Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2002. Vol. 8. Eger Journal of American Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 28)
Studies - András Tarnóc: Violence as Cultural Projection: The Sociological, Psychological, and Epistemological Implications of the Jamestown Massacre
determination to drive out the settlers precluded the use of negotiations to achieve his goals. The question, whether the massacre of 347 settlers, roughly 1/5 of the population of the colony (Davidson 51) could be considered a success, however, inevitably emerges. While the settlers suffered a considerable setback, and the revocation of Virginia's charter in 1624 was partially justified by the Jamestown Massacre for "the colony hath not hitherto prospered so happily as was hoped and desired" (Douglas 235), the revenge campaign or the Second Anglo-Powhatan War (1622-1632) brought a tragic defeat to the Amerindian population (Fausz 69). The Jamestown Massacre can be seen as a violent clash of bodies, thereby facilitating the relevance of Merleau-Ponty and Althusser's theories. Following Merleau-Ponty, the body is represented by a system of double helixes forming an incomplete loop consisting of two images: intercorporeality, that is being a thing among things, and the body's perception of itself. Althusser's theory of interpellation, that is the introduction of the self into the social order, explains how the self becomes a social subject (Doyle 342-44). In case of an interpellated person, enjoying the fruits of the acquisition of the social self the two helixes are not in conflict with each other, that is the image of the respective self corresponds to the image held by society. While Opechancanaugh's double helix contains the corporeal component of an Amerindian and his perception of himself as a warrior, he is seen by white society as a bloodthirsty savage and his interpellation process, is prevented and frustrated. Consequently, attacking the settlers, the beholders and generators of such negative images, can be interpreted as an interpellation, or the superimposition of one helix over another. Opechancanaugh's double helix is juxtaposed to the colonists' epistemological model of immigrants of European , primary British stock and individuals on a mission to promote the "Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith and Honour of King and Country " (Urofsky 12). One of the primary causes of the attack on Jamestown is the Indians' rejection of the colonists' perception of the self. In fact from the competing selfimages, temporarily the Indian image of the defender of Native American culture emerges victoriously. The Amerindian-warrior double helix eliminates the "messenger of European culture " 256
