INDONESIAN LITERATURE POSITION AS WORLD LITERATURE

Abstract

This research studies the position of Indonesian literature in the world.
Indonesia is sometimes underestimated due to its identity as third world nation. It
sometimes impacts the way foreign researchers value Indonesian’s intellectual
products such as literature. It is considered necessary to evaluate position of
Indonesian in world literature. This research is a qualitative study since it is
completed through document analysis. This study uses Damrosch’s theory of
world literature’s characteristics in order to check and to find out whether
Indonesian literature can be categorized as world literature or not. Indonesian
literary works that have been used as the objects of analysis are Sangkuriang,
Mahabharata, and literary works that have been written by Pramoedya Ananta
Toer. At the end of this study, it is concluded that Indonesian literature fulfilled
the three main characteristics of world literature and it is able to be categorized as
world literature.