Introduction

This book aims to provide an analysis of the persisting Red Scare in Indonesia from a literary perspective. Instead of broadcast media, which have been thoroughly discussed by many scholars writing in the field, the focus of this study is on literary texts that are used as a tool in inculcating an aversion to left-wing politics. Investigating how the Red Scare has been re-assessed in literature, this book argues that many literary texts produced since 1966 carry on the legacy of the Cold War by demonstrating anti-leftist sentiments. These sentiments – some subtler than others – are juxtaposed with the idea of cosmopolitanism, which classifies the texts as humanistic literature. The topic of the Cold War itself is barely discussed in Indonesian literature, with the PKI being depicted as solely responsible for the bloody political upheavals of 1965–66.