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William Rose Benet 1945: 46-48 states that poetry does not always fulfilled its technical excellence because poetry of war lacks in technical excellence but he
properly asserts that in reaction of human experience, in usefulness to man, it justifies the claim that, the story of liberty is also the story of the great poetry. Freedom has
historically been associated with love of the country as people have struggled for centuries for freedom by using poetry. Poetry is a plea for social justice in the society
where freedom is still only a name. One of the countries that just gained its independence in the early twenty first
century is Timor Leste. Timor Leste declared its independence from Portugal in November 1975, but was invaded by Indonesia nine days later. Timor Leste was later
incorporated as the 27
th
province of Indonesia afterwards. During the two-decade occupation subsequently, the pacification campaign followed. Although Indonesia did
make substantial investment in infrastructures during its occupation in Timor Leste, the dissatisfaction remained.
Xanana Gusmao, the charismatic leader and the poet, used poetry to record the social condition of the society in which the colonialism and the political system
destroy the Timorese. The discrimination committed to the Timorese known as “Other”, in Portuguese called Maubere and in Indonesian known as GPK Gerakan
Pengacau Keamanan or a small band of rebels “rebels” was commonly seen in daily
life.
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To fight against colonialism, Xanana used poems to record the social condition of the society in which the colonisers used their ideology, culture and
system as destructive power towards the Timorese. The discrimination committed to the Timorese called “Other” was commonly seen in daily life.
After his interview with Xanana Gusmao on May 24 1995, Craig Cormick, Green Left Weekly correspondent, wrote that Xanana‟s capture and imprisonment did
not stop him to free his people and country by using poems: One year ago, on May 21st, the East Timorese resistance leader Xanana
Gusmao, was found guilty of plotting against the Indonesian state and illegal possession of firearms, and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The sentence
was later reduced to 20 years. A poet and journalist as well as guerrilla, Xanana has continued fighting for the freedom of his people from behind the
bars. His only weapons now are his thoughts and a pen Cormick, 1994.
BBC Asia Pacific describes Xanana Gusmao as a „Warrior‟ poet because he wrote many poems in his life, in the jungle, and prison; moreover, his struggle was
not only through arms but also through literature BBC Asia Pacific n.p. May 9, 2007.
Based on the comments, and the interview above, Xanana explicitly does not only want to give readers a portrait of the real condition in Timor Leste and the
complexity of the colonial but also to expose the struggle and the destiny of his country.
The writer is interested in analyzing Xanana‟s poems because his poems expose the real condition in Timor Leste after Portuguese and Indonesian Military
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occupation. His poems contain the description of Timorese society‟s lives while their well being is under colonial hegemony.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on Gusmao‟s poems, the problems are formulated into these following questions.
1. How is Timorese‟s struggle for freedom described in the poem? 2. What is the concept of freedom reflected in the poem?
C. Objectives of the Study
Considering the problems formulated above, the objectives of the study are: 1. To find out
Timorese‟s struggle for freedom described in the poem; 2. To find out the concept of freedom reflected in the poem.
Xanana‟s poems represent how Timorese society struggles to defend their country from colonialism and to prove that the poem present post-colonialism and the
concept of freedom. It is very important to understand the main idea of the Timorese struggle that Xanana portrays in the poem because this thesis focuses on the struggle
and how Xanana portrays the Timorese‟s struggle and the concept of freedom as reflected in the poem.
Xanana‟s poems give readers a better understanding on how the Timorese struggles for their freedom. Furthermore, through these poems, the readers may learn
about the colonial hegemony which happened in Timor Leste. While enjoying these poems, the readers also learn about the author‟s life and some elements in the making
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of these poems, such as imagery, tone, and historical background of the works. The readers can also find the author‟s commentary on the Timorese‟s struggle. In his
poems, Xanana states that by the virtue of the principal of equal rights, all people have the right to be free from occupation and colonialism.
D. Definition of Terms 1. Timorese
Timorese also known as people from the east are the indigenous people of Timor Leste consisting of a variety of ethnic groups who are able to speak
Portuguese, Bahasa Indonesia, and some 16 indigenous languages. There are 12 indigenous groups of Timorese in Timor Leste and most of the indigenous groups are
Austronesian. There are also 4 other indigenous groups including Bunak, the
Fataluku, and the Makasae which are predominantly Papuan. 2. Struggle
Frantze Fanon 1967: 53 defines struggle as „struggle‟ for ethnic, cultural, and political autonomy. For colonized people, struggle against European and U.S.
imperialism is done in order to liberate the country and national restoration. Meanwhile, Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little in Lipsitz, 1988: 147 defines struggle
as a process of individual or society to take direct action against the conditions that oppress them and let them assert the rights to act as they choose, since black people
risk their lives for the “privilege” of drinking a cup of coffee at lunch counter next to white people; further, he argues that such strugg
le searches for “equality” rather than
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“justice.” Anya Topolski, 2010: 14-15 describes struggle as a form of individual‟s
action towards others and the most important one is injustice. 3. Freedom
Freedom is the condition of being free, the power to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints, which mean free from oppression. In Webster
New Twentieth Century Dictionary, the word freedom is defined as liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another and political right. T. H. Green
1881: 200 says, “The ideal of true freedom is the maximum of power for all members of human society alike
to make the best of themselves.”
4. Society
Jean L. McKechnie 1983:1723 defines the word „society‟ as the system or condition of living together as a community. Della Summer 1992: 1259 defines that
society is people in general with regard to the structure of law organizations that make it possible for them to live together; it also means a particular broad group of
people who share law organizations, customs, etc. H.G. Emery and K.G Brewster 1952: 1759 explain that society is the social mode of living of a community or
human being collectively regarded as a body divided into classes graded to worldly status.
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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A. Review of Related Studies
Poetry and struggle for freedom. Liberation poetry is rich in just and profound human aspirations. Inside poetry, the poet abstract and subtracts himself from his own
interest to identify with those of his people. In this relationship of abstraction and identification, the poet finds his own self in the struggle through his direct daily
participation in the political and socio-economic transformation of human environment. As the researchers namely Irene Marques 2003, Chidi Amuta 1989
A.R Bras 1982, R. Victoria Arana 2008 have defined in their work, poetry has become an important part of poets in struggling against colonial hegemony in
oppressed nations. To use Fanon‟s words 1968:240, it is a “literature of combat.” African poetry has become a part of their struggle against colonialism.
Throughout the continent, poets expose oppression and cruelty associated with the colonial as well as its power. One of the poets is Angolan first president, Agustinho
Neto, whose poems expose Portuguese hegemony in Angola. Chris Brazier in The New Internationalist
1988: 28 describes him as “revolutionary, spinning his dreams and inspirational calls to arms from inside prison cells and giving the chance to turn
imagination into reality as the first President of independent Angola. ”
Marques 2003:6 in her article Postcolonial African Consciousness and the Poetry of Agustinho Neto
discusses Neto‟s Sacred Hope 1974 reveals that poetry is
