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Professor Edward Buckingham (Monash University)

Abstract

Cerita Silat, a genre of modern heroic fantasy, became one of Indonesia's most widely read forms of popular fiction in the decades following independence. This talk will explore how and why this happened by examining two "giants" of Cerita Silat, S.H.Mintardja and Kho Ping Hoo. Using memetic theory, Professor Edward Buckingham will explore the literary migration of Chinese martial arts fiction (Wu Xia Xiao Shuo) to Indonesia and its role in the development of locally produced Certia Silat. This talk will also consider Cerita Silat's influence as a national literature and the role it has played in defining the Chinese Indonesian identity.

Speaker Biography

While working in China in the mid 1990s, Edward Buckingham developed an interest in Jin Yong and other Chinese martial arts fiction writers and explored  the process by which this genre made its way to Indonesia and shaped popular perceptions of Chinese culture.

His PhD, which he completed at SOAS, was an ethnography of identity- based organisational boundaries in Indonesia’s palm oil sector.

Edward now works for Monash Business school in Melbourne,  Australia  where he teaches strategy, operations and international business to MBA students and leads industry engagement.

Registration

If you would like to attend the event please register. Online registration

Organiser: SOAS Centre of South East Asian Studies

Contact email: centres@soas.ac.uk

Contact Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4893