Jurneying through time with Goenawan's lyrical prose<\/p>\n
kata, waktu - esai-esai goenawan mohamad 1960 - 2001
\n(word, time - goenawan mohamad's essays of 1960 - 2001);
\nTEMPO Data and Analysis Center, 2001; xxv + 1493 pp; Rp 95,000<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Noted essayist, poet and journalist Goenawan
\nMohamad produces poems full of fresh expressions, relying on
\ncommon language that is charged with lyrical emotion.<\/p>\n
This quality is also found in his numerous essays, a
\ncombination of a poet's insight and linguistic sensitivity and a
\njournalist's observant eye to the happenings taking place around
\nhim. Few writers are like him in that he has maintained over a
\nperiod of four decades his regular essay writing, particularly
\nthose he writes for Tempo magazine.<\/p>\n
This collection of essays, published in conjunction with
\nGoenawan's 60th birthday this year, is the manifestation of his
\nacute observation of what has been going on in this country.
\nReading this book is like watching a mosaic of events take shape
\nto form the Indonesia we know today.<\/p>\n
Like his poems, which demonstrate his skill in using common
\nlanguage for his controlled but emotion-charged expressions,
\nGoenawan's essays are always fresh to read as they mix his poetic
\nemotion, journalistic observance and careful use of language. His
\nuse of ordinary words in ways that arouse poetic emotions on the
\npart of the readers more often than not drives home his message.<\/p>\n
His pieces reflect the borderline of what we now know as
\nliterary journalism and journalistic literature. On the one hand
\nhis essays may be considered literary pieces written in a
\njournalistic manner. They are literature in that they offer
\nGoenawan's philosophical insight into events, just like a writer
\nmakes use of an event to get across his philosophical ideas.<\/p>\n
These pieces, however, at the same time read like journalistic
\npieces with a literary flair. His use of commonplace words in a
\npoetic manner evoke in our memory the strength of his poems.<\/p>\n
Journalistic prose and poetry blend together in his essays,
\ndemonstrating that he has combined with great ease the vernacular
\n-- the language of the man in the street -- and the language of
\nthe intellectuals to convey even the most complex philosophical
\nideas.<\/p>\n
Consider the following: \"Man exists and meets himself in
\nnature with all his marvels so how can he wish to die in silence
\nand in limitless solitude, while confronting him are fragrances,
\ncolors and voices that reverberate.\" Or, similarly, \"However, as
\nliterature brings us closer to a world devoid of innocence and
\nmonotony, it brings us closer to hope, to the coziness of life.\"<\/p>\n
Notice the opening of one of the essays: \"Martyrs die as a
\nbeginning.\" This is a succinct but powerful expression to begin
\nan essay. It is poetry in its terseness, summing up the grand
\nidea that Goenawan pours forth in this essay about Jan Palach,
\nthe Czechoslovakian student who in the cold winter of 1969 burned
\nhimself to death in protest of the communist Czechoslovakian
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
Similar examples of poetic and expressive sentences abound
\nthroughout the book. Flipping through the pages, you will easily
\nspot poetically fresh expressions that lend esthetic weight to
\nGoenawan's essays.<\/p>\n
Linguistic excellence apart, the essays in this collection --
\nnumbering about 650 pieces, selected from a total of some 1,000
\nessays -- is a demonstration of Goenawan's interest in and
\nencyclopedic knowledge of world and domestic events and figures
\nin the world's course of social, political and artistic history.
\nThese essays are comments on contemporary events and figures, an
\ninexhaustible source of information about human development that
\nGoenawan seems to have never once stopped tapping.<\/p>\n
Reading through this collection of essays will bring you to a
\nphilosophical height from which you will see an expansive vista
\nmade up of a mosaic of social, political and artistic events that
\nlure you invitingly to reflect upon their meaning. It is this
\nreflection upon those events that Goenawan presents in his
\nessays. At times he is a just an onlooker, objectively watching
\nhow circumstances evolve in the passage of time. However, at
\nother times, he is deeply involved in the twist and turns of
\nevents, pouring forth in his essays his ideas based on his
\nfirsthand experiences of taking part in man's struggle for
\nliberation from the shackles of both traditionalism and modernism
\nfor his development as a free man.<\/p>\n
In this light, it is clear why many of Goenawan's essays are a
\ndenunciation of man's subjugation to any form of oppression in
\nthe course of human history. As he writes in one of his essays:
\n\"A tyrant or a Hitler can make a thousand slogans each and every
\nday but he will never be able to make a true poem.\" His reason is
\nsimple -- a poem gives room to free conversation. Goenawan longs
\nto see a situation where human beings have room for free
\nconversation, for communication, something which is increasingly
\nmissing in this modern world.<\/p>\n
Most of the essays in this collection were first published in
\nTempo weekly magazine in a one-page column known as Sideline. The
\nSideline essays were previously collected in several volumes and
\nhave been acclaimed as brilliant essays not only intellectually
\nbut also linguistically. To fit everything on one page, Goenawan
\ncould not go deeply into his subject matter. In most cases, he
\nonly introduces what he thinks should be of some concern to the
\nreaders, hoping that by opening this door, the readers, or the
\ncommunity at large, will be encouraged to enter and make their
\nown exploration.<\/p>\n
It is in this context that Goenawan's essays are valuable.
\nThey are like a map showing dots where a ship has to go to in its
\nvoyage across the sea of humanity. Go to these places and explore
\nthem to land something of value. These essays, selected by Nirwan
\nAhmad Arsuka, the editor in charge of the monthly cultural page
\nBentara of Kompas daily, have opened up many doors leading to
\nchallenging adventures in human thought through the years.<\/p>\n
-- Lie Hua<\/p>\n
The reviewer teaches at the Dept. of English, School of
\nLiterature, UNAS.<\/p>",
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