Translator tells more than words can say

Translator tells more than words can say

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Harry Aveling put both his legs on the table and, in the style
of an intense poet, read a passage from Dewi Lestari's Supernova.

Then the 60-year-old Australian put his legs down again and
chuckled.

"That's how Sutardji (Calzoum Bachri) would read it," he said
in fluent Bahasa Indonesia.

Aveling possesses a deep knowledge of Indonesian literature,
and it is not only because he is the director of Asian Studies at
La Trobe University in Melbourne.

He has translated over 50 volumes of Indonesian and Malay
literature into English. The Malaysian government awarded him the
Anugerah Pengembangan Sastra (Literature Development Award) in
1991 for his contributions to the international recognition of
the literature of the two countries.

Among his Indonesian translations are Kill The Radio by
Dorothea Rosa Herliany, and the anthology of great Indonesian
poems, Secret Needs Worlds: Indonesian Poetry 1965-1998.

"I wanted to bring knowledge from Indonesia to Australia,
because Indonesian literature in Australia could hardly be
found," he said at a press conference.

"We're neighbors. We're supposed to understand each other. I
thought literature could bring us closer in heart, soul and
emotion. As for money, jangan harap (don't count on it)," Aveling
laughed.

His most recent translations include the critical study
Shahnon Ahmad: Islam Power and Gender (published by Universiti
Kebangsaan Malaysia) and a cotranslation with Sudha Joshi of
Sahajo Bai, The Brightness of Simplicity (Motilal Banarsidass,
New Delhi).

Aveling is now working on the translation of Supernova, which
he believes is the most important novel in this country in the
past two or three years.

The best selling novel dwells not only on love and
relationships, but the author also peppers it with philosophical
ideas about the universe and existence in general. Dewi, writing
under the pen-name Dee, also inserts here and there the basic
concepts of modern physics (some have said that there are a few
mistakes in the theories).

According to Aveling, the book is important because it starts
out in the postmodern era in the literature scene.

"During the period from 1945 to the 1990s, there was not much
interesting development in Indonesian literature. Every author
used the same approach. Novels used to be simple, the plots were
linear, the characters were not complicated," he said.

Only in the late 1990s did change come, with the appearance of
Ayu Utami's Saman in 1998.

"What's more interesting is that most of the new authors are
women, Ayu, Dewi and Dorothea to name a few," Aveling said.

He found out about Supernova from his students.

"She (Dewi) is very creative. The plot is excellent and
unpretentious. It uses modern youth language. The setting is the
big city and the characterizations are really urban. It really
represents its era, and that's how literature should be," he
said.

"Some of the veteran authors are sometimes too serious and
oppressive. And they like to over-romanticize things by using
homeless people as the main character or using village culture as
an accessory," he said.

"Writers now indeed have more freedom to choose. But still, it
has to be based on love. Don't hurt others' feelings."

Works that truly represent society and the era, like Supernova
and Kill The Radio, are important to be brought outside the
country through translation.

"Of course, if it's not different from the work of non-
Indonesian authors, why bother? Because we want to give something
new, something different."

The difficult thing about translating Supernova, he said, was
understanding the physics theories.

"So, I have had to read physics books. I also ask my son who
works in the computer field. It's not easy to be a translator,
you know," he laughed.

Dewi praised Aveling and said he was exceptional in bringing
something more to the translated works.

"He translates with creativity. Just look at how he translated
Dorothea's book, which was originally titled Sebuah Radio
Kumatikan (I turned off a radio) into Kill The Radio. It takes a
good writer to do that," she said.