The Anthology, though conceived as primarily a systematic study of the national literature of the member countries, began at a certain point in time and working towards the present, each national team excavating and looking for literary treasures, perhaps for the first time, nonetheless will be a solid basis for the comparative study of ASEAN literature. Thus for this first volume comprising of five books, one from each country, Indonesia has chosen a variety of oral literary genres observed in different linguistic areas in Indonesia. Oral literature must be treated as part and parcel of Indonesian literature.