The place of myth and legend in Indonesian history

By Soe Tjen Marching

MELBOURNE (JP): The idea of postmodernism has begun to become familiar in Indonesia. A number of books on postmodernism have been translated and published in Indonesia, and the names of Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault are starting to become quite familiar in this country.

One of the main characteristics of postmodernism is the blurring of dichotomies, such as the difference between fact and fiction. Postmodernists question the "truth" in texts which are considered to reveal the facts, such as history texts. And they question the "fictiveness" of genres considered untrue, such as mythology.

Postmodernists believe that what is considered fictive is actually fact which has not yet been proven. On the other hand, they think that what is considered fact is not immune to mediation, interpretation and even manipulation. Thus, the truth is unavoidably distorted. They begin to see the reality of fiction and the fictiveness of reality.

The coming of postmodernism has been received with different reactions by Indonesian critics. Some Indonesian critics happily welcome the movement. Others consider postmodernism a Western ideology, and believe its existence is a kind of colonialism of Indonesian writing. Others consider postmodernism as too difficult or complicated to suit Indonesian writing.

However, the idea of postmodernism is not new to Indonesian literature. In the Indonesia of pre-Western colonialism, history and literature were inseparable. In works such as Babad and Hikayat, history mingled with fiction, literature, creativity as well as imagination.

While some Indonesians still saw history in the form of myth and legend, Western cultures differentiated history from literature. History was seen as an activity which dealt with proof, real events and facts. On the other hand, fiction was related to the imagination and creative skills.

The Western perception of history consequently differed from that in Indonesia. During colonialism, more and more Western scholars who learned about the history of Indonesia through Hikayat and Babad found that there were some events in the text which corrupted the learning of history. The Western colonizers were quite confused whether they should include Hikayat and Babad in the genre of history or literature.

Finding that fiction interfered too much in the text, the Western colonizers tried to reconstruct Indonesian history by separating myth and legend from the events which were considered real. In the period of Western colonialism, Indonesians were considered irrational by the colonizers; people who believed in mythmaking and dreams. The colonizers thought such beliefs needed to be changed to more standard Western values.

These Western colonizers were not aware that myths and legends were essential parts of the texts. They explained the beliefs and metaphors in Indonesian history in accordance with the social conditions of the time.

Consequently, the Western colonizers educated Indonesians to see fact in their colonizers' standards.

The long period of colonialism made Western values influential in Indonesia. Because the idea of rationalism became wide-spread in Indonesia by the end of the 19th century, Indonesians began to question the writing of history through myths and legends.

Instead of treating history as literature, modern Indonesians prefer to have a clear distinction between the two. Some Indonesians who consider themselves "educated" mock the belief of dreams and myths as silly.

So, as Western colonizers used to do to Indonesian values, some educated Indonesians try to rationalize myths and legends. Thus, instead of accepting myths and legends as an unavoidable part of history, some Indonesians try to reconstruct history from a scientific and logical point of view.

They do not realize though, that some myths and legends predict nature and often coincide with or precede scientific explanations. The story of the dancing Shiva which explains the dynamic universe precede all astronomical explanations. The Greek myths of gods and goddesses accurately explained astronomy long before scientists such as Ptolemy and Copernicus came around with their telescopes and tools.

The belief in Nyai Roro Kidul and her temper often protected locals from natural disasters. Through this myth, people often learned about the power of the sea and how to avoid its dangers. It may have been too late for them if they had to wait for scientists to tell them about the nature of the ocean.

Perhaps it should not be forgotten that the ancient Javanese, whose culture was filled with myths, could erect Borobudur, while modern science still cannot explain its construction. The ancient Egyptians had pyramids which combined magic, metaphors and dreams with science.

Modern and logical people may have some knowledge which complements myths and dreams. However, it does not mean myths and dreams are inferior to scientific knowledge, and vice versa.

While Western rationalism has been integrated and its influence is still quite strong in Indonesia, particularly among people who consider themselves educated, this rationalism has come into question with the birth of postmodernism. And surprisingly, postmodernism can be found in Indonesia's literary history. Perhaps it is time for us to question the hidden messages behind the dichotomies of fact and fiction, inferior and superior, rational and irrational, Eastern and Western.

The writer is a Ph.D student in Asian Studies at Monash University, Australia.