English-version 'Wayang' loses something in translation<\/p>\n
By Dini S. Djalal<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The sight, even viewed closely, was familiar.<\/p>\n
Two pesinden (singers of traditional Javanese songs), sitting
\ndemurely in their red kebaya, let out a melancholy lament as
\ntheir male peers scaled the delicate melodies of a gamelan tune.
\nMallets fell on the gongs of the saron, cudgels struck the
\nxylophone-like gender, filling the room with wistful harmonies on
\nthe sly side of unpredictable.<\/p>\n
Behind a white screen flanked, at both ends with decorative
\nleather puppets, crouched the dalang, playwright and producer of
\nthe evening's wayang kulit (shadow puppet) performance.<\/p>\n
Then, just as jaded urban eyes were slowly adjusting to the
\nair of Javanese mysticism, a tray of Dunkin Donuts boxes was
\nushered by, somewhat marring the view. And when the dalang
\nlaunched the lakon (wayang storyline), introducing the Pandawa
\nbrothers of India's Mahabharata epic in slightly hesitant
\nEnglish, astonished spectators describing the event no longer had
\nuse of words such as \"ordinary\".<\/p>\n
Extraordinary, odd, incomprehensible, mind-boggling, yawn-
\ninducing: these were the adjectives bouncing between the walls of
\nthe American Embassy Club last Saturday night. One-in-a-million
\ncan also describe this rare wayang kulit performance in English.
\nUnfortunately, the distinction wasn't enough for the restless who
\nwalked out halfway through the show, already shortened to two
\nhours from the usual nine hours.<\/p>\n
\"I'm Western, I tried to follow the script and there wasn't
\nany. The puppetry is magic, but it was just such hard work trying
\nto understand,\" said an escapee from the audience.<\/p>\n
The weary observers probably just didn't know what they were
\nmissing. As the plot onstage thickened, more and more Indonesians
\nstreamed in, their eyes intermittently glued to the stage and
\nthen wandering -- just like in traditional wayang performances.
\nHindered by linguistic obstacles it was far from perfect, the
\nthought-provoking show was nevertheless a brave venture into
\nunexplored territory.<\/p>\n
Tradition<\/p>\n
Among the myriad of arts embellishing Javanese society, few
\nrival epoch-enduring wayang in social and even political
\nimportance. Having a 2000-year history pre-dating Hinduism's
\narrival to the archipelago in the 1st century A.D., wayang was
\nfirst an animist means of communicating with one's ancestors.
\nDalangs mediated between the living and the dead whose shadows
\ncame and went on the screen dimly lit by lanterns.<\/p>\n
When Hinduism (and later Buddhism) permeated Java's kingdoms,
\nlocal leaders used this spellbinding media to spread the word of
\ntheir new religion, eventually transplanting Indian heroes and
\nstories in place of the indigenous ones. What remained of the
\nnative touch were the domestic settings and the beloved panakawan
\n-- the wise clowns Petruk, Gareng, and Semar.<\/p>\n
And it's these court jesters, particularly Semar, who embody
\nwayang's philosophical soul, at least for the Javanese. Semar is
\nstout, lumbering, and full of bad jokes, much like the common
\nman, but his unpretentious judgment commands unparalleled power
\n-- perhaps because his ordinariness is so easy to relate to. In
\nwayang's multifarious world, Semar is not just the chief clown
\npoking fun at the state of the nation; he's also chief deity.<\/p>\n
Yet as any language novice unintentionally throwing down
\ninsults instead of jokes will concede, humor is often the first
\nvictim of translation.<\/p>\n
Clowning<\/p>\n
Unabashedly rowdy humor, often what makes all-night wayang
\nperformances so engaging, was the first thing noticeably absent
\nfrom the English show. Blame this, and the show's other
\nshortcomings, on the language barrier, explained the show's
\namateur dalang Siswadi Atmoyuwono.<\/p>\n
Editing of the clowning segments (guyonan), he said, was
\nnecessary partly to save time -- \"the jokes could have gone for
\nan hour and I don't think they're that necessary\" -- but also
\nbecause they wouldn't muster much laughter.<\/p>\n
\"If I had translated the jokes into English, it just wouldn't
\nhave been so funny,\" said Siswadi, a native of Madiun who's job
\nwith the Department of Agriculture had taken him all across
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
It wouldn't be so easy, either. Although Siswadi became a
\nlanguage instructor at LIA (Language Institute of America) in
\n1975, he confesses, \"My English isn't that good, but it's good
\nenough.\" And although he has been a dalang for eight years,
\nperforming in Javanese at LIA, he says he was \"more than a little
\nnervous\" at performing in English.<\/p>\n
\"Wayang doesn't have any text, it's all improvisation. Imagine
\nimprovising all that in English,\" he said.<\/p>\n
If it was hard work for the dalang, it was even more difficult
\nfor some members of the audience. Yet when reminded that non-
\nIndonesian watchers were losing the plot, Siswadi replied that
\nwayang is an accumulated cultural experience rather than a
\nsingular performance. The key is familiarity.<\/p>\n
\"If people don't know the story to begin with, of course it's
\nhard for them to follow,\" said Siswadi, referring to the enduring
\npopularity of the wayang stories in Indonesian popular culture.
\nLiving with all-night wayang shows and folk theater in the
\ncountryside, and stage dances and television shows in the cities,
\nmany Javanese grow up with wayang tales as bedtime stories.<\/p>\n
Siswadi was more apologetic about the event's poor sound
\nsystem, which often obscured the clarity of the monologue.<\/p>\n
A script garbled by faulty technology, however, cannot be
\nblamed on the language barrier. But another problem Siswadi found
\nchallenging to overcome was the difficulty in modulating his
\nvoice in a second language.<\/p>\n
Mastering a vocal range of up to nine tonal and pitch
\nvariations is part of the dalang's curriculum, as he alternates
\nfrom aping the coarse Raksasa to the gentle Arjuna. A dalang,
\nafter all, is not only the director of all the scenes, juggling
\nup to six puppets at a time, but also all the actors.<\/p>\n
\"It's so much easier changing your voice in Javanese. I was
\ntrying to modulate my voice, but sometimes these Javanese words
\nwould just come out!\" said Siswadi.<\/p>\n
Siswadi was encouraged, however, by the positive feedback
\ngiven despite the show's faults. Enthusiastic support is what
\nwill keep Siswadi \"experimenting\" with the wayang craft.<\/p>\n
\"I don't know if he was just paying lip service or not, but
\nafter the show, this man told me he finally understood what
\nwayang is all about!\" said Siswadi.<\/p>\n
And exactly what of the story's philosophical messages did his
\nnewfound fan pick up? Confessing that efforts at wayang education
\nshould be taken one small step at time, Siswadi laughed: \"I don't
\nthink he got that far.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/english-version-wayang-loses-something-in-translation-1447893297",
"image": ""
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