Literary study in appalling state of neglect

Literary study in appalling state of neglect

By Sori Siregar

JAKARTA (JP): Literary study in Indonesian schools has been
neglected for 47 years. This tremendously touching fact is also
true for Indonesian language study.

How many Indonesians realize this situation and what should be
done to find a solution to the problem?

Poet Taufiq Ismail has on many occasions expressed his concern
over this matter. He seemed to be the only one who, in both his
writing and speeches, never flagged in his efforts to remind
others of this condition.

Unfortunately his cries received no appropriate response from
the authorities responsible for educational decision-making. They
seem to be obsessed with the development of science and
technology and have made every effort to focus their attention
there.

No one doubts that science and technology are absolutely
necessary both at present and in the future. Challenges ahead
must be faced with an arsenal of knowledge in order not to be
left behind by the world community.

But science and technology alone are not sufficient for the
establishment of a solid civilization. Language, literature and
other humanity sciences are also extremely important elements to
mold this. This is the message Taufiq Ismail has been
enthusiastically lobbying everywhere.

How can Indonesians be friendly with literature if during
their study at high school do not have the remotest idea of what
books are worth reading to enrich themselves spiritually and
intellectually.

They are not to be blamed because they have not been prepared
for this by their schools. Perhaps, since its independence,
Indonesia is the only country in the world where not even a
single book has ever been discussed in a class.

It is understood why the mastery of literature and language by
Indonesian students -- and teachers, lecturers, dignitaries and
journalists -- is extremely poor. With an indifferent attitude
towards literature and language, Indonesians have actually
disregarded the essence of their own culture. In this condition
they will enter the new world civilization, that is multicultural
civilization.

Taufiq is remarkably pessimistic that Indonesia will be able
to get along side by side with other nations if nothing is done
now. In his letter to M. Amien Rais, chairman of the Muhammadiyah
religious group, he wrote:

"Our collective indolence will be rammed into forcefully and
without mercy by the rapid pace of the millennium civilization
when geographical boundaries and other various regulation
barriers are removed by others.

We, well known for our slowness, indolence, negligence and
carelessness, will be purged, swept away, thrashed and then
sprawled on the roadside of the world civilization".

Some may think that Taufiq is a little excessive in his
statement. But anyone reading the results of Taufiq's research at
high schools in 13 countries may find that Taufiq is not
exaggerating and will understand his concern.

Based on a survey made by Taufiq on the number of books read
and discussed at high schools in various countries, he found that
students in Singapore read an average of six titles, in Malaysia
six, in Thailand five, Brunei seven, in Japan 15, in Canada 13,
in the United States 32, in Germany 22, in Switzerland 15, in
Russia 12, in France 20 to 30, in the Netherlands 30 and in
Indonesia zero. One can ask if, even from the very beginning of the
independence, Indonesians ever looked upon language and
literature as being important.

But as Asrul Said wrote in his essay in 1951, six years after
independence: "It is a fact that humanities in our educational
system is considered unimportant. There is no doubt that this
view can be detrimental to our education."

With this attitude, reading, discussing or analyzing books
(except books of exact sciences) cannot be expected to be
beneficial to their readers. Therefore, it will be a good idea if
before anything else, this unsympathetic mental attitude should
be changed.

Since this duty is not trivial, a considerable amount of work
seems inevitable to formulate and plan the steps to be taken. The
world civilization in the future may only accept people with the
proper spiritual and intellectual development to join, and the
price of both is exceedingly high.

The separation of language and literary subjects in class has
long been appealed against by many, including a number of
literary teachers. Based on past experience, language teachers
also assume the additional responsibility of literary teachers.

This double capacity has become a heavy burden for the
teachers, particularly those with a limited literary background.

Moreover, with inadequate time in class for both subjects, the
teachers have no opportunity to make book reading compulsory for
their students.

Even if they were forced to do so, the availability of books
in the library is awfully poor. A severely restricted educational
budget makes the problem worse.

Suppose the budget problem can be overcome, a longer time for
language and literary class should be recommended because it will
give the students the opportunity to deepen their understanding
of the subjects, and to have ample time to discuss books they
have read and to have long debates on differing views.

If this appeal is heard and then brought up for discussion by
educational experts, the results may serve well in improving the
present condition. But there is still a long way to go. It is
therefore sensible to support and press ahead with Taufiq's
campaign.

The writer is a novelist.