Objects of manipulation: the people and the rural village in Indonesia's culture wars.

Some of the most important contributors to the study of Indonesia have observed that the concept of 'rakyat' [the people] has been central to the way Indonesians understand their nation. Yet until now there has been little attempt to consolidate and build on these observations by analysing the nuances and implications of understandings of the term 'rakyat'. In this paper, the author encourages the development of such research by critiquing its use in the period following the Second World War. The author analyses two key novels written by leading authors from opposing sides of a great cultural debate and shows that, regardless of the spiteful divide between left-wing and right-wing, the two authors viewed the rakyat as somewhat inferior. The rakyat was also seen as belonging to the village, but could transform into a violent yet manipulable throng in the city. Despite these pejorative implications, however, the rakyat was also key to the nation's aspirations. The author situates these developments in relation to a longer history of the term 'rakyat'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]