Reversal: The Colonial Afterlife and Nostalgia

This experimental essay unfolds as a journey through memory, ruins, and rituals, tracing the lingering presence of a colonial past in contemporary Indonesia. It explores the layered relationship between colonialism, postcolonial nation-building, and the enduring structures of imperial power that con...

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Main Author: Timoteus Anggawan Kusno
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universitas Sanata Dharma 2025-06-01
Series:Retorik: Jurnal Ilmu Humaniora
Subjects:
Online Access:https://e-journal.usd.ac.id/index.php/Retorik/article/view/12062
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author Timoteus Anggawan Kusno
author_facet Timoteus Anggawan Kusno
author_sort Timoteus Anggawan Kusno
collection DOAJ
description This experimental essay unfolds as a journey through memory, ruins, and rituals, tracing the lingering presence of a colonial past in contemporary Indonesia. It explores the layered relationship between colonialism, postcolonial nation-building, and the enduring structures of imperial power that continue to shape cultural and political life. At its centre is a paradox: in pursuing national unity, the newly independent state often reproduced the very systems of control it aimed to dismantle. Colonial nostalgia, expressed through aesthetic revivals, architectural restoration, and performative rituals, emerges not only as a sentiment but as a structural force within collective memory. Through a weaving of critical reflection and poetic interludes, the essay invites readers to reflect on the shifting boundary between history and feeling. It lingers in what is remembered but also in what is imagined, suppressed, and restaged.
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publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Universitas Sanata Dharma
record_format Article
series Retorik: Jurnal Ilmu Humaniora
spelling doaj-art-e26a86596e2841fbb11e7fb3ac7380bf2025-08-20T03:16:01ZengUniversitas Sanata DharmaRetorik: Jurnal Ilmu Humaniora1412-69312549-22252025-06-0113113515010.24071/ret.v13i1.120624015Reversal: The Colonial Afterlife and NostalgiaTimoteus Anggawan Kusno0Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis, University of AmsterdamThis experimental essay unfolds as a journey through memory, ruins, and rituals, tracing the lingering presence of a colonial past in contemporary Indonesia. It explores the layered relationship between colonialism, postcolonial nation-building, and the enduring structures of imperial power that continue to shape cultural and political life. At its centre is a paradox: in pursuing national unity, the newly independent state often reproduced the very systems of control it aimed to dismantle. Colonial nostalgia, expressed through aesthetic revivals, architectural restoration, and performative rituals, emerges not only as a sentiment but as a structural force within collective memory. Through a weaving of critical reflection and poetic interludes, the essay invites readers to reflect on the shifting boundary between history and feeling. It lingers in what is remembered but also in what is imagined, suppressed, and restaged.https://e-journal.usd.ac.id/index.php/Retorik/article/view/12062colonialitynostalgiamemorymelancholiapostcolonial indonesia
spellingShingle Timoteus Anggawan Kusno
Reversal: The Colonial Afterlife and Nostalgia
Retorik: Jurnal Ilmu Humaniora
coloniality
nostalgia
memory
melancholia
postcolonial indonesia
title Reversal: The Colonial Afterlife and Nostalgia
title_full Reversal: The Colonial Afterlife and Nostalgia
title_fullStr Reversal: The Colonial Afterlife and Nostalgia
title_full_unstemmed Reversal: The Colonial Afterlife and Nostalgia
title_short Reversal: The Colonial Afterlife and Nostalgia
title_sort reversal the colonial afterlife and nostalgia
topic coloniality
nostalgia
memory
melancholia
postcolonial indonesia
url https://e-journal.usd.ac.id/index.php/Retorik/article/view/12062
work_keys_str_mv AT timoteusanggawankusno reversalthecolonialafterlifeandnostalgia