Collective Memory and Intergenerational Trauma in Kretek Girls: A Literary Psychology Perspective

Abstract

The political violence of 1965 in Indonesia generated enduring individual and collective trauma that continues to be represented in literary narratives. This study examines the representation of collective memory and intergenerational trauma in Ratih Kumala’s Gadis Kretek from a literary psychology perspective. It specifically analyzes the traumatic experiences of Dasiyah and the transmission of traumatic memory to subsequent generations. This study employs a descriptive qualitative method with close reading and content analysis. The analysis draws on Maurice Halbwachs’s concept of collective memory, Cathy Caruth’s theory of trauma and delayed experience, and Marianne Hirsch’s concept of postmemory. The findings reveal three interconnected patterns. First, the arrest and repression experienced by Dasiyah and her family represent the construction of collective trauma within the social and political context of the 1965 violence. Second, Dasiyah’s post-detention experiences are represented through delayed psychological responses, emotional withdrawal, avoidance, silence, and disruptions in personal identity. Third, traumatic memory is transmitted to the subsequent generation through familial silence, fragmented narratives, and material objects, particularly the secret kretek sauce recipe and the Kretek Gadis product. These findings indicate that Gadis Kretek represents historical trauma not only through the direct experiences of its characters but also through the ways traumatic memories are preserved, concealed, and reconstructed across generations. The novel consequently provides a literary representation of the relationship between individual trauma, collective memory, and intergenerational transmission in the aftermath of political violence.