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Download fileRemembering 1965: Indonesian cinema and the 'Battle for History'
journal contribution
posted on 30.03.2021, 12:49 by Darlene Machell De Leon ESPENADarlene Machell De Leon ESPENAUsing
four films to probe the transformations in Indonesia’s historical memory,
this paper examines how the Indonesian society remembers, interrogates, and
comes to terms with one of their nation’s most traumatic episodes: the
widespread communist purge that followed the failed coup on 30 September
1965. It also demonstrates how they reflect various perspectives on the 1965
killings that are—to an extent—part of the “Battle of History” (van Klinken
2001) in postSuharto Indonesia, wherein different historiographic traditions
introduce new actors, reveal the nuances, and challenge longstanding dominant
understandings of 1965. |