1 Introduction

With no “Nagara Kartagama,” and with Wehale being still there, the Timor Leste nationalism has no way to have a recourse to “the lost past”. An alternative is, as discussed in Andrew’s paper, to convert the idea of imagined “landed authority” (McWilliam and Traube 2011) of each community (rai na’in) to that of Timor (rai Timor).

Indonesia has discovered Indonesia-ness (ke-Indonesia-an) and, in the process, every culture has become part of this overarching entity (Indonesia-ness) Indonesia: Java is part of Indonesia, Minangkabau is part of Indonesia, … Timor Leste: Fataluku is Timor Leste, Mambai is Timor Leste, etc etc

This situation (each is a metaphor of the whole) is a clue, I presume, to understanding current situation of Timor Leste nationalism.

2 Aneka Tunngal Ika (Unity in Diversity)

We can discern how this opposition (between the presence and the absence of the overarching entity) affects the nationalisms in the two countries (in Indonesia and in Timor Leste) in the sphere of culture(s) imagined.

We can discern how this opposition (between the presence and the absence of the overarching entity) affects the nationalisms in the two countries (in Indonesia and in Timor Leste) in the sphere of culture(s) imagined

3 Kebudayaan and casteration of culture

One thing which struck me most when I was conversing with the Timorese people in the Indonesian language was that they never used the word “kebudayaan”, which is a key word for the Indonesian nationalism, meaning “culture”. They use the word “kultura” instead of “kebudayaan”.

Timor Leste people never use the word “kebudayaan” (culture) even when they speak Indonesian They use the word “kultura”

Kebudayaan has been the keyword in the “culture” policy in Indonesia “Unity in Diversity” Greg Acciaoli describes how under the beautiful maxim of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (“Unity in Diversity”), how each culture has been castrated/tamed until it became a kind of “performance” art (Acciaioli 1985)

has been the keyword in the “culture” policy in Indonesia Acciaoli describes how under the beautiful maxim of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, how each culture has been castrated/tamed/domesticated until it becomes a kind of “performance” art

Janet Hoskins and Tsuyoshi Kato, (Hoskins 2005: 135) (加藤 剛 1993) (KATO 1994) among other writers, write how local culture (ore rather “kebudaayan”) has been objectified, and been made exploited, by government discourses.

Hoskins and Kato and others write how a local culture (“kubudayaan”) has been objectified and exploited by the government (discourses)

4 Kultura and Resurgence of Culture

The current situation in Timor Leste seems to be quite different from that in Indonesia. Many scholars notice and write about “Resurgence of culture” in the present day Timor Leste (Hicks 2007) (井上 浩子 2014).

(Prijono & Prijono Tjipotoherijanto 1983)

Ueda san, quoting other writers, emphasised the importance of the customary process of reconciliation, called nahE biti (Babo Soares 2004) and tara bandu.

[ under construction Gotong Royong ]

5 References