Sartono: History provides a sense of collective identity

By Tjahjono Ep.

YOGYAKARTA (JP): As the threat of national disintegration looms, this nation must reinforce its national identity. This identity must be spelled out in the context of the nation's collective life through the different stages of its history.

Inherent in this collective life is a common destiny: superiority and decline, triumph and defeat, all cumulatively create a sense of belonging on the part of the community members. So writes Sartono in his book entitled Indonesian Historiography, published by Kanisius Yogyakarta, during the book discussion marking his 80th birthday.

His birthday celebration was organized on Thursday by the Department of History, School of Letters, Gadjah Mada University and was attended by some of his former students.

Sartono Kartodirdjo is a man of small stature with works of great significance. Born in Wonogiri, Central Java, on Feb. 15, 1921, the third child of the Tjitro Sarojos, Sartono is an important figure trying to change the method of historical writing from a descriptive narration to descriptive analysis. It is an attempt to describe facts in a multi-dimensional and multi- disciplinary manner with other approaches which are generally adopted in social sciences serving as the auxiliary instruments for history as a science. "History writing must no longer be palace-centered," he said.

Sartono said that every historical story revealed how something happened and its root cause. When a new phenomenon occurs in society, human beings try to identify this change by tracing its background. This understanding will project an image of an identity.

In terms of structure and characteristics, Indonesian Historiography is arranged as a framework for a critical historical study divorced from mythology and legends. Historical reconstruction is established on the basis of critical selection and analysis and logical and empirical reasoning and is expressed in a discursive language.

Known to his students as a firm and strict person, Sartono completed his study of history in 1956 from the University of Indonesia, Jakarta. He continued his studies at Yale University and earned his doctorate degree in 1966 from the University of Amsterdam with Professor WF Wertheim as his thesis advisor. He defended his dissertation, entitled The Peasant's Revolt of Bantam in 1888 with distinction.

Sartono studied at Hollands Inlandsche School (HIS) between 1927 and 1934 in his hometown of Wonogiri. He then continued his studies at Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs (MULO) in Solo. He completed teachers' training college in 1941 in the Central Java's town of Muntilan. "I've been true to my calling as a teacher since 1941," he said, his face beaming with pride.

He first became a teacher at Schakel school in Muntilan. When the revolution broke out, he had to lead the life of a wanderer and stayed in Yogyakarta from July 1947 to 1959. It was during this period that he married Sri Kadaryati on May 6, 1948. While in Yogyakarta, he went on teaching while involving himself in a political party led by Kasimo, a noted political leader among the Catholics.

In 1950, Sartono began to study history at the University of Indonesia. He said that he was nearly the sole student in the history department as some of his peers moved to other departments. Sartono said that, considering the future, it was strange that out of 80 million to 90 million Indonesians, there were few who would like to devote themselves to the study of history.

Sartono's steadfastness as an intellectual and historian has been tested several times. In 1992 he refused the request made by the State Secretariat to edit the white book on the controversial Sept. 30, 1965 (Communist) movement. From the very start, this book contained political subjectivity to justify the regime that was in power at the time. For the same reason, he also withdrew from the team of editors for the project of the writing of a multi-volume national history book.

One of his former students, Djoko Suryo, dean of the School of Letters of Gadjah Mada University, said that Sartono was really a man of principle. Many of the students under his guidance have complained about this.

"Once there was a student under his guidance who got annoyed because Sartono rejected the 500-page dissertation he had written and manually typed," Djoko Suryo said.

Although he was strict as an advisor, Sartono will never forget what happened on Nov. 1, 1966 at Lutherse Kerk, Spui, Amsterdam, when he was going to defend his doctorate dissertation. "I was 3 minutes to 5 minutes late because of traffic congestion in Amsterdam," he recalled.

Sartono, nicknamed by some of the students under his guidance as the "butcher", has a long list of books to his credit. Some which have been published are "Protest Movement in Rural Java" (1973), "Pemikiran dan Perkembangan Historiography Indonesia: Suatu Alternatif (Thoughts about and Development of Indonesian Historiography: An Alternative, 1984), "Perkembangan Peradaban Priyayi (Development of Civilization of Javanese Aristocratic Class, 1987), "Pengantar Sejarah Indonesia Baru (An Introduction to New Indonesian History, 1987 and 1992), Ungkapan-Ungkapan Filsafat Sejarah Barat dan Timur (Philosophical Expressions in Occidental and Oriental History, 1990), Pendekatan Ilmu Sosial dalam Metodologi Sejarah (Social Science Approach in Methodology of History, 1992), Pembangunan Bangsa: Tentang Nasionalisme, Kesadaran dan Kebudayaan Nasional(Nation Building: On Nationalism, Awareness and National Culture, 1993), Multidimensi Pembangunan Bangsa dan Etos Nasionalism Negara Kesatuan (Multi- dimensional Nation Building and the Ethos of Nationalism of a Unitary State, 1999), and Ideologi dan Teknologi dalam Pembangunan Bangsa (Ideology and Technology in Nation Building, 1999).

Amid his great enthusiasm to write the history of this nation, Sartono once expressed his disappointment and concern because none of his three children were interested in history. Pointing to the books stacked in all corners of the house, he, with resignation said, "I don't know who will ever read these books again."