With emphasis on the study of Indonesian-language texts the program examines how state power is projected in the realm of language and literature and how this power has been resisted in post-independence Indonesia. After surveying the state-managed propagation of the Indonesian language and state-defined norms of correctness and good style, the program looks at several case studies of literary censorship, focusing on ideas in the texts and the political/religious rationales for the censorship of them. The case studies are drawn from activist drama, public poetry, and polemical prose fiction with special emphasis on comedy as an activist weapon. The program is team-taught.

Graduate students attend joint classes with undergraduates but may expect more rigorous assessment, additional or more lengthy assignments tailored to the graduate student’s interests, and an end of semester assessment based on an assignment rather than an examination.

Indonesian 2B (INDN6003) or equivalent, or permission of Coordinator

Hooker, V. (ed.), Culture and Society in New Order Indonesia
Hatley, B., "Cultural Expression" in Hall Hill (ed.), The Dynamics of Socio-economic Transformation
Quinn, G., The Novel in Javanese (chapter 6).