The Redundancy of Courage
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Script error: No such module "Infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Template:Wikidata image The Redundancy of Courage is a novel by Timothy Mo published in 1991.[1] It is set in the fictitious country of Danu in Southeast Asia, which is based on East Timor.[2] It is narrated by Adolph Ng, an ethnic Chinese businessman educated in Canada.[3][4] It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction.[5]
Plot introduction
Like East Timor, Danu is a former Portuguese colony north of Australia.[6] It is invaded and occupied by its giant neighbour, which is not named, but is based on Indonesia.[7] The people of the occupying country are referred to throughout the book as the malai.[8] This similar to malae, the word for foreigner in Tetum, East Timor's main language.[9] Danu is annexed by the malai and declared their 'fifty-eighth province',[10] over which their green and white flag is raised.[11]
Allusions/references to actual history and geography
Although the characters are fictional, they are closely based on people involved in events in East Timor during 1975.[12] Osvaldo Oliveira, commander of the FAKINTIL guerilla army, is based on Nicolau Lobato, who became Prime Minister following the unilateral declaration of independence in 1975, and Xanana Gusmão, who later became the first President of East Timor in 2002.[13] FAKOUM, the pro-independence party, is based on Fretilin.[14] FAKINTIL is similarly based on Falintil.[15][16]
Joaquim Lobato is based on exiled leader José Ramos-Horta (later Foreign Minister, Prime Minister and President).[17] Bill Mabbely is based on Australian journalist Roger East, who was killed by Indonesian troops in Dili on the day of the invasion.[17] The date of the malai invasion of Danu, 7 December, is the same as that of Indonesia's invasion of East Timor.[16][18]
Balibo, the town where five Australian-based journalists were killed,[19] is depicted in the novel, as is the killing of the journalists.[20]
References
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- ↑ Ng, John Lanchester, London Review of Books, Vol. 13 No. 9, 9 May 1991
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- ↑ Eugene Benson, Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English, Routledge, 2004, p. 1032.
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- ↑ Timothy Mo, The Redundancy of Courage, Vintage, 1992, p. 361.
- ↑ Mo, The Redundancy of Courage, 1992, p. 343.
- ↑ Timothy Mo's The Redundancy of Courage: An Outsider's View of Identity, The Journal of Commonwealth Literature, June 1, 1993, page 28
- ↑ Tapol Bulletin, Issue 105, June 1991, p. 24.
- ↑ Susanne Hagemann, Terranglian territories: proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on the Literature of Region and Nation, Peter Lang, 2000, p. 547.
- ↑ Inside Indonesia: Bulletin of the Indonesia Resources and Information Programme (IRIP), Issues 22-33, 1990, p. 33.
- ↑ a b Frédéric Durand, Timor, 1250-2005: 750 ans de cartographie et de voyages, Arkuiris, 2006, p. 462.
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Mo, The Redundancy of Courage, 1992, p. 3.
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- ↑ Mo, The Redundancy of Courage, 1992, pp. 92–95.
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External links
- Timothy Mo's The Redundancy of Courage, Meridian, BBC World Service, 25 April 1991