"The use of literature as a medium to express social and political ideas is something that is common in the literary world, including in Arabic literature," he noted in his scientific oration entitled "Literature as a Medium of Diplomacy in an Effort to Gain Recognition of Independence" at the UI Depok Campus, here on Monday.
Arabic literature played a role in the cultural revolution during Napoleon Bonaparte's occupation of Egypt (1798–1801), he said.
Bonaparte came to Egypt with not only an army of soldiers, but also 167 scientists and printing presses. He then founded a scientific institute called Institute d’Egypte, which focused on several fields, including literary sciences and art.
According to him, Indonesia did not immediately receive recognition from the international community after the declaration of its independence on August 17, 1945.
One of the paths taken to get this recognition was diplomacy, both government-to-government as well as people-to-people.
"In the government-to-government diplomacy, the Indonesian government rallied international support by sending a delegation led by Haji Agus Salim to convince the international world, especially Arab countries, to recognize Indonesia's independence," he said.
Meanwhile, under people-to-people diplomacy, Ali Ahmad Bakatsir, a prominent Indonesian littérateur of Hadramaut descent, played an important role in convincing the Arab community of Indonesia's independence.
Bakatsir carried out diplomacy through literature, which led to Egypt becoming the first country to recognize Indonesia’s independence, followed by other Arab countries.
The study of literature and cultural diplomacy has not been developed much, thus, the insights shared by Professor Luthfi on the subject are expected to contribute greatly to the development of literary studies, especially on Arabic literature.
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Translator: Feru L, Kenzu
Editor: Sri Haryati
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