Fetish, Recognition, Revolution

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This text is concerned with the role of language in the Indonesian revolution. It traces the beginnings of the revolution, which ended Dutch colonial rule, to the last part of the 19th century, at which time the peoples of the Dutch East Indies began to translate literature from around the world. Siegel discovers in that moment a force within communication more important than the specific messages it conveyed. The subsequent containment of this linguistic force he calls the "fetish of modernity", which, like other fetishes, was thought to be able to compel events. Here, the event is the recognition of the bearer of the fetish as a person of the modern world. The taming of this force in Indonesian nationalism and the continuation of its wild form in the revolution are the major subjects of the book. Material examined comes from Indonesian and Dutch sources, as well as first-person accounts of the revolution.

Reviews

"Siegel's analysis is convincing. It summoned Sumatran recollections of creating urban modernity through adopting music, clothing, language, and books from European sources, yet perceiving these new elements as effortlessly translated into a new Indonesian cultural world."--Choice

Author Bio

James T. Siegel is Professor of Anthropology and Asian Studies at Cornell University. He is the author of The Rope of God; Shadow, and Sound: The Historical Thought of a Sumatran People; and Solo in the New Order: Language and Hierarchy in an Indonesian City (Princeton).