The Non-Truth: Accounts of the Indonesian Political Exiles in Europe

Abstract

This seminar will discuss Indonesian political exiles (in relation to the 1965 genocide in Indonesia) who now reside in Europe. “Truth and reconciliation” have become very important notions in confronting issues relating to manipulated history and human rights abuses in the context of the 1965 genocide. Many activists in Indonesia have emphasised that reconciliation will not take place without recognition of the truth. However, interviews carried out by Dr. Marching concerning the events of 1965 in Indonesia revealed many inconsistencies in respective accounts of the genocide. Does this phenomenon confirm the postmodern theory that "there is no truth"? And if there is no truth, how do we approach the activists’ and survivors’ demands for the truth?

Event Recording

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Speaker Biography

Soe Tjen Marching was born and grew up in Surabaya, Indonesia. She completed her Ph.D in Southeast Asian Studies at Monash University, Australia. After lecturing for several years at different universities in Australia, she moved to the UK and started teaching at SOAS in 2016. Her research interests are the study of languages, gender studies in Indonesia, Indonesian literature, and Indonesian history and politics especially in relation to the 1965 genocide.

Besides being an academic, Soe Tjen is also a creative writer and an award winning composer. She has published several poems and short stories in English and Indonesian, and published three novels in Indonesian. One of her poems won third place at the competition held by Ballarat City Council in Australia. As a composer, she won a national competition for Indonesian Contemporary Composers held by the German Embassy. One of her compositions has been released in the CD Asia Piano Avantgarde: Indonesia.

Organiser: SOAS Centre of South East Asian Studies

Contact email: centres@soas.ac.uk