The maxim, the pen is mightier than the sword, could be aptly applied to the works of W.S. Rendra. In the political context of 1960s and 1970s Indonesia, the focus era of this paper, oppression and corruption reigned. Rendra used his words to inform people and as a clarion call to oppose the New … [Read more...]

"If one wanted to bring an Ubermensch to life in a prison, that is, a man free of good and evil, it would of course be futile" Sukarno, 1931 In Pramoedya's "My Cell Mate," the narrator's impression of his cell mate depends on their forced association. The story begins with the immediate … [Read more...]

In July 1995 the Ramon Magsaysay Foundation announced the decision to present its annual award to Indonesian writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer. Subsequently, in a protest statement delivered to Manila, twenty-six prominent Indonesian intellectuals expressed their opposition to the award decision, … [Read more...]

During the 1990s, Seno Gumira Ajidarma has emerged as perhaps the preeminent fiction writer of the Indonesian younger generation. He is certainly one of the most productive. Since 1993 he has published six collections of short stories, a highly experimental novel, and a collection of essays on … [Read more...]

This thesis has been undertaken with a number of objectives in mind. In the first place, it aims to assist in the development of a ‘map’ of aspects of contemporary Indonesian language poetry and associational life related to that poetry from the province of West Java, particularly in the period … [Read more...]