Now also in Indonesia: The butterflies of Boven-Digoel
Three years ago, associate professor Alicia Schrikker published De vlinders van Boven-Digoel, in which she chronicled several stories about colonial life in present-day Indonesia. Now there is a translation, by Rianti Manullang, who is also an assistant professor at Universitas Indonesia and doing her PhD at LUCAS in addition to her translation work.
'During my research in the archives, I sometimes came across stories from the perspective of ordinary people, which were incredibly evocative, such as a postman in Aceh, schoolgirls in Banjarmasin or two enslaved boys in Makassar, says Schrikker. 'It made me suddenly understand history better. This gave rise to the idea of collecting those stories. That became De vlinders van Boven-Digoel.'
The title refers to one of the 12 stories, about a butterfly collection forcibly created in Boven-Digoel, where many political prisoners, mainly Indonesian nationalists, were incarcerated during the colonial period.
When I gave a lecture on those butterflies in Yokyakarta shortly after publication, an Indonesian colleague posted a short video of my presentation on Twitter. That was viewed and shared so incredibly often that the Indonesian publisher came up with the idea of translating the book for an Indonesian audience.'
Cup of coffee in Leiden
Manullang was recruited to make that translation. ‘Interest in colonial history is growing in Indonesia, but many of the texts are still in Dutch,’ she says. 'I found it interesting that this assignment provided an opportunity to expand people's knowledge. Boven-Digoel, for example, symbolises oppression, resistance and the struggle for freedom. The story of this place gives a deep insight into colonial history and the personal sacrifices made in the struggle against colonial rule.'
‘I was completely unaware that Rianti was also in Leiden,’ says Schrikker. 'When I heard that, I invited her for a cup of coffee so we could discuss some minor changes. In the first version, for instance, I mentioned some names that I had since wondered whether that was useful.'
Making choices
Other aspects of the book also required some thinking and deliberation.In Dutch today, the word ‘enslaved’ is often used instead of ‘slave’.This is a conscious choice to emphasise the fact that slavery was an imposed situation, and not an identity ’, Manullang clarifies.'However, in Indonesian, the word “budak” (slave) is not so different in meaning from “enslaved” (Indonesian: “yang diperbudak”) because the nuance of oppression and repression remains present in both terms.You do have the Indonesian ‘jongos’, which comes from the Dutch word ‘boys’, but refers to, for example, a servant or servant Such a language-historical connection could be a nice addition to the translation, as it highlights the influence of the Dutch language on Indonesian and provides additional context for the reader.
Schrikker: ‘On the one hand, we are all engaged in a conversation about word choice, but at the same time you see that in Indonesia different words are problematic than here.’
In the shop
Meanwhile, all issues have been resolved and the translation is in shops.‘I find it very exciting that this book might be found even more interesting and relevant in Indonesia than here,’ says Schrikker.‘I think so much more can be done with it, so I hope this will encourage going into the archives.’
‘In any case, the first reactions have been positive,’ says Manullang.'I had posted a piece on LinkedIn and there was quite a response, including from people I don't know myself. I think Indonesians were really waiting for a book like this.'