AbstractColonization certainly produced altered states of consciousness, in which the basic sense of "rightness" was understood as subjective and culturally constructed, rather than naturally true. Along with this awareness came the idea that identity is not something personally possessed, but rather something inscribed on a body or culture by an agent of power. In this case, identities were projected onto natives by imperialists. The colonial enterprise, particularly European imperialist projects in the East, forever changed concepts of identity, otherness, and power in both the West and the East. Both sides were indisputably and irrevocably altered; however, the effect on native cultures (the colonized) was far greater than the effect on imperial cultures (the colonizers). European colonizers were able to select the most important aspects of the “new” culture – their art, their music, their architecture or their cuisine – and adopt or adapt them to modern imperial life. In many ways, the cultural practices and artifacts of a newly colonized civilization were treated like the natural resources (oil, silk, spices) that Europeans were there to harvest: they mattered only in their usefulness to the empire. Unlike their imperial counterparts, however, native peoples had no choice about which customs and practices to adopt and which to abandon. The sheer military might and nature of the colonial enterprise required the colonized to fully adapt to the social and cultural norms of the empire. In essence, then, the colonized were forced to lead a life of double consciousness, in which they participated in customs and practices and obeyed laws and regulations in which they had... middle of paper... experiences with Western Ideology, Etgar Keret and Marjane Satrapi offer methods for reclaiming identity that don't revolve around blind attempts to return to cultural roots. Works Cited Ghanem, Mary and Jihad Makhoul. “Displaced Arab Families: Mothers' Voices on Life and Coping in Postwar Beirut.” Journal of Middle Eastern Women's Studies 5.3 (2009): 54-72. Network. 10 Dec 2009.Keret, Etgar. The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001. Print.Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Random House, 1978. Print.Satrapi, Marjane. The complete Persepolis. New York: Pantheon, 2003. Print.Troen, S. Ilan. "Border Myths and Their Applications in America and Israel: A Transnational Perspective." Journal of American History 86.3 (1999): 55 paragraphs. Network. December 10 2009. .