[TimorLesteStudies] Academic Articles on Timor-Leste

[Jennifer Drysdale]

The Poets Fight Back: East Timorese Poetry as Counterdiscourse to 
Colonial and Postcolonial Identities
Soares, Anthony
Romance Studies, Volume 24, Number 2, July 2006, pp. 133-147(15)

Abstract:
This article examines whether the experiences of Portuguese and 
Indonesian colonial rule in East Timor acted as a unifying factor, 
creating a sense of East Timorese national identity, inspiring its 
poets to engage in a revolutionary and anti-colonial lyrical 
discourse that mirrored the aspirations of those fighting for 
independence. At the same time, it considers the significance of 
contemporary East Timorese poetry that has elements of a 
counterdiscourse in a postcolonial, independent East Timor, asking 
whether the apparent unity of anti-colonial lyric voices has 
fractured, and whether the disappearance of the oppressive presence 
of Indonesia means that there is no power that can inspire a 
concerted reaction amongst East Timorese poets. Finally, although the 
'other(s)' against which the colonial and postcolonial poetic 
counterdiscourses of East Timor are reacting may be different, the 
negative effects of which they are accused become themes that are 
common to the poetry of both historical periods. Accordingly, this 
article will seek to pose some questions regarding the validity of 
the term 'postcolonial' when applied to East Timorese poetry.

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Globalisation and the Development of Indonesian Counterinsurgency Tactics
David Kilcullen
Land Warfare Studies Centre, Duntroon, Canberra, Australia

Small Wars and Insurgencies
Publisher:  Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group
Issue:  Volume 17, Number 1 / March 2006
Pages:  44 - 64

Abstract:
Indonesia's approach to counterinsurgency derives partly from its 
experience during the 1950s in suppressing Darul Islam (DI), the 
forerunner of some modern Indonesian terrorist and insurgent groups 
including Jema'ah Islamiyah. DI encompassed insurgencies in Java, 
Sulawesi and Aceh but tactics the Indonesian Army (TNI) developed in 
West Java proved most successful in countering the movement. These 
tactics were effective in the geographical and political 
circumstances of the 1950s, but have since been misapplied in other 
circumstances. In particular, pervasive media presence and 
international opinion undermined the approach's effectiveness in East 
Timor, highlighting the impact of globalisation on counterinsurgency.