The roar of the Equator: The Rich Culture of Indonesia
Indonesia had been the paragon of diversity in ethnics, races and even cultures. The archipelago has separated communities into distinct cultures, yet they are united under the one grand republic of Indonesia. The ancient kingdoms of Srivijaya, Majapahit and Demak have established unique cultures that became classics. The contemporary culture of the state, meanwhile, has just started growing.
Literature
The Generation of '45 marked the first age of realism rather than the previous romantic on novels and various books. It embraced struggles and fights for liberation unquestionably. Writers such as
Chairil Anwar,
Bakri Siregar and
Idrus all played a part in creating valiant books that valued the heroes and encouraged young folks to fight against tyranny and oppression.
View attachment 634151
Chairil Anwar Aku ini Bintang Jalang, portraying the barbarity of English during the War.
The next generation, the '65 generations identified the following degree of the '45, this time with increased civic self-esteem fighting against the largest empire known to history. The trait that differed this younger generation of literature than the old ones, was the moral stories was not individual achieving freedom of oppression, but the joys of liberating other brothers that remained so.
Indonesia Membebaskan from
Pramudya Ananta Tur,
Ia sudah berpulang from
WS Rendra and
Garuda merentangkan Sayapnya from
Toha Mochtar all portrayed part of Indonesia’s
"David against the Goliath" romanticism. The culture impacts of these writers are chauvinistic, looking at the young 50s until the early 70s generation which was highly supportive of the military and the national identity.
As political drift cued the start of Subandrio’s presidency, the 65 generations were retiring for the newer Liberal Generation. Those militaristic people had become older, and the younger generation that replaced them were satisfied with Indonesia’s personality and rather concentrate more on the livelihood of oneself. Moreover, they became adamant about pursuing the prosperity of the nation rather than the old aggressive nature. With the seeming failures of Angola and Mozambique, writers have expressed increasing hostile viewpoints towards war and the military.
In addition to the anti-war mobilisation of litterateurs in the United States, Indonesia has been deeply swayed by books that detailed the terrors of the Nicaraguan War and the ventures in Pakistan. So, the newer generation of writers veered most of the last generation's focus of the war to the daily activities of the people, contemplating the divide between the rich and the poor. As a result, there has been an increase in writers showing socialist values across the nation.
Titis Besino,
Leon Agusta and Gunawan Hadi* wrote their crafts in literary magazines, attracting mostly urban scholars that can purchase.
With all eyes focusing away from war and struggle against oppression. The message has changed into covering the diversity of Indonesia since few ethnical clashes have started to erupt all across Indonesia. This time, native Indonesian were helped by a few Malayan and Singaporean authors.
A Samad Said has published
Malayu Indah which visualized the countryside of the Malay Peninsula admired by Javanese and Sundanese alike.
Syed Hussein Alatas, a Malayan writer and also a famous politician, published books about multi-racialism as a new challenge of the new nation’s fight against old orthodox less tolerant views.
Television & Radio
Movie culture, comparing the books, grew likewise. In the early 60s, public radios regularly covered battles, either against the British or against separatists. The government sometimes broadcasted dramas about certain battles during the Indonesian Independence War or the Australian Aggression, notably the victory in Sidoardjo. With the help of television, these plays have become romanticized films, heavily propagated for national aspirations.
TVNI, the national television network, has been established in 1968 solely for uniting far-fetched urban citizens of Indonesia, like Malaya and Singapore, which already had decent technology about that kind of networks. For decades, the
TVNI offered national news all around Indonesia, as well as a small international briefing for Indonesian citizens to witness. Other than that, television before the early 80s was solely around
TVNI. However, after 1981, with the first private Indonesian TV channel aired, a variety of shows began to entertain Indonesia. IndoTV, the first to be born, was mostly aimed to entertain watchers as
TVNI only offered news with few advertisements. With definitely less news report, IndoTV offered talk shows, movie series and also bought movie licenses.
Siapa Dia? was an adaptation of the United States'
What's my Line. It featured many politicians, celebrities and other famous people that became the bane of IndoTV. Along with extensive marketing all across Indonesia, IndoTV gained attraction as the ‘fun’ Indonesian channel.
IndoTV marked the new decade of Indonesian Television Shows, with
TVNI also started featuring light talk shows with few comedies. Moreover, other private networks had been established regionally. NNN, Nanyang News Network, was open in Singapore by a local conglomerate for covering regional coverage around the Malacca Strait. An American migrant Anthony Feinsilber* has formed the WPBN, West Pacific Broadcasting News, which obviously cover Papua, Melanesia and few areas of Maluku. The LKY cabinet, fortunately, has been tolerant of these local growths, sometimes encourage them as their news network does help unify the nation a bit.
In 1986, there have been 5 certified TV network, 3 of them managed to reach nationally. With
TVNI, IndoTV and NTV (Nusantara Televisi).
MTV aired since 1984, focused mainly on songs, mirroring the American MTV which already aired before 1979. These networks offered entertainment and information for a few tens of million people, especially in the urban areas of Indonesia.
Moving to the countryside, most people relied on the radio for information. Therefore, the radio still has expanded. The
RRI (
Radio Republik Indonesia), like the
TVNI, maintained the informative side of the radio broadcasts during which other frequencies focused more on entertainment. The 99.9 FM, the Koes Radio, was established by the
Koes Brothers to transmit the new generation of songs all across the suburbs of Jakarta, Semarang and Surabaya. Some other radios, like local Sunda
Suara Pasundan 88.8 FM, spoke Indonesian with a small Sundanese during mini-interviews, giving a slight introduction to Sundanese languages. There are other varieties in Melayu, Javanese and Chinese languages. For political parties, the PNI-R has the 101 Nusantara FM, organised by
Barisan Nusantara. Their messages are mostly propaganda campaigning for another return of Nasution-esque government, so far has not been successful. On the other side, the 95.1
Merah FM was a well-renowned radio from the
Barisan Pemuda. They have radio listeners especially in the countryside, mobilizing them to demand more agricultural compensation for the last few years. PUI also have the
Jemaah 98.1 FM, broadcasting mostly in Pasundan and Majapahit State.
Music
The rise of non-state televisions has also paved the way for the new generation of songwriters. Before the 80s, most songs have been sold with vinyl records, magnetic discs or newly made tape recorders. However, vinyl was volatile and fragile. The tape recorders were quite expensive. Therefore, the song was mostly improvised publicly while records were kept for preservation. Occasionally,
RRI would air the Beatles and other rock songs from abroad, because they owned the sophisticated technology suitable for the radio stations to broadcast.
Yet, as the 80s progresses, television networks and radios offered a new place for artists to publish their works. Music that was played publicly; within streets, cafes or restaurants; are beginning to explode nationwide. Firstly, rock bands from America and Germany filled the streets, with people starting to adopt pre-punk lifestyles. Yet, that foreign genre has been dominating Indonesia since the 1970s, it has become outdated. As a result, the genre waned over time. Eventually, two genres dominated the nation by 1986, they rivalled each other and possibly create a decent division among the populace.
The first one, early I-Pop, was the adaptation of the previous generation of foreign songs. With now young musicians have been creative under foreign culture, they have been creating interpretations of their own. Rock, Jazz, and Soul all merged into a new hybrid creation of Indonesian pop. With the folk culture of the young generation’s virtues from the old, they too started to shape the music with scenery lyrics.
Rajawali Subur from Bin Abdul Syukur* become famous in its initial release in 1984, it spread even to parts of the Philippines and Vietnam. Another adaptation of these songs was romance and class struggle, which was apparent on
Kisah Cinta,
Ampunan, and
Tukang Kredit all made by
Benyamin Sueb. I-Pop mainly used modern instruments, guitar and drum. A few bands, notably
Radikal* from Surabaya, used other unusual instruments like triangles, cymbals and gongs.
I-Pop’s drastic popularity was mostly because of IndoTV’s continuous broadcast of these songs. Also, the Koes FM aired those songs on the radio, increasing coverage all across Indonesia. As the network became popular, I-Pop has also grown in urban sprawls all along with Indonesia. Cities like Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Jakarta, Semarang and Surabaya have youths all singing these songs. Politically, I-Pop has become the song for Front Pemuda, along with infamous songs of the West like
YMCA and
Raining Men, a slight reference to the most radical liberal attitudes of sexuality freedom.
The well-accepted icon for I-Pop is the rise of
Iwan Fals in 1983. He was a young singer who published his first breakthrough
Sarjana Muda in 1981. By 1983, he already published 20 songs, with fifteen of the portraying the basic problems between employee-employer. In 1985, he was tied with a conflict with the army after publishing
Sungguh Biadab, an anti-war song about the Army’s involvement in Africa. His newest solo,
Demokrasi Hidup, was the first-ever explicitly political satire song he ever published.
In other regions of Java, Sumatra and Borneo, a rival for I-Pop emerged. This homemade genre was named dangdut. Dangdut, unlike the progressive Western I-Pop, is mostly folklore and traditionalist. Originate first on Java, Dangdut is fused with Hindustani and Arabic music, giving melodious instrumentation rather than rhythmic I-Pop. They also used traditional instruments, like table and gendang, which are mostly used before in Tanjidor and other older concerts. Unlike I-Pop’s meteoric ascension, Dangdut had been gradual and fine. Yet, as the genre existed since the 1950s, Dangdut has gained enough traction in the 1980s. Moreover, with the help of Dangdut King
Rhoma Irama, it has become prominent because of the King’s exotic dance crew. From
Said Effendi’s Seroja until the latest
Rhoma Irama’s
Haram, Dangdut has become an alternative for I-Pop.
Conveniently, Dangdut has become a political identity that is also a rival of PPP. Front Pemuda Islam, as well as Barisan Pemuda, has become attached to this genre and campaigned alongside dancers. Controversially, this dangdut was allegedly more ‘erotic’ than the I-Pop, despite I-Pop’s messages was more vulgar.
Art
The growing of art has been the most mundane growth relative to other forms of culture. Mostly they fully imitated the trend of the international world, although late by a few decades. For example,
Affandi’s impressionist paintings have continued to inspire 1980 painters to recreate some, although with a slightly different context.
Basuki Abdullah realism paintings also contribute to the rise of war paintings that depicted horrors and costs of an active battle.
Traditional arts, such as
batik and
kerajinan was still the nation’s cultural identity throughout the decade. Batik clothes have become cheaper than before with the rise of machines.
Kerajinan was also being massively produced in certain parts of tourism regions like Bali.
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Most of the characters are based on OTL along with some works, although a large quantity of them are ITTL different. Because of the sheer number of reference, I will start inserting links referring to the author. The websites are in English (Indonesian if I can't find the decent English reference. ITTL characters symbolizes an asterisk. References on names or OTL resemblance can also be found on links.) The 45 Generations are mostly derived from OTL Angkatan 45 while the 65 Generations are inspired by OTL Angkatan 66
I promised for both culture and infrastructure, but the sheer writing of culture made me split the infrastructure to the next post. As compensation, next up would also be looking at the technology advancement of Indonesia.
