Basino writing again, wins award after her long absence

Basino writing again, wins award after her long absence

By Masri Sareb Putra

JAKARTA (JP): It is a proven fact that age does not have an
influence on an author's productivity. Titis Basino, 60, is a
fine example of this. After being absent over the last 10 years
from Indonesia's literary world, in 1997 she came back with a
novel Dari Lembah ke Coolibah' (From Valley to Coolibah).

Perhaps because it had taken her so long to prepare her novel,
once it was published it quickly gained popularity. Eventually,
it won her the 1998 Literary Award from the Center for Language
Development.

Born in Magelang, Central Java, on Jan. 17, 1939 and a
graduate from the University of Indonesia's school of literature,
she was once a Garuda Indonesia stewardess before dedicating
herself to literature.

Among her rivals for the award was the rising writer Ayu
Utami, the writer of the best selling novel Saman, which has been
reprinted ten times over the past year.

According to the chief of the Center for Language Development,
Hasan Alwi, the award aims at promoting literary appreciation and
encouraging writers to produce quality works.

The language center has been presenting literary awards since
1978. The winner is selected during October in conjunction with
Language Month. This also coincides with the annual ASEAN award
presentation hosted by Thailand.

Since 1989, the Indonesian literary award has gone to three
authors every year. This year the other two recipients are
playwright N. Riantiarno and poet Wing Kardjo.

The winners will represent Indonesia to compete for the SEA
Write Award. This year, Riantiarno with his book Semar Gugat
(Semar Resists) will go to Bangkok to represent Indonesia.

Wing Karjo won the award for his anthology of poems entitled
Fragmen Malam: Setumpuk Soneta (Night Fragment: A Heap of
Sonnets).

Indonesian writers who have won SEA Write Awards are Iwan
Simatupang, Y.B. Mangunwijaya, Goenawan Mohamad, Sutardji Calzoum
Bachri, Ahmad Tohari, Taufik Ismail, Ramadhan K.H., Seno Gumira
Ajidarma, and W.S. Rendra.

Strong characters

The strong character of her literary works was already seen in
1963 while she was still a stewardess. Her short story Suatu
Keputusan tells of the determination of Mike, a college girl soon
to graduate, who decides to take a married man as her husband.
Mike's determination is that of a woman's heart. The short story
won her an award from the literary magazine Sastra which was led
by H.B. Jassin -- nicknamed Indonesia's literary Pope.

Such strong characters still exist in her succeeding works.
Literary critic Korrie Layun Rampan commented that Titis Basino
deserves the (1998) award. Not only because she is now an
experienced senior author, but also because of her firm choices
in theme, character, and setting.

"Since the 1960s, when she was writing short stories, she has
decided that women characters need to be given much more
proportionality. Equal footing between men and women became her
emphasis. In a number of her works, Titis Basino illustrated that
in many cases women are much stronger than men, for example in
withstanding pain (during labor) and in enduring responsibilities
in life," Korrie further added.

Korrie's comment is no exaggeration. Other critics have also
expressed a similar view. Sapardi Djokodamono, a literature
professor from the University of Indonesia, for example, wrote on
the cover of Dari Lembah ke Coolibah that Indonesia is fortunate
to have an author like Titis Basino, because she alters the
corpus of Indonesian literature as a whole.

"Siti Nurbaya is a fictional female character created by Marah
Roesli, a male writer. So are other female characters Tutu, Maria
and Yah -- the women characters in Layar Terkembang and Belenggu,
novels written by men. Through Titis Basino's fiction, we may
comprehend the colors, the sounds, the clamors and the flares in
this world as seen by a woman," Sapardi says of Titis' works.

Like female authors of the same generation of N.H. Dini, Titis
often voices the importance of women's role in her works. In
doing so, Titis always holds on to oriental values.

"I reveal how our society reacts to issues which concern it.
There are lots of themes which can be found around us. I want to
emphasize that men must treat women with due respect. After
reading my works, they may laugh or even feel intimidated. Yet, I
am sure that soon they will understand", Titis explained.

Titis has been striving to promote respect for women's rights
since the 60s as evidenced in her works Rumah Dara (The Woman's
Home), Pelarian (Escape), Dia (He), Laki-laki dan Cinta (Man and
Love), Hotel, and Suatu Keputusan (A Decision).

She seems to think that it is hard to lift women's status to
that of men's, knowing that the public sees women as
stereotypically "weak, melancholic, spoilt, and materialistic."

In her works women are portrayed as strong, independent,
mature, calm, and consistent in defending their principles. The
main theme of her short stories is to strip men of their bad
characteristics and "short-sightedness" as seen in their
promiscuity and childish behavior. Such a theme is evident in
Laki-laki dan Cinta, where she portrays men as the weaker gender.

An extract from Laki-laki dan Cinta whose protagonist is a man
named Beni: "Even if he does go to other women, he will
eventually return home and still become my-Beni. I see him as a
child who plays with his friends. He will return to his mother if
he is in need of her or if he is tired. And with his mother a
child would never feel tired."

Observing her preoccupation with pronouncing women characters,
literature critic H.B. Jassin wrote, "I love reading Titis' work,
because it is always fresh and original and there is no cliche.
Her illustration of women's thoughts and feelings is honest, and
to an extent courageous. Yet, she sees men from the perspective
of injustice."

What does Titis say about Jassin's comments? "Our literary
critics are predominantly men. They can criticize and denounce my
works. They are taken aback because I mock and denounce men for
their lack of courage, confidence and faith."

Despite scathing criticism such as Jassin's, Titis never loses
her integrity as an author. She feels that is her unique quality.
The same spirit is reflected in her novel Dari Lembah ke
Coolibah. It is rare to find Indonesian authors, especially women
authors, who dare to 'play with fire'. The novel's setting is in
Mecca as the place where love blooms during a haj pilgrimage
season, where a relationship develops between a spiritual guru
and a female haj pilgrim.

Titis has broken traditional rules. To her love transcends
time and place. That is what happened when Noor, a middle aged
woman fell in love with Ahmad (who later had plastic surgery and
changed his name to Hamid), a man who is as old as Noor's son.

The affair is all odd. Aside from their great age difference,
it was not common for a spiritual leader to fall in love during a
haj pilgrimage. This is where Titis breaks with tradition. For
Titis love defeats all, as it defeats social status, religion,
time, and distance.

"I think that is where the strength of her works lies and this
eventually won her the award," says Pamusuk NST, an incisive
author. "Apart from her original ideas, which are often wild, the
judges were already convinced of her ability in writing".

It is true that Titis is a productive author. After being
absent for 10 years, she suddenly came back and conquered all. In
the two years since the publication of Dari Lembah ke Coolibah in
1997, she has written eight more novels, six being printed by PT
Grasindo, and two by Pustaka Jaya. At the end of this December
'98, Tangan-tangan Kehidupan (The Hands of Life) and Habitat will
be published in January 1999.

Novels and short stories, as literary works, for Titis are
half real and half fiction. Literature is one level under
journalism and one level above philosophy. That is what is
insinuated in Dari Lembah ke Coolibah. 'Valley' is where the
pilgrim collects stones to thrown at the Kabah, and where Noor
and Ahmad first begin their romantic adventure. 'Coolibah' is
where the romantic adventure would come to a climax, a cool area
above the Puncak Pass. And Titis does have a villa at Coolibah.

Thus, it is obvious why may people are questioning if the
character Noor is a reflection of Titis herself.

Then who is Hamid? Some assume that Hamid is the silhouette of
Purnomo Ismadi, her husband who died two years ago. Her husband
was a hotel staffer who inspired her in creating her works such
as the novel Aku Supiyah Istri Hardhian (I am Hardhian's Wife,
1998), where the novel often takes the background of the hotel
industry.

The dedication of this mother of four -- three doctors and one
law graduate -- to Indonesian literature is very strong. Aside
from being one of the contributors to the H.B. Jassin Literature
Documentation Center, she is also a permanent donor.