Rewriting the nation's history, how is it to be done?<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): History that serves only to glorify rulers
\nshould never again be allowed to prevail. Historian Arnold
\nToynbee's assertion that history is God's own footpaths is
\nperhaps too ideal, but at least current demands to open up \"the
\ntruth\" behind versions taught in school should serve to remind
\nhistory writers they are no longer the court historians of bygone
\nkingdoms.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post contacted writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer,
\nphilosopher Mudji Sutrisno and historian Taufik Abdullah, to
\ndiscuss whether history could indeed be written free of rulers'
\ninterests. Their reply: it's possible, but it's far from easy.<\/p>\n
Taufik, a historian at the National Institute of Sciences
\n(LIPI), said that the key factor in writing history was honesty,
\nto express the truth.<\/p>\n
\"We cannot say that there is a certain method that historians
\ncan refer to when writing history. There is no such method. We
\nhistorians only need honesty and willingness to find the true
\nfacts,\" he said.<\/p>\n
There are different kinds of history, he said; historical
\nfacts and romanticization through stories and films.<\/p>\n
There was no problem with romanticization, such as the
\nG30S\/PKI film, he said. \"But if it is repeated several times like
\npropaganda, (people will respond to it like) a myth; the next
\nstep would be that it could be considered a fact.\"<\/p>\n
Taufik did not elaborate.<\/p>\n
He cited three types of historical writing, academic books,
\npopular books and textbooks for school children.<\/p>\n
The first, he said, should be strictly based on historical
\nfacts, as they were for scientific purposes.<\/p>\n
Popular books do not have to refer strictly to facts, as their
\naim is to entertain and to put across certain messages.<\/p>\n
Textbooks should help students understand history. This type
\nof historical writing, Taufik said, was very much influenced by
\nwhat the government wanted the aim of history teaching to be.<\/p>\n
This could be, for instance, the understanding of a country's
\nhistory, or the introduction of a new interpretation, he said,
\nagain without elaborating.<\/p>\n
\"Generally speaking, the problems facing historians usually
\ncome from sources. These could be living witnesses, written
\ndocuments or objects that could be used to explain the past.<\/p>\n
Human beings tend to be subjective, written documents could be
\nforged, and historical objects could be fake or damaged, he said
\nof the three sources' respective weaknesses.<\/p>\n
\"Here in Indonesia -- I think this is also a problem --
\nhistorical writings after the 1950s were mostly written by
\npolitical scientists instead of historians,\" Taufik said.<\/p>\n
He said historians have had difficulty finding sources free of
\nsubjectivity to write the period following the 1950s.<\/p>\n
It is no secret, Taufik added, that historians who have
\nwritten official versions, have agreed more or less to toe the
\ngovernment line, or \"followed the sponsors\".<\/p>\n
Pramoedya, one of the few Indonesian writers of world acclaim,
\nalso said history writing should be \"scientific\" and that it must
\nside with nothing but the facts.<\/p>\n
\"So, we 'may' make mistakes in the matter of interpretation
\nand materials, but we must always side with the facts,\" said the
\n73-year-old author of the renowned historical romance trilogy
\nBumi Manusia (This Earth of Mankind). Several of his books are
\nstill banned.<\/p>\n
Allowing mistakes means that it is human nature, Pramoedya
\nsays, not what one can do as one pleases in compiling history.
\nAnd facts develop, he added. New facts might just as well come
\nout, say, 100 years after a certain chapter of history had been
\nwritten.<\/p>\n
Presently, to revise the current chapter of the nation's
\nhistory -- especially regarding the post-1965 aborted coup blamed
\non the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) -- Pramoedya suggested a
\n\"Committee for the Revision of History\". The government has
\nrecently set up a team to review the curriculum, including
\nhistory.<\/p>\n
\"Its members should be chosen by the younger generation, as
\nolder experts would have vested interests,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Pramoedya himself would be an unlikely choice; he was an actor
\nin that controversial part of history. He was a leader of the
\nleft-leaning Lekra literary organization, which senior writers
\nsuch as Taufik Ismail have testified waged ideological warfare
\nthrough its members' writings.<\/p>\n
Unless history writing sides with nothing but the facts,
\nPramoedya believed all efforts would only end up in \"tragedy\".<\/p>\n
He said historians needed \"intellectual courage\" to challenge
\nthe usually offered version of history.<\/p>\n
\"Over the past 32 years, the nation has been cheated because
\nour intellectuals lacked courage to challenge the official
\nversion,\" according to Pramoedya.<\/p>\n
Philosopher Mudji highlighted a rather different point to show
\nhow history should be written. Instead of just \"dead facts,\" he
\nsaid, history should be written to tell the struggle of
\nhumankind, of civilizations, although those involved might only
\nbe ordinary people and not any political elite.<\/p>\n
What also deserves attention, said Mudji, who lectures at the
\nJakarta Driyarkara Institute of Philosophy, is \"a history of
\nmentality\".<\/p>\n
The history of the Javanese's and Sumatra's Minang mentality,
\nfor instance, could be written to help serve as guidance to
\nunderstand why a certain ethnic group in power tends to produce a
\ncertain type of political system, he said.<\/p>\n
He cited that when the late Sukarno and Soeharto became old,
\nthey increasingly treated the country \"like they were their own.\"<\/p>\n
One would argue this was universal of leaders being too long
\nin power but Mudji says an understanding of their cultural
\nbackgrounds might shed light on the phenomena. The benefit of
\nsuch a study was apparent a few years ago when observers
\nreviewing Javanese values came up with a host of \"violations\" and
\ntwisting of noble values by Soeharto.<\/p>\n
This way of history writing could make history very exciting,
\nMudji said. He cited how one would be amazed when entering a
\nChinese temple to see different images of deities, some of which
\nwould be a little affected by Western characteristics.<\/p>\n
\"We would learn to recognize our nation as a nation whose
\nmentality has developed through the years with all kinds of
\nlayers,\" Mudji said, referring to influences of pre-historic
\ntimes and Hindu-Buddhism, China, Islam and the West.<\/p>\n
Mudji suggests if history was taught to raise such an
\nawareness, the nation would learn that to get rid of one certain
\nelement of society -- Chinese for instance -- would be tantamount
\nto getting rid of an element that formed the mentality of the
\nnation itself. (bnt\/rei\/aan)<\/p>",
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