A portrait of the lives of Indonesians in New York

Impian Amerika (The American Dream); By Kuntowijoyo; Bentang Budaya, Yogyakarta, March 1998; viii + 264 pp.; Rp 20,500

YOGYAKARTA (JP): YB Mangunwijaya, a Catholic priest, architect and novelist, believes that imaginative works like novels, poems and short stories offer the reader portraits of life.

In an imaginative work, a writer may be narrating only a minor and ordinary event. However, the touch of humanity and the writer's conscience depicted in such events can create special impressions.

A work of fiction often holds its author's experiences in daily life and perceptions of his or her own reality. Indeed, the author Seno Gumira Ajidarma has said, "If journalism is gagged, literature must speak up."

In short, fiction is often an outlet for ideas. Through a novel, a writer can freely and comfortably talk about reality, ideas and cultural phenomena.

Impian Amerika resembles a story within a story and dwells on the world of the Indonesian community in New York City.

A historian from Gadjah Mada University and cultural observer, Kuntowijoyo regularly writes both fiction and nonfiction. His works generally show a plain way of thinking and a multidimensional interest as an intellectual.

From 1996 to 1997, his short stories won prizes from Kompas daily and were included in Kompas Selected Short Stories.

Impian Amerika is his latest novel and it dwells on the dreams of newcomers to the United States. These dreams touch on freedom, economic mobility, social mobility and cultural mobility.

In this novel, Kuntowijoyo created 30 stories about Indonesians with different dreams and backgrounds who are able to move to New York. They are all attracted to the U.S. because of their own views of the American Dream. The novel is thematically about families, jobs and cultural shocks.

The works reflect many religious nuances and touch upon Javanese philosophy.

Take Raden Mas Sri Laksono, one of the characters in the novel. A Javanese, Laksono has the inborn skill to detect wesi aji (a sort of magic keris, or double-bladed dagger).

In order to maintain this skill, he must not touch a woman after he turns 45 -- otherwise he will become sexually impotent.

It is touching, and infuriating, to read how Laksono has to divorce his faithful and loving wife, the mother of their two children, simply because he has inherited this skill from his grandfather and has to maintain it.

Through such a story, Kuntowijoyo depicts the world view of some Indonesians in the U.S. -- many such views considered irrational in New York.

Kuntowijoyo successfully communicates his historical knowledge in his writing. Works such as Kereta Api yang Berangkat Pagi Hari (The train that leaves in the morning), Pasar (Market) and Khotbah di Atas Bukit (Sermon on a Hilltop) show his expertise in blending his historical knowledge and his comprehension of life.

Through Impian Amerika, the writer also experiments on turning newspaper literature into a novel. Previously, the novel was serialized in Republika daily.

-- Arief Fauzi M