Inzichten in de onderbelichte worsteling met identiteit van de eerste en tweede generatie indo in De tolk van Java

Samenvatting

The Dutch are often criticized for the lack of interest, contextuali­sation and historicization of their colonial legacy. This leads to an inability to understand and acknowledge the ways in which this affects existing power relations. Western European countries are finally, yet slowly, starting to confront the darker pages of their colonial history. With this paper I aim to contribute to this wider trend by diving into Alfred Birney’s novel, De Tolk van Java. I will explore how the colonial past and identity formation have shaped the sense of self, and ideas of belonging in first and second gener­ation Indo people. De Tolk van Java is a significant contribution to a more versatile and complete understanding of the history of colonial violence in the Dutch East Indies. It shows the com­plexities and difficulties of having an ‘in-between’ identity in both Dutch colonial society and the postcolonial Netherlands. More­over, the novel breaks the cliché of ‘de zwijgende indo,’ and it rep­resents how a ‘colonial subject’ is not merely a passive victim, but instead is an active agent that can be both victim and oppressor.