Just before he left Indonesia, Wright delivered a lecture at the Balai Budaja in Jakarta that was later published in Indonesian translation in the newspaper Indonesia Raya. The Indonesian-language version of the lecture appears to be a more polished, sometimes redacted version of a set of typewritten notes, now held by Yale University’s Beinecke Library, that Wright made in preparation for a lecture in Indonesia. Neither version has previously been published in English. The text presented here draws on both the Indonesian-language version and the sections of Wright’s notes that are omitted from it; possible reasons for the omissions are addressed in the commentary. The lecture provides insight into the East-West thematic characteristic of Wright’s other lectures of this period; it also illustrates his response to debates taking place in the Indonesian literary world at this time that he had encountered in discussions with his Indonesian hosts.