This collection of poems explores the notion of the 'south' from locations in Indonesia, Australia, Chile and Argentina, locations in which the poems were written. Explaining his topographical approach in these poems, Campbell says: "One of the poems, titled in the Indonesian original 'Lejano … [Read more...]
Outcaste by Choice: Re-Genderings in a Short Story by Oka Rusmini
August 2, 2018 by
Ida Ayu Oka Rusmini is a major contemporary Indonesian author. She has published two novels, Tarian Bumi (2000) and Kenanga (2003a), a collection of short stories, (Sagra, 2001), and a volume of poetry, Patiwangi (2003b, republished in 2007 as Warna Kita, with the omission of some 12 poems). Born in … [Read more...]
Reading Matters: An Examination of Plurality of Meaning in Selected Indonesian Fiction, 1980-1995
July 30, 2018 by
Using the work of theorists in the field of reader-response theory, this thesis examines the notion that the meaning of a given literary work is a product of the interaction between the reader and the text, and that a given work thus potentially contains a plurality of valid meanings. The theory is … [Read more...]
Home, Fatherhood, Succession: Three Generations of Amrullahs in Twentieth Century Indonesia
July 24, 2018 by
We ask for a thousand pardons . . . We are repeating other people's stories / Their lies are not our responsibility.1 2 "Traditional" Minangkabau disclaimers do not hold here. This essay is an attempt to unravel the skein of memories and fiction in Hamka's (Haji Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah, … [Read more...]
An early story of Kho Ping Hoo
July 22, 2018 by
Kho Ping Hoo (1926–1994) is the most well-known of all Indonesian writers of popular silat stories, largely set in China, which describe the adventures and romances of legendary heroes famed for their skill in martial arts. It is less well-known that he began his career writing critical stories … [Read more...]