Books Literature

Indonesia, beginning of the 1980s. The young journalist Tommy comes into contact with the survivors of the genocide that the New Order regime of General Suharto carried out. To her bewilderment she hears stories about lurid dancing, castrations and the murder by young girls of a number of generals in the night of October 1 1965.  Guided by Ibu Sri, herself a former prisoner and a member of the women’s organisation that was held responsible for these alleged sexual and sadistic perversions she sets herself the task to unravel these fantasies.  Who invented these hateful lies which were meant to incite mass organizations to murder possibly one million of their neighbors?  Tommy is betrayed and thrown into prison. 

Indonesian novels about 1965 reach back to the Mahabharata to find hope and resignation 

Lontar Publishing’s John McGlynn speaks with Petia Dimitrova about the upcoming Frankfurt Book Fair 2015 at which Indonesia is the Guest of Honour nation and about the challenges of publishing Indonesian literature in translation

Translations of Indonesian literature offer insights into both the universality and particularity of Indonesian culture and society

Nils Bubandt brings an exciting new approach to the study of Indonesia's politics

Julia Byl’s ethnographic study reveals a musical tradition formed by its interactions with other cultures and musical influences  

Arguably Indonesia's finest living writer of fiction, Putu Wijaya reflects on Indonesia's nationhood in his short story, 'Freedom'.

Popular forms of writing in public reveal the richness of Balinese revitalisation

The world of lontar will likely continue side by side with the new technologies of our digital age

Reincarnations of works by the great Indonesian comic artists challenge manga’s dominance

The story of Indonesian literature is a fragmenting journey from national myth to bewildering multiplication

'Fragrant literature' is giving way to a diversity of literary voices and identities

Young Indonesians are leading trends in Indonesian writing and publishing

Important Indonesian writing is emerging in unexpected forms

Deryn Mansell’s novel opens a window into Indonesia for younger readers

The Institute will continue to operate without its famous reading room

The memoir of a former human rights commission official gives insights into handling of human rights in Indonesia in the late New Order and early reformasi period

Can the descendants of both sides of 1965 come together to help the nation achieve reconciliation?

Marcus Mietzner argues that when seen in the context of other new democracies, Indonesia’s political parties are not so bad