Birney's clash of cultures from within

Birney's clash of cultures from within

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Ikan Tanpa Salah (A Blameless Fish)
Alfred Birney, Galang Press, 2004
277 pp
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Sherry Samtani, Contributor/Jakarta

Indonesia's fight for freedom from the Dutch in the last century
was the driving motif behind all forms of arts, so much so that
today many find the subject to be hackneyed. But the recently
launched Ikan Tanpa Salah by the Eurasian author Alfred Birney,
makes the issue both fresh and contemporary.

A familiar face in Dutch literary circles, Birney still
remains relatively unknown here despite his Indonesian heritage.
His previous novel, translated from the Dutch original, Lalu Ada
Burung (And Then Came a Bird), was a mild success in sales, but
was critically acclaimed for its melancholic depiction of the
effects of war on the post-war, second generation.

Ikan Tanpa Salah, a translation of Den Onschuld Van Een Vis
with a foreword by Jakob Sumardjo, seems set to follow in its
literary footsteps with a similar focus.

The emphasis on the second generation originates from Birney's
own life as the son of a soldier of mixed parentage, who fought
for the Netherlands as colonialism was on the wane in the
archipelago. His novel, in fact, consists of fictitious elements
trickled into a background that is completely his and enriched by
his colorful heritage.

The man with the salt and pepper mane was born in The Hague in
1951. Birney's mother was pure Dutch but his father was a melting
pot of cultures -- the illegitimate son of a Dutchman who resided
in the Dutch East Indies and his Chinese-Indonesian concubine.

Birney's father was brought up single-handedly by his mother,
cementing the Oriental culture that would later be a source of
fascination for his own offspring. As Indonesia struggled for
freedom, he battled for the Dutch and witnessed firsthand the
horrors of war, unyielding memories that haunted him and his
family in the years to come.

Being multiracial in the 1950s was no easy task for the young
Alfred. Carrying Indonesian genes in a Netherlands that was still
bitter about its loss of a lucrative colonial outpost was even
harder. Birney struggled from an early age, falling in the shadow
between his birthplace and the land of his heritage -- a shadow
that still shrouded him as he forayed into the literary world.

A musician until the age of 30, a near fatal accident while
performing martial arts ended his musical aspirations. A lover of
literature, he ventured into writing, drawing inspiration from
personal dilemmas -- his ambivalence regarding the cultures of
either parent, the horror's of his father's past and the urgent
need to find a sense of belonging.

These three issues are extensively highlighted in Ikan Tanpa
Salah. The story centers around Edu, a history teacher, who upon
the orders of his mother must empty his father's house, a martial
art's teacher who departed to his birthplace, Indonesia, and
abandoned his entire family.

The father, a didactic, austere mixed Indonesian-Dutch,
represented the Netherlands during Indonesia's freedom struggle,
but his sadistic inclinations did not end with his prisoners;
instead he treated his children with the same venom. The only
beings spared from the abuse were his fish.

In a story that spans over 12 days but continuously sways
between the present and past, the hatred and estrangement felt by
Edu starts to dissolve as he explores the house, with each object
evoking memories both tragic and dear. In a desperate plight to
understand his sworn enemy, Edu befriends his father's Indonesian
concubine.

Strong rhetoric and enigmatic symbolism make the novel an
interesting read as the protagonist walks the thin line between
hatred and love. The plot itself lacks lustre but scores on a
stylistic approach that is deliberately slow.

Birney classifies himself as a "new world" author, a new genre
for writers like himself, who discover their own culture through
their work. His works definitely provide food for thought, with
minuscule details and ideas that take him years to turn into a
full-fledged novel.

Ikan Tanpa Salah is a novel that should be relished in parts,
and is definitely not recommended for those in favor of a quick
read.