DAKWAH BY THE PEN

Abstract

Islamic fiction has become increasingly popular since the 1980s, a development that is related to the Islamic revival of that decade. Islamic narratives, aimed at Muslim teenagers, have proliferated in the last three decades. Helvy Tiana Rosa, a productive writer of Islamic fiction and founder of the Pen Circle Forum (Forum Lingkar Pena, FLP), is one of the most popular figures of this literary movement. This article explores the following questions: what functions do the female characters in Helvy Tiana Rosa's short fiction have in representations of conflict in Muslim societies, and how can they be viewed as models for the readership? What role do representations of the female body, beauty and purity play in the selected narratives? To what extent are Islamic values presented through the female characters of the stories and how are they related to FLP's declared mission to proselytise by the pen?

Notes

*I would like to thank Edwin Wieringa, Peter Pink and two anonymous IMW reviewers for comments on an earlier version of this article as well as Andrew Buckler for co-editing this article. However, the responsibility for this article is my own.

¹This article does not aim to give a comprehensive account of various aspects that provide evidence of Islamic revival since the 1980s; I only include the actors, Muslim intellectuals and students, relevant to this article.

²Islamic narratives started booming in the early 2000s and according to Arndt Graf (2007: 165), these books formed 20% of the market.

³For instance, Titian Pelangi (2000) and Hari-hari cinta Tiara (2001) by Helvy Tiana Rosa appeared under the label sastra remaja Islam. Examples of other books published under this label in the early 2000s are Serenade biru Dinda (2001) and Rembulan di mata ibu (2001) by Asma Nadia, Penantian Mei Siang (2001) by Himmah Tirmikoara and Impian terindah (2001) by Salman Iskandar.

⁴Lack of criticism is also a problem for other genres of Indonesian literature.

⁵Other writers such as Fira Basuki, Dinar Rahayu and Nova Riyanti Yusuf have also been labelled sastra wangi writers, but Ayu Utami, Djenar Maesa Ayu and Dewi Lestari are more frequently mentioned in the media in the context of the so-called sastra wangi.

⁶See also Laksmini 2004: 206.

⁷Faith.

⁸Ethics.

⁹Helvy said she does not have the patience to write novels. Personal interview with the author, 19 September 2006.

¹⁰The role of the magazine Annida is examined here as it publishes many FLP writers.

¹¹The best-known book published by an FLP writer to date is Ayat-ayat cinta by Habiburrahman El Shirazy.

¹²Author's interview with Helvy Tiana Rosa, 19 September 2006.

¹³Ibid.

¹⁴Ibid.

¹⁵Interview with the local Fatayat NU chairwoman in north Jakarta, 02 April 2008.

¹⁶<http://www.dudung.net/artikel-islami/bunga-rampai-dakwah-bilqalam.html> Accessed 20 November 2008.

¹⁷<http://keluargapengarang.wordpress.com/2007/04/09/tujuan-menulis-isi-tulisan-buku-harian-dan-riset-1/> Accessed 20 November 2008.

¹⁸Its advertisement appeared in the back cover of Annida 2 (1) in 1991 and it was cited in ‘Ensiklopenida’, Annida 11 (1): 30–31 in 2001.

¹⁹According to Syamsul Rijal (2005: 436) the magazine Sabili was a pioneer of the Islamist media in the post-Suharto era, which has proliferated since 1998 and now include Annida, Ummi, Saksi, Tarbawi, Al Izzah, Darul Islam, Salafy, Percikan Iman, Hayatul Iman, Gema Islam, El-Fata, and Islamia.

²⁰Fajri, Dian Yasmina. ‘Sapa Nida’, Annida Cool edition, October 2003. Quoted in Latifah 2006.

²¹Kaderpks <http://www.kaderpks.net/modules/wordpress/2007/10/11/bagaimana-dengan-partai-harapan-rakyat-flp-underbouw-pks-bikin.html> Accessed 25 February 2008.

²²Pipietsenja <http://pipietsenja.multiply.com/journal/item/53/Kenapa_Harus_Fiksi_Islami_3> Accessed 5 February 2009.

²³Ibid.

²⁴The Justice Post for Women, managed by the women's division of PKS, is a social programme aimed at empowering society.

²⁵See for instance Abuza (2006: 25); Schröter (2007: 19).

²⁶‘Jaring-jaring merah’ was previously published in the anthology Lelaki kabut dan boneka (Bandung: Syaamil Cipta Media, 2002).

²⁷ Kivu, kau yang terindah. In two places the statement is: Kivu, kau indah (p. 197, 198). As in other details in this short story, this leitmotif is based on historical facts, although the year Hemingway praised the beauty of Lake Kivu, was 1954, not 1957 (p. 202). Hemingway was on his African tour and made the following comment when he saw the lake: ‘We landed at a very fine airstrip at the town of Costermansville situated on Lake Kivu …The lake is one of the most beautiful that I have ever seen.’ (Fedarko et al. 1996).

²⁸The water of Lake Kivu is also ‘poisonous’ because of emerging toxic gases.

²⁹Diah Ariani Arimbi (2006: 293) has alluded to that accusation.

³⁰Operasi Jaring Merah was active from 1989–90 until 1998 (Arnez 2002: 211). The term was the military code name for its operations against GAM during the 1990s (Aveling 2007: 18). Operation Red Net's terror tactics included targeted killings, rape, public display of corpses, and compelling civilians to ‘co-operate’ with the military to flush out the guerrillas (Robinson 1998: 143). In the armed conflict around 2,000 were killed (ibid., p. 128).

³¹After raping Inong the soldiers killed all her family members. The attackers accused Inong's family of having supported insurgent groups called GPK (Gerakan Pengacau Keamanan, Security Disruptor Movement), the Indonesian government's perjorative name for GAM.

³²Alexander Roesler and Stefan Münker observe that the net is one of the most efficacious metaphors at present. <http://www.klassik-stiftung.de/einrichtungen/kolleg-friedrich-nietzsche/kolleg/wissenschaftstheorie.html>

³³I spread my wings again. Fluttering. Bleeding in the net. (Rosa 2008: 215).

³⁴Harry Aveling (2007: 16) and Stefan Danerek (2006: 43) have both stressed the anti-military aspect of the short story.

³⁵Her devoutness shows, for instance, when she regularly reads to Inong from the Qur'an (p. 209).

³⁶In her paper Candraningrum also discusses two other stories by Helvy Tiana Rosa, ‘Hingga batu bicara’ and ‘Maut di Camp Loka’.

³⁷The writers are Fia Rosa, Ikrima Ghaniy, Andina Respati, Rof, S. Aisyah Z., Syifa Aulia and Winna Karnie.

³⁸The blue fairy in Pinocchio is also known as the fairy with turquoise hair.

³⁹Helvy Tiana Rosa has explicitly stated that FLP is a forum that is also open to talented children (interview with the author, 19 September 2006.) Her own son, Abdurrahman Faiz, has written several poetry anthologies and has won a number of awards for his work.