The UP Asian Center will host a public lecture, “Pramoedya Ananta Toer: Literature, the Left and the Alternative History of the Indonesian Nation” by Dr. Max Lane on Tuesday, 26 April 2016, 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., ASEAN Hall, Hall of Wisdom, GT-Toyota Asian Cultural Center, Asian Center, University of the Philippines Diliman. The lecture is free and open to the public; seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis, but participants are encouraged to sign up to expedite the registration process on the day of the forum.
About the Lecture
The revolutionary genius of Pramoedya Ananta Toer's historical novels, including the tetralogy that began with This Earth of Mankind, lies in its revelation of the self-creation of the Indonesian nation, an experienced (not imagined) community. The depiction of the genesis of this self-creation involved a retelling of the history of the early 20th century, which provided an alternative account of the dynamics of that period to that which has exercised hegemony since then. Even today, Pramoedya's alternative history has made little impact on mainstream Indonesian political discourse. This weak impact is linked to the Left of his generation’s (including himself) lack of ability to objectively critique its own history. The genius of Pramoedya's works lies in their exposition of the origins of the Indonesian nation, not in its consequent progress and setbacks. This talk will look both at Pramoedya’s contribution to understanding Indonesian history as well as the extent to which he represents the pre-1965's inability to deal with its own history.
About the Speaker
Max Lane, Ph.D. is Visiting Senior Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) in Singapore. The English translator of six of Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s works, including the Arok of Java and This Earth of Mankind and the other novels of the “Buru Quartet.” He has published several books on Indonesia, including Openness, Political Discontent and Succession in Indonesia: Political Developments in Indonesia, 1989-90 (Griffith University 1991); Unfinished Nation: Indonesia before and after Suharto (Verso 2009); and Decentralization and Its Discontents: An Essay on Class, Political Agency and National Perspective in Indonesian Politics (ISEAS 2014). He is also author of The Urban Mass Movement in the Philippines, 1983-87 (Australian National University and ISEAS 1990). In 2016, he will publish his first book of poetry and prose. An activist, Max Lane also previously served as officer in the Australian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia. View his CV and list of other publications. The photo of Max Lane was grabbed from a blog, "The Way I See It."
About the Organizers
The public lecture is organized by the UP Asian Center and the Department of English and Comparative Literature, College of Arts and Letters, University of the Philippines Diliman.
The UP Asian Center offers M.A. degrees in Asian Studies with four fields of specialization: Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. The Center also has an M.A. program in Philippine Studies that allows students to major in Philippine society and culture, Philippine foreign relations, or Philippine development studies. The Center offers a Ph.D. program in Philippine Studies in conjunction with the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy. Get an overview of these programs. The Asian Center also houses a peer-reviewed, open-access journal, Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia. It has published several books and monographs, and hosts or organizes various lectures and conferences.