Polite teacher looks at human absurdity<\/p>\n
Evi Mariani
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
After sinking themselves in the dark, absurd and insane world of
\nBudi Darma's novel Olenka and short-story collection Orang-orang
\nBloomington, some readers made the trip to meet the author in
\nperson.<\/p>\n
They all returned with the same news: Budi Darma is -- to an
\nalmost disappointing level -- a polite man.<\/p>\n
Wearing thick glasses and dressed conservatively, he speaks
\nwith the reserve and polite manner of an old-fashioned teacher of
\nmorals.<\/p>\n
The person who wrote about wild sex on a table and insane
\nthoughts of an alienated man who wanted to yank the arms of two
\npoor children from their joints said he appeared that way because
\nbefore he was essentially a teacher.<\/p>\n
Budi Darma, 68, has lectured for decades at the English
\nDepartment of the State University of Surabaya (Unesa, formerly
\nIKIP Surabaya), where he once was the rector in the 1980s.<\/p>\n
"As a teacher, I had to set a good example especially for the
\nstudents. Everywhere, I try to speak the language properly and
\nappear neat," he told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the
\nLiterary Biennale in Jakarta last week.<\/p>\n
When he was young, he said, he always wanted to be a teacher.
\nSo his good manners somehow stemmed from his aspirations to be a
\nteacher.<\/p>\n
Choosing his words carefully, Budi explained that, when he
\nwrote fiction, he was not a teacher but an author.<\/p>\n
"That's why there is a contrast between my everyday demeanor
\nand my literature," he added.<\/p>\n
Moreover, his literature mirrored his concerns about humanity,
\nwhile his teaching job demanded that he think about the future of
\nhis students, so in his daily life as a teacher, he is an
\noptimist, he said.<\/p>\n
"But as an author I look at the world and that life is dark,"
\nhe added.<\/p>\n
The author, who was born in Rembang, Central Java, on April
\n25, 1937, received an Achmad Bakrie Award in August from the
\nFreedom Institute for literary achievement.<\/p>\n
In the citation, the Freedom Institute wrote: "In Budi Darma's
\nhands, the Indonesian language is able to deftly grasp absurdity
\nthat is often considered an experience only European logic and
\nlanguage can fathom.<\/p>\n
"Either in the absurd or in the realistic, in the automatic
\nwriting or in the more-programmed style, there are things that
\nalways remain a part of Budi Darma's signature style. Short,
\neloquent and orderly sentences which have a burst of vocabulary
\nfrom colloquial speech or local languages here and there; a
\ndepiction that avoids the use of the third person; and his
\npoliteness in elaborating the insanity of the characters. All of
\nthose characteristics provide readers with an irony and dark
\nhumor unrivaled by other writers," it reads.<\/p>\n
The paper also mentioned that among all Budi Darma's works of
\nfiction, Olenka, Orang-orang Bloomington (People of Bloomington)
\nand Kritikus Adinan (Adinan the Critic) are the most important.<\/p>\n
He wrote all the stories in three books in the 1970s when he
\nwas abroad, largely when he studied for a master's degree and
\nlater a PhD at Indiana University in the U.S. Orang-orang
\nBloomington, released in 1980 was his first published work of
\nfiction, while Olenka, which he wrote in less than three weeks,
\nwas published three years later.<\/p>\n
Kritikus Adinan was published in 2002, although it contained a
\ncollection of stories he wrote in the 1970s.<\/p>\n
Besides the three titles, Budi Darma also wrote novels Rafilus
\nin 1988 and later Ny. Talis (Mrs. Talis) in 1996.<\/p>\n
However, the latter two, which he wrote partly in Indonesia
\namid his tight schedule as a professor, did not gain as much
\nattention as the other three.<\/p>\n
While he was in the U.S. his main activity was to finish his
\ndissertation to give him time for writing fiction there.<\/p>\n
"I wrote Olenka in less than three weeks. I'd lock myself up
\nin my apartment, eating and sleeping only when I had to. I was
\nhibernating," he said.<\/p>\n
He launched himself into a writing frenzy after he met a woman
\nand two shabby boys in the elevator of his apartment.<\/p>\n
"The woman -- her face, the way she spoke and everything else
\nabout her -- reminded me of a character in a short story of Anton
\nChekhov, which I read when I was in junior high school," he said.<\/p>\n
The Chekhov character, he said, was a woman who always had bad
\nluck every time she married someone.<\/p>\n
When she married a theater worker, she talked about the
\ntheater world passionately as if it were her world. When she
\nmarried a carpenter she continuously talked about carpentry as if
\nit was her sole life source, Budi Darma said.<\/p>\n
Since then, Budi Darma became obsessed with the character.
\nWhen he saw the "elevator woman", he was overwhelmed by the urge
\nto write something.<\/p>\n
"I thought I would write a short story. But, surprisingly, I
\njust went on -- I couldn't stop," he recollected.<\/p>\n
And that was how Olenka was conceived.<\/p>\n
The two urchins he saw in the elevator also appeared in
\nKeluarga M (M Family), a short story in Orang-orang Bloomington,
\nwhich he wrote during the same three weeks.<\/p>\n
It has been almost 30 years since Budi Darma wrote his
\nmonumental, critically acclaimed fiction.<\/p>\n
When he retires as a professor at 70 (in 2007), will he write
\nanother masterpiece during his peaceful retirement?<\/p>\n
"I'm not sure. Because after my retirement, I will become an
\nemeritus professor, which carries the same workload as a
\nprofessor, but probably even more so," Budi Darma said.<\/p>\n
So, when would he have time to write fiction again?<\/p>\n
"Yaa, that's the problem," he replied.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bpolite-teacher-looks-at-human-absurdityb-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }