Women and Malay Voices: Undercurrent Murmurings in Indonesia’s Colonial Past (Asian Thought and Culture)

Women and Malay Voices examines Malay literature by Chinese peranakan authors in the Dutch East Indies between 1915 and 1940. The narratives, some of them based on sensational murder trials reported in the news, offer insights into women’s lives and experiences and glimpses of female agency. With its primary focus on Malay texts and Asian women, this book offers a unique opportunity to hear subaltern voices and understand the lives of colonized women in new ways. Using feminist and postcolonial theories, this study juxtaposes the Malay texts with Dutch fiction and newspaper accounts to gain insight into how gender, race, and class are represented and what ideologies marked power relations in Dutch East Indies society. This book examines Malay literature by Chinese peranakan authors in the Dutch East Indies between 1915 and 1940. The narratives, some of them based on sensational murder trials reported in the news, offer insights into women's lives and experiences and glimpses of female agency. With its primary focus on Malay texts and Asian women, this book offers a unique opportunity to hear subaltern voices and understand the lives of colonized women in new ways. Using feminist and postcolonial theories, this study juxtaposes the Malay texts with Dutch fiction and newspaper accounts to gain insight into how gender, race, and class are represented and what ideologies marked power relations in Dutch East Indies society Contents List of Illustrations ix Preface xi Note on Foreign Words and Spelling xv Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Chapter 2 Gramser Brinkman: A Double Murder and a Suicide 21 Chapter 3 Nona Diana: Extramarital Adventures in Batavia 49 Chapter 4 Sara Specx: A Scandalous Love Affair in 1629 75 Chapter 5 Nyais of Plantation Managers 99 Chapter 6 Hermine Tan: A Western-Educated Woman 127 Chapter 7 Peranakan Women’s Voices 151 Epilogue 181 Glossary 189 Bibliography 191 Index 201 Examines Malay literature by Chinese peranakan authors in the Dutch East Indies between 1915 and 1940. In this book, the narratives, some of them based on sensational murder trials reported in the news, offer insights into women's lives and experiences and glimpses of female agency. Gramser Brinkman : a double murder and suicide Nona Diana : extramarital adventures in Batavia Sara Specx : a scandalous love affaire in 1629 Nyais of plantation managers Hermine Tan : a western educated woman Peranakan women's voices.