Silenced Voices: Uncovering a Family's Colonial History in Indonesia (Ohio RIS Southeast Asia Series) [Paperback]

Inez Hollander (Author)

Book Description

Series: Ohio RIS Southeast Asia Series | Publication Date: January 27, 2009

Like a number of Netherlanders in the post World War II era, Inez Hollander only gradually became aware that her family had significant connections with its Dutch colonial past, including an Indonesian great-grandmother. For the most part such personal stories have been, if not entirely silenced, at least only whispered about in Holland, where society has remained uncomfortable with many aspects of its imperial rule. Unlike the majority of memoirs that are soaked in nostalgia for tempo doeloe, Hollander’s sets out to come to grips with her family’s past by weaving together personal records with more general, academic views of the period. She seeks not merely to locate and preserve family memories, but also to test them against a more disinterested historical record. Hers is a complicated and sometimes painful personal journey of realization, unusually mindful of the ways in which past memories and present considerations can be intermingled when we seek to understand a difficult past. Silenced Voices is an important contribution to the literature on how Dutch society has dealt with its recent colonial history.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Inez Hollander teaches in the Dutch Studies Program at UC Berkeley. Her publications include The Road from Pompey’s Head: The Life and Work of Hamilton Basso and a memoir, Awakening from the American Dream.

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Ohio University Press; 1 edition (January 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0896802698
• ISBN-13: 978-0896802698
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #511,407 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #66 in Books > History > Asia > Indonesia

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended to those who have read the Diary of Anne Frank, January 17, 2009

By 

Fred Van Buiten (Menlo Park, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Silenced Voices: Uncovering a Family's Colonial History in Indonesia (Ohio RIS Southeast Asia Series) (Paperback)

I was blown away by Hollander's book. `Silenced Voices' filled a void I did not know I had with regards to the history of the Dutch Indies. I too have family who had been imprisoned in the `Indies' by the Japanese. That's pretty much all I knew. Not until I had read Hollander's fascinating book did I understand what they must have gone through. It was never discussed in our family. Hollander's book is engaging. Her solid research helps paint a compelling picture of the rise and fall of the Dutch colonists. It helped me understand what happened and why. I guess what bothers me is that this chapter of Dutch history was never addressed in my (Dutch) history classes. Isn't it time for a hard look in the mirror? If you have read The Diary of Anne Frank, I would recommend reading Silenced Voices as it will complete your knowledge of Dutch history and may make you more understanding of those that miss the sense of belonging.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Breakthrough in Exposing Dutch Colonial History in Indonesia, May 21, 2009

By 

Bianca Dias-Halpert "Straver" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Silenced Voices: Uncovering a Family's Colonial History in Indonesia (Ohio RIS Southeast Asia Series) (Paperback)

This book is a breakthrough in exposing the realities of the former Dutch East Indies and events thereafter. I found I had to read it in intervals as it left me in deep thought for days as I digest the information. As I too have roots in this era, I've read a lot of books available in the English language about the subject but never one with this perspective. Inez Hollander has been able to craft a personal story which unfolds layers of global historical events. As a result, providing a historical lesson about the colonization of Indonesia by The Netherlands and the birth of the Republic of Indonesia. The atrocities and raw details of war and revolution is a necessary evil to convey the weight of these events and the impact it made on the survivors and their descendants. Silence harbors the depth of great loss and pain and on a broader perspective also provides a form of denial. This book broke through that silence and has opened the floodgates to dialogue.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Serious, very readable, and moving, January 15, 2009

By 

Geert van der Kolk (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Silenced Voices: Uncovering a Family's Colonial History in Indonesia (Ohio RIS Southeast Asia Series) (Paperback)

I admire Dr. Hollander's book for several reasons. She strikes a fine balance between the drama of her colonial family, the general history of the Dutch East Indies, and her own quest to find out the truth. To illustrate daily life in the colonies, she uses quotes from contemporary, and in many cases long forgotten novels. Though she often tries to imagine what her family's experience was like, she's never fanciful about it by inventing scenes or dialogues. This is a non-fiction book, and a serious work of history.

The book's biggest merit is that it makes history imaginable on a human level. One family's tragedy is only a footnote in the grand scheme of things, but the grand scheme is an abstraction. Dr. Hollander makes the reader feel history through a painstaking, and on occasion achingly incomplete reconstruction of human experience. The book climaxes in one very dramatic, and for the family traumatic, day during the 1945 revolution that led to the independence of Indonesia.

Geert van der Kolk

http://www.geertvanderkolk.com