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Systemic Silencing: Activism, Memory, and Sexual Violence in Indonesia by Katharine E. McGregor, The University of Wisconsin Press, 2023. (Katharine E. McGregor)
Systemic Silencing: Activism, Memory, and Sexual Violence in Indonesia by Katharine E. McGregor, The University of Wisconsin Press, 2023. (Katharine E. McGregor)`
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‘Systemic Silencing’: A look back at Indonesian survivors of enforced prostitution

Systemic Silencing: Activism, Memory, and Sexual Violence in Indonesia by Katharine E. McGregor focuses on a subset of rakyat kecil (commoners), that is, lower-class women from rural towns and villages, mostly in Java, who played a significant role during the period of Japanese occupation in the early 1940s but whose presence was seemingly visible only to their oppressors.

5 days ago
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Lessons (not) learned: A critical reflection on the COVID-19 pandemic

The "lucky” ones – or the more privileged among us – may look back into the first two years of the pandemic through our social media feeds with a sense of bittersweet nostalgia. How can we forget the first days of remote working and studying from home, or that moment when we could only wave at our relatives during religious holidays? 

1 month ago
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New book offers new perspective on Banda massacre

A recently published book captures not only VOC governor-general Jan Pieterszoon Coen's cruelty in his attempt to monopolize the nutmeg trade in Banda, but also emphasizes the side of the story from the Bandanese diaspora who fled prior to the horrific Banda massacre in 1621.

2 months ago

The Latest

Books

'Very Hungry Caterpillar' author Eric Carle dies aged 91

Eric Carle, author and illustrator of the beloved children's classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar, has died aged 91.

2 years ago
Books

Not our fate: Researcher unearths roots of racism against Chinese-Indonesians

Writer and researcher Widjajanti W. Dharmowijono looks into her country's history to understand racial tensions.

2 years ago
Books

Book piracy: Cash-strapped and hungry for knowledge, or simply fraud?

Book piracy has been prevalent in Indonesia and the digital era has made it all the more  easy for both buyers and sellers. While book lovers might say they go for pirated books because they're strapped for cash, those in the legitimate industry aren’t buying the excuse. Where do you stand on the issue, and is there a solution?

2 years ago
Books

Eco brick library for Myanmar orphans faces coup delays

Library for orphans in Yangon, built of recycled plastic waste, has been indefinitely deferred its opening by Myanmar's bloody coup.

2 years ago
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Jakarta makes bid for UNESCO titles in literature

Jakarta is seeking international accolades to brand itself as a city with deep appreciation for literature and the publishing world, but readers and publishers have suggested administrators get a reality check.

3 years ago
Books

More young Japanese look to Karl Marx amid pandemic, climate crisis

The boom has been ignited by a 34-year-old associate professor at Osaka City University who reimagined the theory expounded in the 19th-century German thinker's seminal "Das Kapital" from the perspective of environmental conservation in a bestselling book published last September.

3 years ago
Books

Printing halted after allegations against Philip Roth biographer

In a statement, W.W. Norton said that it will be "permanently putting out of print" the book titled "Philip Roth: The Biography," by Blake Bailey, who has been accused of multiple instances of assault over the past 10 days, stemming from his time as a middle school teacher in New Orleans.

3 years ago
Books

As Kinokuniya and more bookstores close down, book lovers pay tribute

Online bookstores are mushrooming while their physical counterparts are losing customers. As this process of bookstore digitization takes place, The Jakarta Post talks to bookstore owners and avid readers about what is lost and what is gained.

3 years ago
Books

New JK Rowling children's book coming in October

The Scottish author's latest will be released simultaneously in 20 different countries and multiple languages on October 12, French publisher Gallimard said.

3 years ago
Books

Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny to publish political thriller

State of Terror will tell the story of a novice secretary of state serving in the administration of her political rival as a "series of terrorist attacks throws the global order into disarray."

3 years ago
Books

Harvard astronomer argues alien vessel paid us a visit in 2017

That's the premise of a new book by a top astronomer, who argues that the simplest and best explanation for the highly unusual characteristics of an interstellar object that sped through our solar system in 2017 is that it was alien technology.

3 years ago
Books

Kardashian thief recounts Paris heist in tell-all book

Yunice Abbas, one of five men who robbed US media personality Kim Kardashian at her hotel in Paris in 2016, has authored a book detailing the incident.

3 years ago
Books

Spotify tests audiobooks of classics including 'Persuasion,' 'Frankenstein'

The platform known best for its music has used podcasts to drive growth since 2019, and recently began bolstering its audiobook selection.

3 years ago
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‘Hunting for Muhammad’: Feby Indirani seeks to transcend political polarization

Indonesian writer Feby Indirani attempts to go beyond ideological polarization by presenting the complex nuances of current sociopolitical lives through her work.

3 years ago
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‘Kisah Kebaya’: Labor of love on Indonesia’s sartorial icon

The 340-page book offers A-to-Z knowledge about Indonesia’s traditional tunic-like blouse, including tips on how to make them at home.

3 years ago
Books

‘Jakarta Tails’: A cat’s-eye view of human flaws

Writer Pallavi Aiyar and her globetrotting cats, Tofu and Soyabean, return for another adventure, this time, in Indonesia.

3 years ago
Books

Epilogue for an era: The story of Aksara Kemang

How a bookstore shaped a culture.

3 years ago
Books

After years in a drawer, Tintin painting tipped to fetch over 2 million euros

A painting of comic book hero Tintin that for years was kept folded in a drawer is to go on sale at a Paris auction house on Thursday with an estimated sale price of more than 2 million euros.

3 years ago
Books

Life as illustrated by Aimée de Jongh

She once called it quits, but Aimée de Jongh returns with another critically and commercially successful work.

3 years ago
Books

Online literary festivals connect people around the world

Apparently, literary festivals and publishing companies are not just curling up and doing nothing during the pandemic.

3 years ago
Books

Foreign authors top sellers with literature-loving Tehran women

French authors Albert Camus and Simone de Beauvoir rub shoulders with the likes of Jewish diarist Anne Frank and Russian poet Osip Mandelstam in Tehran bookstores where the largely female readership lap up foreign writers.

3 years ago
Books

#MeToo rocks Turkey's literary world

Sexual assault and harassment allegations have shaken Turkey's literary world, creating a rare #MeToo moment as women break taboos and speak out in the still largely patriarchal country.

3 years ago
Books

‘Herstory’: Celebrating remarkable Indonesian women & their legacies

An illustrated book published by online feminist publication 'Magdalene' seeks to shed light on Indonesian women who have left remarkable legacies in the public realm.

3 years ago
Books

British spy thriller author John le Carre dies aged 89

John le Carre, the British writer best known for his Cold War espionage novels "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold", has died aged 89.

3 years ago
Books

Road to Jakarta International Literary Festival 2021 to explore ideas of heroism

Road to Jakarta International Literary Festival 2021 runs until Dec. 6 on YouTube and its website.

3 years ago
Books

‘Guidebook’ decodes ILO convention on gender-based violence

A new book takes an inclusive, educational approach to raise awareness and understanding – and hopefully, spur action – on the 2019 ILO convention that aims to eliminate violence and harassment in a broadened “world of work”.

3 years ago
Books

Big Bad Wolf to hold online book sale in December

Big Bad Wolf's online sale on Tokopedia will offer more books with discounts of up to 90 percent. 

3 years ago
Books

UK publisher to launch portraits of Jakarta in fiction anthology

UK-based publisher Comma Press is set to publish an anthology of short stories all based in Jakarta, as a part of its critically acclaimed Reading the City series.

3 years ago
Books

Top Israeli writer enjoys pandemic-fueled creative surge

Etgar Keret, one of Israel's most popular living writers, says the COVID-19 pandemic has brought him a lot of inspiration and chides those inclined to romanticize the pre-coronavirus world.

3 years ago
Books

‘100+ Days of Quarantine’ seeks to inspire people amid COVID-19 pandemic

100+ Days of Quarantine features insights from 67 opinion leaders covering a wide array of topics. 

3 years ago