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Local renderings of the two Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata in Malay and Javanese literature have existed since around the ninth and tenth centuries. In the following centuries new versions were created alongside the old ones, and these opened up interesting new directions. They questioned the views of previous versions and laid different accents, in a continuous process of modernization and adaptation, successfully satisfying the curiosity of their audiences for more than a thousand years. Much of this history is still unclear. For a long time, scholarly research made little progress, due to its preoccupation with problems of origin. The present volume, going beyond identifying sources, analyses the socio-literary contexts and ideological foundations of seemingly similar contents and concepts in different periods; it examines the literary functions of borrowing and intertextual referencing, and calls upon the visual arts to illustrate the independent character of the epic tradition in Southeast Asia.
The stories in this anthology take issue with worn stereotypes and reflect both everyday life and the great upheavals that have marked modern Indonesian national life.
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This text presents an accessible introduction to the most significant problems facing Indonesia and raises issues for further investigations. It addresses such questions as: how has Indonesia managed to remain one country?; and is there a truly national Indonesian culture?
While the hajj is first and foremost a religious festival, it is also very much a political event. Every large Muslim state has developed a comprehensive hajj policy and a powerful bureaucracy to enforce it. This work argues, no secular or religious authority - national or international - can really control the hajj.
Each year, more than two million pilgrims from over 100 countries converge on the holy city of Mecca to reenact the ritual dramas that Muslims have been performing for centuries. Making the hajj is one of the most important duties in the life of a Muslim. The pilgrimage-and its impact on international politics-is enormous and growing every year, yet Westerners know virtually nothing about it. What is the hajj and what does it mean? Who are the hajjis? What do they do and say in Mecca and how do they interpret their experiences? Who runs the hajj and what are their political objectives? How does the hajj encourage international cooperation among Muslims and can it also promote harmony between...
In power since 1965, Indonesia's New Order government has formulated distinctive policies for cultural development. What effect have these policies had on individual artists and on art forms? This collection of fifteen essays explores the theme in the areas of literature, drama, film, television, painting, contemporary art, architecture, music, and language. The essays touch on current debates about the role of the artist in Indonesian society and discuss recent trends in the various genres.