Reading between the lines in 'Bisik-Bisik'

Reading between the lines in 'Bisik-Bisik'

Sunu Wasono, Contributor, Jakarta

As its name suggests, a short story must be brief, inevitably
limited in terms of the scope of events and characters. Like a
novel, a short story conveys its message through narration and
dialog.

It cannot present an overly complicated event (hence the rare
use of flashbacks), and character description cannot be as
developed as in a novel. Its most important elements are the
story, characters and setting in making the whole package.

But there are no absolute rules in literature, or else we
would have had no Joyce or Faulkner. Bisik-Bisik flouts the usual
conventions of the short story, almost doing away with narration
in shaping the story and characters.

Reda Gaudiamo starts and continues all of her 27 short stories
with dialog. Some may consider this device to be Reda's aversion
or inability to use narration effectively. Yet from another
standpoint, the author can be considered as providing a "record",
the substance for the reader to make an interpretation without
the judgmental commentary of narration.

It's a neutral stance, with it up to the reader to fill in
their own narration of the relationship between the characters.

From the very beginning, the writer realizes "the abnormality"
of the format she chooses for her stories. The word "format"
suggests something technical, and the issue is whether there is a
relevant relationship between the unconventional format and the
theme of the stories, instead of merely being an unusual,
attention-getting approach.

It is said that any theme may be explored for a story, because
what matters is how the theme is embodied. That's why it is also
said that a good idea will be useless unless it is conveyed in
the right way. On the other hand, a bad idea remains exactly
that, no matter how well it is evinced in a story.

The unconventional format works well with Reda's choice of
dialog themes, which cover relationships between husbands and
wives, brothers and sisters, lecturers and university students,
parents and children and teachers and pupils. Constraints in
communication and relationship imbalances are at the core of each
story.

"In Makan Bersama (Eating Together), for example, we have
dialog between two people discussing what food they must have. It
reveals the dominance of one over the other, the one an
"interrogator", the other merely providing answers which prompt
yet more questions.

The same tendency is found in Nonton (Watching a Film) and
Skripsi (Thesis). In Nonton the two characters fail to reach an
agreement on what to watch, and communication takes place
haltingly.

In Skripsi, an underlying distrust undermines the relationship
between a student and his supervisor. Although the student tries
to defend himself, the supervisor is full of prejudice, and their
relationship ultimately collapses amid their miscommunication.

The dialog is not dialog at all because real communication can
only take place when the two sides understand each other's words.
Any communication that the characters wish to build fails because
each talks to themselves, failing to capture the signal that
their interlocutors send them.

It is also shown by the use of ellipsis throughout the
stories, with sentences trailing off, words left unsaid, the dots
signifying the annoyance, dissatisfaction or even despair.

The short stories in Bisik-Bisik are quite different from
previously published works. Putu Wijaya in his Zat (Substance)
collection also tried something new, with the use of diaries,
poems and short stories mixed into one.

But Bisik-Bisik presents a variety of problems in one single
and consistent "abnormal" format of a stream of dialog. Like Zat,
Bisik-Bisik, which has a preface by writer Supardi Djoko Damono,
may receive mixed responses from critics and readers. At any
rate, reading the short stories will allow readers to "whisper",
or shout, their view of Reda's bold and unconventional work.

Bisik-Bisik (Whispers)

Reda Gaudiamo

Eksotika Karmawibhangga Indonesia, 2004

160 + xvi pp

Rp 30,000