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Meanwhile, "outdated" themes, the prevailing attitude of introversion -- due in part to being overly fixated with the ancient ideal of humility -- an aversion to self-promotion and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.