Spardi turns simplicity into beauty

T. Sima Gunawan, Contributor, Jakarta

Computers help writers a lot, but in a way, using a computer is a hindrance to the process of creativity.

Or so says Sapardi Djoko Damono. The 63-year-old poet started writing when he was still in high school and kept his poems, written in longhand, in a notebook, illustrated with a series of sketches.

"I still have the notebooks. I will contribute them to the H.B. Jassin literary documentation center...," he said.

He later used a typewriter to write poetry, but some of the drafts went missing.

"When I started to use a computer, I couldn't record the process of creativity. Sometimes I print out the draft before making changes, but then I become confused by the many copies and can't remember which one was what."

Yet, he prefers to use the computer, because it is fast. "And my handwriting is unreadable," he added.

Sapardi has written nine books of collected poems since 1969. Among them are Dukamu Abadi (Your eternal sorrow, 1969), Sihir Hujan (Rain Spell, 1984), Hujan Bulan Juni (June Rain, 1994), Ayat-ayat Api (Verses of Fire, 2000) and Ada Berita Apa, Den Sastro (What's the News, Sastro, 2002). His poems have been translated into many languages and in 1988, an anthology of his poetry, Suddenly the Night, was published by the Lontar Foundation, translated by John H. McGlynn, one of its founders.

Sapardi has also published at least six books on literary criticism and essay collections, as well as translated numerous books, including the works of Eugene O'Neil, Ernest Hemingway, Ibsen and Henry James.

He has received many literary awards for his contribution to Indonesian literature, the most recent one presented just two weeks ago by the Freedom Institute. In 1978, he received the Cultural Award from the Australian government. He has also been awarded by the Jakarta Arts Institute, the Association of Malay National Writers and the South East Asian Writer's Award from Thailand. In 1990, the Indonesian government presented him with an art award and in 1996, he received recognition from former minister of research and technology BJ Habibie.

"Habibie that art was also technology," Sapardi explained.

Sapardi, who is also editor of literary journal Kalam, writes poems whenever he feels the urge, even when he is burdened with other work. At such busy times, he enjoys it even more and can write better. When he takes a break from work to write, he says he feels relieved and relaxed, and able to express his feelings.

The poet, who admits to being influenced by TS Elliot, addresses a broad spectrum of issues -- from the as yet unsolved murder of labor activist Marsinah and the controversy over dangdut singer Inul Daratista, to the bloody student demonstration and the May riots of 1998.

Mostly though, he writes on his observations of nature, translates his feelings into poetic expression and reflects upon his relationship with fellow humans and God. His poetry is beautifully rendered through the use of simple, unfettered words.

"Sometimes, I'm surprised with the words that just pop out, and I don't know how I do it, like the lines in Walking Westward in the Morning," he said.

Walking Westward is the only poem written by a Southeast Asian poet that is included in an anthology of world poetry published in the United States a couple of years ago.

During the interview with The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, Sapardi softly read the piece:

"Walking westward in the morning the sun follows from behind/I walk following my drawn out shadow before me/the sun and I don't argue about which one of us creates the shadows/the shadow and I don't argue about which of us must lead the way..."

Born in Surakarta in 1940, Sapardi's father, like his grandfather, was an abdi dalem, or court servant, at the royal palace before he found work at the Public Works Department. Not long after he graduated from the English Department at the School of Letters at Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University in 1964, Sapardi added his name to the Cultural Manifestation, a petition calling for the freedom of expression.

He said he found it difficult to get a job afterwards, as the government saw the document as undermining the state. Somehow, though, Sapardi found work at the Teachers Training Institute (IKIP) in the small East Java town of Madiun, which was later closed down.

As the political climate changed with the rise of the New Order regime, Sapardi was offered a job in the English Department at Gadjah Mada University. But he didn't want to work there, fearing that he might not be able to develop his career fully because of the dominant, hierarchical Javanese culture.

He was later offered a teaching position at the University of Diponegoro in Semarang, but instead of teaching there, Sapardi traveled to and around the U.S. on a government-sponsored study tour, with a mission to create a cultural science curriculum to be taught at all state universities.

"Actually, uniformity is the blunder of our universities," he said. "Every university should have its own unique character."

Sapardi, who was the dean of the School of Letters at the University of Indonesia from 1995 to 1999 and is now head of the cultural studies post graduate program, believes universities would be able to realize its full potential if there was no interference from the government.

"But you can see that even the admission test (for state universities) is all the same. That's ridiculous," he said. "Now, you have the freedom to speak, but not to think."

Sapardi believes the political and economic conditions of a country does not have much influence on the writer's creative process. A writer can produce a great work when everything is well, or when everything is in chaos. "Shakespeare lived during a time of prosperity, while in Russia, many great works were written in times of oppression."

As for the development of Indonesian literature, he says the determining factor is not only creativity, but also business. Many new writers have emerged recently because publishing houses were now willing to print their work, Sapardi said. Compared to novels, however, poems do not sell well, as not many people enjoy them.

"But I don't write for money," he said.

"I really enjoy the process. I don't care whether people read them or not.

"It's like when you play table tennis or squash -- you find joy in smashing the ball..."