Dialogues with Timor-Leste’s gerasaun independensia: is there room for other histories?

Abstract

In Timor-Leste, the life experiences of individuals are intertwined with distinct historical times and social contexts, which include Portuguese colonialism, Japanese occupation, the struggle for independence from a second coloniser nation (Indonesia), a UN administration and, finally, self-government. Similarly to other colonised nations, these ‘encounters with modernity’2 produced a plurality of experiences in ordinary people’s lives (Waterson 2007, 3). In the case of Timor-Leste, these were built upon prevailing world views, moral regimes and governing systems of pre-colonial times, known as kultura or lisan, which are central in East Timorese society.