Terminology 'Indonesia'

Indonesia is not necessarily a native idea. The term of Indonesia, is compounded by Indo (Latin word for India or Hindus) and Nesos (Greek word for island).

James Richardson Logan, a jurist born in Scotland, is known as the inventor of the terminology Indonesia when writing The Ethnology of the Indian Archipelago in 1850, which expressed, “The name Indian Archipelago is too long to admit of being used in an adjective or in an ethnographical form. Mr Earl suggests the ethnographical term Indu-nesians but rejects it in favour of Melayu-nesians. I prefer the purely geographical term Indonesia, which is merely a shorter synonym of Indian Islands or the Indian Archipelago. We thus get Indonesian for Indian Archipelagian or Archipelagic, and Indonesians for Indian Archipelagians or Indian Islanders.”

Multatuli used Insulinde in his book Max Havelar, 1859, compounded by “inseln” means islands and “indie” from Indus or India. There were also Malay Archipelago or Le Grand Archipel Malais or Nusantara Malayu Raya (Nusantara Raya) that extended to use.

But it was Adolf Bastian of University of Berlin who popularized the name of Indonesia through his book Indonesien oder die Inseln des Malayichen Archipels 1884-1894. Bastian was then much more popular worldwide than Logan nor Multatuli.

Well, Indonesia is a Scottish creation and a German socialization!

Judul Buku Versi Indonesia

Minggu ini, Sapariah dan aku sempat diskusi soal judul buku aku yang versi Indonesia. Bahasa Inggrisnya sudah jelas, From Sabang to Merauke: Debunking the Myth of Indonesian Nationalism. Kata "debunking" itu dapatnya dari sebuah paper Benedict Anderson soal masalah nasionalisme disini. Menurut Anderson, cara memperbaiki kinerja negeri ini adalah mula-mula dengan "debunking" pemahaman soal nasionalisme.

Mark Hanusz dari Equinox usul pakai frasa "Sabang-Merauke" mengingat frasa ini terkenal sekali bahkan dalam kosakata bahasa Inggris. Maka aku pun mengabungkan dua kata itu ke dalam judul buku.

Kini buku versi Indonesia mau pakai judul apa? Sekedar menterjemahkan versi Inggris? Atau memberinya sebuah nama baru yang beda dengan versi Inggrisnya?

Blog Indopahit

This morning, my wife Sapariah and I decided to create this Indopahit blog, after we had just finished our breakfast with ubi goreng and teh tubruk. This blog will only be maintained on the most minimum level until I have finished publishing my book From Sabang to Merauke: Debunking the Myth of Indonesian Nationalism.

In Malay, Indopahit stands for "Indonesia yang pahit" (the bitter Indonesia). You could also refer this name as "Indonesia keturunan Majapahit" (Indonesia, the descendant of the Majapahit). Sapariah and I regularly mocked the usage of this ancient Javanese kingdom to build Indonesia's nationalism. It is a febble argument indeed. Majapahit is totally different from, and much smaller than, the Indonesia that its nationalists like to portray.

So let's wait for the book. This blog is dedicated to the ideas that back up this book.