Remco Raben
(1962) is a researcher at the Dutch Institute for War Documentation (NIOD) and teaches the history of ethnic relationships in Batavia and Colombo in the time of the VOC (Dutch East India Company). He has published on Indonesia and Southeast Asia in early modern and modern history. Among his books are De geschiedenis van Indische Nederlanders (The history of the East-Indian Dutch) (2006), Being "Dutch" in the Indies. A history of creolisation and empire, 1500-1920 (2007), The World of Jan Brandes (2004), De oude Indische wereld (The Old East Indies' World) (2003) and Beelden van de Japanse bezetting van Indonesië (Images of the Japanese Occupation of Indonesia (1999).
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Archive available for: Remco Raben
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Laksmi Pamuntjak and Hilde Janssen: Living in Indonesia during the 1965-1966 mass killings
With: Hilde Janssen, Laksmi Pamuntjak, Remco Raben
A taboo in Indonesia: the mass murders during the change of political power between Sukarno and Suharto. In her novel The Question of Red (Amba), recently translated into Dutch, Indonesian author Laksmi Pamuntjak describes the events from the perspective of ordinary people in the form of a tragic love story. In doing so, she attempts to give new impetus to how Indonesians cope with this episode in recent history. Journalist and anthropologist Hilde Janssen will be conversing with her about her novel, under the direction of historian Remco Raben.
Laksmi Pamuntjak (Indonesia, 1971) published her debut novel Amba in 2012, which has since been published into English, German and Dutch. The novel is a modern version of the love story from the Mahabharata and is set against the background of the bloody events during the 'red scare' in Indonesia in 1965 and 1966. Pamuntjak, one of the few Indonesian writers to publish in English, made her international breakthrough in 2005 with her first collection of poems Ellipsis. She also publishes articles on art, literature, classical music, politics, film and food. Her second novel, Aruna dan Lidahnya, was published in 2014 and has since become a bestseller in Indonesia.
In her book Enkele reis Indonesië ('Single journey Indonesia') , which was published this year, Hilde Janssen wrote about this same turbulent time. In it she tells the historic tale of four Dutch women who moved to the new Republic of Indonesia in 1947 and married Indonesians. Like Pamuntjak, she describes how sweethearts become separated as a result of political developments. Janssen previously published Schaamte en Onschuld ('Shame and Innocence'). Het verdrongen oorlogsverleden van troostmeisjes in Indonesië (2010) ('The suppressed war record of Indonesian comfort women').
Remco Raben will lead the conversation between the two authors. He is an endowed professor of Colonial and Post-colonial Literature and Cultural History at the University of Amsterdam and conducts research into the decolonisation of the Dutch East Indies/Indonesia, colonial and revolutionary violence in Indonesia, cultures of remembrance and non-Western and colonial art history.
An evening event organised in collaboration with The Hague Library, Xander Publishers and the Read My World festival. The official language during this event shall be English. Book sales by Van Stockum Boekhandel.
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From the Dutch East Indies to Indonesia
What is decolonization? It is the departure, gradually that is, of an old colonial power. Is it an arrival too? The decolonization of Indonesia is full of questions and uncertainties. Remco Raben came to mention this in his introduction. Subsequently the researchers presented the answers which their studies in the research programme 'From the Dutch East Indies to Indonesia' yielded. The Jakartan poet Zeffry Alkatiri opened the day with the poem Amsterdam-Batavia. He told the story of Jakarta as an eyewitness of history.
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Film: White Skin, Yellow Commander/ Shiroi Hada to Kiiroi Taicho
(Manao Horiuchi, Japan, 1960) This film caused a storm of protest in the Netherlands and has never been screened here before. In WWII the 'good' Japanese camp commander Yamaji Tadashi governs the internment camp for women and children Kampili on Sulawesi. Cheered by the women, Yamaji is acquitted at the end of the film. The female roles are played by personnel and relatives of the American embassy in Tokyo. Dutch subtitles. With an English spoken introduction by Kaori Maekawa and Remco Raben.
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Soekarno
Sukarno is hot! Even his daughter has become president. His biography was published in Jakarta in 2001. It was written by a Dutchman no less, author Lambert Giebels. He talked about his findings with journalist Ed van Westerloo, who had the only Dutch tv-interview with Sukarno ever, and with Remco Raben, a researcher of the history of Indonesia in the fifties. In this program, some unique film footage of Sukarno was presented as well. Dutch spoken.
