If you go with Dussel or Mignolo, the Western civilization as such only starts with the moment of colonization (at that moment, the "us" is constructed on a global level). So, the colonizer is hybridizised in the process of colonization just as the colonized is (but not in the same ways, obviously). I am quite sure that with only a little of imagination, you can built an abstract theoretic model that fits for other types of colonization and not just that of Latin America...

Thank you so much Philipp - for taking the time to reply! That's a very interesting and very encouraging! I will definitely try to continue to develop this theoretically - building on the previous research you refer to. Thanks again!

Great!! I just want to use Hybridity to explain Marshal Nezha (Chinese folk god) transform to Techno Nezha (New performance of god image), and the people still believe it is Marchal Nezha. Could you please give me some information that I can quote  and support my opinion. Thanks.

Great question, but it is hard to give you any clear direction without knowing more about your project. For that reason I am only providing names of people who are clearly at the center of the hybridity discussion - primarly from a theoretical perspective. Check-out Gayatri Spivak, Edward Said, Sara Ahmed, Homi Bhabha for start, then of course you will need to check some of the critics to get a well-rounded view. Good luck!

Hello Helen,

An interesting question! YES, in my opinion "the concept of 'hybridity' from postcolonial theory could be used to analyse 'the colonizer'!

Prof Wimal Dissanayake of Uni of Hawaii have written on the subject with regard to my short fiction.

A link is attached:

http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2010/11/21/mon04.asp

I am happy to send a PDF with detailed references to the original publication to your Uni address, if it is on UNY website>

http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2010/11/21/mon04.asp

Hi Linda! Thank you so much for your comment - and encouragement! As this is a completely new field to me (i.e. postcolonial theory) I do feel a little lost - I will make sure to check out the references you mention. Great!

Hi Sunil! Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my question! I very much enjoyed reading the article you sent the link to. Very interesting. I would be happy to receive a PDF with more details if/when you have the time. Thank you very much!

Of course. Beside the references you already received, cf. also the work on William Sax.

Hi Aleksandar! Thank you for your support in my endeavour! :-) Great! I was under the impression that hybridity was solely used to describe the colonized way of handling the asymmetric power relation to the colonizer (the studies I've read so far has used it like that). I will make sure to read the works of William Sax.

Hi Fatima! Thank you for your comment and for your suggested reading! Great!

Hi there,

Postcolonial theory is actually quite interesting and challenges your thoughts. there are plenty of theories which discuss the trauma of the colonized like Spivak's Subaltern, Bhabha's Mimicry, Said's Orientalism, Phillips' Essentialism, and more. 

I think you are attempting at something unique by using "Hybridity" to analyze the colonizer. I personally don't think there is any problem in doing so. You are going to add a new perspective to it. Usually postcolonial theory emphatizes with the colonized and conveys the influences of the colonizer. I would like to see how you are going to infuse this concept and the perspectives of the colonizers which you are going to highlight. Wish you all the best!

I would like to add a cautionary note on the concept of "hybridity." First, it is important to understand that this is a metaphor borrowed from biology in which two species interbreed to create a new species. As such, as a theory of identity formation, hybridity essentializes culturally constructed notions of race, as if races were parallel with species, so that interracial regeneration somehow actually creates new species of hominids. This framework has positive political currency for social groups such as the Canadian Metis who wish to demonstrate their unique identity as a blend of French and indigenous peoples. For First Nations groups who wish to identify as First Nations while functioning in contemporary society, however, the concept of "hybridity" diffuses their self identification by suggesting that it is not "pure." 

Then, applied as a theory of culture change, "hybridity" reinforces the false premise of "original," "static" and "authentic" cultures, as if it were unnatural for cultures to be fluid as a result of interaction with both the environment and culture contact. When applied to forms of material culture, the biological metaphor implies that objects actually propagate, which reflects an alarming similarity to early twentieth century anthropologists' use of the term "promiscuous" to describe objects produced in multicultural settings - an offshoot of the spurious concept of the "ethnographic present," which denied history to indigenous peoples. 

Does culture change go both ways in colonial settings? Yes, of course. But when colonizers appropriate indigenous culture, particularly in the context of national identity projects, it does not diffuse their identity, but rather functions as "appropriation." In other words, colonial and national cultures can incorporate indigenous cultures (i.e. "hybridity" as a theory of culture change) wholesale into their own identities. Where it concerns human regeneration, however, interracial offspring become trapped in a binary opposition in which they become "othered." Thus, the concept of hybridity works differently among colonizers or mainstream national cultures, than it does applied to subordinate groups. 

In my own work, I have found the concept of "hybridity" counterproductive as an explanation for the challenges facing indigenous peoples attempting to forge roles as 100% indigenous, but with bicultural identities in contemporary societies. For an in-depth exploration of these issues, see my book chapter, "Designing, Producing and Enacting Nationalisms: Contemporary Amerindian Fashions in Canada." 

Chapter Designing, Producing and Enacting Nationalisms: Contemporary...

Hi Sashi! Thank you so much for your comment and for your encouragement and support! It means a lot! :-) /Helen

May be this latinamerican perspective could help to see the problem outside their asian origins

Kokotovic, Misha. Hibridez y desigualdad: García Canclini ante el neoliberalismo. Revista de Crítica Literaria Latinoamericana, 26 (52): 289-300. 2000

http://www.jstor.org/stable/4531134?seq=1

Comunicación y conflictos interculturales

http://www.designisfels.net/designis6.htm

Hi Cory! Thank you so much for commenting! I appreciate your critical concerns about the metaphor hybridity and I agree that it should be used with caution. And it's important to not ignore the asymmetrical power relations and the consequences of these on the hybridity. I will try to incorporate these reflections better in my analysis. Thank you again!