Birney's clash of cultures from within<\/p>\n
-----------------------------
\nIkan Tanpa Salah (A Blameless Fish)
\nAlfred Birney, Galang Press, 2004
\n277 pp
\n-----------------------------<\/p>\n
Sherry Samtani, Contributor\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesia's fight for freedom from the Dutch in the last century
\nwas the driving motif behind all forms of arts, so much so that
\ntoday many find the subject to be hackneyed. But the recently
\nlaunched Ikan Tanpa Salah by the Eurasian author Alfred Birney,
\nmakes the issue both fresh and contemporary.<\/p>\n
A familiar face in Dutch literary circles, Birney still
\nremains relatively unknown here despite his Indonesian heritage.
\nHis previous novel, translated from the Dutch original, Lalu Ada
\nBurung (And Then Came a Bird), was a mild success in sales, but
\nwas critically acclaimed for its melancholic depiction of the
\neffects of war on the post-war, second generation.<\/p>\n
Ikan Tanpa Salah, a translation of Den Onschuld Van Een Vis
\nwith a foreword by Jakob Sumardjo, seems set to follow in its
\nliterary footsteps with a similar focus.<\/p>\n
The emphasis on the second generation originates from Birney's
\nown life as the son of a soldier of mixed parentage, who fought
\nfor the Netherlands as colonialism was on the wane in the
\narchipelago. His novel, in fact, consists of fictitious elements
\ntrickled into a background that is completely his and enriched by
\nhis colorful heritage.<\/p>\n
The man with the salt and pepper mane was born in The Hague in
\n1951. Birney's mother was pure Dutch but his father was a melting
\npot of cultures -- the illegitimate son of a Dutchman who resided
\nin the Dutch East Indies and his Chinese-Indonesian concubine.<\/p>\n
Birney's father was brought up single-handedly by his mother,
\ncementing the Oriental culture that would later be a source of
\nfascination for his own offspring. As Indonesia struggled for
\nfreedom, he battled for the Dutch and witnessed firsthand the
\nhorrors of war, unyielding memories that haunted him and his
\nfamily in the years to come.<\/p>\n
Being multiracial in the 1950s was no easy task for the young
\nAlfred. Carrying Indonesian genes in a Netherlands that was still
\nbitter about its loss of a lucrative colonial outpost was even
\nharder. Birney struggled from an early age, falling in the shadow
\nbetween his birthplace and the land of his heritage -- a shadow
\nthat still shrouded him as he forayed into the literary world.<\/p>\n
A musician until the age of 30, a near fatal accident while
\nperforming martial arts ended his musical aspirations. A lover of
\nliterature, he ventured into writing, drawing inspiration from
\npersonal dilemmas -- his ambivalence regarding the cultures of
\neither parent, the horror's of his father's past and the urgent
\nneed to find a sense of belonging.<\/p>\n
These three issues are extensively highlighted in Ikan Tanpa
\nSalah. The story centers around Edu, a history teacher, who upon
\nthe orders of his mother must empty his father's house, a martial
\nart's teacher who departed to his birthplace, Indonesia, and
\nabandoned his entire family.<\/p>\n
The father, a didactic, austere mixed Indonesian-Dutch,
\nrepresented the Netherlands during Indonesia's freedom struggle,
\nbut his sadistic inclinations did not end with his prisoners;
\ninstead he treated his children with the same venom. The only
\nbeings spared from the abuse were his fish.<\/p>\n
In a story that spans over 12 days but continuously sways
\nbetween the present and past, the hatred and estrangement felt by
\nEdu starts to dissolve as he explores the house, with each object
\nevoking memories both tragic and dear. In a desperate plight to
\nunderstand his sworn enemy, Edu befriends his father's Indonesian
\nconcubine.<\/p>\n
Strong rhetoric and enigmatic symbolism make the novel an
\ninteresting read as the protagonist walks the thin line between
\nhatred and love. The plot itself lacks lustre but scores on a
\nstylistic approach that is deliberately slow.<\/p>\n
Birney classifies himself as a \"new world\" author, a new genre
\nfor writers like himself, who discover their own culture through
\ntheir work. His works definitely provide food for thought, with
\nminuscule details and ideas that take him years to turn into a
\nfull-fledged novel.<\/p>\n
Ikan Tanpa Salah is a novel that should be relished in parts,
\nand is definitely not recommended for those in favor of a quick
\nread.<\/p>",
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