INDIGENOUS VS. CHINESE IN INDONESIA: ENDURING RACIAL PREJUDICE IN MIRA WIDJAJA’S NOVEL

Resumo

This study aims to analyze the issue of racial prejudice between Chinese Indonesians and indigenous Indonesians during the New Order era. This era became a crucial phase that narrated the complex and difficult lives of Chinese Indonesians in Indonesia. The construction of racial prejudice in the New Order period had a long-lasting impact on the lives of Chinese Indonesians in the country. This research employs qualitative methods with a sociological approach to literature to examine issues of prejudice between indigenous and Chinese groups. The data consist of words, phrases, and sentences that indicate symptoms of racial prejudice in the novel. The data source is the text of Mira Widjaja’s novel Bukan Cinta Sesaat. The findings show that Bukan Cinta Sesaat represents mutual prejudice between indigenous Indonesians and Chinese Indonesians. As the author, Mira Widjaja attempts to show that indigenous and Chinese communities in Indonesia have long been trapped in enduring racial prejudice. This prejudice reflects how indigenous Indonesians generalize both Peranakan (acculturated Chinese) and Totok (pure-blooded Chinese). The long-spanning narrative background in the novel illustrates the complexity of relations between indigenous and Chinese groups. The story stretches across conflicts from the 1960s to the late 1980s, emphasizing the notion that racial prejudice between these groups has persisted for generations—and may even be perpetual. As a minority group, Chinese Indonesians also attempt various forms of resistance, both open and covert, to counter the stereotypes and prejudices directed at them.