Language and Power

In this lively book, Benedict R. O'G. Anderson explores the cultural and
political contradictions that have arisen from two critical facts in Indonesian
history: that while the Indonesian nation is young, the Indonesian nation
is ancient originating in the early seventeenth-century Dutch conquests;
and that contemporary politics are conducted in a new language. Bahasa
Indonesia, by peoples (especially the Javanese) whose cultures are rooted in
medieval times. Analyzing a spectrum of examples from classical poetry to
public monuments and cartoons, Anderson deepens our understanding of the
interaction between modern and traditional notions of power, the mediation
of power by language, and the development of national consciousness.

Language and Power, now republished as part of Equinox Publishing's Classic
Indonesia series, brings together eight of Anderson's most influential essays
over the past two decades and is essential reading for anyone studying the
Indonesian country, people or language.


Benedict Anderson is one of the world's leading authorities on Southeast Asian
nationalism and particularly on Indonesia. He is Professor of International
Studies and Director of the Modern Indonesia Project at Cornell University,
New York. His other works include Imagined Communities: Reflections
on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism and The Spectre of Comparisons: Nationalism, Southeast Asia, and the World.