In the archipelago’s ancient story, several women popped up to show their existence and courage to be up against palogocentric’s society. They are Kunti, Sawitri, and Pembayun who conquered the power of patriarch’s society. Sawitri, for example, dared to sue the power of the gods. Kunti mastered the science of summoning gods. Thanks to Pembayun, Ki Ageng Mangir was successfully subdued. Prof. Dr. Suminto A Sayuti added in his presentation that the roots of feminism have been stuck for a long time on the archipelago.
The roots of archipelago feminism in Indonesian literature became the interesting topic in the National Seminar on Literature’s discussion on Wednesday, September 22. This event was organized by the DP2M Research Team (Prof. Wiyatmi, M.Hum. et al) in collaboration with the Indonesian Literature Study Program Faculty of Languages and Arts(FLA) UNY and HISKI UNY featured three competent speakers in their fields, namely Prof. Dr. Suminto A Sayuti, Prof. Aquarini Priyatna, M.A., M.Hum., and Prof. Dr. Wiyatmi, M.Hum. This national seminar event was held online and attended by 300 participants from various campuses in Indonesia.
Prof. Aquarini stated that when female writers’ write, they are trying to articulate and capture the diversity of women's lives, as well as their equality and experience. Writing is a way to make 'the mute voice' to be heard. Supporting Prof. Aquarini’s statement, Prof. Wiyatmi stated that the echoes of feminism in the early 2000s among academics and writers in Indonesia have given rise to the names of Indonesian women and writers who were previously forgotten.
Those three speakers then continued the discussion and plenary sessions featuring 15 co-workers from various universities after submitted their papers. "The seminar activities that became a regular event of the Indonesian Literature Study Program were very positive. Although the pandemic is still ongoing, academics and literary activists can still be creative in research and create works. In addition to being a scientific srawung, this event has the potential to bring up thoughts from Indonesian academics’ scholars," explained Dean of FBS UNY, Dr. Sri Harti Widyastuti. (
