Poetry, national trauma and dialog on democracy

By Garin Nugroho

JAKARTA (JP): "After the collapse of the Berlin Wall, a domino-theory-based wave of turmoils and crises will appear in multicultural countries sustaining historical wounds as a result of authoritarian regimes.

"This wave of crises and turmoils will flow from the Balkans to Indonesia, considering that Indonesia is a multicultural region which is geopolitically an archipelago (not a continent) suffering from complex historical wounds.

"Fresh attempts for a dialog by means of opening these historical wounds coupled with a dialog or reconciliation based on apologies and non-apologies will become part of Indonesia's growth in the future. Therefore, a film based on the idea of a free interpretation of G 30 S/PKI will be important to offer to the public."

That was my note when I offered the idea of the film titled Puisi tak terkuburkan (Unburied poem) in early August 1998. Unfortunately, almost all the producers I solicited told me then that producing this film was nothing more than suicide. However, the film has been distributed along with a flux of issues on reconciliation and the opening of historical wounds coupled with a dialog on the perspective of apologies and non-apologies involving all sorts of figures, from religious leaders down to community elders.

What is interesting about the public distribution of this film? It is worthy to note that the film has been distributed along with discussions in various regions in Indonesia, involving 45 speakers -- political observers, men of culture, customary elders and religious leaders -- such as Mochtar Pabottinggi, Teungku Yakob, Sobari, Ibu Gedhong and Stepanus Djuweng. It must also be noted that requests for similar discussions on the film have also come from other regions in the country.

"Thank you, I have seen your film and I could shed tears...," an elderly man said when he phoned me right after I was interviewed about this film on Liputan Enam Siang (the 12 o'clock news) at private television station SCTV.

The caller did not seem to have the presence of any revenge or violence as he simply had his value of humanity restored by the film.

Born traumatic

To me, man is born in trauma through the process of labor, which is enveloped in mystery and drama. Likewise, every nation is always born through various traumatic events and undergoes its process of becoming a nation through the same events. Of course, the killing of 500,000 people (some say the figure is 2,000,000) in the aftermath of the 1965 tragedy is a traumatic event, as are also other various forms of violence, massacres and acts of vigilantism as we know today.

Therefore, the history of a human's life is one in which he will heal his wounds or get over his trauma. This recovery is a kind of initiation for the negative energy generated by the trauma to transform itself into positive energy so that man can be reborn as a new creature. So the joint rite conducted by a nation to shake off their trauma in a productive manner will encourage the growth of a new culture. Take, for example, the trauma of World War II. The Japanese community has been transformed into one with economic superiority while the trauma of the Vietnam War for American society has provided a new perspective of political control and a fresh foreign perspective to the United States.

In fact, the energy of a trauma is like a flood that needs various conduits to channel it out. A trauma should not be appreciated through a new form of violence but should be appreciated sensibly, humanly and productively to promote growth. Take the trauma of the Vietnam War again. This trauma has given birth to various kinds of novels, films, comic strips, songs and historical reviews with all their perspectives, from comic to literary.

Indonesian experience

Unfortunately, in Indonesia the strong flow of traumatic energy can, for the most part, be channeled only in the political domain among the political elite, an area too small to be able to accommodate all the problems. In other words, this energy has not been exposed to the public through creative productivity and space for appreciation, be it in comic strips, novels, history books and so forth.

This indicates to the economic industrial players that the themes of political trauma are still dangerous themes. Besides, it is also an indication that there is stagnation in pushing the process of democratization toward a daily public domain. In fact, these cultural products, which the public may consume in their daily lives, have the capacity to serve as trauma centers.

To me, Unburied Poem is a vehicle for the release of a trauma and at the same time a testimony against injustice. It is a testimony made in public by making it part of the people's daily life which does not need to be approached with fear. It must be admitted, though, that this film is only a small step in comparison with a high demand from an extensive area of deep and complex traumas.

Useless

I have received many phone calls and letters asking why we should remember our historical wounds, arguing that by doing so would be useless and, instead, harmful. In this context, even House Speaker Akbar Tandjung has reminded us of the uselessness of keeping such historical wounds in our memory.

To me, efforts to cover up a historical wound will meet the fate of the Berlin Wall. These efforts are bound to fail. Therefore, the wounds must be opened although it is indeed painful and can lead to a painful groan and anger.

However, opening a historical wound is exactly what a nation must do to understand the mistakes and find the truth in the process of being a nation. In this way, an assessment may be made for future measures.

The film Unburied Poem, for example, shows that a process of great transition of this nation is always characterized by mass judgment without the need for an honest and fair trial, with respect to both political players and the community. In fact, this violence will only breed another form of violence in the next period.

So, to me, opening wounds is a process toward reconciliation through a process of understanding truth and bringing back self- respect and humanity. This process will later encourage the next process to take place, which will be a dialog in the perspective of "apologies and non-apologies".

In this context, the reviews of this film in various media publications have always been accompanied by various studies on the process of a dialog on forgiving and not forgiving regarding a historical wound. Even President Abdurrahman Wahid has taken an extraordinary step by tendering his apology in the context of the G 30 S/PKI tragedy, an act which has triggered a public debate which is still continuing.

The process of "forgiving and not forgiving" will be coupled with the demand for the creation of a structural base and the infrastructure for becoming a nation. This will be able to process the wounds through a judicial system based on fairness and truth, subsequently providing the nation with a moral system connected with a hope that fresh violence will not occur in the future.

Historical truth

Another significant value of this film is an effort to encourage the freedom to interpret various national events which have until now been dominated by the state through coercion. This will later give birth to a dialog and at the same time open up a public discourse as a prerequisite to maturity in the application of democracy.

In my opinion, historical truth, just like the nature of humanity itself, is not a finished form. Truth and its growth must always be interpreted from various perspectives through different spaces and periods and types of dialogs. These dialogs may take place at the House of Representatives or in comic strips and novels.

The complex problem referred to above has made Unburied Poem full of grand hopes. Namely, it is a story with a strong structure with the beginning, the middle part and the end which can accommodate grand problems and reflect the grand history of G 30 S/PKI and also with outstanding suspense and surprise elements.

Unfortunately, I have not taken this option. This film is just a small space for a testimony of a poet called Ibrahim Kadir, one undergoing the tragedy and seeing various forms of massacre. The location is only a prison cell with long boring shots, a choice intended to make the film a sort of installation room for the release of the trauma, a process which will be allowed to go on uncut, although boring.

So, to me, this film covers a small space compared with all the complex problems arising during this great crisis. Just like an extensive desert which must be regreened, this film is only a tiny oasis, which is almost invisible. So joint efforts involving various disciplines and professions will be needed so that other small oases can be created. In this way, the whole desert of violence and crises will gradually be covered by these oases. To me, the soil in the garden, though hard and barren, has been prepared for planting. Perhaps the first fruit will not be sweet and tasty. Yet a desert which is good only for discussion will be covered with wild grass again. And we can only shed tears again.

The writer is the director and producer of Puisi Tak Terkuburkan.