‘Kampong Smells’, Guna-guna and ‘Indigenous Perkaras’

Abstract

ABSTRACT – In the historiography of the Dutch East Indies literature, the image has arisen of P.A. (Paul) Daum (1850–1898) as an author whose work experienced a striking transformation during his stay in the Indies: from a colonial to an anti-colonial author. Where Daum still showed himself an out-and-out colonial at the start of his authorship, he is said to have started to see the Indonesians with very different eyes over the years and finally to think and write about them with more nuance and understanding. This article, that focuses on the representation of Indonesians, argues that here is no such development to be found in Daum’s attitude towards the indigenous people of the colony. To this end, three works by Daum, published over a ten-year period, are analysed: Uit de suiker in de tabak (From Sugar to Tobacco, 1884), Goena-goena (Guna-guna, 1887) and Aboe Bakar (1894).