Krates: Een Levensbeeld

Justus van Maurik

Indonesian literature is a term grouping various genres of South-East Asian literature. Indonesian literature can refer to literature produced in the Indonesian archipelago. The term is also used to refer more broadly to literature produced in areas with common language roots based on the Malay language (of which Indonesian is one scion). This would extend the reach to the Maritime Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, but also other nations with a common language such as Malaysia and Brunei, as well as population within other nations such as the Malay people living in Singapore. The phrase "Indonesian literature" is used in this article to refer to Indonesian as written in the nation of Indonesia, but also covers literature written in an earlier form of the language, i.e. the Malay language written in the Dutch East Indies. Oral literature, though a central part of the Indonesian literary tradition, is not described here.