Silence in Indonesian Literary Discourse: The Case of the Indonesian Chinese

Abstract

This paper raises questions about the curious absence of ethnic tension involving the Chinese minority as a theme within the Indonesian literary canon during the seventy-five or more years of its history. The silence is intriguing given the salience of the topic in everyday conversations, national policies, as well as non-fictional writings and fictional works outside the officially sanctioned sphere. The national literature of Indonesia has been curiously silent about an important aspect in the life of its immediate audience: the ethnic tension between the Chinese minority and the so-called indigenous people. Why this is so has intrigued me in recent years without leading me to any satisfying answers. I wish to explore this question and discuss why I find it intriguing and important. This paper will proceed with a brief introduction to the ethnic tension in question. My main purpose is to suggest how important the matter is in the everyday life of Indonesians. In the next section, I will specify the locus and nature of the literary silence that surrounds this tension. By way of comparison, I will present examples of literary works outside the official canon of Indonesia's national literature that depict ethnic tension as a central theme. Finally, I wish to suggest the significance of this literary silence to understanding Indonesian literature in a broader perspective.