by: Okky Madasari
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 works by Dutch scholar A. Teeuw and several Indonesian literary critics, prominent and dominant in shaping the discourse of Indonesian literature today, this paper argues that the main narrative of the history of Indonesian literature was founded based on interests, ideology and lies rather than facts. By proving not only the existence of original Indonesian literary works prior to Balai Pustaka but also showing that these marginalised works have high quality, this paper challenges the current dominant and believed narratives of Dutch’s dominant role in forming Indonesian literature, while contributing to the strengthening of push for reconstruction and rewriting of the history of Indonesian literature as we know it.
Full paper: Silencing and Fake Alternatives in Construction of Indonesian Literature
