CERPEN KORAN

Abstract

This article explores, from humanistic and sociological perspectives, how recent short stories (cerpen) in two leading Indonesian newspapers address continuing socio-political trends. An overview of developments in the short story, and how these constitute the formation of a canon where short stories published in newspapers (cerpen koran) sets the standard for the genre, ends with an analysis of a recent award-winning short story by Seno Gumira Ajidarma. That story is then linked by thematic association to short stories found in a thumbnail survey of the newspapers Kompas and Jawa Pos. The analysis reveals that those stories address the continuing trend of the rise of formal, political Islam and increasing religious intolerance. No other trend was thematised in the sample. The authors used spiritual motifs, folklore and marvellous imagery that subvert a rigid worldview in defence of tolerance, pluralism and freedom of faith. This deployment expressed a universal humanism and was in three cases set within Islamic parameters and worldviews.

Keywords:

• Indonesian literature
• cerpen koran
• short stories
• Seno Gumira Ajidarma
• Islam
• universal humanism

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank the three anonymous IMW reviewers for their comments on an early version of the typescript, especially the one who commented at length. I also thank the IMW editors, and for English language corrections and suggestions, Robert Finlayson.

Notes

¹In literature canon is commonly understood both as a selection of works to be used and read, and as the rule system that governs selection. As Baldick states (2001: 33): ‘The canon of a national literature is a body of writings especially approved by critics or anthologists and deemed suitable for academic study. This article allows for a more flexible view on the concept. Authors and works that are published in prestigious media, critically appreciated by critics and republished constitute the canon. ‘Canonisation’ refers to, in addition to selection, the influence of others and the impulse to repeat. The novel, although subject to rule systems and imitation, is anti-canonical in nature. The short story must, like the novel, constantly renew itself. See also canon and bracketed terms in the glossary to Bakhtin (1981: 423–434).

² Sastra koran refers first to literature published in newspapers, and second to the formal qualities associated with literature published in newspapers, foremost the short story. The term cerpen koran is largely interchangeable with the terms cerpen aktual and cerpen faktual, terms that should be understood literally – actual issues and facts. These terms are explained later and examples provided.

³Nugroho et al. (2012: 67) states that Kompas and Jawa Pos remain the two most widely read newspapers in Indonesia, and Kompas is the most influential because policymakers read it.

⁴I assumed that there would appear works that engage with socio-political issues and I had previously identified an anti-authoritarian thread in the genre. The discussion of the genre and its authors stem from a previous study (Danerek 2006) that included a six-month brief survey (2002–2003) of short stories from seven national and large regional newspapers.

⁵Heteroglossia is ‘the condition governing the operation of meaning in any utterance, ensuring primacy of context over text’ (Bakhtin 1981: 263, 428). Literary studies are, accordingly, comparative and sociological. Tony Day's words in the review (2007: 173) of Maier (2004) is instructive when confronting a variety of different texts, as in a sample or survey with many different points of views on the world: ‘The ability to “read” a Malay literary text effectively […] depends on adopting a strategy […] of identification, […] with foreign writers, of feeling at home in their alien textual worlds where flux and hybridity […] reign supreme’.

⁶Maman S. Mahayana (2006) researched newspapers and short stories and concluded that writers of literary history have, in all periods, mistakenly focused on books (Maman 2010). E.U. Kratz's (1988) bibliography of literature from only journals for the years 1922–1982 noted 27,000 titles of poetry, drama and prose, constituting an argument for a shift of attention from books and novels to other forms of publication and genres.

⁷Many Generation 45 authors gathered in and around a group that developed the manifesto, Surat Kepertjajaan Gelanggang (1950). This letter is translated in Teeuw (1986: 127). This revolutionary generation envisioned an Indonesian culture without an east–west dichotomy but artists were generally more inspired by western thought than their own eastern roots. Keith Foulcher (2012: 31–56) has written extensively on cultural politics and universal humanism.

⁸ Kompas has paid more for short stories than other newspapers and the amounts of its awards have been significant. Honoraria are not fixed. Kompas pays a minimum IDR1 million (about USD100). Jawa Pos has gradually increased its honoraria to IDR1 million (source: private email, Shoim Anwar, 18 February 2013).

⁹Edgar Allen Poe's formula, ‘that every word must have a function in the composition and that the totality of effect is the main objective’ (Cuddon 1999: 817), is almost forced upon newspaper short stories, which should be about 10,000 characters, as is the length limit imposed by Kompas and Jawa Pos.

¹⁰An anti-authoritarian thread runs through Seno's works. See Bodden (1999: 153–156) about Seno's resistance in fiction against authoritarianism As Seno states: ‘I concentrate completely on ensuring that the forbidden text […] can be disseminated in a way that is safe and according to the rules’ (Ajidarma 1999: 166). For more comprehensive analyses of Seno's oeuvre, see Fuller (2004, 2010).

¹¹ Jurnal Cerpen Indonesia (2002) first appeared in 2002 and was intended to be a quarterly but only one issue per year has been published for the last few years.

¹²Helvy Tiana Rosa is a pioneering figure for the writers who gather in the writers' group, Forum Lingkar Pena. See Danerek (2006: 40–41, 49–56). Monika Arnez (2009: 62) states: ‘Helvy has succeeded in establishing a significant literary dakwah movement that calls out to both young men and women to work for the country's moral and social reform.’ A common tenet in sastra Islam is that Islamic art is art for humankind because of Allah. Maier (2004: 388–395) quotes several Muslim authors on sastra Islam, noting that the ‘should-ness’ involved in definitions is untenable because the nature of Malay is dialogic and heterogeneous.

¹³I describe the term sastra wangi as ‘mislabelled’ because it originated from satire. Bre Redana (2002) introduced the term in an allegorical short story with veiled references to established authors and new female talent.

¹⁴Danerek (2006) and Arnez and Dewojati (2010) discuss and compare the two mainstreams.

¹⁵Djenar was represented with two stories in the 2003 ‘best of Kompas’ anthology, one of which was awarded best cerpen of the year 2002: canonised.

¹⁶See the chapter on canonisation of sastrawangi in Danerek (2006: 167–183).

¹⁷See Danerek (2006: 25, 27). The current readings also support the claim.

¹⁸The stories discussed here can be accessed online. All translations are mine. Indented quotes are with the permission of the authors.

¹⁹‘Dodolitdodolitdodolibret’ ends with a disclaimer stating that the story is the writer's version of similar stories with backgrounds from the world's different religions. A.N. Basral (2010) was first to identify the Russian folk tale, Three hermits by Tolstoy (1886), as the likely source of inspiration.

²⁰There is usually only one winner.

²¹Putu's words were not reported as direct speech in the news report.

²² ‘Bagaimana mungkin doanya sampai jika kata-katanya salah,’ pikir Kiplik, ‘karena jika kata-katanya salah, tentu maknanya berbeda, bahkan jangan-jangan bertentangan. Bukankah buku Cara Berdoa yang Benar memang dijual di mana-mana?’

²³A detail connected with the work's compositional principle, the ‘life-giving centre’ of the work of art (Spitzer 1948: 19, quoted in Said 2004: 65).

²⁴The Saudi state religion, best known as Salafism (that is, Wahhabism), strives for domination over mainstream Sunni Islam. This ideology despises all cultural-historical heritage, including that of Islam. The evidence is that the Saudi state with the blessings of its Wahhabist clerics is even bulldozing the Islamic heritage sites of Mecca and Medina (see, for instance, Thompson 2012), continuing a long tradition of vandalism that includes the destruction of the graves of the Prophet's family and friends. Indonesians first encountered Wahhabism when Sumatran pilgrims visited Mecca in 1803 during the first violent Wahhabi occupation of the city. Once home they inspired the long Padri war against upholders of tradition.

²⁵MUI is an umbrella organisation for Muslim organisations, including small radical groups and its member FPI, has often used threats and violence to back up MUI fatwas. See the International Crisis Group (2008) overview of the Islamist movement and the Ahmadiyah decree. For fatwas, see MUI (2013). The laws against blasphemy have, after 1998, been used by hardliners to persecute minorities. In most cases, the convicted are Muslims who have insulted Islam (Crouch 2012:1).

²⁶For reports on religiously motivated violence, see for instance the Setara Institute (2013) and the International Crisis Group (2008).

²⁷Short stories from Kompas and Jawa Pos were first accessed in the online editions for subscribers on or near the day of publication. Jawa Pos short stories also appear in Indopos (Jawa Pos group). Kompas stories are archived at Cerpen Kompas blog (2013). Jawa Pos and Kompas stories are both archived at the Cerpen Koran Minggu blog (2013) including the stories discussed here. Jawa Pos did not publish a short story on 18 and 25 September 2011 and Kompas did not appear because of holidays on 6 and 27 November 2011. The ratio of established versus non-established authors in my previous study (Danerek 2006) was similar to the 2011 period under discussion.

²⁸ Kompas published a story by Djenar that must be seen as rather haphazard (Ayu 2011). A reader at the Cerpen Kompas blog commented that the editors might have intentionally let it through to subvert Djenar's status.

²⁹‘The author […] sends his best stories to Kompas […] if they are refused, they are then sent to another’ (Danerek 2006: 101, 126). Authors continue to prioritise Kompas above Jawa Pos and other newspapers, but this may change with the increasing honoraria offered by Jawa Pos.

³⁰Similar to the more extensive 2002–2003 survey.

³¹The ones that are discussed will most likely be republished in anthologies. Seno's ‘Dodolitdodolitdodolibret’ and Yanusa's ‘Salawat dedaunan’ have been re-published in the aforementioned ‘best of’ anthologies.

³² Tak ada keindahan seanggun tarian burung bangau yang sedang bercumbu. Dan Siti menatap takjub beratus-ratus pasangan bangau yang sedang berkencan itu. Burung-burung itu serempak mencericitkan kicau mirip tangisan paling pedih yang memekakkan telinga tetapi pada saat sama mereka bergerak mirip penari keraton. […] Akan tetapi, hari itu, pada Oktober 1965 saat angin laut begitu asin dan amis, burung-burung bangau itu nyaris tidak melakukan gerak apa pun. […] Siti menduga ada ratusan ular raksasa yang menelan mereka […] menyambar sayap, lalu menghajar, dan mengkremus kepala-kepala mereka.

³³See for instance Cribb (2001) about the events of 1965–1966.

³⁴There is ample literature and a recent film which have stated this, but Indonesian history is still waiting for its synthesis. The semi-documentary, The act of killing (Oppenheimer 2012), features former killers who act themselves, thus admitting to acts of torture and murder.

³⁵ Jika hendak tamasya, kami akan pergi ke batas tidur, tubuh pun melayang-layang, terayun-ayun seringan kapas. […] Kicau burung, suara serangga, dan desau angin, jernih dan jelas sumbernya. Bisikan-bisikan menjadi percakapan nan merdu.

³⁶ Pedukuhan Astungkara pun jadi terkenal, dikunjungi banyak orang dari berbagai benua dan pelosok negeri […] membuat iri para pemilik wisata spiritual di hotel dan vila dengan menu tapa-yoga-semadi […].

³⁷Setelah peristiwa petang itu, jika hendak bertemu Guru Tung, kami akan telentang menatap angkasa, […] bersujud pada sunyi, memohon pada hening dan sepi, agar bisa bersua dengan kosong sejati. Kami akan terus di campuhan ini, meresapi aji batas tidur, agar bisa memilih sendiri hari mati.

³⁸A version of Nenek pemetik daun [The leaf-picking grandmother] can be accessed on the Si Pencari Ilmu (2011) blog.

³⁹ ‘Gusti, mugi paringa aksama. Paringa kanugrahan dateng Kanjeng Nabi’ (Javanese).

⁴⁰ Pada setiap helai yang dipungut dan ditatapnya sesaat dia menggumamkan ‘Gusti, mugi paringa aksama. Paringa kanugrahan dateng Kanjeng Nabi.’ […] Haji Brahim tergetar oleh kepolosan dan keluguan si nenek. Di matanya, si nenek seperti ingin bersaksi di hadapan ribuan dedaunan bahwa dirinya sedang mencari jalan pengampunan.

⁴¹ Sudut mata Haji Brahim membasah. ‘Semoga kau temukan jalanmu, nek,’ gumamnya. Dan ketika semua orang, yang puluhan jumlahnya itu, secara bersamaan menemukan apa yang dipandang Haji Brahim, mereka ternganga. Bagaimana mungkin halaman masjid bisa sebersih seperti itu.

⁴²‘Salawat dedaunan’ is more elaborate than the Madurese folk tale that I read, but it is basically the same story. The community, and the grandmother's effect on it in Yanusa's narrative is not in the folk tale.

⁴³ Sulastri tahu, polisi tak akan menangkapnya tanpa imbalan. Dia hanya menghindar sesaat dari tindakan fisik. Polisi tak mungkin menyerahkannya pada kedutaan untuk dideportasi. Seperti juga teman-teman senasib, Sulastri menggelandang.

It is said that intermediaries, often Indonesians, are able to arrange deportation papers unofficially with the Saudi authorities for a fee of 1,000 riyal (about USD270) per person. For an illegal migrant worker, having the deportation papers means the Indonesian embassy is obliged to pay his or her ticket home. The migrant worker who wants and has paid to be deported is cheated if the police do not arrive at the agreed time and place of arrest for the deportation.

⁴⁴ ‘Kau masuk ke negeri ini secara haram. Bagaimana aku bisa menolongmu?’ […] ‘Saya ditelantarkan suami, Ya Musa.’ […] ‘Saya seorang perempuan, Ya Musa.’ ‘Perempuan atau laki diwajibkan mengubah nasibnya sendiri.’ ‘Negeri kami miskin, Ya Musa.’ ‘Kekayaan negerimu melimpah ruah. Kau lihat, di sini kering dan tandus.’ ‘Kami tidak punya pekerjaan, Ya Musa.’ ‘Apa bukan kalian yang malas hingga suka jalan pintas?’ ‘Kami tak memperoleh keadilan, Ya Musa.’ ‘Di negerimu keadilan telah jadi slogan.’

⁴⁵Abuse of TKI has been a topical theme and appeared several times in the 2002–2003 sample. The Indonesian Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration estimates the number of undocumented Indonesians in Saudi Arabia at about 200,000 (Cochrane 2013).

⁴⁶Forty-five Indonesian women were on death row in Saudi Arabia earlier this year (Chamberlain 2013). The story of Sulastri connects through Saudi Arabia to the other stories that have been discussed because so many Indonesians work in the nation that exports Wahhabism to Indonesia and the world.