Hapsari Sekar Pratiwi, 2211417060 (2022) OTHERING VIETNAM IN IYER’S TRAVEL WRITING, YESTERDAY ONCE MORE: POLARIZING EAST AND WEST CULTURAL IDENTITIES. Under Graduates thesis, Universitas Negeri Semarang.

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Abstract

Identity is one thing that becomes human concern in the world when they want to show who they really are, and whether they are better than other individuals. Groups that feel their identity more superior will tend to view others as inferior. This kind of problem was proven in 1993, when an orientalist writer of travel literature, Pico Iyer, traveled to Vietnam. He wrote about his journey in a work entitled Yesterday Once More. In the writing it was also seen that the feeling of superiority made him shape Vietnam's identity as another. The influence of colonialism and Iyer's western life background led to a tendency that he always felt superior, especially when he judged Vietnamese identity such as culture, environment, and society's customs. This was supported by the tendency that travel writing is usually written subjectively, so it is not uncommon for him to express his perspective on Vietnam. The Iyer’s behavior also led to the formation of a new Vietnamese identity from Iyer's point of view as a western citizen. This is similar to the practice of colonialism that was brought by the west in the past where the west had a big role in shaping eastern identity. Through Postcolonialism theory related to Orientalism and Othering, this study reveals an alternative meaning of Yesterday Once More that the postcolonial issues related to the Othering occured in constructing Vietnamese identity. Through this story, readers are expected to be able to recognize that identity is something that can continue to be formed even through a piece of writing. Furthermore, we will also find out whether or not until now the West still perpetuates colonialism legacy, namely the feeling of being superior to identities outside of them.

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