Diverse lives

Since the 1940s, the short story has established itself as a very popular literary form in modern Indonesian literature. This volume brings together fifteen Indonesian stories written in the 1980s and early 1990s by writers drawn from different parts of the archipelago. Boasting settings ranging from rural villages to urban slums and dealing with issues affecting the lives of the rich and powerful as well as those of the poor and powerless, the stories in this collection present a variety of characters and themes representative of the diversity of Indonesia itself. Many of the stories are characterized by realism, some are forays into fantasy, but almost all are generated by conflict - literal or figurative - within an individual, between individuals, or between individuals and society.