ABSTRACT
Published in 1949, at the end of the physical revolution, at the start of political independence of the Republic of Indonesia, Achdiat K. Mihardja's Atheis, roman ('The Atheist, a novel')1 could be regarded as the first national novel of Indonesia. The book appeared under the aegis of the government-controlled publishing house of Balai Pustaka in Jakarta, a place of hegemony, the metropolis which was soon to retrieve its authoritative position in the political and intellectual life that opened up in the new state.
