Description
The primary objective of this paper is to delve into the development of collective memories in post-conflict East Timor. It focuses on two crucial aspects of East Timorese national identity formation after regaining independence following the UN Referendum 21 years ago. These aspects are centred around the concepts of suffering ("funu") and struggle ("terus"). Two decades after the restoration of independence, the scars of the violence that characterised the Indonesian government's rule and the fight for independence still profoundly affect the lives of the East Timorese people. Thus, while the struggle for independence has concluded, the ongoing battle for memory and remembrance plays a central role in East Timorese society. This paper argues that to understand how suffering and struggle are depicted and remembered in contemporary East Timor, it is crucial to explore how memories are recollected through various means involving human and non-human bodies. Therefore, building upon the ongoing discussion within East Timorese society regarding the construction of the memory of the struggle for independence through official and non-official memorial sites, museums, archives, and policies, this paper aims to investigate how suffering and struggle can be represented through both human and non-human bodies. This paper will focus on the analysis of photographs by Elaine Brière and Steve Cox, artworks by Maria Madeira, East Timor memorial sites, official museums and performances made to remember the Santa Cruz Massacre in Díli, capital of East Timor and how these representations influence identity politics in East Timor.
