The politics of (un)forgetting: Indonesia’s nativist decolonisation. The project aims to investigate the dynamics of Indonesia’s politics today as an extended battle to remember or forget violent events, including those which took place around Indonesia’s decolonisation in the 1940s. It will offer new insights into ethical and political issues of how that past has significant bearing upon key political debates in contemporary Indonesia. In addition to conventional archives, the project will exam ....The politics of (un)forgetting: Indonesia’s nativist decolonisation. The project aims to investigate the dynamics of Indonesia’s politics today as an extended battle to remember or forget violent events, including those which took place around Indonesia’s decolonisation in the 1940s. It will offer new insights into ethical and political issues of how that past has significant bearing upon key political debates in contemporary Indonesia. In addition to conventional archives, the project will examine popular culture (cinema, radio, fiction, newspaper) as an innovative research field in its own right. The project aims to deliver richly-nuanced insights about Indonesia and its longstanding connections with Australia beyond the pursuit of material interests.Read moreRead less
Romantic India and Indian Romantics: British Romanticism and colonial modernity in India, 1780-1840. This project turns to British Romanticism and to Anglophone texts of early-19th century Bengal to arrive at a deeper understanding of the complex intertwining of literature with the histories of colonialism, of Indian modernity, and an emergent Indian nationalism. In giving Romantic literature an Indian dimension, the project also rethinks the Englishness of Romanticism in a new context. Texts to ....Romantic India and Indian Romantics: British Romanticism and colonial modernity in India, 1780-1840. This project turns to British Romanticism and to Anglophone texts of early-19th century Bengal to arrive at a deeper understanding of the complex intertwining of literature with the histories of colonialism, of Indian modernity, and an emergent Indian nationalism. In giving Romantic literature an Indian dimension, the project also rethinks the Englishness of Romanticism in a new context. Texts to be highlighted are those which traverse national borders in imaginative acts of sympathy and dialogue, including exchanges between the Christian West and the Muslim/Hindu East. Outcomes will include a higher profile for Indian studies through innovative scholarship and public engagement.Read moreRead less
Tangsa Wihu song: insight into culture through language, music and ritual. This project seeks to study the complex and under-researched linguistic diversity of the newly opening India–Myanmar borders. The Tangsa Wihu song-cycle is a ritual and poetic tradition common to people in a very linguistically diverse community situated in the India–Myanmar border region. This project plans to study this song-cycle, which was traditionally performed over many hours and days, examining the linguistic, his ....Tangsa Wihu song: insight into culture through language, music and ritual. This project seeks to study the complex and under-researched linguistic diversity of the newly opening India–Myanmar borders. The Tangsa Wihu song-cycle is a ritual and poetic tradition common to people in a very linguistically diverse community situated in the India–Myanmar border region. This project plans to study this song-cycle, which was traditionally performed over many hours and days, examining the linguistic, historical and musicological features of the song in its various contexts. The rich and complex linguistic diversity of Tangsa is shining a light on traditional patterns of human linguistic and social development, and this detailed study is expected to enhance our knowledge of the linguistic and cultural diversity of India and Myanmar.Read moreRead less
A multifaceted study of Tangsa: a network of linguistic varieties in North East India. Our world's linguistic and cultural heritage, the product of human evolution, is being lost rapidly due to globalisation and modernisation. This project will record the linguistic diversity of the Tangsa people of North East India, thereby increasing our knowledge of an important regional neighbour and of our human society and history.
Repatriation and release of Japanese war criminals 1946-1958: Southeast Asia, Japan and the Great Powers. Japanese war criminals held in Southeast Asia were repatriated and released in Japan from the late 1940s. Releases were negotiated between Japan and the nation that had convicted the prisoner. The project provides new understandings of the emergence of Southeast Asian states in regional diplomacy and of Japan's re-emergence as a regional power.
Decolonisation and photography in Southeast Asia: Histories and legacies. This project aims to investigate the untold history of decolonisation in Southeast Asia through amateur soldier photographs taken on the front line of conflicts. Such photographs constitute a vast yet neglected archive that promises unique insights into encounters between combatants on all sides, and with civilians whose experiences have rarely been accessible, particularly women, children and unfree workers. The expected ....Decolonisation and photography in Southeast Asia: Histories and legacies. This project aims to investigate the untold history of decolonisation in Southeast Asia through amateur soldier photographs taken on the front line of conflicts. Such photographs constitute a vast yet neglected archive that promises unique insights into encounters between combatants on all sides, and with civilians whose experiences have rarely been accessible, particularly women, children and unfree workers. The expected outcomes of this project are to produce new understandings of violence in decolonisation and the long-term legacies of colonialism in Southeast Asia. This project also intends to provide a critical historical framework for understanding the meaning and impact of photographs taken in war.Read moreRead less
Confronting Historical Injustice in Indonesia: Memory and Transnational Human Rights Activism. Since the 1990s there has been a boom in memory and in human rights activism relating to historical injustice in Indonesia. Using an innovative framework of the concept of ‘regions of memory’ this project examines how human rights activists located within and outside Indonesia use memory for the purposes of achieving human rights outcomes. Through national and international collaborations this project ....Confronting Historical Injustice in Indonesia: Memory and Transnational Human Rights Activism. Since the 1990s there has been a boom in memory and in human rights activism relating to historical injustice in Indonesia. Using an innovative framework of the concept of ‘regions of memory’ this project examines how human rights activists located within and outside Indonesia use memory for the purposes of achieving human rights outcomes. Through national and international collaborations this project will analyse why transnational activism concerning crimes from the Japanese occupation (1942-45), the independence struggle (1945-1949) and the 1965 mass violence escalated at particular points in time and deepen our understanding of the relationship between memory and human rights.Read moreRead less
Suharto's enablers? Social complicity in the Indonesian killings of 1965-66. This projects aims to revolutionise understandings of civilian involvement in the most critical and bloody turning point in modern Indonesian history, the 1965-66 killings, and to transform the evidence base for Indonesian history-writing. By accessing critically endangered and never before used survivor community archives, the project will examine the complicity of civilians in the killings and how the violence shaped ....Suharto's enablers? Social complicity in the Indonesian killings of 1965-66. This projects aims to revolutionise understandings of civilian involvement in the most critical and bloody turning point in modern Indonesian history, the 1965-66 killings, and to transform the evidence base for Indonesian history-writing. By accessing critically endangered and never before used survivor community archives, the project will examine the complicity of civilians in the killings and how the violence shaped modern Indonesian national identity and moral consciousness. It will further generate a new, centralised archive of these preserved materials and compile new oral history interviews with the remaining witnesses to these pivotal events.Read moreRead less
Peking opera, epitheatre and writing in nineteenth-century Beijing. Employing the neglected 'flower-guide' booklets of nineteenth-century Beijing, this project explores the role theatre-based popular literature played in the formation of the capital city's emerging public sphere. Establishing epitheatre as a new field, it opens new horizons in the history of modern China, social history and literary criticism.
The South East Barito languages of Indonesia and Madagascar: safeguarding their past and future. This project strengthens Australia's position as the pre-eminent Anglophone centre of Indonesian Studies worldwide and enhances its position as a research leader in Indian Ocean studies. It will build links between scholars in Australia, Indonesia, Europe and Madagascar, and its results will feed into Indonesian studies teaching programs.