The Indonesia Reader. History, Culture, Politics
When I first picked up this book I was skeptical about how its editors would manage the enormous task at hand. The attempt, however “imperfect and incomplete,” to “show some of the arc of Indonesia’s histories and societies over the centuries, from geographic, cultural, political, economic, and religious points of view” (II) is audacious, to say the least. But I believe the authors, an historian and a literature scholar, have done a fine job of it.
The book is divided into ten distinct parts, arranged thematically into a loose chronology. Each part contains up to a dozen pieces drawn from primary and secondary sources; political, commercial and literary materials; written by men and women; indigenous and foreign authors. Much of the material has been translated into English (and I wonder if the series editors left in something of a Dutch “flavour” to the English style).
It really is an extraordinary cornucopia of sources that illustrate some of the pivotal and unique moments in Indonesia’s life. Opening with excerpts from the fifth century Kutei Inscriptions, the region’s earliest known examples of writing which were found on stone pillars in eastern Borneo, the Reader then takes off with its own trajectory across time and the islands. In between, the materials track the growth of Islam, the colonial experience (for both the colonizers and colonized), Independence, and modernity. Aptly, the book ends with two illuminating notes—and very typical of the contemporary scene—from Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jakarta-based journalist Desi Anwar respectively. The Indonesian president, SBY, discusses Indonesia’s reaction to the 2005 controversy surrounding the publication of a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper; he appeals for tolerance and understanding in the world’s most populous Muslim nation. In some contrast, Desi Anwar discusses the potentially far-reaching privations that may be imposed following the ratification of the so-called “anti-pornography bill” by the Indonesian parliament. Snapshots like these demonstrate the real tensions at the heart of contemporary Indonesia.
While there is an implicit focus on power shifts, politics and authority, it seems that the pieces have been carefully chosen for their individual perspectives on the greater events and trends. There is a general balance between civilian and military writers, for example, and insiders and outsider observers to the event or moment in question.
My only real qualm about this book relates to the Reader’s proposed readership. The authors state that “the Reader is a primer for anyone who wants to know why Indonesia looks the way it does today” (II). For me and for previous reviewers, the carefully selected content held together, made sense and even elicited awe at times. But I tried to put myself in the shoes of a newcomer to Indonesian or even Asian Studies, an undergraduate student perhaps—the kind of nonspecialized reader I suppose the editors envisaged—and I wondered how they would make sense of it, in all its breadth and detail. Would they indeed be able to glean an understanding of this fascinating nation in at least some of its historical, social and cultural complexity? After all, it was an educational literary journey, even for someone reasonably well versed in Indonesian matters.
Laura Noszlopy is Honorary Research Associate at Royal Holloway, University of London. She was an IIAS Research Fellow in Leiden during 2009. Her research interests include Indonesian anthropology, youth culture and performing arts. She is currently working on a biography of John Coast, an English theatre impresario with enduring links to Southeast Asia.