ABSTRACT
In the year 2003, an Indonesian female author Herlinatiens published her novel The Margins of a Lesbian (Garis Tepi Seorang Lesbian) for the first time.? It describes the love story of a lesbian, Ashmora Paria, together with detailed descriptions of the main characterˇ¦s desires for other women.? This novel can be considered as transgressive of sexual as well as religious norms in Indonesia.? However, different from what most critics have claimed that sexual transgressions in Indonesian Literature challenged mainstream Indonesian values and the status quo, I demonstrate how the main character of this novel insists that she is religious and that her lesbianism does not cause her to set up a new cult or follow a new ideology, and/or to create a revolution in her society.? Rather, she criticises her society within the discourse of Islam.? This paper will demonstrate how the transgressions of the main character? function not only to separate but also to communicate, identify and relate to religion (Islam), society and the status quo.?
KEYWORDS: Indonesian women, Indonesian Literature, Lesbian, gender, sexuality, mother-daughter relationship, Homosexuality, Religion, Feminism, Islam, God.
Authorˇ¦s biography
Soe Tjen Marching is an academic, composer and creative writer.? Her book The Discrepancy between the Public and the Private Selves of Indonesian Women was published by the Edwin Mellen Press (2007).? As a composer, she won a national competition for piano compositions in Indonesia in 1998.? One of her compositions was released in the CD Asia Piano Avantgarde: Indonesia, played by pianist Steffen Schleiermacher.? In Australia, she won several Creative Writing competitions, and her short stories have been published in Indonesia, Australia, USA and the UK.?
Contact address: The Language CentreˇXThe School of Oriental and African Studies,
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