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Monuments and Memorials: Funu, Terus, and Constructing an East Timorese National Identity

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Political Symbols and National Identity in Timor-Leste

Part of the book series: Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies ((RCS))

Abstract

This chapter analyses monuments and memorials as key markers of national identity, embedded in the landscape. Taking examples of military, religious, and civilian monuments and memorials, it explores the symbolic representation of struggle and suffering as core tenets of contemporary East Timorese nationalism. Memorials and commemorative monuments take on a heightened significance in post-conflict states, especially in the East Timorese context where the presence of the dead is keenly felt and believed to have an active influence on social life. An analysis of these identity symbols reveals numerous symbolic conflicts: from the appropriation of nationalist figures by the Indonesian state and post-independence re-appropriation by the East Timorese people, to grassroots memorials that claim ownership of key symbols of nationalism that had previously been monopolised by the resistance-era leadership. Memorials and commemorations built at a grassroots level raise issues of victimhood and recognition, and an analysis of the Santa Cruz memorial elucidates how state national identity narratives can be contested, negotiated, and influenced from the bottom-up.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Interview and transcript in English.

  2. 2.

    The role of a nameless figure that is simultaneously representative of everyone and no one has great significance in the imagination of the ‘nation,’ as discussed by Anderson with regards the Unknown Soldier (Anderson 2006, pp. 9–10).

  3. 3.

    ‘It is these symbols that make us Timorese people firmly believe and fight until Timor governs itself. Because of this, these symbols are very important for us’. This translation and all others in this chapter are my own.

  4. 4.

    As Chapter 2 has demonstrated, flags are powerful symbols of political power in an East Timorese cultural context, and the presence of flags at the Heroes Monument further an understanding of the site as one of authority and reverence.

  5. 5.

    In my field research in Timor-Leste, when monuments were raised in a discussion of identity symbols, the statues of Pope John Paul II and Cristo Rei were two examples that were frequently cited.

  6. 6.

    Elizabeth Traube affirms that the specific understanding of suffering in Timor-Leste in relation to national identity is connected to Catholic principles of sacrifice and salvation: ‘the nation was won through suffering and sacrifice; it was “purchased”, the saying goes, “not with silver or gold, but with the blood of the people” (ba los nor os-butin nor os-meran fe al, mas nor povu ni laran). Suffering is often associated with nationhood in official nationalist discourses, while the notion of its “purchasing” power resonates with the Christian economy of salvation’ (2007, p. 10).

  7. 7.

    As they were faced with an increasingly dire situation, the East Timorese clergy became more outspoken in their criticisms of the Vatican’s neutrality, particularly under the leadership of Monsignor Martinho da Costa Lopes and Bishop Belo, the first two indigenous East Timorese Bishops of Dili (Pascoe 2006, pp. 124–130). These criticisms culminated in Pope John Paul II’s visit (Leach 2017, p. 92).

  8. 8.

    It should be noted that for years the Vatican was known for its caution in dealing with matters concerning Timor-Leste, due to the delicate position of the large Catholic population in Indonesia (Kohen 2001, p. 50).

  9. 9.

    In 1984, the Pope insisted to the Indonesian ambassador to the Vatican that there should be regard given ‘in every circumstance to the ethnic, political and cultural identity of the [East Timorese] people’ (Taylor 1999, p. 154). However, the reference to the ‘political’ identity was omitted shortly after for diplomatic reasons (Leach 2017, p. 92; Pascoe 2006; Crowe 1997).

  10. 10.

    Indeed, while the Pope stated that the visit was ‘pastoral and had no political significance’, his actions there—including refusing to kiss the ground upon arrival at the airport, a traditional sign of respect for the host country on state visits—implied that he and the Church did not recognise the annexation by Indonesia (Haberman 1989).

  11. 11.

    ‘When Pope [John Paul II] visited Timor in 1989 at Tasi Tolu is was a unique moment and a big help towards independence’.

  12. 12.

    Mate Restu is situated in Covalima, Rate Laek in Liquica and Novi Novi in Maliana. These groups are supported and endorsed by national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), without which they would be unlikely to have much impact.

  13. 13.

    Estimates for the number of East Timorese killed range from 54 by the Indonesia authorities to over 200 by East Timorese eyewitnesses. The number of disappeared is also estimated to be over 200 (see Blau and Fondebrider 2010, pp. 1–26).

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  1. Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK

    Catherine E. Arthur

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Arthur, C.E. (2019). Monuments and Memorials: Funu, Terus, and Constructing an East Timorese National Identity. In: Political Symbols and National Identity in Timor-Leste. Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98782-8_3

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