Some straight talking with author Ayu
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
It was a long time coming, but author Yustina Ayu Utami, better known as Ayu Utami, has finally finished the continuation of Saman, her critically acclaimed book published in 1998.
Back then, the book was said to be a fragment of a novel in the works called Laila Tak Mampir Ke New York. But Ayu, 33, then decided to make it into two independent novels, though connected, and titled the second Larung.
In Larung, the roles that appeared in Saman also emerge. Similar with Saman, the second book also touches on social and political events in this country, such as the massacre of alleged communists in 1965 and the tragedy which resulted from the bloody takeover of the Indonesian Democratic Party headquarters.
In Larung, Ayu also delves into the world of mysticism and black magic.
We met twice recently, at the press conference for Larung and at Teater Utan Kayu, where she works. At the conference, Ayu, who is small and slight, seemed nervous -- "I'm not a fluent speaker," she said later -- but in the one-on-one she was more poised. Below are excerpts from the interviews.
Question: Why did it take you so long to write Larung?
Answer: I actually started writing Larung in 1997. But because I'm working, it took me three years to finish it. I'm not a person who can concentrate on many things at the same time. Saman was written within seven to eight months, but I wasn't employed at that time. So, I took leave over the past two months to finish the novel.
Saman was supposed to be a fragment of Laila. Why did you suddenly decide to make it two independent novels? Larung is a role that wasn't included in Saman. He was supposed to be a small role, but later on, it developed so much that I decided to make him the main role. Besides, if both books were made into one, it would be more expensive.
Q: What was the process in creating Larung?
A: My approach in writing it was language exploration and struggle. Because thinking means using language, and vice versa. There were, what I call, "language efforts", such as finding vocabulary, looking for words, making new ones playfully and reusing words that exist in the dictionary.
Like mencongak, for example, a term that we used in elementary school to count from memory. I then used the word in terms of thinking intuitively.
Q: So, the story ends with Larung or you will make it a trilogy?
A: No, it ends with Larung. But not everything comes to a conclusion.
Q: Can both books be read separately?
A: Yes. But there are some sections that can't be understood if you read Larung first.
Larung is darker than Saman, and the mystical world, or "black magic" is more intense. Why are you so interested in it? Any personal experiences?
No, just from other people's. And I tried to do some research in Kediri, which people say is the Banten of Central Java in terms of mysticism.
It's just that in Saman, many people apparently were interested in the part about ghosts and mysticism. Besides, I see that there is some misogyny surrounding the mystical world. Like how in Bahasa witch is called nenek sihir (literally, nenek means grandma and sihir means sorcery). There is some anxiety about the prejudice in respect of women and black magic.
Q: And then on to sex. What is it about sex that you write so intensely about it?
A: Because sex is still a problem for women, rather than for men. Ninety percent of the physical and social risks are carried by women. There is also a reflection of sex in the mystical world like I mentioned earlier. So, there's the meeting point between sex and the mystical world.
Q: What percentage of the novels is autobiographical?
A: Well, there is nothing linear, straight from personal experience, in the novel. The books are just representing my restlessness, my anxiety. Like Saman, who used to be so religious, that happened to me too.
I was raised a Catholic and when I was little, I easily believed in virtue, God. I saw it as something great and mysterious. But later on, I started to question many things about the values in religion. I then came to the conclusion that those values are very contextual and I see religion as something that is no longer absolute righteousness.
On my ID card, I'm still Catholic but I don't practice it. I have just lost the ability to pray.
Another anxiety, for example, is about virginity. I think it's very unfair here that women should be still virgins when they get married while men shouldn't. What's wrong with premarital sex? When I told my family about that, they were very upset. I fought with my father and we swore at each other.
One of my sisters (Ayu is the youngest of five) also condemned me. But later on, even my father became more relaxed about it. I mean, I didn't become a bad and irresponsible person, either.
Q: Is it merely a protest against the unfairness?
A: Not really. I just like my boyfriend, that's all. I want to enjoy being with him and I also have biological needs. A protest? Maybe. I'm very sad to see old maids usually become bitter. I want to prove that being unmarried is OK.
Q: So, marriage is not important anymore?
A: Marriage is important, but not for sex because it's irrelevant. In a patriarchal structure, marriage is needed to protect women and children. Because I can protect myself and I maybe don't want to have children, so..
Q: Between Cok, Laila, Yasmin and Shakuntala (the characters in Ayu's novels), whose characteristics are the closest to your's?
A: Well, each role represents my anxieties. But from the farthest to the closest would be Laila, Cok, Yasmin and Shakuntala. The way Shakuntala is angry or dreams is the same with me.
Q: Shakuntala is a self-confessed bisexual in Larung. What about you?
A: No. I used to be a tomboy but I've never been interested in women.
Q: What do you think about Supernova (a popular and critically lauded novel by singer-cum-author Dewi Lestari)?
A: Supernova is smooth and smart, although I have some criticism about it. Maybe because we both have a different approach or framework in making a novel. I see the theories inserted in Supernova as being attached, not woven intensely with the story. The theories do not become the conditions for solving things. The characters in the book can't use the theories to solve their problems, So, the theories didn't come from the characters' anxiety. The importance of inserting the theories then becomes unconvincing.
Q: Do you think that you and Dewi Lestari have been overrated?
A: Maybe. I think so. It's because of the media hype. They're looking for sensation. Why did everyone make a fuss about me when I published Saman? Because I'm a woman and I was young. I hadn't reached 30 at that time.
The most annoying thing is that within the first two years, people always asked the same question: whether I really wrote the book or not. I'm glad there's no more questions like that.
Q: About your regular column in a monthly magazine. Personally, I think you're trying too hard to be funny and postmodern.
A: Actually, I don't really like my writing there either. I just like the magazine and I was asked by a friend to write for it, so I have to be committed. I think you can't expect too much when you write something short and regular like that.
Q: Ever thought of writing in English?
A: No, I don't have the need for that. I want to revive Bahasa Indonesia. I don't like it when people pepper their talk with English. If we can't find the words in Bahasa, then together we have to make them.