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.