R A S I N A

 

IKSAKA BANU

 

Bagi mereka yang belum familiar dengan nama pengarang satu ini, Iksaka Banu memiliki spesialisasi pengarang cerita dengan latar belakang sejarah. Pertama, saya berkenalan dengan kumpulan cerpennya yang berjudul "SEMUA UNTUK HINDIA", yang diterbitkan pada tahun 2014. Buku kumpulan cerpennya yang kedua berjudul "TEH DAN PENGKHIANAT" terbit pada tahun 2019.

 

Pada tahun 2020, Iksaka Banu bersama Kurnia Effendi berkolaborasi menghasilkan novel yang berjudul "PANGERAN DARI TIMUR" yang mengisahkan tentang pelukis Raden Saleh. Di tahun 2023 ini Iksaka menerbitkan novel "RASINA", yang tetap berlatar belakang sejarah, pada masa kolonial Belanda.

 

RASINA

 

Tulisan di bawah ini saya sarikan dari mengikuti zoominar yang diselenggarakan oleh Fakultas Ilmu Budaya UGM beberapa bulan lalu, yang mengupas tentang RASINA.

 

Tanya:

 

1. Mengapa Iksana Banu menggunakan tokoh berkulit putih sebagai tokoh utama dalam novel RASINA? Dan bukan 'Rasina' itu sendiri? Dan sang tokoh ini memiliki kepedulian yang cukup terhadap orang-orang pribumi. Apakah Iksaka ingin lebih melegitimasi posisi orang kulit putih yang lebih 'tinggi' ketimbang orang-orang kulit berwarna?
2. Ada kemiripan dengan kisah di buku Multatuli, seseorang yang berkulit putih namun sangat peduli pada bangsa yang dijajah oleh negaranya.

 

Iksaka menjelaskan bahwa novel RASINA merupakan 'kepanjangan' dari cerpennya yang berjudul "Kalabaka", salah satu cerpen yang ada dalam buku kumpulan cerpen yang berjudul "THE DAN PENGKHIANAT". Kalabaka adalah salah satu tokoh yang hidup di Banda di awal abad ke-17. Kalabaka menjadi 'jembatan' komunikasi antara VOC dan penduduk asli Banda saat VOC akan melakukan 'perdagangan' pala, mengikuti apa yang telah dilakukan oleh Portugis dan Inggris.

 

Pandemi sedang melanda dunia waktu Iksaka Banu melakukan riset untuk menulis RASINA. Semula dia akan berangkat ke pulau Banda sendiri untuk melakukan riset yang lebih mendalam, namun pandemi menghalanginya. Maka, dia hanya bisa melakukan riset secara online, dari jurnal-jurnal ilmiah, disertasi (tentang kondisi Banda di abad 17 itu) dll. 

 

Mengapa menggunakan POV orang pertama? 

 

Karena kalau menggunakan POV orang ketiga, si pengarang layaknya Tuhan mengetahui segala yang terjadi. padahal dengan resources yang baginya kurang memadai, Banu jelas tidak berani menggunakan POV orang ketiga ini. maka dia menggunakan POV pertama, yang sekaligus juga memiliki kelebihan: pembaca merasa turut merasakan emosi sang tokoh utama, sang 'aku'. 

 

Ada dua plot dalam RASINA, yang pertama terjadi di awal abad 17, setting di Banda. tokoh utama -- sang aku -- adalah Hendriek Cornelis Adam. Plot kedua terjadi menjelang akhir abad 18 (ada jeda sekitar 150 tahun), setting di Batavia. tokoh utamanya Joost Borstveld. 

 

Untuk menyoroti apa yang terjadi di Banda di awal abad 17: tentang perbudakan dan pembasmian penduduk Banda oleh Belanda, Iksaka menciptakan tokoh Hendriek sebagai juru tulis, yang menulis apa saja yang terjadi. Di plot kedua, Joost membaca buku harian Hendriek, yang merupakan kakek Jan Aldemaar Staalhart, atasan Joost. 

 

RASINA, judul novel ini, adalah seorang budak yang hidup di menjelang akhir abad 18. Adalah tidak mungkin menceritakan segala tentang perbudakan dan pembasmian penduduk Banda ini dari kacamata seorang budak seperti Rasina. itulah sebabnya, Iksaka menggunakan dua plot yang berkelindan satu sama lain. Iksaka tidak bisa menggunakan Kalabaka sebagai tokoh utama karena dalam kenyataannya dia mati saat pembasmian penduduk Banda. Jika di awal abad 17, Iksaka menyoroti tingkah laku para pejabat VOC zaman itu, yang sewenang-wenang terhadap penduduk asli Banda, di plot yang kedua, Iksaka lebih menyoroti tindak korupsi yang dilakukan para pejabat VOC, yang di kemudian hari menyebabkan jatuhnya VOC.

 

 

 N.B.:

Iksaka mengaku belum membaca buku Multatuli :)

Cinta 24 Jam versus Lelaki Terindah

CINTA 24 JAM adalah novel kedua karangan Andrei Aksana yang kubaca, setelah LELAKI TERINDAH. Kesan yang kudapatkan dari kedua novel tersebut, ternyata, sangat bertentangan: aku sangat menyukai LELAKI TERINDAH, sedangkan untuk CINTA 24 JAM, sebaliknya. Bagaimana hal ini bisa terjadi?

Aku termasuk orang yang berpikir bahwa waktu memiliki peran yang sangat penting dalam hidup kita. Saat kita melakukan suatu kegiatan sangat menentukan apa yang akan ditimbulkan setelah itu. Dan aku yakin hal ini pun berpengaruh dalam kesan yang kudapatkan dari membaca kedua novel hasil karya cucu pujangga Sanoesi Pane dan Armijn Pane ini.

LELAKI TERINDAH kubaca di awal tahun 2005, saat aku sedang head-over-heels-in-love dengan seseorang yang menurut pendapat pribadiku sangat mewakili gambaran seorang Rafky, sang tokoh utama, sang Lelaki Terindah itu. Di setiap detil gambaran betapa indahnya seorang Rafky, melalui kalimat-kalimat puitis Andrei, yang tergambar dalam benakku adalah that guy that had made me head-over-heels-in-love (ehem...) It was not surprising, then, if I nicknamed him as my LT. LOL. Tidak mengherankan pula betapa aku menyukai novel ini, apalagi puisi-puisi romantis untuk sang lelaki terindah tersebar di segala penjuru. (Though feminist, I dub myself as someone strongly romantic.) It seemed like those romantic words came out of my feeling to my most gorgeous guy.

Awal tahun 2005 juga merupakan saat yang tepat bagiku untuk membaca LELAKI TERINDAH yang memiliki topik cinta antar lelaki, pasangan homoseksual, karena sebagai seorang feminis (yang sedang ‘membekali’ diri tentang segala hal yang berhubungan dengan perjuangan kaum yang termarjinalkan) aku pun setuju bahwa kaum homo juga merupakan bagian dari kaum yang sangat dipinggirkan. Orang tidak pernah bisa mau memahami bahwa cinta yang tumbuh antar lelaki, maupun antar perempuan, bisa jadi sama indah dan sucinya dengan cinta yang tumbuh antar pasangan heteroseksual. Andrei menulis kisah cinta antara Rafky dan valent pada saat yang tepat untuk menunjukkan kepada khalayak bahwa sudah selayaknyalah kita tidak menutup mata dari hadirnya cinta para homo.

Di akhir kisah, memang tokoh valent dimatikan oleh Andrei, seolah-olah untuk menyelesaikan ‘masalah yang tabu’ ini dengan mudah. Bagi para penikmat karya sastra, kita bisa dengan mudah mendapatkan contoh karangan yang berakhir dengan kematian, terutama kalau topik yang diangkat berupa sesuatu yang masih dianggap tabu, pada waktu karya tersebut ditulis. Sang pengarang tidak mau mengambil resiko dicaci-maki oleh masyarakat, sehingga membunuh salah satu karakter dalam ceritanya adalah satu jalan keluar yang paling gampang. Kita bisa menyimpulkan, seberani apapun Andrei mengangkat topik yang masih tabu ini (nampaknya sampai sekarang pun masih saja dianggap tabu), dia pun tunduk pada ‘pakem’, membunuh salah satu tokoh homo dalam LELAKI TERINDAH, yakni valent, agar akhirnya cinta ‘terlarang’ ini pun kandas di tengah jalan.

Aku membeli novel CINTA 24 JAM karena hasil provokasi seorang online buddy yang katanya novel ini pun bertabur puisi romantis. Kebetulan juga karena GM memberikan tawaran yang menggiurkan, diskon 30%. Juga merupakan satu kebetulan akhir-akhir ini aku sedang suka menulis puisi. Asaku adalah: who knows some poems in it will inspire me to write some poems to post in my blog.

Setelah membeli novel tersebut, aku tidak langsung membacanya karena aku sedang membaca MISSING MOM written by Joyce Carol Oates. Novel berikut yang menungguku untuk membaca adalah MARYAMAH KARPOV. Adalah satu kebetulan pula aku membaca novel CINTA 24 JAM setelah aku menyelesaikan membaca MK. Tidak ada alasan ilmiah tertentu mengapa aku memilih membaca novel karya Andrei Aksana ini, selain mungkin aku berpikir, “I want to write some poems...” padahal pada saat yang sama, aku memiliki beberapa pilihan novel lain.

Puisi yang dipilih untuk ditampilkan di cover belakang sama sekali tidak membuatku terperangkap pesona. (Bandingkan dengan puisi di cover belakang LT yang langsung membuatku serasa ditarik oleh magnet sekuat terjangan badai topan untuk membelinya.) Puisi di halaman dalam, setelah membuka cover depan, well, not bad, untuk melumerkan hati seseorang yang telah mencuri hati. Sayangnya, I am not head-over-heels-in-love with anyone at the moment. Here is the poem:

Setelah beribu malam pudar meninggalkan sunyi

Setelah beribu mimpi pergi menyisakan nyeri

 

Malam itu

Kumengerti yang kucari

Kumengerti yang kunanti

 

Satu

Seorang

 

Dirimu ..

Klepek-klepek. LOL. Gombal habisss. LOL.

Tatkala membaca lembar demi lembar, langsung kusadari betapa dangkal kisah yang ditulis oleh Andrei. Betapa dangkal pula Andrei mengeksplorasi mengapa hal-hal tertentu terjadi. Penyebab utama tentu karena aku baru saja menyelesaikan membaca novel dengan karakter tokoh yang kuat: Ikal, bersanding dengan tokoh-tokoh lain, seperti Lintang dan Mahar. Cerita MK yang meramu antara dunia keilmiahan dan dunia kemistisan, alur yang memikat, dan tema yang njlimet rapi, serta kedalaman eksplorasi suatu permasalahan, meninggalkan kesan yang kuat dalam benakku. Sebelum itu, aku membaca MISSING MOM dengan alur maju mundur, karakter tokoh Nikki Eaton, seorang perempuan cerdas namun sangat labil dalam emosi, dengan tema kematian sang ibu, masalah batin yang harus dihadapi oleh Nikki, dll sama menariknya dengan MK. (Aku justru heran sebenarya, karena MK bisa membuatku tetap menjaga mood tertarik untuk terus membacanya, padahal Andrea Hirata adalah seorang penulis pemula, dibandingkan dengan Joyce Carol Oates yang telah menulis sejak Andrea belum lahir. Two thumbs up buat Andrea.)

Dalam novel CINTA 24 JAM, kita hanya disodori apa yang biasa kita lihat dalam acara infotainment (and I am absolutely not a fan of it). Perempuan hanya dilihat dari luar, kulit. Kalau memang dikisahkan sang tokoh perempuan Giana adalah tokoh yang cerdas, tak satupun kalimat dalam novel ini yang membuktikan bahwa Giana adalah seseorang yang cerdas. Dia hanyalah makhluk yang beruntung dilahirkan dengan sosok tubuh yang sempurna, memenuhi kriteria kecantikan yang digambarkan iklan-iklan di media massa. Kalau Giana adalah seseorang yang memiliki pendirian yang teguh, pula seorang pekerja keras untuk bisa mengangkat derajat diri dari kemiskinan menjadi aktris papan teratas, tidak satu kalimat pun mendukungnya. Andrei tidak melengkapinya dengan pemaparan karakter sosok Giana secara mendalam.

Menurut pendapatku, novel ini tidak jauh beda dengan cerita-cerita di koran ‘kuning’, yang hanya menjual sensualitas. Yang membedakan adalah: pertama, tentu saja taburan puisi romantis. Kedua, kalimat-kalimat puitis. (maklum, yang menulis adalah cucu pujangga besar Sanoesi Pane dan Armijn Pane) Ketiga, alur yang memang dengan sengaja dibuat maju mundur. Dalam hal alur ini lumayan memikat lah. Namun secara keseluruhan, aku tidak merekomendasikan novel ini kepada mereka yang biasa membaca novel dengan tema yang ‘dalam’ serta eksplorasi karakter tokoh yang kuat dan konflik yang memikat (contoh: BILANGAN FU, tetralogi LASKAR PELANGI, SUPERNOVA series, dll). Akan tetapi, kalau hanya untuk sekedar mengisi waktu kosong menunggu pesanan datang di sebuah kafe, atau antrian di bank yang panjang, ya bolehlah. Atau bagi mereka yang sedang jatuh cinta, ya boleh juga.

Perhaps I will write another article to ‘peel’ this novel further, to show how I hate the way Andrei portrayed the characters of Giana and Drigo, how he was just a wise guy. LOL. He should have been able to make it more worth reading, I assume. Instead, he was just busy trying enchanting his fans by creating the song and being physically narcissistic (look at the back inside cover).

Bagi pecinta Andrei Aksana, sorry ya? Ini kritik membangun loh.

LLT 16.42 130109

llmiah versus Mistis

Bahwa seorang Andrea Hirata adalah seseorang yang menjunjung tinggi sains merupakan sesuatu yang sangat jelas terlihat dalam keempat novelnya yang tergabung dalam tetralogi LASKAR PELANGI. Alasannya tentu sangat jelas: latar belakang pendidikan yang dia terima di Universitas Sorbonne Prancis, dimana dia bergaul dengan para ilmuwan tingkat tinggi dunia. Dalam tulisan ini, aku akan lebih fokus ke MARYAMAH KARPOV, novel keempat, karena buku inilah buku yang terakhir kubaca. (You can conclude that I am just lazy to browse the other three novels to prove my statement, to prepare this post of mine. LOL.)
Seorang anak pantai desa yang terpencil, yang mendapatkan pendidikan master dalam bidang ekonomi di sebuah universitas paling bergengsi di Eropa, bermimpi untuk membuat perahu dengan tangannya sendiri! Mimpi Ikal ini bisa menjadi nyata karena dorongan dan dukungan kuat dari sang super genius, sahabatnya di kala duduk di bangku SD dan SMP. Lintang—sang Isac Newton-nya Ikal—menjadikan impian itu menjadi nyata dengan perhitungan matematika yang njlimet. Ikal—yang mengaku selalu berada di bawah bayang-bayang kegeniusan Lintang di bangku sekolah—menggabungkannya dengan kerja keras yang tanpa ampun, dengan iming-iming akan menemukan BINTANG KEJORA dalam kehidupan cintanya, A LING.
Pertanyaan selanjutnya adalah: cukupkah ilmu membuat kita mampu memahami segala misteri dalam hidup ini?
Jawabannya ada pada mozaik 60 yang berjudul NAI. Mahar—sahabat Ikal yang lain—berada pada kutub yang berseberangan dengan Lintang yang memandang segala hal dari segi ilmiah. Kebalikannya, Mahar mengimani hal-hal mistis yang tidak akan pernah masuk akal para ilmuwan di Universitas bergengsi manapun di dunia ini. Hal-hal mistis yang bagi orang-orang yang beriman kepada Tuhan akan menceburkan seseorang menjadi musyrik, ahli neraka yang berada paling di keraknya. Dalam NAI, Mahar mementalkan keimanan Ikal kepada segala yang berbau ilmiah, sehinga terpaksa mempercayai hal-hal mistis yang tidak masuk akal. Ada hal-hal dalam kehidupan ini yang tidak bisa dijelaskan hanya dari sisi ilmu. Kebalikannya, ada hal-hal yang dengan mudah terpecahkan jika kita menyandarkan kepercayaan diri kepada ilmu.
Ketika membaca perpaduan dua hal ini—yang ilmiah dan masuk akal, konon ciri khas kehidupan orang-orang modern; berbanding lurus dengan yang mistis, konon ciri khas kehidupan orang-orang zaman dahulu kala—mengingatkanku pada BILANGAN FU, novel ketiga karya Ayu Utami. Ayu Utami menjelaskannya dengan sangat sederhana: POINT OF VIEW, alias cara pandang yang berbeda. Orang-orang modern memandang kemistisan—misal: seseorang bisa memelet orang yang mencuri hatinya hanya dengan menjampi-jampi air ludah yang dikeluarkan oleh orang tersebut; atau bahwa Nyi Roro Kidul tetap hidup dan berkuasa di pantai Selatan dan selalu mempersuami semua raja-raja di Keraton Kasultanan Ngayogyakarta, ataupun Keraton di Kasunanan Mangkunegaran—dengan keukeuh menggunakan kacamata orang modern yang bersandar pada keilmiahan.
Cara mudahnya bagaimana kita bisa menghasilkan ‘pemandangan’ yang berbeda tatkala kita memandang satu permasalahan yang sama tatkala kita memandang dari sisi yang berbeda: lihatlah Tugumuda—the landmark of Semarang—dari arah Wisma Perdamaian, dan dari lantai atas Lawangsewu. Atau contoh lain: dalam salah satu adegan dalam film DEAD POETS SOCIETY, John Keating, sang guru Bahasa dan Sastra Inggris yang baru, meminta siswanya untuk naik meja dan berdiri di atasnya, memandang suasana kelas dari arah yang berbeda. “You’ll find a very different view, that is very interesting.”
Kalau kita mengaplikasikannya dalam kehidupan kita sehari-hari, betapa pentingnya memahami segala sesuatu dari kacamata yang berbeda, untuk menuju kehidupan yang lebih damai di antara kita semua, makhluk penghuni planet Bumi ini. Yang selalu menggunakan kacamata kuda yang bernama “patriarki”, pandanglah—misal, permasalahan poligami—dari kacamata feminis. Contoh lain: para religious snob—from any celestial religion—memandang bahwa Tuhan itu mencintai semua umat-Nya tidak pandang bulu, gunakanlah kacamata para kaum sekuler. Para kaum heteroseksual yang merasa diri ‘normal’, cobalah menggunakan kacamata kaum homoseksual. Dalam hal ini, para religious snob pun bisa mengaplikasikannya, sehingga tidak selalu menyerang kaum homoseksual dari satu kacamata saja, dari satu interpretasi ayat kitab Suci saja.
Jika para pengunjung dan pembaca blogku ‘membalikkannya’ dengan mengatakan, “Na, cobalah kamu pahami kasus poligami bukan dari interpretasi Alquran yang feminis, namun dari interpretasi yang patriarkal...” oh well, aku telah hidup menggunakan kacamata TUNGGAL interpretasi Alquran yang patriarki selama 35 tahun takala aku mendapatkan pencerahan dari ideologi feminisme, so, I do understand it very well.
Kembali ke cara pandang yang ilmiah dan mistis (baik dalam MARYAMAH KARPOV maupun BILANGAN FU), well, hidup ini memang sangatlah kaya dan kompleks. Mari kita menikmatinya dengan cara saling toleran satu sama lain, untuk menciptakan kehidupan yang lebih indah dan damao.
LL Tbl 11.34 100109

Argenteuil

ARGENTEUIL, Hidup Memisahkan Diri merupakan salah satu seri “Cerita Kenangan” Nh. Dini, yang menceritakan tentang episode hidupnya mulai pertengahan tahun 1970-an. Mengapa Dini memakai istilah “Cerita Kenangan” untuk buku otobiografinya, Dini menjelaskannya pada bagian kelima buku ini.

“Kukenal perkataan-perkataan memoir, recit, narration, biographie, autobiographie, dan souvernirs. Pada dasarnya semua itu berarti tulisan berisi cerita yang bersangkutan dengan riwayat atau kisah hidup, kebanakan dihasilkan oleh orang yang menjadi tokoh utama atau si ‘aku”. (halaman 82)”

Terilhami oleh Marcel Pagnol yang menggunakan istilah ‘souvernirs’ yang berarti kenang-kenangan tatkala menuliskan kisah hidupnya, Dini pun menyebut serial otobiografinya “Seri Cerita Kenangan”. Dengan sengaja dia membagi kisah hidupnya dalam beberapa periode, sehingga juga terbagi menjadi beberapa buku, sehingga untuk menyebutnya, kita perlu menggunakan kata “seri”.
ARGENTEUIL merupakan kisah lanjutan yang berjudul LA GRANDE BORNE. Kata ARGENTEUIL sendiri adalah nama sebuah kota kecil di tepian sungai Seine, kira-kira 10 km barat laut Paris. Setelah memutuskan untuk mengubah hidupnya secara drastis, untuk ‘menyembuhkan diri’ dari luka lama, ke sanalah Dini pindah, dan tidak mengikuti suaminya yang mendapatkan tugas sebagai Konsul Jenderal Prancis di Detroit, Amerika Serikat. Pada saat yang sama pula Dini dengan berani memutuskan untuk mengajukan gugatan cerai kepada suaminya. Meskipun berat pada awalnya, Dini menjadi mantap hatinya tatkala kedua buah hatinya, Lintang dan Padang, mendukungnya. Padang, si bungsu yang waktu itu masih berusia 8 tahun, berkata:

“Tidak apa-apa, Maman,” ... “Dia mungkin papa yang baik; tapi sebagai laki-laki, sebagai suami, hemmmm, menyebalkan ya...”

Sedangkan Lintang yang berusia 15 tahun bahkan sudah bisa memberi usul yang sangat dewasa:

“Hati-hati, Maman, kalau kamu yang meninggalkan rumah tangga, jangan-jangan kelak kamu disalahkan oleh Pengadilan. Papa itu lelaki yang pintar menggunakan suasana demi kepentingannya...”

Untuk menghidupi hidupnya sendiri, Dini bekerja sebagai ‘dame de compagnie’ atau wanita pendamping bagi Monsieur Willm, kakak Alice Willm, salah satu sahabat Dini. Monsieur Willm lah yang tinggal di ARGENTEUIL, di sebuah rumah berlantai empat yang pernah ditinggali oleh Karl Marx. Tugas seorang ‘dame de compagnie’ – yang dalam English disebut ‘governess’ adalah mengurus, merawat, dan menjadi teman berbincang.
Di awal-awal hidupnya di ARGENTEUIL inilah Dini mempersiapkan otobiografinya yang dia bagi menjadi beberapa episode. Setelah sang suami dan si bungsu Padang pindah ke Detroit, Dini memiliki banyak waktu luang yang bisa dia gunakan untuk menekuni kegemarannya menulis. Lintang sendiri tinggal di asrama, dan hanya ‘pulang’ setiap akhir pekan.
Di episode ARGENTEUIL inilah Dini mendengar kabar kematian kekasihnya, Maurice, alias Bagus., dari Angele, kakaknya. Di episode ini pula Dini berkesempatan untuk mengunjungi rumah pertanian tempat kekasihnya itu dilahirkan dan melihat dengan jelas ‘jejak-jejak’ yang ditinggalkan oleh Maurice sebagai bukti cintanya kepada Dini.
Bagaimanakah perasaan Dini tatkala pertama kali mendengar kabar kematian kekasihnya itu? Bagaimana pula perasaan Dini tatkala menginjakkan kakinya ke tanah kelahiran Cinta sejatinya?
PT56 14.25 220608

A Room of One's Own

A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN (1929) is one title of a popular book written by Virginia Woolf, a feminist writer from Britain. A talented woman will be as creative as man to produce literary work as long as she has her own room, her own privacy to expose her talent.
Room here can mean a real physical place, can be a bedroom or study room that exclusively belongs to a woman. In it, she can satisfy her greed to create or produce anything. No other person is allowed to enter it when the owner of the room, a woman, is busy doing something.
However, room here can also mean an abstract thing, such as special time where she can enjoy herself, either to write, to paint, or to do any other creative things. She can do it anywhere as long as nobody disturbs her, perhaps a park, a garden, a kitchen, the living room, or any other place. The most important thing is that she is respected by everybody to be herself.
Virginia Woolf who was born into a very communicative, literate, letter writing, visiting, articulate, late-nineteenth-century world was quite lucky. She could dig out her potential to her heart’s content so that she could produce many masterpieces, such as her novels, Mrs Dalloway, To The Lighthouse, until A Room of One’s Own. Charlotte Perkins Gilman had to undergo nervous breakdown to pursue her work as a writer because her first husband, Charles Walter Stetson did not support her effort to “get a name by her own name” and not as a Mrs. Charles Walter Stetson. Alice James—the sister of Henry James, and Edith Wharton were two other examples of women writers who were diagnosed as to suffer from nervous breakdown. Was it because they did not have their own room? Their own privacy to do what they want to do to express themselves?
Anna Wickham in her poem “Dedication of the Cook” criticized the condition a woman had to face when she wanted to do.

If any ask why there’s no great She-Poet,
Let him come live with me, and he will know it:
If I’d indite an ode or mend a sonnet,
I must go choose a dish or a bonnet.
For she who serves in forced virginity
Since I am wedded will not have me free;
And those new flowers my garden is so rich in
Must die for clammy odors of my kitchen.

One century will have passed since Virginia Woolf wrote A Room of One’s Own. In my country, Indonesia, lotsa women still do not enjoy their own private room, their own privacy, moreover after they get married. A married woman is still obliged to give the first priority to her husband, and then children, and themselves as the least important.
PT56 13.45 150507

Harry Potter

Several weeks ago my sister got the soft copy of so-called Harry Potter’s manuscript of the latest serial, entitled “Deathly Hallows”. Both she and Angie are great fans of Harry Potter. Therefore they loved it a lot. At first, Angie was not really sure if she would read it because she thought that her capability in English was limited. However when one of her school friends told her that he got the soft copy of it too and started reading it, Angie felt challenged. So, she started reading it too, with the help of ‘Linguist’, a program of dictionary we have in the desktop, or once in a while she looked up in the printed dictionary, or asked the one she sometimes considered as living dictionary: her mother: ME. :-D
Several days ago again my sister came up with more wonderful news: she got the soft copy of the printed edition of “Deathly Hallows”. She was excited but Angie was not really happy with that. She complained to me, “Mama, I have read the manuscript more than 50%. Now I have to start all over again from the very beginning?”
I calmed her by saying, “Well honey, I don’t think the story would be very much different. Why don’t you just go on reading the manuscript?”
“Okay then,” answered Angie.
One day after that, Angie reported to me, “Mama, the story is very much different. For example in the manuscript, Dudley was told to be a witch, but in the printed edition, he didn’t become a witch. Surely, this will make the plot of the manuscript and the printed edition very different.”
“Oh???” I didn’t understand.
As one outsider (I mean I am not a fan of HP. Although I love reading, I have never read HP yet. I have never watched the movie either) I didn’t understand the way JK Rowling thought. Why should she change the plot that far? Did she get too much energy? Or what has made her change her mind, from making the manuscript for the first time until she wrote the printed edition?
When talking about this to my sister, she told me, “You know I heard that the sixth serial of HP also got two versions. I don’t know which one was published in Indonesia.”
“I really don’t understand. Why should JK Rowling issue two versions at the same time? To fulfill what her fans wanted? While the other one she wrote it for her own satisfaction? A writer in some extent really has omnipotent power to decide what will happen to the characters, just like God. Right?” I said.
“That I don’t know.” My sister commented.
“Don’t you think it was perhaps because another person wrote the other version?” I was curious.
“Well ... maybe...” she said.
“Do you remember the children literature we enjoyed reading when we were teenagers? Famous Five by Enid Blyton? Do you remember at that time Enid Blyton decided to stop the story of Famous Five in the twenty first serial and she no longer wrote about Famous Five? Obviously that made many fans of Famous Fan disappointed. We were also disappointed because we could not read a new adventure of Famous Five. Knowing it, someone else wrote some other books of Famous Five. We read some serials too but then we decided that this new writer didn’t write as well as Enid Blyton, or well, she could not enliven the character of Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy as well as the original writer, we didn’t read it anymore.” I said the whole thing to my sister.
Remembering our experience during our teenage years, she smiled and said, “Yeah, and I remember the new writer wrote more about George and Timmy as the central characters while Enid Blyton gave the same portions to those five characters. Sometimes Julian was the hero in one serial, in another serial, it could be Dick, Anne, or George and Timmy. I didn’t mind it because I loved George.”
“Yes, that’s right. I liked Julian better and the fact that the new writer chose George and Timmy more often as the central characters also disappointed me.”
My discussion with my sister ended there.
One day after that, my sister told me another thing. “From the internet I gathered information that many people who already got the outline of “Deathly Hallows” secretly made their own versions, to make themselves satisfied because of the rumor before that JK Rowling would kill Harry Potter in her last book. And then they exchanged their own stories with many other HP’s fans.”
Nah lo. This answered my curiosity. It was not JK Rowling who had too much energy so that she made several versions of HP. Besides, as probably you HP lovers realize that many books about HP or JK Rowling sold in bookstores where on the cover there is a writing, “This book is NOT endorsed by JK Rowling.” But still people who are crazy about HP still buy those books. It is possible that the soft copy of the manuscript my sister got was not written b JK Rowling, isn’t it?
Well, the story has ended. Many key characters died but the “three musketeers” Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley survived. As one blog friend of mine said, “No matter what, this is children literature.” :)
If JK Rowling is consistent with her words—she will not write some more serials of HP—there will be possibilities other people will continue writing the story, not only for profit, but also for fulfilling the thirst of its million fans to read HP again, again, and again, until they get bored with it eventually.
PT56 22.29 110807

S U L A (2)

The following short conversation is taken from SULA (1973:124-125) written by Toni Morrison

Nel: “But what about me? What about me? Why didn’t you think about me? Didn’t I count? I never hurt you. What did you take him for if you didn’t love him and why didn’t you think about me? I was good to you, Sula, why don’t that matter?”

Sula: “It matters, Nel, but only to you. Not to anybody else. Being good to somebody is just like being mean to somebody. Risky. You don’t get nothing for it.”

Nel and Sula are two main characters in the novel. They had been good friends since they were kids because both of them were neighbors. After graduating from high school, Nel married her prince charming, while Sula went out of town to continue her study. 10 years later, Sula went back to her hometown. Nel was happily married and Sula kept single because she thought that all men would leave their wives for another woman or for any other reason.

Nel found Sula extraordinary with that kind of thinking. She tried to turn all kinds of opinions upside down. When black people thought that they got jealous toward white people coz of privileges they got only by being born as white (in America, the traces of slavery done by the white toward their fellow black citizens were still hanging over strongly during the twentieth century despite the fact that Lincoln abolished the practice of slavery in 1863.) Sula turned it upside down. She said that even those white people got jealous of the black coz the black male were popularly known as to have bigger and longer penises than the white male. Therefore, the white spread belief that “White is more beautiful than black.”

It is not something astonishing, then, if that statement said by Sula attracted Jude, to fuck her. One day it did happen. Nel saw it. Consequently, Jude left Nel and their only daughter without saying anything, or explaining anything why that happened. Sula proved to Nel that “men were created to leave women.” Meanwhile, the friendship between Nel and Sula was broken.

The conversation between Nel and Sula above happened one day after many years passed, whe Sula was seriously ill.

My contemplation is …

Why should people always expect something in return when they do something (they think) good to others? It means that they do that not wholeheartedly, because they secretly wish something back. Is it that difficult nowadays to find people who are willing to do “good” things to other people without expecting something back?

What is “good” anyway? What is “bad”? Who has right to say that something is good or bad? Why must there be values like that? In reality, something “good” if viewed from one perspective, it can be “bad” if viewed from another perspective. Pangeran Diponegoro is a hero, for Indonesian people (we learned like that in our historical book/lesson, didn’t we?); while for Dutch, Diponegoro was just a rebel.

Why should we feel hurt when we think we have done something good to someone (let’s say a good friend), and then in the future we only find him/her do something on the contrary to what we expect and then it even hurts us?

Why should I feel hurt when one good friend of mine did something which I think that she was not supposed to do to me? It is my own mistake, right, to expect that she will always understand me because one time she told me that I am her soul mate?

I felt like I was in Nel’s position that expected Sula to understand her. While before this, I always thought that Sula’s opinion—though difficult to be understood—was the best thing to prevent ourselves from heartache, from feeling disappointed.

Well, just like what wise people say, “it’s easier to say, and it is difficult to do.”

Cheer up, Nana. :)

S U L A

 

SULA is one favorite book of mine. This is a novel written by an African American female novelist, Toni Morrison. The book I have was published in 1973 by Bantam Book.

The story is about friendship between two girls named Sula Peace and Nellie Wright. Some critics said that this novel is one example of the starting emergence of novels telling about lesbianism. However, referring to the time it was published (still the beginning of 1970s), of course, Toni Morrison was not really daring yet to tell the lesbian love between Sula and Nel openly.

The setting time started the beginning of 1920s and the setting place was in a place called Medallion. Little Sula and Nel went to the same elementary school. Sula that came from a family without men (no grandpa no father) was a tough girl so that she often had a role as a protector for Nel who happened to come from a “happy” family—complete with her father and mother. Sula lived with her grandma, Eva, her mom, Hannah. Eva’s husband left her and the children for another woman. Hannah’s husband died young. Both of these two women didn’t get married again. This is somewhat typical theme in African American stories. In one scene in the story, Sula said, “Men were created to leave women. No big deal with that. We women must be ready to live alone. Don’t ever depend our lives on men.”

After finishing their high school, Nel married a guy named Jude because “women must get married.” This is the “normal” way of life. On the contrary, Sula left Medallion to pursue her study in another city.
Some years later, Sula came back to her hometown. Sula lived in her grandma’s dwelling after putting Eva in a home for the elderly. She didn’t get married because she thought it was useless to get married. The reason was just like what she always said to herself, and also to Nel, “Men were created to leave their wives for another woman.” instead of living alone because being left by her man, Sula intentionally chose to live alone, by not getting married.

Sula did like what her mother did: fucking any guy she wanted. She even also fucked Jude, Nel’s husband. She didn’t feel guilty. Unfortunately, Nel saw Jude and Sula fucking in front of her own eyes. Feeling guilty or what, Jude left Medallion, not clear where. Apparently, it made friendship between Sula and Nel end.

Some years later, when Sula was seriously ill and dying, living alone in her dwelling place, Nel, as an ex good friend of hers, came to visit Sula. They had a talk. One most interesting dialog was as follows:
Nel: “But what about me? What about me? Why didn’t you think about me? Didn’t I count? I never hurt you. What did you take him for if you didn’t love him and why didn’t you think about me? I was good to you, Sula, why don’t that matter?”

Sula: “It matters, Nel, but only to you. Not to anybody else. Being good to somebody is just like being mean to somebody. Risky. You don’t get nothing for it.”

I really love this part. Sula criticized Nel’s way of thinking that when we do good things to others, it is all because we want to do good things, without any hidden intention behind it; such as that the ones we “help” will help us back. Because when we expect that, and then we find out that we don’t get what we expect, we just hurt ourselves.

How many people around us—and probably we are also included—do like what Nel did toward Sula? Being good to someone only because we expect something good in return? And when we don’t get what we expect, we will feel hurt. As a result, we want to take revenge? Once someone takes revenge, it will cause someone else to do the same thing. It will be like devilish cycle, won’t it? It will never end.

Indeed it is very difficult to be really pure in heart when we want to do good things to others without expecting someone else will repay us. Moreover when we are accustomed to being indoctrinated by our teachers or parents like, “Do good things to others. They will repay you.” or “Do good things to others. God will put you in heaven later.” What if in fact, heaven and hell are just myth?  People will blame their teachers or parents as cheaters and get angry.

I’d prefer to choose to do good things to others. Period. I don’t want to hurt myself later. When all people think this way—do good things to others; meaning nobody hurts anybody else, everybody will live in peace in this world. Hopefully.

23.44 300406

Lelaki Terindah

 

Lelaki Terindah is the title of a novel written by Andrei Aksana. For those who don’t really follow the development of novel publication in Indonesia and Indonesian authors—that mean they never hear this name yet—Andrei Aksana is the grandson of big poets Sanoesi Pane and Armijn Pane. These two names are commonly found in school books—from elementary, junior, and senior high schools—in Indonesia.

At first I read the review of this book in one national newspaper. The review easily attracted me. But, my bad thing is, I didn’t note the title and I forgot it easily. Therefore, when trying to find it in one bookstore, I didn’t find it.

Some months later, when I went to a bookstore with Julie, she appointed the novel to me, saying, “Look, isn’t the title provoking?” FYI, ‘indah’ means beautiful, how could a man become beautiful? After appointing the novel, Julie went to other shelves while I took the novel from the shelf. I was provoked. LOL. When looking at the drawing on the front cover, my up and down teeth directly clicked, “Wow …” I saw a part of sexy body of a man that I believe would make women’s mouth like Samantha Jones—one character in Sex and the City—water openly. LOL. (well … honestly, I am impressed by her open sexual drive, and wonder if I could become like her. LOL. This is one thing that my Abang doesn’t like AT ALL. LOL.

First, I read the poem on the back cover.

Suatu ketika dulu
Aku pernah dihanyut asmara

Tapi tak pernah ku tenggelam
Karena kekuatan cintamu
Menjadi perahu dan dayungku

Hanya engkaulah yang mampu
Melenyapkan ragu menjadi tahu
Memupuskan kelu menjadi deru

Hanya engkaulah yang bisa
Menggantikan tawar menjadi rasa
Menhadirkan tiada menjadi ada


Karena hanya engkaulah …
Lelaki Terindah di hidupku

What a very romantic and adoring poem, from someone to a man—the most beautiful (well, I’d prefer to translate it into ‘gorgeous’ a word that is more androgynous) one. In an instant I loved the poem. When I opened the beginning pages, I found another poem that is also very romantic and adoring.


Tak pernah cukup kata
Menjabarkan keindahanmu …

Tak pernah cukup batas
Memagari kehadiranmu …

Kau lebur mimpi menjadi bentuk
Kau pahat angan memiliki raga

Bagimu
Segalanya mungkin …


I bought the novel on March 17, 2005. I have used the novel as one subject for discussion in my literature class several times, especially when I discussed how society influences writers to produce their works. It illustrates how sociological approach is used to dissect one literary work. There is always close relationship between society and literature. I am really a strong follower of Daniel Goldmann’s theory on Genetic Structuralism: there is always close relationship between the work and the writer, and between the work and the society where and when the writer lives and produces his/her work.

Going back to Andrei Aksana as the author of Lelaki Terindah. I love the beautiful poems he writes and inserts inside his novels. However, I am not provoked to buy his other novels because to me they are about common themes, although I believe they are beautifully written. And, suddenly I want to write something on Lelaki Terindah because my sister borrowed this novel some days ago.

PT56 08.48 281006

The Age of Innocence

 

Out of the blue, I want to write something about this novel--The Age of Innocence--it is caused by a student who chose this novel to be the subject matter of his research for his graduating paper. I examined him yesterday. Yesterday I did write something about this here, but then it was gone due to an error that happened during the publishing process.

Now, I want to rewrite it.

The Age of Innocence is written by a female American writer--Edith Wharton--living from 1862-1937. I have never made any research on her work yet so I don't really know her. The first time I ran across her name was when I was doing the research for my thesis. The subject matter for my thesis is the short story entitled "The Yellow Wallpaper" written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and the main theme is about a woman who is considered as to deviant the main norm of patriarchal society in the nineteenth century. It is understandable then if the reference books I read are related to that theme, such as Woman Madness written by Phyllis Chesler, The Invalid women written by Diane Prince, Women's Madness: Mysogynist or Mental Illness? by Jane M. Ussher, etc. In one of those books, I found Edith Wharton's name with one novel entitled The House of Mirth. It made me conclude that The House of Mirth tells a bit similar topic as "The Yellow Wallpaper". Therefore, I was interested in it so that I was looking for it in the American Studies Library. After finding it, I borrowed it and copied it to make the collection of my books in the bookshelves more complete with women's works. LOL. "Copy it, Nana? That's a big crime, don't you know that?" LOL. Sure. But who will guarantee that I will be able to find it in a bookstore in Indonesia??? LOL.

Some months later, when browsing books in a bookstore, I found another novel written by Edith Wharton--The Age of Innocence. I bought it, again to make the books in the bookshelves more crowded. LOL. If one student coming to me, asking for a suggestion what kind of work can be used for the subject matter of their graduating paper, I can lend it. And I will offer myself as the first advisor.

Until now, I haven't read those two novels written by Edith Wharton. " Books that are not read yet, only become decoration in the bookshelves, are not considered as literary works. They are just dead artifacts," one professor once said so, when I was in college. LOL.

Knowing that a graduating paper that I would examine used The Age of Innocence made me browse internet to look for data yesterday morning. And I become more interested in reading this novel soon now that I have a term break from my office. The story can be nostalgic to me since the time setting is the nineteenth century America, reminds me of the time when I was doing the research for my thesis, the time when I was accusing myself as suffering from a similar illness with the unnamed heroine of "The Yellow Wallpaper". So absorbed was I with my research that I almost couldn't differentiate which was my real life with the real me, and which was the imaginary life with my research for my thesis. "Have you already been mad too?" a classmate once asked me knowing that the main topic for my thesis is about Woman and Madness. LOL.

FBS UA 15.15 210906