“On Indonesia (and beyond)” by Mirwan Andan

This reading list – of which some books are only written in Bahasa Indonesia. – has been commissioned in conjunction with the exhibition Rossella Biscotti, new work (8 September 2019 — 5 January 2020). To understand Indonesia, as a history, as a culture, as a politics, and as a social life, of course, it is not enough with only a shortlist of reading references. From Riwanua, my small library that can be accessed by appointment at Gudside (part of Gudskul Ecosystem project), Jakarta, at least these books in the list below, are the books that I always recommend to whoever wants to begin from early-stage to know and to understand Indonesia and beyond (including Southeast Asia as a region). Combined with a political brochure, diary, academic textbooks, fiction, etc., by authors both from Indonesia and abroad, and from various generations, after reading all these books in this shortlist will make you think that Indonesia is not only a tourism destination.

Azhari Aiyub, Kura-Kura Berjanggut, Banana Press, 2018

Erni Aladjai, Kei (translated from Bahasa Indonesia by Indriyatno Nurhayat Mohamed), Dalang Publishing, 2014

Syed Hussein Alatas, The Myth of the Lazy Native: A Study of the Image of the Malays, Filipinos and Javanese from the 16th to the 20th Century and its Function in the Ideology of Colonial Capitalism, Frank Cass Publisher, 1977

Pramoedya Ananta Toer, De Stroom Uit Het Noorden (translated from Bahasa Indonesia – Arus Balik- by Hendrik M.J. Maier), De Geus, 1995

Mirwan Andan (ed.), 20Kuldesak: Networking, Moving, Maneuvering, Rebelling, Kuldesak Network, 2018

Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, Verso, 1983

Nirwan Ahmad Arsuka, Karaeng Pattingalloang’s Heaven and Earth, Journal Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, Volume 3, 2002 - Issue 2

Azyumardi Azra, The Transmission of Islamic Reformism to Indonesia: Network of Middle Eastern and Malay-Indonesian ‘Ulama in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, Allen & Unwin, 2004

David Bourchier & Vedi R. Hadiz (ed.), Indonesian Politics and Society: A Reader, Routledge-Curzon, 2003

Hilmar Farid, Rethinking the Legacies of Bandung, Journal, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, Volume 17, 2016 - Issue 1

Vedi R. Hadiz, Daniel Dhakidae (eds.), Social Science and Power in Indonesia, Equinox Publishing, 2004

Wijaya Herlambang, Cultural Violence: Its Practice and Challenge in Indonesia, VDM Verlag, 2011

Alanda Kariza, Sophismata, Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 2017

Susia Kartika Imanuella, Mangara Banua: Merawat Memori Orang Toraja (Upacara Penahbisan Tongkonan Di Toraja, Sulawesi Selatan, Jurnal Ilmu Budaya, Volume 5, No 1 Januari - Juni 2017

Sartono Kartodirdjo, Modern Indonesia: Tradition & Transformation, Gadjah Mada University Press, 1988

Tan Malaka, Naar de Republiek Indonesia, (firstly published in Canton, 1925, publisher unknown, reprinted in Indonesian edition by Yayasan Massa, 1962)

Rudolf Mrázek, A Certain Age: Colonial Jakarta through the Memories of Its Intellectuals, Duke University Press, 2010

Anthony Reid (ed.), Witnesses to Sumatera. A Travellers’ Anthology, Oxford University Press, 1995

M.C. Ricklefs (ed.), A New History of Southeast Asia, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010

Soe Hok Gie, Catatan Seorang Demonstran, LP3ES, 1983