The Rape of Sukreni

Violence, money, and melodrama are the volatile ingredients of The Rape of Sukreni. Written in the 1930s by A.A. Panji Tisna, Soekreni’s Gadis Bali was published in 1947. The Rape of Sukreni is a modern Indonesian classic novel that is concerned with the Balinese-Hindu notion of karma, while its main thematic thrust is the impact of modern commerce on Balinese society. Modern commerce, the author argues, is animated by a morality that robs people of their humanity. Even more telling today than it was when it was written, The Rape of Sukreni offers a unique, insider’s dark view of the island’s future that violently challenges the conventional image of Bali as a honeyed paradise filled with artists and happy tourists.¹

1. Lontar Foundation ↩