Colonialism has greatly impacted the life of colonized
people until led them to the postcolonial situation. Not only
refers to the period after colonialism, but it also correlates to the consciousness, participation, and contestation toward
colonialism’s heritage including the discourse,
political structure, and social hierarchy (Gilbert, 1996). In other words, postcolonial consciousness allows
the colonized people to fight against colonial logic that is binary and
hierarchical, believing the colonizers are superior (Said, 1978). This colonial
logic is disguised in every piece of knowledge produced by colonizers to
define, control, and civilize (post) colonized people until today. Therefore,
as a theory and approach that is often used in academic studies, especially
history, literature, and philosophy, postcolonialism attempts to break down
colonial logic down to the deepest core of it. Because of that, postcolonial
consciousness is essential to be studied, analyzed, and formed through academic
or practical fields, particularly in Indonesia. This process will complement
the political liberation that has been achieved from independence, to be free
from colonization of knowledge and being (Mignolo, 2011).
Literature
conveys, reveals, and breaks down colonial motives, making it a crucial
cultural product. Literature that addressed postcolonialism, written by
ex-colonizers or ex-colonized, is not only based on certain lines of
geographical and temporal points but also influenced by imperialism ever since
the colonization era until the present (Ashcroft, 2004: 2). In 1989, Bill
Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin wrote the first edition of a book
titled The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures
to analyze key works of postcolonial literature which were gathered from the
British Empire's former colonies. According to Ahmed (2022), this book was
intended to provide a tool for former colonies to write back to the British
Empire. Nonetheless, it is then well known as one of the important works in
postcolonial literature. The existence of postcolonial literature itself is
developing and broadening in numerous countries. Various topics are discussed
in each book such as the impacts of colonialism on the colonized people’s
culture which covers a lot of aspects. For instance, the stigmas that could
grow on certain issues, the behavior of society, and even the psychological
state of colonized people.
One of the interesting discussions on literature is
the society’s perception of Nyai in Indonesia. The way people see Nyai and her
children is a complicated thing to be seen. Bumi Manusia (This Earth of
Mankind) and Lichter dan ik (Lighter Than Me) are two books that depict the
condition of Nyai. Bumi Manusia was written by an Indonesian author with a
character named Nyai Ontosoroh representing the bitterness to live as Nyai
because of the perspective in her society and the weakness of her “position” in
front of the law. Meanwhile, a Dutch author wrote Lichter dan ik with Isah as
the main character that becomes Nyai. The condition of Isah here is almost the
same as Nyai Ontosoroh because she is powerless. To see both of those books
with the same topic yet different lenses would be intriguing to be examined and
understood.