Guess What? Asrul Sani<\/p>\n
Prominent scholar and film director Asrul Sani, who was
\ninvited to talk at the launching of Prahara Budaya (Cultural
\nCalamity) in Jakarta last week, objected to the term \"lecture\"
\nused by the organizing committee.<\/p>\n
\"I won't lecture. I will just ngobrol (talk casually),\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Asrul was supposed to deliver a speech on the Conference of
\nAll-Indonesian Writers (KKPI), which took place in Jakarta
\nbetween March 1 and 7, 1964. The conference was attended by 356
\nnationalist writers from throughout the country who objected to
\nthe use of arts and literature as political tool, as suggested by
\nthe left-wing People's Cultural Institution (Lekra).<\/p>\n
Asrul said that in the early 1960s, nationalists writers lived
\nunder heavy pressure as they were terrorized mentally by the
\ncommunists.<\/p>\n
\"Cultural debates among writers and painters were not unusual.
\nBut what happened early in 1960s was a mental terror,\" Asrul
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Prahara Budaya is a collection of documents, articles and some
\nliterature depicting the ideology war between nationalists and
\npro-communist writers between 1959 and 1965.<\/p>\n
Edited by Taufiq Ismail and D.S. Moeljanto, the book was
\npublished by Mizan publishing house and Republika daily. (sim)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/guess-what-asrul-sani-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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