Balinese literature may help preserve identity

Made Jagra, Contributor, Denpasar

In the last 10 years, the Balinese have been toiling to preserve their identity, amid wide exposure to Western culture brought in by the influx of foreign visitors.

When you visit a Balinese family, you may hear the members converse not in their mother tongue but Bahasa Indonesia, English or even another foreign language.

Bahasa Indonesia has replaced the original Balinese language in various formal and informal settings. At the office, schools, and at home people speak Bahasa Indonesia instead of Balinese.

Parents are reluctant to teach their children Balinese for fear that their children will not be able to adjust to the school environment where speaking Bahasa Indonesia mandatory.

Even in rural villages, people have begun to converse in Indonesian.

The situation has drawn concern from scholars and the government as well. The gloomy picture is further highlighted by a recent study from the Central Statistics Bureau in Jakarta which estimates that by 2041, only 2 percent of Bali's 3.5 million people will use Balinese language in daily conversation.

This means that the Balinese people will soon forget their own language and the language will soon disappear like many other ethnic languages in Indonesia.

The provincial government has launched numerous campaigns to reactivate and preserve the Balinese language. During the campaign, all government offices and schools are obliged to assign special days when everybody has to speak in Balinese.

The name of each street in Denpasar and other cities on the island should also bear Balinese letters in addition to the Roman letters.

Yet, most of the ongoing campaigns and policies are implemented superficially. A number of scholars viewed these policies as ineffective.

One of the core problems lies in the shortage of Balinese literature including novels, children's stories and short stories, which could encourage the locals to understand their own language.

In schools, teachers find it hard to pick up simple yet interesting books for Balinese language lessons in bookstores.

A number of writers, however, have made quite interesting efforts to try to translate some literary pieces into Balinese.

In some local bookstores, one can find a translation of the famous Gitanyali, an anthology written by Indian Rabindranath Tagore. Other books include Indonesian poet Taufik Ismail's works entitled Benteng and Tirani (Fort and Tyranny).

Journals, magazines and newspapers in Balinese are now available. There are a number of magazines published locally; Buratwangi in Karang Asem, East Bali, Canang Sari in Gianyar and a magazine called Satwa published by Pondok Tebawutu in Gianyar.

Unfortunately, most of the translated books as well as these magazines are printed on poor quality paper with a simple printing technique. Consequently, these publications cannot compete with books and magazines that are printed with more modern designs

Moreover, most Balinese literary pieces are still produced by old and senior writers such as Nyoman Manda and Made Sanggra from Gianyar and Putu Gede Suasta from Sanggar Sangupati in Mengwi.

Despite the low quality of these products, Nyoman Dharma Putra, a lecturer and a researcher at the school of letters of Udayana University, warmly welcomed the publication of these magazines, books and translated pieces.

"This is a robust period for the development of Balinese literature. And I feel very grateful," said Dharma Putra.

The growth of Balinese literary works goes back to the l910s with the publications of the works of I Made Pasek, I Wayan Jiwa and Mas Nitisastro such as Aneka Roepa Kitab Batjaan (1916) published in Batavia (the old name of Jakarta), Pepaosan Balu Antuk Aksara Belanda Kasurat (1918).

Entering the l920s, Balinese literary works were widely published in local magazines and newspapers such as Bali Adnyana (1924), Surya Kanta (1925) and Djatajoe (1935). I Wayan Gobjah's novel Nemoe Karma and I Gede Srawana's Mlancaran ke Sasak, both considered milestones in the Balinese literary world, were published in Bali Adnyana and Djatajoe.

During the struggle for independence in l945, the magazines disappeared in line with the decline in literary productions.

The post-independence period was marked by the emergence of Suluh Marhaen newspaper (now Bali Post) and Angkatan Bersenjata (now Nusa). In l997, Bali Kulkul, a Balinese language magazine published only two editions.

This year, the reemergence of Balinese literary works was partly encouraged by the increasing appreciation of the local language.

Prominent writer Ajip Rosidi from East Java initiated the annual Rancage Literary Award, as an appreciation of the publication of literary works which use local language.

The second reason, Dharma Putra said, was that modern, high- tech printing also supported the publication of new books.

"Writers no longer need to go to large printing company if they want to publish their works," Dharma Putra said.

He admitted that many writers had to spend their own money in order to publish their books since only a few publishers were interested in releasing their works.

"So far, there is no financial support from the government to help these writers," he added.

Nyoman Manda, 65, a senior writer, agreed that he and other colleagues still faced financial problems in trying to publish their works.

Manda, who has already published 40 works, explained that his books were mostly published by Pondok Tebawutu, a literary club managed by Manda and several other writers.

"If we think in terms of money, all of us have suffered big financial losses, but publishing the works brings satisfaction. My only goal is to keep Balinese literature alive and kicking," Manda said.

Each print run was of between 5,000 and 6,000 copies, Manda said. In most bookstores, only 40 percent of the books are sold with 20 percent to 30 percent of the income went to the owners of the stores.

I Ketut Sumarta, chief editor of Sarad magazine, cautioned that facts and figures do not foretell anything.

"People who buy new books come from academic circles and those who are really interested in literary pieces. The market is still very small and limited," Sumarta said.

Sumarta said that he did not agree with Dharma Putra's view that this was the golden age of Balinese literature.

"The flourishing of new publications does not mean that the Balinese language has been saved from going into oblivion," Sumarta argued.

He went on to say that to preserve the Balinese language, the provincial government must have a strong political will.

Dharma Putra, however, is convinced that the presence of new publications will at least add to the linguistic and aesthetic documentation of Balinese literature.

"I am strongly convinced that the Balinese language will remain alive, both in the literary world and in daily life as a spoken language," Dharma Putra said.