Narration and Perspective in Pramoedyas Inem Essay -- Asia Narrative

muniment and Perspective in Pramoedyas InemTradition represents an integral component of ones cultural identity, and this is curiously so in this rapidly changing world which we live in, where the boundaries betwixt different cultures are increasingly being blurred and distorted by the process of globalisation. While traditions do define the beliefs, practices and collective experiences of a people, the keep existence of certain socio-cultural institutions in which discriminatory and repressive measures still persevere cannot be condoned. It is this very dimension that Pramoedya addresses in his short story, Inem The narrators reminiscences of his childhood commit a serious social commentary and incisive social reexamination of various repressive traditional institutions in Indonesian society, such as the practice of child-brides (i.e. the forced socialisation of children), as well as the relentless nature of prevailing patriarchal attitudes towards women and subsequent treat ment they receive in the authors socio-cultural milieu. The story achieves, albeit subtly, a powerful condemnation of these facets, which is presented artfully through a duality in the muniment - a childs nave perspective and limited knowledge to describe the course of events as they happened, alongside the mature, retrospective voice, which as well provides a highly mimetic depiction of life in this society.It energy be pertinent and helpful here to first discuss the expression of the narrative itself, for there are several elements in the sequencing of the discourse that make for in no small way to the overall effect of the narration/narrator. The narrative begins in media res (beginning in the midst of the action at a crucial junct... ...d in the narration. This is ultimately left to the sub-text, of what is left unsaid. It is quite clear where the author stands on the issues the short story raises, and through the navet in the childrens perspective presented in the narra tors recollections, an intense and vivid semblance to reality in this very retrospection, and the narrative sequencing that remorselessly directs the story towards the concluding tragedy - a powerful and scathing, if not sober, social critique on the nature of tradition, adhering to correct social behaviour and resistance to change is shaped and conveyed.BibliographyChatman, Seymour. Narration Narrator and Narratee. Reading Narrative Fiction. New York Macmillan, 1993. 90-97.Pramoedya Ananta Toer. Inem. Contemporary books of Asia. Arthur Biddle et al (ed.) Blair Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1996. 139-148.