The Dynamics of Kimberly Chang’s Post-colonial Identities Seen through the Strategies of Abrogation and Appropriation in Jean Kwok’s Novel Girl in Translation Chinintya Suma Ningtyas Usma Nur Dian Rosyidah English Department, Universitas Airlangga Abstract This study aims to identify the Post-colonial identities of a diaspora seen through the use language. Language can be regarded as a medium to exert the power of the colonizer to the colonized. However, language can also reflect how much the Colonized has been influenced by the colonizer. A person is considered as diaspora because he/she moves from his/her homeland to a new land. A person who moves from a non-English speaking country to an English speaking country is challenged to adopt the ‘standard’ English. This issue is seen in the portrayal of the main character in Jean Kwok’s Girl in Translation named Kimberly Chang. The study uses Post-colonial theory, especially the strategies of abrogation and appropriation to analyze the use of language by the main character, Kimberly Chang. The writers collect the data from all dialogues of Kimberly Chang. The study reveals that the impact of British colonization, the origin as a Chinese Diaspora and the use of language that is divided into three phases reflect the dynamics of Kimberly Chang’s Post-colonial identity. Her dynamic Post-colonial identity results in unhomeliness, in-between-ness and hybridity. Keywords: abrogation, appropriation, chinese diaspora, post-colonial identity Introduction Colonialism gives huge impacts on human history. The colonized people must face the problem of behaviour and mental attitudes which cause them to be exploited in many ways; such as racism, taking away people’s right, stealing the natural resources and dominating their original land (Alfred 3). Colonialism occurs since a long time ago. Many countries had been colonized by colonial power. The Colonial Power, such as British, came and dominated colonized countries, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, etc. One of the biggest colonial power, The British Empire, did not only expand its territory to the annexed countries, but also oppressed the colonized people. The British colonial power dominated the countries as well as the people both physically and mentally. Invasion affects many aspects such as politic, economic, culture, and social. One form of colonizer’s domination towards the colonized is language. Language can be a medium to exert the colonizer’s power on the colonized. As stated by Ismail L. Thalib, “The close relationship between language and empire was recognized right from the start of western expansion” (5). Language and colonialism are related each other. It is the result of British expansion that spread English to the colonized land. However, language also reflects how much the colonized has been influenced by the Colonizer. This consequence is still perceived by the colonized people until the present days. Language is very much cultural expressions and somehow reflects how much certain culture affects someone, in this case the colonized. According to Bill Ashcroft, “Language is adopted as a tool and utilized in various ways to express widely differing cultural experiences” (38). Cultural experience represents identity. The colonizer’s cultural influence as well as cultural oppression are apparent in the use the language of the colonizer by the colonized. Besides, the encounter between the colonizer and the colonized needs a medium to communicate. The language is considered as the main instrument to communicate between each other (Tyson 422). The first contact between Hong Kong and the British Empire was where they met due to trade business of tea and porcelain in the late 17th (Setter 6). They used English as the major communication medium 23 Allusion Volume 03 Number 01 (February 2014) | Chinintya Suma Ningtyas; Usma Nur Dian Rosyidah (103-105). Hong Kong consists of 95% of Ethnic Chinese (Setter 3). Hong Kong still respects the traditional Chinese culture which are related to their Chinese roots (7). However, the impact of British colonization has caused Hong Kong people live in modern ideals which might be different with the “pure” Chinese living in the mainland. At present, many Hong Kong people believes that English creates a better future They believe thet English help them to have opportunity to upgrade their social status as it is used in official purposes. However, using English and Chinese at the same time will make some trouble of using “standard” English itself. English is not Hong Kong’s mother tongue and it can make a problem in which English becomes “english”. The problem of Hong Kong people’s identity crisis will be more complicated if they move to a new land. As diaspora, they have to survive in their new land as they are forced to interact with the people in the new land by communication. Without a good communication, the diaspora will be very hard to survive in the new land. The language strategies used by diaspora and the identity crisis they face are the main issues depicted in Girl in Translation written by Chinese-American writer, Jean Kwok. Girl in Translation tells about a young girl, a Chinese-American immigrant, named Kimberly Chang. The identity crisis experienced by diaspora will expose the post-colonial identity which is always in process. According to Jodi Dovis, “The development of the identity is an evolutionary process.” (9). It means that identity is dynamic since it grows and develops due to new experiences. The dynamic identity is a portrait of self-image like childhood to adulthood. The portrait of self-image can represent the dynamics of the post-colonial identity because identity may change through process. Those problems attract the writer’s attention to question Kimberly Chang’s Post-colonial identities. As a diaspora, Kimberly faces Post-colonial identity crises in the United States. One point to question her post-colonial identity crises is the use of language. The use of language shows how Kimberly challenges the use of ‘Standard’ English in the United States. There are two strategies in post-colonial language. The first is called Abrogation. According to Bill Ashcroft in The Empire Writes Back, Abrogation is a refusal of the categories of the imperial culture, its aesthetic, its illusory standard of normative or ‘correct’ usage, and its assumption of a traditional and fixed meaning ‘inscribed’ in the words. It is a vital moment in the de-colonizing of the language and the writing of ‘english’ (37). The other strategy is called appropriation which is defined as “Language constitutes reality in an obvious way: it provides some terms and not others with which to talk about the world” (43). According to Ashcroft, abrogation is the strategy applied when diaspora people try to ignore the use of Standard English since it is not their mother tongue. The strategy of abrogation usually comes together with appropriation. Appropriation is used by diaspora to adopt the process of ‘standard’ English. The meaning of the adoption process is based on the Kimberly Chang’s cultural background. Thus, this article will analyze Kimberly Chang’s abrogation and appropriation in order to find out her post-colonial identities as a Chinese-American diaspora. This research is a qualitative research. The basic method applied is close reading to analyze the novel. The steps to analyze the issue are elaborating the impacts of British colonization towards Kimberly; pointing out the condition of Kimberly Chang as a Chinese diaspora and analyzing the use of language by Kimberly Chang which is divided into three phases. Those three phases show that Kimberly experiences the dynamics of Post-colonial identities through the strategies of abrogation and appropriation. Discussion Kimberly Chang’s Condition as a Colonized in Hong Kong Hong Kong is a part of China’s region which had been invaded by British Empire from 1842. It was returned back to China through the handover in 1997. Hong Kong is one of the examples of colonized country influenced by the British Empire. The impacts of British domination can be seen in Hong Kong’s political, economic, cultural and social condition. 24 The Dynamics of Kimberly Chang’s Post-colonial Identities Seen through the Strategies of Abrogation and Appropriation in Jean Kwok’s Novel Girl in Translation Political Effect According to Homi K. Bhabha, political effects need “an instrumentalist notion of power/knowledge.” (72). It means that in order to have control in Hong Kong’s political field, British had to acquire a power. The Governor of Hong Kong who ruled during the reign of the British-held was controlled by the British. Because of that legitimate, British was in the highest position in Hong Kong community structure and it made the position of Hong Kong people were under the British. English was the official language which was basically used in the executive, legislative and judicative council. British suggested that schools in Hong Kong should learn English, because Hong Kong was under their power. As a result, some schools taught lessons in English in 1935. Then, British Empire made a policy which made English as the official language in government and legal areas through the 1970s and 1980s (Setter 104). The biggest change due to political effect that indicates Hong Kong a colonized state is the educational system. The British finally made English the major language that must be learned in 1970. Kimberly Chang acknowledges English language in her secondary school (Kwok 27). Kimberly learns Basic English when she becomes a student in Hong Kong. Kimberly has to learn everything that she never knows, even though it is just the basic. It is because Hong Kong people believe that 'knowledge of English financial means occupational abilities' (Setter 105). Students must learn and produce English in order to enrol to a university.