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Language and Power

Exploring Political Cultures in Indonesia

Benedict R. O’g Anderson 2006

E-Book: 311 English Pages

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Download: Language and Power: Exploring Political Cultures in Indonesia (Anderson 2006).

In this lively book, Benedict R. O’G. Anderson explores the cultural and political contradictions that have arisen from two critical facts in Indonesian history: that while the Indonesian nation is young, the Indonesian nation is ancient originating in the early seventeenth-century Dutch conquests; and that contemporary politics are conducted in a new language. Bahasa Indonesia, by peoples (especially the Javanese) whose cultures are rooted in medieval times. Analyzing a spectrum of examples from classical poetry to public monuments and cartoons, Anderson deepens our understanding of the interaction between modern and traditional notions of power, the mediation of power by language, and the development of national consciousness. Language and Power, now republished as part of Equinox Publishing’s Classic Indonesia series, brings together eight of Anderson’s most influential essays over the past two decades and is essential reading for anyone studying the Indonesian country, people or language. Benedict Anderson is one of the world’s leading authorities on Southeast Asian nationalism and particularly on Indonesia. He is Professor of International Studies and Director of the Modern Indonesia Project at Cornell University, New York. His other works include Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism and The Spectre of Comparisons: Nationalism, Southeast Asia, and the World.

Reviews

“These writings, largely unknown the wide audience Anderson now commands, offer specialists and nonspecialists alike a fascinating perspective on Indonesian culture, as well as an intellectual chronology of a major Southeast Asianist and social theorist.” ―J. Joseph Errington

“A wonderful collection, rich in ideas and interpretations. In my reading, the central theme of this book is the crisis in Javanese culture which began in the seventeenth century and the attempts of successive generations of Javanese-Indonesians to deal with the crisis.” ―R. William Liddle

Author

Benedict R. O’G. Anderson is the Aaron L. Binenkorb Professor Emeritus of International Studies, Government, and Asian Studies at Cornell University. His works include Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, Language and Power: Exploring Political Cultures in Indonesia, and The Spectre of Comparisons: Nationalism, Southeast Asia, and the World.