Indonesia from the Periphery: Imagining “Indonesia” in Kupang (original) (raw)

INContext: Studies in Translation and Interculturalism

Batik has long been well-known in Java. Its reputation increased significantly during President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s (SBY) administration who declared national batik day. This encouraged provinces with no batik tradition before to create batik with its unique local identity. This article aims to map the roles of different agencies from educational institutions in the emergence of the local identity symbol of Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB) province represented by Sasambo batik. This research shows that cultural policies in Indonesia must consider locality. Local cultural expressions in Indonesia, especially in Eastern Indonesia, are often ‘forced’ to follow what is suggested and brought by actor from different traditions. The situation became more complex when the cultural expression introduced was packaged through the ideology of nationalism, Batik, which was originally part of Javanese culture, has been elevated to become a National culture. Adopting batik as part of national iden...

9: ‘Whither Indonesian culture?’ Rethinking ‘culture’ in Indonesia in a time of decolonization

Heirs to World Culture

When Claire Holt returned to Indonesia in 1969 after an absence of twelve years, 1 signs of '"cultural change," "economic development or "modernization,"[...] could be seen and felt everywhere, not least in the sphere of the arts.' The bitter debate between proponents of nationalism and of internationalism was no longer raging, she wrote. 'If it continued simmering below the surface, signs of it were not discernible' (Holt 1970:163).

Knowing Indonesia: Intersections of Self, Discipline, and Nation ed. by Jemma Purdy

Indonesia, 2013

Academic self-reflection in the sometimes contentious study of Indonesia is as welcome as it is rare. That Jemma Purdy's edited volume seeks such reflection and takes as its point of departure the work of Herb Feith, who spent much of the latter part of his academic career in such self-reflection, is especially welcome. Reflection opens the door to frankness and these collected essays are revealing. Not least, they make explicit what has long been implicit in the work of this volume's contributors and in much of Australia's Indonesia Studies paradigm. Full disclosure: I was invited to contribute to the volume being reviewed but declined, given that the collection's premise was less self-reflection and more a critique of the field of inquiry. This review will, however, belatedly address some of that critique, in an attempt to unpack the book's central themes. It is worth noting, too, that, along with another academic, I was banned from entering Indonesia in December 2004. Some time later, after the other individual's ban had been lifted, I was told I could also have my ban lifted if I wrote "more favorable" articles on Indonesia. I replied that my writing on Indonesia was fair, but, as journalists say, "without fear or favor." This, then, goes to Edward Aspinall's observation (p. 72) that fear of being banned from Indonesia is a "constraining factor" in some academics' writing, or what George Aditjondro referred to as "visa-driven scholarship."1 This review is, then, written by an academic still banned from the site of the study.

Knowing Indonesia: Intersections of Self, Discipline and Nation

Monash University eBooks, 2012

Academic self-reflection in the sometimes contentious study of Indonesia is as welcome as it is rare. That Jemma Purdy's edited volume seeks such reflection and takes as its point of departure the work of Herb Feith, who spent much of the latter part of his academic career in such self-reflection, is especially welcome. Reflection opens the door to frankness and these collected essays are revealing. Not least, they make explicit what has long been implicit in the work of this volume's contributors and in much of Australia's Indonesia Studies paradigm. Full disclosure: I was invited to contribute to the volume being reviewed but declined, given that the collection's premise was less self-reflection and more a critique of the field of inquiry. This review will, however, belatedly address some of that critique, in an attempt to unpack the book's central themes. It is worth noting, too, that, along with another academic, I was banned from entering Indonesia in December 2004. Some time later, after the other individual's ban had been lifted, I was told I could also have my ban lifted if I wrote "more favorable" articles on Indonesia. I replied that my writing on Indonesia was fair, but, as journalists say, "without fear or favor." This, then, goes to Edward Aspinall's observation (p. 72) that fear of being banned from Indonesia is a "constraining factor" in some academics' writing, or what George Aditjondro referred to as "visa-driven scholarship." 1 This review is, then, written by an academic still banned from the site of the study.

Review of Knowing Indonesia: Intersections of Self, Discipline, and Nation

2013

Local Wisdom with Universal Appeal: Dynamics of Indonesian Culture in Asian Context

KnE Social Sciences

This paper argues that the dynamics of Indonesian culture in Asian context, as seen from a linguistic perspective, may occur in the form of cultural reinterpretation and semantic change. At the cultural level, this paper takes a close look at two things: apology and "Indonglish" (Indonesian English). Apology is a universal speech act. However, where, when, how, and why people apologize to one another can be culturespecific. I pick out an Islam-specific greeting which gets modified by taking a Malayspecific apology as an illustrative example. As for Indonglish, it can be viewed either as a mock term or as a serious term. As a mock term, Indonglish is characterized by Indonesian-specific errors; and as a serious sociolinguistic term, it is characterized by apology, Indonesian address terms, and religion-related expressions. The semantic change pertains to three expressions: pancasila, bhinneka tunggal ika, and tut wuri handayani. The compound word pancasila means 'five principles', and the phrase bhinneka tunggal ika means 'unity in diversity'. Both expressions originate from an old Javanese literary work Sutasoma, written during the second half of the 14 th century. In Sutasoma, both expressions refer respectively to 'five moral principles in Buddhism' and 'a single religious truth proposed to unite Buddhism and Hinduism'. However, in modern Indonesia, they have undergone drastic semantic change. Pancasila is a cover politico-philosophical term for the five state foundations; and bhinneka tunggal ika is a national motto intended to unite people with different backgrounds into a single Indonesian nation. The last expression tut wuri handayani, or 'giving support from behind', was part of the educational motto for Taman Siswa, an educational institution established in the early 1920s. Now, it is taken as a motto for national education, for its great relevance to principles of modern educational psychology. Briefly, cultural dynamics are observable in apology and Indonglish; and the three local expressions originating from Javanese have now become prominent terms of national treasure, whose meanings spark some global appeal.

Introduction - Eastern Indonesia under Reform: The Global, the National and the Local

The boundaries of what has constituted “Eastern Indonesia” have shifted depending on the historical, cultural, political, or economic context. We review various ways that Eastern Indonesia has been understood, to overview the different ways of delineating and approaching this fascinating part of Indonesia in order to introduce this special issue. The intention of this special issue, however, is not to attempt to clearly define Eastern Indonesia once and for all, but to open up via these various historical and contemporary concerns with Eastern Indonesia, new ways of grappling with this region in the present Post-Suharto era. The current social and political transformations offer a great deal of opportunity to reflect on the way global and national flows of people, money, notions of governance and religious ideas, are so crucial to understanding and making sense of the current dynamics in the region. By focusing our attention on how these global and national influences intersect with the local, we want to bring out how they are appropriated and manipulated by local communities; at the same time they may undermine and transform what is taking place at the local level. Asian Journal of Social Science 39 (2011) 113–130

Indonesia from the Periphery: Imagining “Indonesia” in Kupang (original) (raw)

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