ABSTRACT
Indonesia differs from the general pattern of ethnic identity reflected in literature. Despite the existence of hundreds of ethnic/ linguistic groups and significant numbers of members of major world religions within a self-identified Moslem society, Indonesian writers are remarkably silent on the subject of ethnicity. The high priority given to nation-building makes this understandable. Less so is the apparent reluctance to come to terms with a recent past based upon a racially segregated social system, namely that of the Netherlands East Indies between 1850 and 1942.
