INDONESIA began with a void. Indonesia began with the word not.

On that morning of August 17, 1945, what happened was a dislocation. Suddenly, the image of collectivity (more often called a country or nation) that had been presented to the masses was overturned: an image that had been formed and tended by colonialism. Dutch rule collapsed with ease under Japanese attack, and the Japanese took over. But then, suddenly the Japanese lost. Suddenly, t