Idea Transcript
1 / 172
июля
Tweet
Share Share
0
Share
CHAPTER ONE GEOGRAPHICAL AND THEORETICAL CONTEXT Introduction This thesis has been undertaken with a number of objectives in mind. In the first place, it aims to assist in the development of a ‘map’ of aspects of contemporary Indonesian language poetry and associational life related to that poetry from the provinc e of West Java, particularly in the period after 1998, when President Soeharto relinquished power as president of the Republic of Indonesia.1 While there have been numerous studies undertaken of aspects of the development of modern Indonesian literature, relatively few have focussed on the regional setting of the modern Indonesian literature story. Those that have considered regional developments have tended to focus on literature in the regional languages themselves.2 Studies of the development of Indonesian as a national language of unity have paid some attention to the relationship of Bahasa Indonesia to the various regional languages of the archipelago. By and large, however, studies of the development of modern literature in Indonesia have not looked at comparable developments in regional literature in the national language.3 Nor have they generally looked at the interplay 1 The idea or concept of ‘mapping’ poetry or literary developments in Indonesia is taken fr om references made by Harry Aveling in H. Aveling (ed. and trans.) Secrets Need Words: Indonesian Poetr y 1966-1998. Athens/USA: Center for International Studies, Ohio University, 2001. p. xiii. 2 See e.g. the account of the development of the Javanese language novel by G. Quinn: The N ovel in Javanese; Aspects of its social and literary character. Leiden: KITLV Press, 1992. [Verha ndelingen, 148]. See also Tom van den Berge, ‘Van Kennis tot Kunst: Soendanese Poezie in de Koloniale Tijd ’, Ph. D. thesis, Leiden University, 1993. 3 For a study of the development of the Indonesian language, see James Sneddon, The Indones ian Language:Its history and role in modern society. Sydney: UNSW, 2003. See also E. Ulrich K ratz, “Criticism and scholarship: The study and teaching of Indonesian literature in a non-Indo nesian context” in 1 between literary writing in Bahasa Indonesia and that in the regional languages.4 Derks, whose analyses will be mentioned in some detail, has focused most attention on Central and East Java.5 No research on aspects of contemporary Indonesian language poetry from West Java has been undertaken from an academic perspective. This thesis sets out to fill this gap, providing an insight into aspects of Indonesian language literature in its West Java regional setting, and also within the developing national Indonesian literary tradition. Any researcher is bound by the limitations set by time in the carrying out and documenting of that research. In this case, it is proposed to address primarily the natur e of developments in themes and styles in contemporary Indonesian language poetry from West Java, with particular reference to poetry from Bandung, the provincial capital and from Tasikmalaya, a sub-regional centre, south west of the provincial capital. But while primary attention will be given to the poetry itself, it also seems important to give som e attention to the nature of the associational life that exists in West Java around the wri ting of Indonesian language poetry.6 Activities that encase or surround production of creative work may be as helpful in assisting us to grasp the nature and characteristics of the writing in any historical period as the works themselves. The means of production and distribution of literary works is also a vital aspect in helping to define the relationsh ip of J.J. Ras and S. O. Robson (eds.) Variation, Transformation and Meaning: Studies on Indone sian literatures in honour of A. Teeuw. Leiden: KITLV Press, 1991. [Verhandelingen 144]. 4 Hendrik Maier, ‘“We are playing relatives”; Riau, the cradle of reality and hybridity’, B ijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 153: 672-98. 5 Will Derks, ‘Sastra Pedalaman: Local and regional literary centres in Indonesia’ in Keith Foulcher and Tony Day (eds.), Clearing a space: Postcolonial readings of modern Indonesian literature. Leiden: KITLV Press, 2002. [Verhandelingen 202]. pp. 325-348. 6 The term ‘associational’ in this context is used to describe the various public domain ac tivities, such as meetings, festivals, conferences and seminars, community functions, organizational activi ties and interaction amongst poets, regarding their poetry, as distinct from publications of poetr y in their own right. 2 the literature in question to its readership. Newspapers and newsletters, printed books a nd electronic transfers of literatures, festivals and conferences also aid us in understandi ng just how the text and context of the regional literary story relate to each other. For the purposes of this research project, 1998 offers a useful starting point for examination of these questions. This is partly for reasons of seeking to maintain a sensible limitation on the range of material to be considered. The year 1998 was the end point for Harry Aveling’s description of the new canon of Indonesian poetry from the Soeharto period. Just as in 1966, Indonesian literature was on the verge of a new generation coming into being-the motto being ‘the literature of reform’ (sastra reformasi ). Indeed, Aveling referred to those poems he had chosen to complete his anthology under