‘Blusukan’

YOHANES KRISNAWAN

Book cover wandeltochten en fietstochten (1936) - Collection of the Universiteitsbibliotheek Leiden-KITLV (M k 372 N). Source: Book of Tourism in the Dutch East Indies 1891-1942.

The most influential academic works in the world on Indonesia are written by foreign scholars. They are not written in the Indonesian language and also not published in Indonesia. The books can be found in bookstores and libraries in many countries outside Indonesia.

Do foreigners know more about Indonesia than Indonesians themselves? Of course not. Knowledge grows in various versions. The same topic can produce a variety of different, contradictory or complementary knowledge.

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If one group of knowledge has much more authority or influence than the others, the causes can be varied. It could be because of the imbalance in the amount of capital and supporting facilities or due to the language status inequality. For more than a century, English has been the dominant language in the world.

Imagine the fate of researchers in former colonies who do not speak English as the language of colonial state administration.

Last century, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and France were the world's greatest colonizers. Now, some Dutch and French scholars are complaining about the dominance of English in social sciences and humanities. Imagine the fate of researchers in former colonies who do not speak English as the language of colonial state administration.

In several universities in Europe, the United States and Australia that I have visited, it seems that the literature on Indonesia is neatly stored in large numbers.

There are old works from Indonesia, both in national and ethnic languages. Some are not widely known in the country, while others are prohibited by the Indonesian government.

Why would these countries be willing to sacrifice massive amounts of money, time and energy for the sake of knowledge on faraway lands, not only about Indonesia, but also various Asian and African countries, including some that are considered enemies? In some countries of origin, the books were banned or burned. The authors were convicted.

KOMPAS/LUKI AULIA

The British naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, recorded his 8-year journey in the archipelago in nine journals. Now, the nine journals are kept by the Linnean Society in London, England.

The answer can be long and complex. We're just looking for the short version. Hundreds of years ago, anthropology was a modern European attempt to study non-European and non-modern people. Understanding of other people is needed to perfect our knowledge about our own people. From there, a universal understanding of the human figure is formulated with its various pluralities.

Some of this anthropological knowledge was used by European rulers to colonize non-Europeans. Knowledge is always associated with power. The strong influence of foreign academic works about Indonesia does not always benefit Indonesia. The narrative about Indonesia in the world is dominated by foreign perspectives and viewpoints.

Are Indonesian scholars just silent as spectators? Not all. But how can we overcome this inequality if such influential academic works are difficult to reach by the majority of our students and scholars? It would be difficult to read them, let alone make an authoritative counter-voice in world forums.

KOMPAS/ALOYSIUS BUDI KURNIAWAN

Visitors witnessed several replicas of the Asian documentation collection belonging to the Leiden University Library on display at Erasmus Huis, Jakarta, 11 December 2017 to 5 January 2018.

Apart from being related to capital and power, the growth of knowledge is related to long-distance travel, not the ability to memorize a holy book. The strong knowledge about Indonesia abroad is the result of the hard work of their researchers visiting various corners of Indonesian life, not only on personal initiatives but also with financial support from the state and attractive rewards for those who excel.

The message "seek knowledge as far as China" comes from and is for those who are far from China. Some societies in the archipelago even encourage young people to migrate. In Dewa Ruci's story, Bima finds himself in various dangerous situations after roaming the sea and land. However, without institutional support, not everyone is ready to travel the world.

Throughout history, there have been two great groups who traveled long distances. First, the elite with abundant resources. They wandered around (blusukan) in various regions of the world with schedules and destinations of their own. They can come home any time.

Second, commoners who are forced to leave their homeland and face uncertainty when to return home. They become refugees due to natural disasters or war, or flee from oppression in their countries. Millions of migrant workers leave their hometowns because of economic pressure.

Not everyone who goes far will come back richer, smarter or happier. But they have a special opportunity to bring home insights and knowledge that cannot be learned in their own village, namely knowledge that can change their identity for life.

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

Adolf Heuken handed over the 8th edition of the book Historic Places in Jakarta that he has signed to his fans on Jalan Moh yamin 37, Menteng, Central Jakarta, Tuesday (27/2/2018).

The middle class is usually stuck in their area of origin if there is no institutional support to migrate. Their blusukan is local in scope. Life is quite comfortable but does not have the capital to explore the world like the elite, nor are they forced to migrate because they are not as miserable as refugees and migrant workers.

As a result? Although not all, most of the middle class tends to be narrow-minded and conservative. They are proud of their region of origin, worshiping fiction about authenticity and the slogan "son of the region". They like to romanticize and at the same time, are suspicious of strangers from far away.

There's an exception. RA Kartini was limited in her space of movement. But with foreign languages and literature, she explored European modernity intellectually. On the other hand, not all who migrated far could absorb new wisdom. Some have lived in a foreign land for years but only hang out with their fellow countrymen, ethnic groups or religions. Other countries are merely a background for a selfie.

Distance is an important part of knowledge. Without being away from the mirror, we cannot observe our own appearance completely. Foreign researchers can be instrumental in helping us realize things around us, but we ignore them. In various other ways, we can instead help grow their knowledge.

Kompas

Officers at the manuscript preservation section of the National Library of Indonesia, Jakarta, take care of ancient manuscripts and books, Friday (9/3/2018).

It is like foreign researchers observing Indonesia from afar as a vast expanse of forest. They cannot see the individual trees. On the other hand, local people living in the “forest expanse” can touch individual trees but cannot observe the forest at a macro level.

Different knowledge can complement each other. Unfortunately, those differences are not valued equally. The middle class has a greater chance than the commoners for a global visit. However, because life is comfortable enough in their own hometown, opportunities to migrate are often wasted.

ARIEL HERYANTO, emeritus professor from Monash University, Australia

(This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi).