Magdalene.co, Hi/her story. Perempuan Nusantara di Tepi Sejarah (Hi/her story. Indonesian Women on the edge of History), Ilustrasi oleh: Karina Tungari, Jakarta, Penerbit PT Elex Media Komputindo, Kompas Gramedia, 2020
Magdalene.co, Hi/her story. Perempuan Nusantara di Tepi Sejarah (Hi/her story. Indonesian Women on the edge of History), Ilustrasi oleh: Karina Tungari, Jakarta, Penerbit PT Elex Media Komputindo, Kompas Gramedia, 2020, 212 p. ISBN: 978-623-00-2063-6
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1It is an original attempt to make the Indonesians aware of the fact that their women continue to be excluded from official history. The volume is constituted by a collection of 100 one-page biographies of Nusantarian women illustrated by Karina Tungari. Her full-page colour portraits, more or less realistic depending on the documentation, give the book its charm.
2Magdalene.co is here represented by Devi Asmarani and Farah Rizki, who edit the bilingual Indonesian English web-magazine Magdalene (www.magdalene.co) that was founded in 2013. Devi Asmarani, its founder and current editor-in-chief, is an old hand in journalism who “began at The Jakarta Post, followed by The Straits Times of Singapore, where she wrote news reports, in-depth articles and analyses on various issues including politics, conflicts, terrorism and natural disasters”. Her aim has been to produce “a women-focused publication that provides content and perspectives that are inclusive, critical, empowering and entertaining.”
3As for the book reviewed here, its aim was to give as broad a panorama as possible of eminent Nusantarian women (perempuan heibat) from the earliest times to the present day. We don’t know how this project was financed, but we may presume that its editors were faced with financial difficulties because they point out that there are many more than 100 extraordinary women who deserve a biography. They also do not say how they went about compiling their corpus, which, for reasons of documentation, is essentially concerned with the present. They entrusted the study of the earliest times to a history student, who decided to present six wellk-nown women sovereigns (Ratu Shima, Gayatri Rajapatni, Tribhuwana Wijayatunggadewi, Ratu Kalinyamat, Sultanah Nahrasyiya and Sultanah Safiatuddin). Contemporary women are presented in such a way as to show their presence in a wide range of activities, from revolutionaries to businesswomen, administrators, politicians, reformers, scientists, feminists, sportswomen, writers, journalists, artists ... The editors have also taken care to choose women from all regions of Indonesia and from communities of foreign origin, such as Chinese and Arabs (such as the late freelance journalist and translator Soh Lian Tjie/Nora Suryanti (1914-1995) and television presenter Njawa Shihab, both born in Makassar).
4In short, this is a very successful attempt, which we hope will encourage other Indonesian women to pursue research in this area and encourage historians to reintroduce Nusantarian women into official history.
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Référence papier
Claudine Salmon, « Magdalene.co, Hi/her story. Perempuan Nusantara di Tepi Sejarah (Hi/her story. Indonesian Women on the edge of History), Ilustrasi oleh: Karina Tungari, Jakarta, Penerbit PT Elex Media Komputindo, Kompas Gramedia, 2020 », Archipel, 107 | 2024, 206-207.
Référence électronique
Claudine Salmon, « Magdalene.co, Hi/her story. Perempuan Nusantara di Tepi Sejarah (Hi/her story. Indonesian Women on the edge of History), Ilustrasi oleh: Karina Tungari, Jakarta, Penerbit PT Elex Media Komputindo, Kompas Gramedia, 2020 », Archipel [En ligne], 107 | 2024, mis en ligne le 10 octobre 2024, consulté le 07 juillet 2025. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/archipel/4006 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/12fvq
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