Putu Oka Sukanta: Turning oppression into inspiration<\/p>\n
Lie Hua, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Born on July 29, 1939, in Singaraja, Bali, Putu Oka Sukanta is
\none of Indonesia's noted contemporary poets, and is also known
\nfor his novels and short stories.<\/p>\n
In the aftermath of the Sept. 30, 1965 coup allegedly
\nmasterminded by the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), Putu Oka
\nwas incarcerated for 10 years under the New Order, from 1966 to
\n1976: the writer was a member of Lekra, the People's Culture
\nInstitute, an organization that was closely associated with the
\nPKI.<\/p>\n
His voice silenced for so many years, upon his release from
\nprison, Putu Oka took up the bitter years behind bars as the main
\ntheme of many of his poems and stories.<\/p>\n
Merajut Harkat (Knitting dignity, 1999), an autobiographical
\nnovel that took him 20 years to write, dwells on this bitter
\nperiod. Even so, the writer's optimism was not extinguished, as
\nseen in one of his poems, \"Silent\": be still in your silence\/if
\nit isn't silence that you want\/like counting a chain of suns\/from
\none step to the next\/extending the distance from the grave.<\/p>\n
In an interview conducted via email, Putu Oka said he believed
\ntoday's literary scene was also imbued with this same optimism.
\nHe gladly welcomes the publication of ever more books, as this
\nprovides a great variety of choices for readers and a facility
\nfor writers to gain exposure.<\/p>\n
However, he warned readers: \"Publishers and distributors --
\nthe bridge between a writer and his readers -- are an industrial
\nnetwork which, aside from having the capacity to shape market
\ntastes, must be profit-oriented. They seem to follow the market
\ntaste but in reality, form this market taste.<\/p>\n
\"Once the market is established, they can simply develop it by
\nsupplying it with what it needs. So, your judgement of a book
\nmust also take into account the role of this bridge.\" This, he
\nadded, of course did not apply to publishers and distributors
\nthat publish off-stream books.<\/p>\n
In order to popularize literature, Putu Oka agreed to the need
\nfor local literary magazines, but conceded that few people would
\nbe interested in investing in an undertaking that does not
\npromise profit. The only literary magazine in existence is
\nHorison, a brainchild of the New Order, and despite its strong
\nposition, especially during the Soeharto years, the publication
\nis still far from being the main reference for Indonesian
\nbookworms.<\/p>\n
\"Fortunately, many newspapers have regular culture\/art columns
\nthat give space for writers' works,\" Putu Oka said, and that
\nnewspapers could contribute a lot to the country's literary
\ndevelopment because of its wide readership. Of course, he said,
\nthe editors of these columns must necessarily have a broad view
\non both culture and literature. He also commented that many
\nliterary works published in newspapers were good, and thus did
\nnot believe that Horison was the only yardstick for the quality
\nof Indonesian literature.<\/p>\n
\"For me, esthetics is never universal,\" he stressed, adding
\nthat natural selection in literary output would always prevail.<\/p>\n
As regards the emergence of the strong women's literature
\nsector, dubbed Sastra Wangi (fragrant literature), Putu Oka sees
\nnothing wrong with women writers emerging as celebrities. His
\nphilosophy is that the more people write, the better.<\/p>\n
\"We must encourage the emergence of as many new writers as
\npossible, especially with respect to women who dare to speak
\nabout their affairs and not from a stereotyped perspective,\" he
\nsaid, and no matter how beautifully a book was packaged, he
\npointed out, if the public did not need it, it would never sell.<\/p>\n
\"The market is always segmented, and democracy should give
\nequal room to everyone wishing to express themselves as long as
\nthis does not harm human rights.\" For example, he liked reading
\npoems by Rieke (Dyah Pitaloka) as much as he liked Joko Pitono's.<\/p>\n
He holds the same idea about the mushrooming of teen lit, the
\npopularity of which, he believes, is in one way or another
\nencouraged by the content of television programs and magazines.
\nIn this context, he questioned the role of schools in shaping
\nyoungsters' taste in serious literature, implying that schools
\nshould have done much more to nurture the younger generation's
\ngood reading habits.<\/p>\n
Putu Oka asserts that he writes because it is his profession.
\nHe feels called upon as a writer to take the side of people
\nsubjected to any form of oppression or repression. For him, there
\nis no such thing as \"wounded literature\": \"A long period of
\noppression and repression in various forms and with various
\nimpacts will never be exhausted as a source of writing
\ninspiration.\"<\/p>\n
Besides being a writer, Putu Oka is also an acupuncturist
\nactively engaged in the development of alternative health
\nprograms for the public and has published several books on this
\nsubject.<\/p>",
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