Threads of Dignity

So begins a nightmare journey into the cruelty and deprivation of political imprisonment in the aftermath of the 1965 attempted coup and counter-coup that reshaped modern Indonesia. For ten years, Putu Oka Sukanta’s protagonist Mawa is imprisoned without trial, subjected to interrogation under torture, and denied his basic freedoms and livelihood. Without any way of knowing how long his imprisonment will last, or whether he will ever emerge from it alive, he is initially dependent on others-both friend and foe-for his survival. Yet with the passing of time, and a painful adjustment to the realities of prison life, his survival becomes a personal quest that involves both body and soul. Weakened physically, Mawa grows spiritually, to the point where his experience of imprisonment becomes a story of survival against all odds. Enriched by sketches of daily life in prison and revealing insights into the backgrounds and outlooks of people Indonesia’s New Order saw as betrayers of the nation, reads of Dignity occupies an important place in world literature. It is both a record of a little-known and often misunderstood chapter in the history of modern Indonesia and a story of courage and resilience in the face of barbarity. In speaking to the nation, it cries out to the world, asking to be heard in the name of our common humanity.