Literature and the Australian Study of Indonesia

The study of Indonesian literature has formed a variable part of the curriculum in Indonesian Studies over the past five decades. Sometimes literature has been seen as the highest stage of language learning, a mirror of society, and a valuable insight into the minds and hearts of people in a way which is not otherwise readily available. At other times, literature has also been seen as irrelevant to language learning (especially communicative language learning), elitist (belonging to the court and/or the urban intelligentsia), and difficult to understand in a world dominated by the mass media. The article surveys Australian teaching and research on Indonesian literature. I will take the term 'Indonesian literature' in its widest sense, as including classical Malay, Javanese and Balinese literature, as well as the 'modern' literature written in Bahasa Indonesia. The paper will consider major trends and emphases over the half century; significant achievements; missed opportunities; and what Australian scholarship has contributed to literary scholarship within Australia, Indonesia, and the rest of the world.