Book Review: Bijl, P., & Chin, G. V. S. (Eds.). (2020). Appropriating Kartini: Colonial, National and Transnational Memories of an Indonesian Icon.

ISEAS. ISBN 978-981-4843-92-8. 198 pages.

Authors

  • Vissia Ita Yulianto Universitas Gadjah Mada
  • G. R. Lono Lastoro Simatupang Universitas Gadjah Mada

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14764/10.ASEAS-0046

Keywords:

Kartini, appropriations, transnational memories, feminism, (De)coloniality

Abstract

This book dicusses the national, regional, and transnational appropriations of Kartini – a young Javanese woman who lived in Jepara, Central Java, between 1879 and 1904.  She is recognised internationally as an iconic feminist and nationalist Indonesian figure and is, after Anne Frank, the most widely-read and influential, (originally) Dutch-language author worldwide in the 20th and 21st centuries. Since 1911, her letters,  first published in Dutch as “Door duisternis tot licht” (lit. “Through Darkness Into Light”), have been translated into numerous languages including French, Russian, Japanese, Javanese, Sundanese, and Arabic. There are also several versions of Indonesian and English translations. In the 1960s, a republication of the first 1920 English language translation of a selection of her writings was included in the UNESCO Collection of Representative Works.

Author Biographies

Vissia Ita Yulianto, Universitas Gadjah Mada

Vissia Ita Yulianto is an Indonesian socio-cultural anthropologist. Her areas of expertise are post-coloniality, cultural studies, memory studies, and Southeast Asian Studies. She is a researcher at the Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies and lecturer at the master program of Performing and Visual Art Studies, Universitas Gadjah Mada.

G. R. Lono Lastoro Simatupang, Universitas Gadjah Mada

G. R. Lono Lastoro Simatupangis an anthropologist lecturing at the Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, and  at the Performing and Visual Arts Studies, School of Gaduate Studies, Universitas Gadjah Mada. His current research  focus includes performance studies, cultural heritage, and cultural policy.

References

Abendanon, J. H. (Ed.). (1911). Door duisternis tot licht: Gedachten over en voor het Javaansche volk van Raden Adjeng Kartini. [Through darkness to light: Consideration about and in the interest of the Javaneese]. G. C. T. Van Dorp & Co.

Coté, J. (2014). Kartini: The Complete Writings 1898–1904. Monash University Press.

Mohamad, G. (2004). Foreword: Kartini Sebuah Persona. In Kartini, R. A., Aku Mau...: Feminisme dan Nasionalisme: Surat-Surat Kartini kepada Stella Zeehandelaar 1899-1903 (pp.vii-xix, I. V. Yulianto, Trans.). Buku Kompas KPG & IRB Press. (Original work by J. Coté, On feminism and nationalism, Kartini’s letters to Stella Zeehandelaar 1899-1903, published 1995).

Young, J. O. (2010). Cultural Appropriation and the Arts. John Wiley & Sons.

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Published

2021-06-28

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 1 (2021)

Section

Book Reviews

License

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