. The last one is

the Colonized. The Colonized means the people or nation that made subservient and

controlled by the others. In the term of colonialism and post colonial, the western is the

colonizer and the east is the colonized. In the post colonial theory and approaches also

found the term ‘Eurocentric’. Eurocentric in post colonial studies means the ideology

which is take the Europe as the ideal standard in every aspects of life such as cultures,

language and lifestyle.

The explanation above explains about the relationship between post colonial, imperialism,

and colonialism. Based on the explanation before, it can be conclude that post colonial is a

period of time and era which is raised after the colonialism. One of the experts in the post

colonial theory is Edward Said. Edward Said in his book ‘Orientalism’ use the term

‘Occident’ and ‘Orient’. In the perceptions of Edward Said, Orient (east/colonized) is

created by Occident (west/colonizer) and also as the proving of the domination and

complex hegemony from occident (west/colonizer) to the orient (east/colonized).

Meanwhile, Edward Said also delivered that Orientalism is an entrenched structure of

thought, a pattern of making certain generalizations about the part of the world known as

the ‘East’. As Said puts it:

“Orientalism was ultimately a political vision of reality whose structure promoted the difference between the familiar (Europe, West) and the strange (the Orient, the East).”

The quotation above shows the assumption of western to the eastern. The western made

such a discourse about the east, where the western believes that the east is strange, wild,

uncivilized and subservient. These assumptions made the western believes that they was

able to manage all the aspect of Orient’s life, such as, politically, ideologically,

economically, scientifically, language and culture.

Not only that, actually Edward Said’s also delivered his argument about the relationship

between discourse and knowledge. His opinion about it has close relations with Michael

Foucoult’s opinion, ‘knowledge is power’. Edward Said thinks that the western always

thinks that they are the first in every aspects of life including in the knowledge. In short,

the people or nation who dominates another is the only one in a position to write a book

about it, to make a discourse, to establish it and to define it. The occident is possible to do

this because they have more knowledge than the orient (eastern).

In the processing of colonialism that doing by occident (western) to the orient (eastern),

Edward Said totally focus to the four dominant aspects which are lead the hegemony of

occident to the orient. Those aspects are power political, power intellectual, power cultural

and power moral.

The first aspect is the power political. The power political refers to the colonial or imperial

establishment. By using the power political, the west trying to keeps their domination to the

west. In the other hand the east also accepting the opinions of the west connected to the

power of political itself. The east cannot see something wrong behind the action of west to

implant the power political to the east.

The second aspect is the power intellectual. Intellectual has close relations with knowledge

and science. In the occident (western) perception about the orient (eastern), the occident

believes that they have more experience in knowledge and science than the orient (eastern).

These perception make the occident (western) are easier to make and continue the

dominating in the orient’s (east) society. By using the power intellectual, the occident get

such sympathize from the orient. The sympathize from the Orient itself refers to the

perception of orient itself to the west, where the orient more believable that the occident is

cleverer than them. On the other side, the orient (east) who is colonized by the occident

also accepted the power intellectual from the occident without thinking about the positive

and negative effects of it.

The third aspect that explained by Edward Said is, the power cultural. When the

colonialism happens the colonizer also brings their attitude, value and norm into the

country or the society that is colonized by them. In the context of post colonialism, the

occident is the side that brings their attitude, value and norm into the orient community. In

the country that colonized by the Occident, the Occident and Orient cultures are face

together and influences each other. Usually the colonizer’s cultures gives influences to the

orient culture, especially to the habitual from the native in the country which is colonized

by occident. The effect of it is the native in that country using and applied the culture that

actually comes and brings by the colonizer to their country. They used to apply the cultures

of occident with their original culture in their daily life without think that they are actually

gives the way to the occident to continue the domination in their homeland.

The last aspect from Edward Said is the power moral. The power moral that delivered by

Edward Said is focus to the ideas about what the occident can do and what the orient

cannot do or understand as the occident do. It means that the occident just focus to the

action and perception about what they can do and the orient cannot do. They are not tries

to take a look to what the orient can do and the occident cannot do. It means that the

occident cannot consider that actually there are some actions that only the Orient can do

and they are not. This perception also proves that the occident cannot accept their less

ability in specific things than the orient. It makes the occident always try to shows that they

are the best in everything. These power moral make the absolute domination by the

occident to the orient for a long time.

So, in general it can says that Edward Said argument focus to the discourse about the Orient that

is made by the Occident. By using the discourse, the Occident made the Orient feel submissive in

front of the Occident. Besides that, Said also pay attention to the crucial aspects that use by the

Occident to get absolute dominated to the Orient. Those aspects are the domination in political,

intellectual, cultural and moral.

However, Edward Said is not the one who gives big contributions to the development of

post colonial theory. Another expert is Sam Selvon. Sam Selvon also introduce the new

term in post colonial theory, terms are internalizing and Diaspora.

Sam Selvon introduced that internalizing is a kind of brain washing to the east. In general,

internalizing can be said as the process and action that doing by the west to make the east

absolutely agree that the west is the best and the east is less than west in all aspects of life.

Not only that the west also implanting to the colonized mind about what the west or

colonizers do is for the importance of the colonized itself. These action make the Eastern

who has not knowledge self reliance and awareness are easily to be imitated and follows the

entire standard that has delivered by west.

Furthermore, the west always trying to make such public opinion about the standard that

usually use by west is the best choice. The standard itself refers to all aspects in life such as

lifestyle, education, and language. In the process of colonialism, the colonizers also trying to

make the colonized keep thinking that the west is better than them.

The internalizing that introduced by Sam Selvon clearly has relations to the four aspects

that lead the domination of west to the east which is delivered by Edward Said. The

differentiation from both of them is Sam Selvon looking from the general side; it means

that he just focus to the dominant process that doing by west to the east in colonialism. On

the other hand, Edward Said has more specific points, where he not looking from the

general process but he focuses to the four dominant aspects that use by west to continue

their domination through the east.

The second term that delivered by Sam Selvon is ‘Diaspora’. Diaspora means people or

ethnic population forced or induced to leave their traditional ethnic homelands, being dispersed

throughout other parts of the world, and the ensuing developments in their dispersal and culture.

Diaspora can be says as the effect of colonialism itself. In the post colonial theory, the ethnic or

people that usually do the Diaspora is the east or colonized. This movement happens because of the

west or colonizers come and dominated their homeland.

Another experts in the post colonial theory is Homi K Bhaba. Like Sam Selvon, Homi K Bhaba also

brings the new term in post colonial theory. Bhaba’s term focus to the effect that comes from the

process of colonialism to the people that is colonized.

The first term that introduce by Bhaba is Mimicry. In post colonial theory mimicry means the imitation

of dress, manners and language of the dominant culture by the oppressed. In the process of

colonialism, the dominant refers to the west as the colonizers and the oppressed is the east as the

colonized. In mimicry, the oppressed do not delete at all their original culture but they inclined to

gather together the west or colonizers culture with their own culture. The effect of mimicry itself is

camouflage.

Actually what is Bhaba has already explained in post colonial theory has relations with hybridity. In

general hybridity means a situation where two different cultures are mixed together. In the context of

post colonialism the cultures that are mixed together is west culture with east culture. When the

culture mixed together and applied by the people in the colonized country, it will produce the

phenomenon calls floating identity.

Floating identity is the effect from mimicry and hybridity. Floating identity means there is no concrete

identity from the people that do imitation of western culture. In the post colonial theory, floating

identity usually happens to the colonized because of the process of imitation that doing by them. The

process of imitation makes they are does not know their real identity. In one side, they doing and

applied the culture of west in their life, however the west do not recognized they are as a part of

them. But in the other hand the colonized or native people also do not realize they are as the part of

them because they have already applied the west culture in their life. In short, floating identity is the

unknown identity from a group of people.

Beside Said, Bhaba and Selvon, there is another major experts of postcolonialism theory.

They are Aime Cesaire and Frantz Fanon. Aime cesaire is focus to the way of colonize

looking to the colonized. Aime Cesaire in his theory used the term that calls ‘Hypocracy’.

Hypocracy that use by Aime Cesaire has close relationship with superior order. The

superior order itself covered by Christianity and there is many distortion in the superior

order that covered by the Christianity. When the colonialism happened, the superior order

that covered by the Christianity met many native people around the world such as Indian,

yellow and black people. To dominating the native people, there are many distortions that

finally use by the Christianity in order to continue their domination toward the native

people.

However, Aime also seen the colonizations through the religion. Aime explained the way to

do this action is by using the missionary school. Not only that, in missionary school the

western has delivers the discourse about the west is superior than the east. The subjects

that teach in the missionary school usually also represented about that perceptions. For

example, when studying literature in the missionary school the students get the literary text

that only written by the western. There is no literary text from the writer outside the west.

This actions realize or not is the effort to do the domination to the east or native people in

the colonized country.

Beside that Cesaire also seen that the relations between colonizer and colonized just like

submission and domination. Submission is the colonized and domination refers to the

colonizers. The colonizers had done the exploitation, intimidation, force labor, pressure,

and arrogance to the colonized. The colonizer works also to decivilized the colonized. It

means that the colonizers believe the colonized is a group of people which is uncivilized and

as the colonizers they have right to rebuilt or decivilized the colonized. Not only that the

colonizers also seen the colonized as an animal, without rules, culture and humanity.

If Aime Cesaire focus to the relations between colonizers and colonized, Frantz Fanon focus to

the psychological effect as the result of colonialism. He describes colonialism as a source of violence

rather than reacting violently against resistors which had been the common view. Fanon believe that

the end of colonialism means not only in political or economic change but also in the

psychological change. It means that the colonialism gives big effect to the psychological of

colonized than the economic or political change. The colonialism that has done for several

hundred years automatically had influenced the mind and the psychological side of the colonized

people. The psychological effect because of the colonialism is the first thing to find the way out,

it is more important than the problem in political and economical side. In the other word the real

ending of colonialism is when the colonized people do not looking the west as the best standard

anymore. They would belief their own culture, society and community as the things that have the

same quality with the west.

Fanon also explains about what calls as cultural resistance. Cultural resistance itself means the

antipathy to the one culture. In the post colonial theory, the cultural resistance is done by the

colonized people to the culture of colonizers. The colonized push away all the things that have

relations with the colonizers, including the language, manner, behavior and the attitude. In this

phases the colonized just doing what they are believes in their own culture.

Furthermore, Fanon also keep his attention to the action which is calls decolonization.

Decolonization means the effort to decrease the colonialism. Decolonization is the action from

the colonized country in order against the colonizers. Fanon analyzes, there are many aspects that

must be have in order to decrease the colonialism. They are the role of class, race, national culture and

violence in the struggle for national liberation. When all the aspects are successfully to applied in the

society automatically the process to decolonization itself is successfully too.

Finally, both of the argument and opinion from the experts above has shows the crucial

characteristics from the post colonial theory. Each of the experts has the specific focus during

their analyzing through the post colonial theory. Actually all those argument and opinion has

connections to each other. The connection is about the process and the respond from the

colonized to the colonizers culture. At least there are three kinds of colonized respond to the

colonizers culture, they are adopt, adapt and adept.

The first stage is adopt. Adopt means accept all the west culture without have question about it

anymore and without considering the positive and the negative effect from the west culture. In

this stage, the colonized just applied and imitated all the attitude, values and norm from the west

in their daily life.

The second stage is adapt. In this stage the colonized begin to think and consider about the

positive and negative effect from the west culture to their life. They just applied and take the

west culture that gives positive contribution to their life and leave all the west negative culture.

Usually the colonized can see the positive and negative effect from the west culture if they have

good background of knowledge.

The last stage is adept. This is the most extreme stage because the colonized totally refused the

west culture. They does not applied it in their life, they just keep their own culture in their life

and belief their own culture is better than the west culture. Like in the second stage, this actions

is possible to do if the colonized has good background of knowledge.

Finally it can be says that Postcolonial criticism is typically characterized by its opposition to the

colonial. Beside that post colonial criticism also involves the analysis of literary texts produced in

countries and cultures that have come under the control of European colonial powers at some point in

their history. All the aspect that has already explains above by the experts is the crucial characteristic

that the readers must pay attention for it. Eurocentrism, colonizers, colonized, hybridity, mimicry, are

the term that only found in the post colonial theory. Those terms are the most important aspects that

must be analyzing in the post colonial criticism.

Finally, there are many important aspects that must be taken by the eastern in order to get the real

freedom from the western. In the life style, the Orient must have enough knowledge and absolutely

know about the advantages and disadvantages if they are follow the life style of western itself. So,

knowledge is playing an important function to the process of it. Beside that self reliance and awareness

also the key factor to do the rejection to the western culture. Actually, between knowledge, self reliance

and awareness has close relations and cannot be separated, because, self reliance and awareness is the

next step that must be taken by the eastern as the reaction to the western culture after they got enough

knowledge.

In the context of literary works, these actions can be done by ignore all the pattern and values that are

believes by the western. It means that, when the orient wants to make a literary work, they must focus

to characteristics of their work and do not looking to the standard of literary work that made by

western. However, if it is possible, the eastern writer needs to expose and introduce the characteristics

of their homelands in their literary work. In this stage, the eastern writers are better to use the English

language in their literary work. It is better to use English language because English language is a

universal language that used around the world. But, it is must remember that, the eastern writer just

use English language because it is universal, it not means that the eastern must follows the values and

standard of western literary work. In short, it can says that the eastern just using English language and

do not make the English literature.

INTRODUCTION

Post colonialism is a period of time after colonialism finds the end in the beginning of

twentieth century. Post colonialism itself has close relations and cannot be separated with the

event that calls colonialism. The colonialism in general is doing by the European nation to the

other countries outside the Europe. The process of colonialism by the European spends many

hundreds years and gives many bad effects to the colonized country which are colonized by

them. The colonialism finally finds the ending after the colonized countries got the independence

after the revolutionary action and it is as a sign of the beginning of postcolonial era.

One of the sciences that usually explain about the colonialism and post colonial is

literature. In literature can found a theory that calls postcolonial. This theory absolutely has close

relations with the actions that known by colonialism in the world history. In the post colonial

theory, the process of colonialism consist of two parts that calls colonizers and colonized. Post

colonial theory also focuses to the effect from the colonialism to the colonizers and the colonized

people itself.

Literary text as a major part of literature often expose about the phenomena that usually

happens in colonialism, such as the reaction of the colonized because of the colonialism, the

cultural mixed, and the cultural effect to the native in the colonized country. Usually these issues

are not clearly shows by a literary text, but the reader must analyze the literary text first to get

this issue. In the process of analyzing a literary text, the reader must be able to use a theory or

approaches.

Finally, post colonial is a theory that can lead the reader to get the implicit meaning in

literary text that has relation to the colonialism. Post colonial theory also has the characteristics

that make it different from another theory in literature. These characteristics are important to

known by the reader in the effort to expose the implicit meaning from a literary text.

CONCLUSION

In process of analyze a literary text; the reader must be pay attention to the term that has

already explained by several experts above. These terms are very important because it is the

major characteristics from the post colonial theory. Not only the literary text also exposes the

ultimate goal of post-colonialism, that is combating the residual effects of colonialism on cultures,

language, and attitude.

However, in post colonial theory also can be found the way that uses by west to keeps

their domination to the east. Beside that these theory also focus to the effect from the colonialism

to the way of thinking from the native people in the colonized country. The effect of it usually

related to the perception and the opinion from the east to the west, where the east also believes

that the west is superior than them.

Besides that, the psychological effect also expose in this theory. It means that the

colonialism not only gives the effect to the economic or political but also to the psychological

aspects from the colonized. The psychological effect often calls as the worth effect from

colonialism because it needs a long time to solve this effect.

Another effect from colonialism itself related to the actions that has done by the

colonized people. The colonized people usually try to imitate the culture, behavior and the

attitude from the colonizers, because, they are believes that the colonizers are superior and better

than them.

All the aspects above are the major focus and the main characteristics in the post colonial

theory. In literary text, those characteristics can be found from the attitude from the character or

the events that tells in that text. In short, the reader must be able to analyze the attitude from the

character and the events in a literary text and than relate it to the terminology or characteristics

from the post colonial theory.