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