Recollections of a lost kingdom: The varied interactions between history and memory in South Sulawesi,Indonesia

Abstract

This paper looks at the ways in which the Bugis of South Sulawesi, Indonesia remember their distant past. The example of Allangkanangngé ri Latanété, a palace site of the legendary polity of Cina, exemplifies how memories are mediated by cultural practices and socio-historical factors, as well as how they are included and excluded from histories, over a long period of time and through massive social changes. These social changes include the transition from a non-literate to a literate society, the demise of Cina and rise of agricultural kingdoms, colonialism, independence, and the advent of the digital age. The case of Allangkanangngé and Cina exemplifies how forgetting can serve new political situations; the way in which popular folk culture can maintain a memory despite historiographical oblivion; and the extent to which the Indonesian government is willing to appropriate history for nationalist purposes. It also exemplifies how history and memory can be synergistic or separate at different points in time.