Indonesia needs to study Australia, scholar says

Indonesia needs to study Australia, scholar says

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia needs to study Australia because it is
one of Indonesia's closest neighbors with whom it will always
come into contact, a scholar said.

Despite crucial differences in cultural, social and political
backgrounds, Australian studies in Indonesia are important if
Indonesians are to understand its neighbor better, Wardiningsih
Soerjohardjo of the University of Indonesia said yesterday.

"Differences in the historical and cultural backgrounds of the
two are obvious, but I think these distinctive characteristics
actually make studying much more attractive," said Wardiningsih,
who heads the university's Australian Studies Center (PKA-UI).

Lack of understanding between the two countries was singled
out as a reason for their turbulent bilateral relations
throughout most of the 1980s.

Speaking during a discussion on diverse ways of studying
Australia at the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ), she said an
understanding of another country's history and culture can
encourage one to better understand one's own cultural background.

The discussion, attended by about 20 participants from
research institutions, the mass media and the Australian embassy,
is part of the Australia Today Indonesia 94 promotion program,
which was launched on Tuesday.

Director of the Australian Studies Center of the University of
Melbourne, Prof. Chris Wallace-Crabbe, said that in studying
Australia, Indonesians could "show us things which we had not
guessed about our assumptions, our heritage ... and in finding
out what is paradoxical about us, you can also harvest further
insights about yourselves."

He pointed out that English literature, from which most of the
studies are based on, tend to lead to a particular impression of
Australian society.

This could raise misgivings among scholars since it
"emphasizes works of the individual imagination...over steady
empirical research," he added.

He concluded that in either a literary or a social science
approach to Australian studies, the choice is either to establish
large general truths about a nation or to research small
empirical facts. "Either way, your need here will be for more
books, journals and magazines. I hope that we, in Australia, can
continue helping you with such resources."

The PKA-UI, which comes under the rector of the University of
Indonesia, was founded in 1991 to develop research and studies
about Australia. Its sponsors include the Australia Indonesia
Institute and the International Development Program of Australian
Universities and Colleges.

Wardiningsih explained that Australian studies in Indonesia
from the beginning have been focused on being a discipline-based
study, with an emphasis on humanitarian aspects.

About 320 students from the university's departments of
history, literature, geography, archeology, political science,
international relations and mass communication have joined the
center.

During the discussion, the need for an Australian cultural
center -- such as the Erasmus Huis of the Netherlands, the Goethe
Institute of the German or the British Council -- to accommodate
Australian cultural events overseas, was addressed.

"That idea was actually raised several times to the Australian
government ... but there seemed to be no response," said Wallace-
Crabbe. (pwn)