JP/14/book

JP/14/book

On literature and national calamity

Riris K. Toha-Sarumpaet
Contributor/Jakarta

At the turn of the year, amidst the blow dealt by expectations
in life and the reality of literary developments in Indonesia,
what absolutely needs to be emphasized the most?

We agree that literature is not created in a vacuum and that
literature marks and, in its unique capacity, carries life
itself. The hubbub of life, private and social affairs, political
agendas and acts that give rise to the confusion caused by the
acceleration of development and the unwillingness to develop, the
economic machinery that has instead widened the extent of poverty
and human beings imbued with the enthusiasm stemming from but, at
the same time, tossed by the nervousness originating from the
shackles of their mentality and the huge wave of lifestyle -- all
these and many others can be found in Indonesian literature.

How can this entire hubbub be understood in relation with the
development of literature and life in Indonesia?

That literature in Indonesia is developing, and even with
great passion, is obvious from the following: bookshops crowded
with children that can read literary works for free; theatrical
performances in villages, poetry and short story reading as well
as the musicalization and performance of these literary genres -
activities flourishing everywhere including on city buses; book
launches coupled with various programs that show the great
enthusiasm in writing and reading; contests and competitions in
the writing of short stories, poems, novels and even plays in
nearly all parts of Indonesia; the emergence of many new writers
that are young in age, handsome and pretty and that, therefore,
have become the idols of many youngsters; the springing up of
thousands of literary communities that, despite the financial
constraints for their proper growth, have survived and given
birth to many new writers, literary aficionados and literary
activists; and, last but not least, the busy activities of large
and small book publishers in every corner of the country.

I believe, literature in Indonesia, like a rosebud, is growing
and further developing its own color, fragrance and thorns. This
is the interesting feature about Indonesian literature and it is
this that needs underlining.

First, the variety of literary themes and the backgrounds of
writers.

While in our school days, we became familiar with Indonesian
literature associated with the theme of forced marriage, mainly
taken up by the writers from Sumatra, followed later by the
introduction of many other themes reflecting local color and
developed chiefly by Java-born authors, today, with an
acceleration spurred by the technology of communications,
information and also industry, it is no longer likely to refer to
only one or two main themes in Indonesian literature with the
writers being born only in Java, Bali or Sumatra.

As the emergence of new writers -- young or old in age --
takes place at a very high speed and also because of the high
mobility of the spread of these budding writers, it is difficult
to determine that -- and it is no longer too relevant now to say
that -- certain writers born in a certain region are doing very
well and will be the leading figures in Indonesian literature.

At present, the market is witnessing the rapid influx of
literary works by writers from Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, Bali,
South Sumatra, West Sumatra, Lampung, Riau, Yogyakarta, Central
Java, West Java, Jakarta, Depok and so forth.

The difficulty becomes all the bigger given the fact that in
terms of the problems tackled and the method of literary
presentation adopted, Indonesian writers from Bali and Java, for
example, have clearly declared themselves "cosmoplites".
Therefore, the colors of the roses now blooming in Indonesia's
literary flower garden are highly varied with all shades of
colors and nuances appearing in varying degrees from the most
glaring to the softest, featuring a mixed play of character
traits and tastes and born of the community the writers belong to
and also of their background and writing motivation.

The following examples will illustrate this situation. On the
one hand we read the works by Taufik Ikram Jamil, Ediruslan Pe
Amanriza and the other writers from Riau, all laden with social
criticism, depicting the traditional community and bringing up
matters related to the marginalization of the Malay ethnic group,
while on the other hand, there are meet-the writer events for
Kalimantan-born poets, who, as Korrie Layun Rampan has put it,
have abandoned their "local esoteric expression" and have taken
up a universal means of expression without forsaking the
characteristics of their local history.

Put side by side, for example, the writers from Bali, such as
the outspoken Oka Rusmini and Tan Lioe Ie, who have steadily
demonstrated their multi-ethnicity, and the writers from West
Java like Acep Zamzam Noor, Nenden Lilis and many others who
speak about everything that gives rise to worries in a manner
that nicely sharpen our understanding of life and augment our
care for it.

Second, the power and quality of literature.

At this juncture, the labeling of literary works as and their
classification into, for example, regional literature, urban
literature, pop literature, high-brow literature, old literature,
multi-cultural literature, marginalized literature, contextual
literature, newspaper literature, Islamic literature, women's
literature, chick lit, pimple literature, teen lit and children's
literature are but an inevitable formalistic flirtatiousness.
This categorization stems from and heavily relies on the writers'
concepts and positions, the main conflicts and themes, the
setting of time and place, the style of writing, the literary
form the works assume and the readership target. In fact, this
grouping is highly problematic, especially when this matter is
viewed in terms of quality.

Take the workers' literature, for example. This type of
literature, which is written by the workers as a means of
resistance against the system that oppresses them, is not
something that can be generalized as a poor literary output
simply because it comes from low-class workers without formal
education. What about the so-called sexual literature, which
allegedly contains a lot of sensation and sensuality but which
has given rise to an unbridled boldness on the part of (young)
women writers? If their works are considered to be "non-
literary", do not forget to read Wei Hui's Syanghai Baby, a novel
that presents sex scenes not for the sake of stirring sexual
desires only as it can also allow us to get acquainted with the
dark side of human beings and, at the same time, maturely
contemplate upon the notion of feminism.

Third, the plight and problems of literature in Indonesia.

Despite the growing enthusiasm to produce literary works, and
in spite of the emergence of new writers in many places across
the country, it must not escape our attention that only a very
small percentage of our community belongs to readers of
literature. It must be admitted that literature and the writing
of literature are yet to be popular. For the Indonesian
population of 220 million people, literature is not a necessity.
For them, a mouthful of rice, climbing of the career ladder,
ranks and especially power are still more important than the
solitary activity of reading.

In view of the complicated problems facing the world of
literature, it is easy to allege that the root cause of these
problems comes from education and teaching that are generally
still embroiled in their own problems and also from literary
teaching that is yet to be able to encourage students to
appreciate literature.

Viewed from the scheme of the problems related to literary
teaching, spread and expansion, the efforts to address these
problems and the response that the community shows to these
efforts, a conclusion can be made to the effect that the
Indonesian community, actually, is still devoid of any reading
interest. That this conclusion bears truth may be seen from the
fact that we still witness poor linguistic behavior, the priority
given to exact sciences, which are set in contrast with the
humanities and even policies on book affairs that all virtually
reveal that we are not a reading nation, let alone a nation that
loves literature. This is the thorn that is strongly implanted in
the tree of literary life in Indonesia.

What can be done in future to seriously and equitably develop
literature in Indonesia?

First of all, we must realize that in view of the mobility,
mix-up and rapid growth of writers tackling various themes of
their own choice, we need a smartly observant and continuous
literary mapping. This map can come in handy to encourage a more
solid and balanced rise of literature and can also make us
realize that essentially, the main character Indonesian
literature and life is diversity.

This reality also lies in parallel to the second thing, namely
the urgency of quality following the fact that we are in fact
very fond of being grouped. Contrary to the essence of their own
works, literary workers seem to need confirmation. Instead of
being self-confident, they are fond of looking for a patron. In a
ridiculous way, they like to consider Jakarta or Yogyakarta, for
example, as a literary center or even a rival by positioning as
belonging to their own literary turf or the literary zone of
their opponents. To minimize this tendency, various topics,
tastes, colors and styles must be encouraged at all places simply
to give recognition to human freedom and the power and humanity
of literature while at the same time encouraging the emergence of
and fostering of the growth of readers of literature at various
grades, levels and places.

Last but not least, all ways to develop a reading interest and
force Indonesian children to read, let alone to be engaged in
literary activities, will never be fruitful unless the leaders,
the teachers and the parents begin reading themselves. For a
paternalistic society like ours in Indonesia, the first step that
must be taken is to give recognition to and appreciation for the
importance of literature in life, as, for example, evident in the
curriculum, the supply of teachers, the recognition given to
literary dynamics and systems, the policies on book affairs and
etc.

For us who have to deal with multi-dimensional problems and a
literary world that develops like a rose with its own color,
fragrance and thorns, what we need is a model. It is compulsory
that a sound environment where differences of opinion and
differences in anything at all can be happily and maturely
acceptable be made available. Of immediate results will be
efforts to make use of and empower literary communities and
cultural pockets. Never to be abandoned will be efforts to
continue facilitating the survival of libraries, introduce
literacy to the illiterate teachers and ensure that everyone,
every family and every group will make an efficient use of their
linguistic skill. The immediate task will be to lift Indonesians
out of not only economic poverty but also linguistic poverty. The
main problem afflicting Indonesians and the root cause of the
nation's calamity are none other than illiteracy.

The writer is a lecturer at the School of Cultural Sciences at
the University of Indonesia.