Abstract This paper examines how the early history of modern Indonesian literature has been constructed in line with the colonial’s and authoritarian government’s perspectives and interests by silencing critical literary works and then fabricating narratives as fake alternatives. Focusing on the … [Read more...]
Rivai Apin and the Modernist Aesthetic in Indonesian Poetry
August 30, 2018 by
On the cover of a 1980 publication that tells the story of modern Indonesian literature, there is a portrait of the poet Rivai Apin, painted by his brother Mochtar in 1944 (see Chambert-Loir 1980). It shows Rivai as a youth of seventeen, dressed in the heavy calico drill shirt of the war years, … [Read more...]
Cultural Imaginary, the Rule of Law, and (Post-) Colonialism in Indonesia: Perspectives from Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s This Earth of Mankind
August 30, 2018 by
This article focuses on culture and rule of law in Indonesia, which provides an excellent case study in colonialism and post-colonialism. The colonial heritage of the Indonesian islands goes back to the early 1500s and lasted for approximately four centuries (Schultz 2002:144- 145) until … [Read more...]
Pramoedya Ananta Toer and China: The Transformation of a Cultural Intellectual
August 14, 2018 by
As one of the most prominent writers in Indonesia, Pramoedya Ananta Toer has been at the center of a number of valuable studies which carefully document his intellectual journey and his place in modern Indonesian cultural history.* 1 It has been generally agreed that the years between 1956 and 1959 … [Read more...]
Poetic Reaction to Political Excess: W.S. Rendra, Peacock and People’s Poet
August 12, 2018 by
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...]