Faint Balinese voices to grace UWRF
Faint Balinese voices to grace UWRF
I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post/Denpasar, Bali
To the general public, Bali's contemporary literary landscape is
a barren desert sporadically punctuated by a few monumental
figures such as Putu Wijaya, Ikranegara or Umbu Landu Paranggi.
Nowadays, even the last two names sound like an echo from a
distant past.
The lack of a publishing house, low readership, the mass
media's ignorance and minuscule government funding for literary
activities are several external factors that have driven the
island's writers into near obscurity.
Meanwhile, "outdated" themes, the prevailing attitude of
introversion -- due in part to being overly fixated with the
ancient ideal of humility -- an aversion to self-promotion and a
tinge of inferiority complex, particularly when dealing with
outsiders, are some internal factors that have contributed to
Balinese writers' submissively accepting this obscurity.
The SMK
In the mid-1980s and early 1990s, a literary group called
Sanggar Minum Kopi (SMK) rose into prominence and almost broke
the mold of obscurity. Its ranks were filled mostly with
Denpasar-based, outspoken, well-educated poets, who were equally
familiar with Arjuna and Sisyphus, Rendra and Aesop, and Basho
and Ginsberg.
Under the guidance provided by Umbu Landu Paranggi and Frans
Nadjira, the island's hermit poets, the group actively built a
network with numerous local writers from every corner of the
island. For the first time in the island's history, a unified
front of Balinese literary groups was created with the SMK at its
head.
The SMK acted as a catalyst that enabled local writers to
introduce their work to the national stage. By organizing an
annual nationwide poetry competition and publishing an
anthologies of its winners, the SMK had also increased the
island's prominence and exposure on Indonesia's literary
landscape.
It also organized an annual poetry-reading contest with
preliminary stages held consecutively at regency capitals
throughout Bali, exposing the literary form to a wider audience
of students and youths.
Initially, the SMK pursued the ideal of fighting Jakarta's
dominance in the country's literary development. By transforming
"peripheral" regions, including Bali, into a network of literary
centers, the SMK, along with various literary groups in Java and
Lombok, tried to put an end to what they dubbed the hegemonic,
centralized and authoritative role of Jakarta's writers, thinkers
and media.
Ironically, this ideal was gradually shelved in the remotest
part of the group's subconscious after most of its inner circle
earned national recognition from Jakarta's literary media and
critics.
Unfortunately, in the middle of the 1990s, a clash of egos in
the inner circle led to a prolonged, highly charged infighting
that exhausted the SMK. Eventually, the group collapsed under the
heavy burden of disappointment, anger and prejudice inflicted by
its own senior members.
Umbu Landu Paranggi, however, called the tragic demise of the
SMK moksha, when each and every one of its members attained
personal enlightenment and freedom.
To some extent, this was an apt description, as by that time,
most of the SMK's senior members, such as Putu Fajar Arcana, Oka
Rusmini, Cok Sawitri, Warih Wisatsana and Tan Lioe Ie, had become
nationally recognized literary figures.
Even junior members such as Wayan "Jengki" Sunartha, Raudal
Tanjung Banua and Riki Dhamparan Putra were on the right, fast
track to national fame and glory.
The Void
The sudden demise of the SMK, however, left a void in the
island's contemporary literary landscape; a void that no single
group nor individual has been able to fill ever since.
This void exposes the existing gap between former SMK members
who have made it onto the national stage, with rural -- literally
and metaphorically -- local writers.
Almost all of the SMK's inner circle were either born or
educated in the island's urban capital of Denpasar. Their work,
to a large extent, are thus verbal testimonies of the joy and
anguish felt by the urban man living in a global world.
Their themes, as diverse as they are, are peculiarly modern in
nature, from a universal eulogy on a world torn apart by war and
social injustices to a personal quest on gender equality and
sexual liberation.
The modern themes and urban setting played a pivotal role in
earning former SMK members wider access to Jakarta -- the mother
metropolis.
There is no doubt that the voices of these ex-SMK members are
the true voice of the island. However, it should not blur the
fact that they are not the sole nor the complete voice of Bali.
Meanwhile, local writers in rural areas of the island, such as
Karangasem or Klungkung, deal with rural themes of natural
beauty, inspiring rituals and devotional love to God, and are
still struggling to be heard in Bali, let alone in Jakarta.
For them, the death of the SMK had robbed them of an effective
medium that could amplify and carry their voices and messages.
In recent years, some of these rural writers have made many
efforts to gain a wider audience, including publishing literary
journals in the Balinese language: Mas Ruscita has published the
now-defunct Kulkul in Denpasar; Raka Kusuma publishes Buratwangi
in Karangasem and senior writer Nyoman Manda, Canang Sari in
Gianyar.
However, some or all of the aforementioned external and
internal factors have prevented their efforts from attaining
widespread success.
The Festival
The committee of the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF)
2005 has taken a commendable step by providing a generous space
for these rural writers.
The Balinese Poets Night on Oct. 8 will feature 12 of the best
Balinese poets, including the deeply spiritual Raka Kusuma and
Arthawa of Karangasem, the mild-tempered Parwita and Suartha of
Klungkung, the mystical Suanta of Gianyar, Ngurah Parsua, and the
charismatic Samar Gantang, well known for his black magic poems,
of Tabanan.
Moreover, three promising young Balinese writers, Sonia
Piscayanti, Maliana and Pranita Dewi will speak about their life
and works on Oct. 10.
Their readings will not only be a testimony of the thematic
and aesthetic diversity among contemporary Balinese writers, but
also of the different, fainter -- but nonetheless beautiful --
voices of the island.