These two memoirs, superbly rendered into English for the first time, provide unique windows into the Sumatran past, in particular, and the early twentieth-century history of Southeast Asia, in general. Originally published soon after the Indonesian Revolution (1945-1949) liberated the island chain from Dutch control, these unusually insightful narratives recall the authors' boyhoods in rural Toba Batak and Minangkabau villages. In reconstructing their own passage into adulthood, the writers inevitably tell the story of their country's turbulent journey from colonial subjugation through revolution to independence. Susan Rodgers's perceptive introduction illuminates the importance of autobiography in developing historical consciousness and imagining a national future.
Telling Lives, Telling History Autobiography and Historical Imagination in Modern Indonesia
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About the Book
Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
MAPS
GLOSSARY
PART ONE • TWO SUMATRAN CHILDHOOD MEMOIRS
Imagining Modern Indonesia via Autobiography
Introduction
The Texts and Their Authors
Autobiography in Indonesian and Malay Historical Traditions
Images of Self and Society
Book Learning, Schools, Language, and Knowledge
Portrayals of Religion
Images of Time and Historical Narration
Sumatran Childhood Autobiography as History
A Note on Translation
Notes
PART TWO • THE TRANSLATIONS
Aku dan Toba [Me and Toba], by P. Pospos
Notes
Semasa Kecil di Kampung [ Village Childhood], by Muhamad Radjab
Notes
REFERENCES
INDEX