At the Schule fuer Dichtung yesterday evening, Ayu Utami read an excerpt in English from her novel, Saman. She also presented her SfD 2002 internet class, The Writing of Masochism, and her video parody, Jamu. Influenced by readings of the Austrian writer, Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, in the context of a colonial Indonesia, Ayu finds that “masochism and parody share a similar strategy in their treatment of what they regard as the representation of authority.” It was a lively and stimulating evening which, tongue in cheek, almost mirrored the insights gained during yesterday’s Vienna tour.
