ABSTRACT
Memories of years gone by, or countries left behind, are often coloured by sensory perceptions. In his novel À la recherche du temps perdu (In search of lost time), Marcel Proust describes how eating a madeleine, a French cake, catapults the protagonist back to the holidays of his youth. Whilst for Proust’s character it is the taste of a madeleine that evokes this association, those visiting Indonesia for the first time or returning to the country mention different, yet similar, sensory perceptions: the taste and smell of durians, the smell and sound of kretek (clove) cigarettes, the scent of camphor in wardrobes, the sound of the muezzin (crier) issuing the call for prayer five times a day. Tastes, smells and sounds evoke associations with a bygone era and, in the case of the Dutch East Indies, with the former Dutch colony. For some, the tastes, smells and sounds of Indonesia spark feelings of nostalgia or homesickness; for others, they are elements of their daily lives, either in Indonesia or taken elsewhere from there.
