Women are frequently positioned as custodians of the domestic sphere, a space often perceived as safe, despite having to navigate vulnerabilities and complexities that originate both inside and outside it.
The domestic is often seen as a safe space, while female characters - who are frequently linked to the domestic - are commonly given the responsibility of safeguarding that space, even though the external world has become too perilous or the domestic itself has become too complex to remain safe.
This was one of several subjects touched on by two writers of Indonesian heritage currently residing in Australia: Tiffany Tsao and Intan Paramaditha, when SBS Indonesian caught up with them after their appearance as speakers in a discussion about speculative fiction facilitated by the Writing and Society Research Centre at Western Sydney University.
Intan is known as an academic and fiction writer who has published several works such as Gentayangan - translated as The Wandering, and Sihir Perempuan, translated as Apple and Knife.
Tsao is a translator, editor and fiction writer who has published works such as The Oddfits and The Majesties.
The discussion covered their processes in writing fiction, the translation processes in literature, and issues within the world of literature, especially those linked to Southeast Asian Culture - Indonesian in particular, and women. Two of their works became the focus of the discussion: Intan’s Night of a Thousand Horrors, or Malam Seribu Jahanam and Tsao’s But Won’t I Miss Me.
Malam Seribu Jahanam was published in Indonesia in 2003 and is scheduled to be published in Australia in English in 2027, Intan said.
“This book is about three sisters - actually there is one more character, but it starts with three sisters who, in the beginning of the book, underwent an incident that was highly shocking, which was their sister committing a suicide bombing,” she said.
Tsao, meanwhile, said that But Won’t I Miss Me takes place in a reality where a woman who is to give birth will also give birth to another version of her who will kill and eat the old self.
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