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Engendering Tionghoa nationalism: Female purity in male-authored Sino-Malay novels of colonial Java

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2021

Grace V.S. Chin
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Abstract

The recurring trope of female purity holds an important place in the Sino-Malay literature of colonial Java from the late 1910s to the 1930s, a turbulent and transformative sociopolitical period that also saw the rise of Tionghoa (Chinese) nationalism in the Dutch Indies. Used mainly by male writers who dominated the Sino-Malay literary scene, the gendered trope features polarised femininities — the archetypal virtuous Tionghoa girl, and the Westernised modern girl who defies Confucian traditions — and reflects the male perspectives and sexism of the time. I contend, however, that the trope reveals ideological motivations that go beyond patriarchal concerns, as it is also employed to articulate and perpetuate nationalist and anti-colonial ideas and views. Using theories of gender and nation as well as anthropological concepts of purity and pollution, I examine how the female body's inscribed purity draws on embedded epistemologies of race and gender to represent Tionghoa identity and nationalism in two male-authored Sino-Malay novels, Liem Hian Bing's Valentine Chan atawa rahasia Semarang (1926) and Tan Chieng Lian's Oh…..Papa! (1929). As my readings show, female purity as a nationalist ideology validates Tionghoa masculinity as the defender and guardian of not just woman's virtue, but also of an imagined morally and culturally superior Tionghoa nation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies , Volume 52 , Issue 1 , March 2021 , pp. 110 - 132
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Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore, 2021

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Footnotes

The author would like to thank Universiti Sains Malaysia for the Short Term Grant (304/PHUMANITI/6315157), which enabled her to pursue and develop this research project. She is also grateful to Paul Bijl and Tom Hoogervorst for their comments on the early draft of this article, which was produced during her KITLV senior fellowship in Leiden. Her sincere thanks also goes to Tom Hoogervorst for his help with the translations, Elizabeth Chandra for the digital copy of Kemerdikahan jang membawa binasa atawa rasianja gadis dari familie Ong, as well as the anonymous reviewers and the editor of JSEAS for their constructive comments.

References

1 The descendants of interracial liaisons and marriages between Chinese sojourners who settled in Java and indigenous women, the Peranakan Chinese are a unique fusion of Chinese and Javanese worlds, seen especially in their creolised culture and language.

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12 Studies include: Maier, H.M.J., ‘Beware and reflect, remember and recollect: Tjerita Njai Soemirah and the emergence of Chinese-Malay literature in the Indies’, Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 149, 2 (1993): 274–97CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Rieger, Thomas, ‘From Huaqiao to Minzu: Constructing new identities in Indonesia's Peranakan Chinese literature’, in Identity in Asian literature, ed. Littrup, Lisbeth (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 1996), pp. 151–72Google Scholar; Siegel, James T., ‘Scandal, women, authors, and Sino-Malay nationalism’, in Fetish, recognition, revolution (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1997), pp. 115–33Google Scholar; Chandra, Elizabeth, ‘Fantasizing Chinese/Indonesian hero: Njoo Cheong Seng and the Gagaklodra series’, Archipel 82 (2011): 83–113CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Elizabeth Chandra, ‘National fictions: Chinese-Malay literature and the politics of forgetting’ (PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley, 2006). See also Kwee, ‘Chinese Malay literature’, pp. 193–200; and Salmon, Literature in Malay, p. 45.

13 Chin and Hoogervorst, ‘From soetji to soendel’.

14 Lombard-Salmon, ‘Chinese women writers’, p. 152; also Chandra, ‘Blossoming Dahlia’, p. 534.

15 See Coppel's reading of Valentine Chan in ‘Emancipation of the Indonesian Chinese woman’, pp. 38–41; also Sidharta, who briefly discusses Oh…..Papa! in ‘Women in Sastra Melayu Tionghoa’, p. 151.

16 Adapted from Bakhtin, this term is used by Maier in ‘Beware and reflect’ to describe the changing literary scene in the Dutch Indies, p. 276. I however use it to describe the fluid sociopolitical situation experienced by the Peranakan at this time.

17 Examples include: Jayawardena, Kumari, Feminism and nationalism in the Third World (London: Zed, 1986)Google Scholar; Yuval-Davis, Nira and Anthias, Floya, eds., Woman-Nation-State (London: Macmillan, 1989)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Alexander, M. Jacqui and Mohanty, Chandra Talpade, eds., Feminist genealogies, colonial legacies, democratic futures (New York: Routledge, 1997)Google Scholar; Yuval-Davies, Nira, Gender and nation (London: Sage, 1997)Google Scholar; Ray, Sangeeta, En-gendering India: Woman and nation in colonial and post-colonial narratives (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2000)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Stoler, Ann Laura, Carnal knowledge and imperial power: Race and the intimate in colonial rule (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002)Google Scholar; Levine, Philippa, Gender and empire (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004)Google Scholar; and Boehmer, Elleke, Stories of women: Gender and narrative in the postcolonial nation (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2005)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Studies on gender and nation in Southeast Asia include: Ong, Aihwa and Peletz, Michael G., eds., Bewitching women, pious men: Gender and body politics in Southeast Asia (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Peletz, Michael G., ‘Gender, sexuality, and the state in Southeast Asia’, Journal of Asian Studies 71, 4 (2012): 895–917CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Chin, Grace V.S. and Daud, Kathrina Mohd, eds., The Southeast Asian woman writes back: Gender, identity and nation in the literatures of Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines (Singapore: Springer, 2018)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

18 McClintock, Anne, ‘“No longer in a future heaven”: Women and nationalism in South Africa’, Transition 51 (1991): 105Google Scholar.

19 A good example is ‘motherland’ — an affective metaphor that not only calls for male protection and defence, but also plays on woman's reproductive role as the mother of future citizens.

20 Yuval-Davis and Anthias, Woman-Nation-State, p. 7.

21 Anderson, Benedict, Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism (New York: Verso, 1983), p. 6Google Scholar.

22 Douglas, Mary, Purity and danger: An analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1966), p. 4Google Scholar.

23 Ibid., p. 147.

24 Ibid., p. 116.

25 See Ong and Peletz, Bewitching women, pious men, which develops Douglas’ work in relation to the Southeast Asian nation-state by examining how ‘body politics’ — the politicised ‘symbols and practices’ involved in the ‘inscriptions of power’ — are reflected in the ‘diverse ways society is mapped onto the body and the body is symbolized in society’, pp. 5–6.

26 Ibid., p. 6.

27 ‘Totok’ refers to the ‘pure blood’ Chinese immigrants who entered the colony relatively later, and whose numbers increased dramatically in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While the Peranakan constituted the majority in Java and were concentrated there, the Totok presence was more dominant in the outlying islands such as Sumatra. On the disparities between Totok and Peranakan, see Coppel, Charles A., Studying ethnic Chinese in Indonesia (Singapore: Singapore Society of Asian Studies, 2002), pp. 106–23Google Scholar.

28 The worst violence on record was the 1740 Batavia massacre, which claimed an estimated 10,000 Chinese lives. In the early 1900s, political tensions resulted in riots and the killing of Chinese across Java. For more details, see Aguilar, Filomeno V. Jr., ‘Citizenship, inheritance, and the indigenizing of “Orang Chinese” in Indonesia’, Positions: East Asia Cultures Critique 9, 3 (2001): 501–33CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

29 ‘Feminisation’ as a colonial strategy of conquest and dominance is well-established in postcolonial studies. Edward Said in Orientalism (New York: Pantheon, 1978), pp. 38–41, famously argues that the colonial male gaze displaced and subordinated colonised subjects through sexualised language, stereotypes, and other representational strategies, the most enduring of which is the Orient as exotic (feminised) Other.

30 Palmier, Leslie H., Social status and power in Java (London: University of London; Athlone Press, 1960), pp. 108–9Google Scholar.

31 Coppel, Studying ethnic Chinese, p. 142.

32 Ibid., pp. 157–68.

33 Ibid., p. 328.

34 See Leo Suryadinata, Peranakan Chinese politics in Java: 1917–1942 (Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1981), pp. 1–20.

35 Aguilar Jr., ‘Citizenship, inheritance’, p. 511.

36 Suryadinata, Peranakan Chinese politics, pp. 5–6.

37 Coppel, Studying ethnic Chinese, pp. 313–33.

38 The lingua franca of the Peranakan and various ethnic groups in the archipelago, ‘low’ Malay consists of a mix of ‘Batavia (Betawi), Javanese, Dutch, and Hokkien’. See Tom Hoogervorst, ‘Manliness in Sino-Malay publications in the Netherlands Indies’, South East Asia Research 24, 2 (2016): 284.

39 Evi Sutrisno, ‘Moral is political: Notions of ideal citizenship in Lie Kim Hok's Hikajat Khonghoetjoe’, Wacana 18, 1 (2017): 183–215.

40 Salmon, Literature in Malay, pp. 44, 133.

41 Suryadinata, Peranakan Chinese politics, pp. 10–11, 15–16.

42 The three-stream model is critiqued by Peter Post who examines the close ties between Dutch-educated Peranakan and Totok business elites in ‘Bringing China to Java: The Oei Tiong Ham Concern and Chen Kung-po during the Nanjing decade’, Journal of Chinese Overseas 15, 1 (2019): 33–61. My study however shows how boundaries are drawn where gender is concerned.

43 Sidharta, ‘The making of the Indonesian Chinese woman’, p. 60.

44 Salmon, Literature in Malay, p. 48.

45 For more on polarised femininities, see Chin and Hoogervorst, ‘From soetji to soendel’.

46 Coppel, Studying ethnic Chinese, p. 329.

47 Hoogervorst, ‘Manliness in Sino-Malay publications’, pp. 283–307.

48 I was struck by the general absence of women in Peranakan politics and nationalism in my readings. In contrast, Indonesian women actively participated in the nationalist movement. See Susan Blackburn and Helen Ting, eds., Women in Southeast Asian nationalist movements (Singapore: NUS Press, 2013).

49 See Kwartanada, ‘Enlightened Peranakan Chinese women’, pp. 424–6.

50 Lie (1853–1912) is a literary pioneer and the acknowledged ‘father’ of Chinese Malay while Kwee (1886–1952) is known as one of the greatest Peranakan writers. See Salmon, Literature in Malay, pp. 209–18, 228–32; also Kwee, ‘Chinese Malay literature’, pp. 54–66, 98–112.

51 Salmon, Literature in Malay, pp. 149–372. Interestingly, the mismanagement and nationalist leanings of THHK also led to growing criticisms against its leaders by the 1920s. Kwee, who was president of THHK in Bogor, left; he opposed Chinese nationalism and was instead ‘in favour of Chinese representation in the Volksraad’ (ibid., p. 209).

52 Rieger, ‘From Huaqiao to Minzu’, pp. 156–7.

53 Lombard-Salmon, ‘Chinese women writers’, pp. 151–2.

54 Chandra, ‘Fantasizing Chinese/Indonesian hero’, p. 87.

55 Salmon, Literature in Malay, p. 48.

56 Unless their true identities have been revealed, writers who use pseudonyms are even harder to trace.

57 Ibid., p. 238.

58 Ibid., pp. 315–16.

59 Coppel, ‘Emancipation of the Indonesian Chinese woman’, p. 33.

60 Ibid., p. 38.

61 Hellwig, ‘Hermine Tan’, pp. 127–50.

62 Hoogervorst, ‘Manliness in Sino-Malay publications’, p. 284.

63 Chandra, ‘Women and modernity’, p. 157.

64 Hoogervorst, ‘Manliness in Sino-Malay publications’, p. 296.

65 Chandra, ‘Women and modernity’, p. 162.

66 Bocquet-Siek, ‘The Peranakan Chinese woman’, pp. 35–8.

67 Female chastity was so strongly emphasised that it was ‘close to becoming a cult’. Ibid., p. 41.

68 Known also as ‘terkoeroeng’ (locked up), this practice was found among affluent Peranakan and Javanese elite families. Raden Adjeng Kartini, for instance, famously denounced pingitan in her letters. See Chandra, ‘Women and modernity’, pp. 164–5, for her brief but interesting analysis of pingitan.

69 Coppel, Studying ethnic Chinese, pp. 313–23.

70 According to John Kwee in ‘Chinese Malay literature’, the ‘word Tionghoa for Chinese replaced that of Cina after the Chinese revolution of 1911’ (p. 95). Salmon's Literature in Malay (pp. 373–556) however shows that while ‘Tjina’ was more commonly used from 1870–1909, ‘Tionghoa’ began entering the lexicon around 1906. An example is P.K. Nio's 1906 publication, Boekoe sair boewat kemadjoean bangsa Tionghoa fihak prampoean [A book of verse about the progress of Tionghoa women].

71 Chin and Hoogervorst, ‘From soetji to soendel’.

72 Other works include Tjermin's Rasianja satoe gadis hartawan [The secret of a wealthy girl], 1918; K.Kh. Liong's two-volume novel, Tjerita Nona Tan Seng Nio alias Hermine T…, atawa tjara bagimana orang toewa haroes didik sama anaknja. Satoe tjerita jang betoel soedah kedjadian die Bandoeng, dalem tahoen 1912 dan berachier tahoen 1917 [The story of Nona Tan Seng Nio alias Hermine T…, or how parents should raise their children. A true story in Bandoeng in 1912 and ending in 1917], 1918; Probitas’ Toedjoe belas tahon dalem resia. Satoe tjerita bagoes aken djadi satoe katja bagi gadis-gadis Tionghoa jang dapet pladjaran Europa [Seventeen years in secrecy. An excellent story that serves as a reflection to Tionghoa girls with European education], 1918; Tio Ie Soei's Nona Tjoe Joe (Pertjintahan jang membawa tjelaka), ditoelis menoeroet tjeritanja Nona Tjoe Joe sendiri [Miss Tjoe Joe (Love that brings misfortune), written according to Miss Tjoe Joe herself], 1922; and Chang Mun Tze's Nona modern…? [Modern miss…?], 1939. For more titles, see Chandra, ‘Women and modernity’, pp. 171–2.

73 Vadis?, Quo, Kemerdikahan jang membawa binasa atawa rasianja gadis dari Familie Ong: Satoe tjerita betoel. Terdjadi dalem tahon 1923 di Weltevreden (Batavia: Kong Hwee Po, 1923), p. 3Google Scholar.

74 Ibid., pp. 4–7.

75 Ibid., p. 9. See Chandra, ‘Women and modernity’, p. 172, for her brief discussion of this novel.

76 Chabanneau, Rasia Bandoeng, atawa satoe pertjintaan jang melanggar peradatan bangsa Tiong Hoa: Satoe tjerita jang benar terdjadi di Kota Bandoeng dan berachir pada tahon 1917 (Batavia: Kho Tjeng Bie & Co., 1918), p. 4. Analyses of Chabanneau's novel can be found in Coppel, ‘Emancipation of the Indonesian Chinese woman’, pp. 35–7; and Hellwig, ‘Hermine Tan’, pp. 127–50.

77 The same binaries and signifiers can be found in the opinion pieces and letters in Sin Po, for instance. See Chin and Hoogervorst, ‘From soetji to soendel’.

78 Lian, Tan Chieng, Oh…..Papa! (Sourabaya: Hahn & Co., 1929), p. 69Google Scholar.

79 McClintock, Anne, ‘Family feuds: Gender, nationalism and the family’, Feminist Review 44, 1 (1993): 63CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

80 Tan, Oh…..Papa!, p. 31.

81 Ibid., p. 25.

82 For more on male sexuality, see Hoogervorst, ‘Manliness in Sino-Malay publications’, pp. 292–6.

83 Tan, Oh…..Papa!, p. 1.

84 Ibid., p. 54

85 Ibid., pp. 31, 48, 49.

86 Ibid., pp. 34, 38, 53, 66–7.

87 Ibid., p. 34.

88 The description of In-nio's virtuous heart appears to be influenced by Lie Kim Hok's description of Confucius as noble-hearted (hati moelja) in Hikajat Khonghoetjoe, with its implied link to Confucian religion. See Sutrisno, ‘Moral is political’, p. 199.

89 At play here too is the implicit understanding that the modern girl has an affluent background since enrolment in Dutch schools requires money. See Chin and Hoogervorst, ‘From soetji to soendel’, for the characteristics of the modern girl.

90 Tan, Oh…..Papa!, p. 6.

91 Ibid., pp. 8, 60.

92 Ibid., p. 51.

93 Ibid., p. 19.

94 Ibid., p. 65.

95 A literary technique popularised by 18th and 19th century Western novelists (including Henry Fielding, Charles Dickens, and Thomas Hardy), the omniscient narrator is all-seeing and all-knowing about the events and characters, including their thoughts and feelings, in the novel. The influence of this technique can be seen in the Sino-Malay novels.

96 Tan, Oh…..Papa!, p. 12.

97 Ibid., p. 60.

98 Ibid., pp. 44, 66.

99 Bing, Liem Hian, Valentine Chan atawa rahasia Semarang (Semarang: Boekhandel PATKWAH, 1926), p. 3Google Scholar.

100 Ibid., p. 40.

101 Ibid., p. 40.

102 Ibid., p. 41.

103 Ibid., p. 70.

104 Ibid., p. 42.

105 Ibid., p. 124.

106 Ibid., p. 124.

107 Ibid., p. 63.

108 Ibid., p. 82.

109 Ibid., pp. 82–3.

110 Ibid., p. 83.

111 Chin and Hoogervorst, ‘From soetji to soendel’.

112 Liem, Valentine Chan, p. 83.

113 Ibid., p. 43.

114 Ibid., p. 70.

115 To the Peranakan, any relationship with the Indo (also called Sinjo), would result in ‘the degeneration and humiliation of the Chinese race’. See Sidharta, ‘The making of the Indonesian Chinese woman’, p. 71.

116 Liem, Valentine Chan, p. 108.

117 Similar criticisms are found in the press. See Chin and Hoogervorst, ‘From soetji to soendel’.

118 Liem, Valentine Chan, p. 69.

119 Ibid., pp. 77–8.

120 Ibid., p. 79.

121 Ibid., p. 91.

122 Ibid., p. 99.

123 Ibid., p. 100.

124 Chandra, ‘National fictions’, p. 139.

125 Among the most shocking and traumatic in post-independence public memory are the 1998 riots and mass raping of Indonesian Chinese women. See also Heryanto, Ariel, ‘Ethnic identities and erasure: Chinese Indonesians in public culture’, in Southeast Asian identities: Culture and the politics of representation in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, ed. Kahn, Joel S. (Singapore: ISEAS, 1998, pp. 95–114)Google Scholar, for his assessment of the ‘Chinese problem’ and their erasure under the New Order government (1966–98).