Dewi Anggraeni Adds cosmopolitan taste to RI literature
Dewi Anggraeni Adds cosmopolitan taste to RI literature
Oei Eng Goan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Beyond doubt, the publication of Dewi Anggraeni's latest novel,
Snake, which was launched last month, is a new milestone in the
development of modern Indonesian literature and a significant
contribution to Southeast Asia's literary treasures, especially
given that it is written in English by the novelist herself, who
is an Indonesian, and is richly imbued with the local colors and
traditions of at least three countries and nationalities in the
region.
Besides reflecting Asian traditions, gender roles, the society
of Chinese Indonesians, Malays and Australians, as well as modern
lifestyles and sexuality, the novel also contains Asian moral
values and the respect for familial unity that human beings must
possess and adopt in coping with their problems and the evil
forces that arise from both the real and supernatural worlds.
Snake is a love story containing suspenseful and intricate
plots that are superbly interwoven by Dewi, occasionally using
the flashback technique, so as to keep her readers' curiosity and
interest aroused right up to the closing page.
The protagonist is Serena Anderson, a Eurasian dancer cum
choreographer in her late twenties, "the most romantic and
vulnerable" child of Tom Anderson, an Australian and Dede
(Dewayani), a Chinese Indonesian. Playing a central role in the
story is the peniti ronce, a snake brooch that is doomed to bring
bad luck to its owner.
The novel opens with a visit to Malacca, one of Malaysia's
most important historical cities, by Serena and her lover Kurt,
who seek consolation in each other following marriage breakups.
While stopping by an antique shop, Serena happens to come across
a snake brooch and immediately falls for it not only because of
its exotic beauty but also because of its striking resemblance to
one she had seen as a child and which, according to her mother,
was designed by her grandmother. The brooch, however, brought bad
luck to her grandparents and was discarded. Kurt, knowing how
much Serena wants it, buys the brooch, despite its high price, as
a token of his love for her.
But the jinx of the brooch soon begins to play its malignant
tricks. Kurt has to fly back to Melbourne because Kathryn, his
young daughter from an earlier marriage, has had an accident.
Serena, who is looking for a new theme for her coming dance
production, does not accompany him back to Australia.
Left alone in Malacca and gripped by a sense of loss, Serena
begins to experience strange dreams, dreams that often frighten
her. But she soon finds consolation when she meets Nancy Tan, a
Malaysian doctor of Chinese descent, as the two women find that
they have many things in common and that each seems "familiar" to
the other.
Nancy's mother, Ay Ling, tells Serena that she used to own a
kerongsang, the Malay word for brooch, in the shape of a snake
and studded with bluish red gemstones, similar to the one newly-
acquired by Serena. Ay Ling relates the story of the tragic
accident that killed her husband and crippled her for life. She
also tells Serena how her parents-in-law blamed her for her
defying their advice to discard the snake brooch, which had
brought such great misfortune on the family.
Misfortune also befell two other former owners of the snake
brooch, and is now hanging over Serena like a Sword of Damocles
as her relationship with Kurt deteriorates.
The last few chapters of the novel -- which comprises 38
chapters in all, with each being given a subtitle -- relates
Serena's struggle to overcome her sense of foreboding, especially
after she has been visited by ghostly apparitions and experienced
even more frightening dreams, as well as found out revelations
about the skeletons in her family closet and the mystery behind
the brooch.
Novelist Dewi is a storyteller par excellence, and Snake
attests to her ability to craft a melodrama that, at times,
strains but never shatters the readers' credulity, despite her
excessive use of coincidences and a degree of character-overload.
All this is acceptable as life itself is sometimes full of
strange chances and coincidences, while the gallery of
characters, representing people of different cultural and
religious backgrounds, reflects universal humanism in that these
people can live harmoniously together and even build familial
ties when faith and trust hold firm.
Dewi's portrayal of her characters is solid and lively thanks
to the keen observational skills she has gained from her calling
as a journalist.
Her style and ability to blend reality and the supernatural
world reminds literary aficionados of Daphne du Maurier, whose
haunting novels Rebecca and My Cousin Rachel have been widely
accepted as literary classics.
All said, it would come as no surprise if one day, given some
fine-tuning of her artistic abilities, Dewi's works will be able
to hold a candle to those of Du Maurier's.
Snake, a novel by Dewi Anggraeni
237 pp., published by Indra Publishing, Victoria, Australia, 2003