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Follow Kartini’s inspiration: Write for impact!

As Kartini Day (Women’s Emancipation Day) approaches, a day when the people of Indonesia celebrate the work of education and women rights activist Raden Ajeng Kartini, I cannot help but wonder why we remember her on April 21 and not someone else

Rebekah Nivala (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, April 21, 2016

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Follow Kartini’s inspiration: Write for impact!

As Kartini Day (Women’s Emancipation Day) approaches, a day when the people of Indonesia celebrate the work of education and women rights activist Raden Ajeng Kartini, I cannot help but wonder why we remember her on April 21 and not someone else. Without a doubt, there were many other men and women who worked passionately for reform against the reactionary social mores of early 1900 colonized Southeast Asia. Why do we lionize Kartini?

Looking as far back as antiquity, we see that the figures studied in history class are those who were written about or who chose to write themselves. Kartini made history because she chose to write. Kartini’s literary contributions were significant given Indonesia’s predominant culture of oral tradition or budaya bertutur.

Kartini is perhaps best known for her personal letters, many of which were initially published and circulated in a Dutch magazine and most recently as the book Habis Gelap Terbitlah Terang (From Darkness into Light).

However, a lesser-known article may shed additional light on the possible reason Kartini became the face of women’s emancipation in Indonesia. “Educate the Javanese!” was an article that implored both local and foreign authorities to act in solidarity for the good of all Indonesians by reforming education in Java.

Passionate about education for women, Kartini urged policymakers to increase access to schooling for girls, arguing that it would “give Java energetic, intelligent mothers and promising that, with such access to education, the raising-up of a people will only be a question of time!” Writing allowed Kartini to communicate with and influence her friends’ at home and abroad as well as local and foreign governments that, for a young Javanese woman in the late 1800s, would have been a world away.

Kartini’s example of writing with impact, however, is sadly lacking in today’s Indonesia. Visiting libraries and bookstores in Java, I am struck by the dearth of native literature. Across the literary span — from children’s picture books to academic materials — most books available in Indonesian are those written by Western authors and translated into Indonesian.

Anything from Dora the Explorer to Harry Potter to Pasi Sahlberg’s Finnish Lessons lines the shelves. Indonesian readers are being influenced by Western authors, but Indonesian writers are not necessarily influencing Western readers.

This year marks 71 years of independence for Indonesia, which begs the question: How long does it take for a nation to build a strong library of national literature? The answer: It depends. Development of a nation’s literature depends on intent, the education system, the motivation of individual writers, the accessibility of publication processes and the value of intellectual property.

To be fair, there are several internationally known contemporary Indonesian authors; Dorothea Rosa Herliany, Dewi Lestari, Linda Christanty, Andrea Hirata, Laksmi Pamuntjak and Leila Chudori.

Meanwhile, the literature of Pramoedya Ananta Toer (2006) and Mochtar Lubis (2004) continues to live on.

Yet, thousands of stories remain untold, stories that are crying out to be heard, that need to be recorded in order to construct and share a rich tapestry of Indonesian culture.

In honor of Kartini, the writer, Indonesians need to write. Is there a book you wish you could read but does not yet exist? Do you have information or a unique perspective you want to share with others? Write it. We are living in the present moment, but this moment will quickly become the history of our future. Writing allows us to preserve our stories, to share them with our contemporaries as well as those who will come after us.

As we celebrate the legacy of futuristic writer Kartini, let us encourage parents and teachers to give Indonesia energetic, intelligent young writers, to rise of national literature will only be a matter of time.
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The writer is USINDO SLS fellow 2015, studying at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

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