Ambivalence and ambiguity in the formation of identity: a reading of Jose Rizal's El Filibusterismo

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examines the manifestation of ambivalence and ambiguity in the formation of identity as read in José Rizal’s El Filibusterismo. The location of the study within a colonial novel using elements of fiction such as the roles of the narrator, reader and author, characters, and the plot as sites of examination is intended to trace the source of ongoing manifestations of ambivalence in identity in post-colonial societies. The study indicates that national identity formation in societies where injustice and oppression is present is necessarily intertwined with struggle. In light of this, the research attempts to examine the psychology behind the fight for independence and demonstrate the ambivalent and ambiguous response of the subject to separation, which is viewed as a natural progression of identity construction. The examination of ambivalence serves to indicate the consequences of the subject’s internalization of the colonial framework which manifests itself to this day in post-colonial societies.