Rediscovering Indonesia
I stumbled across a rare article about Indonesian literature just when I was getting ready for bed on Sunday evening. This Sunday evening was unusually slow in our household. Dinner was served early, in attempt to get the toddler in bed early, so he would get enough rest after an exciting weekend. My plan was to also tuck in early, juggling house chores with my husband between getting laundry done, clearing up dirty dishes and the kitchen mess, and basically getting everything set for Monday morning. We managed to get things done in time…and by early I actually meant before 10.30pm.
So there I was tucked in bed in my freshly laundered pajamas, and a quick browse on social media before calling it a night. Scrolling up and down on Twitter, a re-tweet by @idwriters stole my attention. I followed the link to @Tim_Hannigan who quoted @DoughtyLouise’s tweet and a link to her article on The Guardian. The article eloquently speaks of how Indonesia’s realm is so diverse and complex, especially if it were to be represented wholly through the works of literature.
It was 11pm and reading it was like having a cup of Flores coffee. It opened my eyes and kept me up writing way past my (intended) bedtime.
Doughty writes, “My friend smiled wryly. ‘You only have the same problem as the rest of us,’ he said. “’Indonesia isn’t a nation. It’s an imagination.’” It is a phrase that resonates with the late Ben Anderson’s book, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism.
It is also a nagging question left hanging in my head during my travel in Indonesia, ranging from western end of Sabang, Aceh to the eastern end Nabire in Papua and everything else in between. I experienced the comradeship, of kindness and shared bliss, presented in so many customs and culture. I created bonds that were so familiar and yet so dissimilar from one another. From the façade you will see a vast array of diversity, and as you enter the massive structure of a nation called Indonesia, you will find even more layers of wonders and resentments, which at times, all tangled up. What, really, defines Indonesia? Religion? Culture? Language? What unites a string of islands extending over 5,271 km wide?
The article also quoted Goenawan Mohamad, ‘“A writer is a fragment of the world,” says Mohamad. “I have been living in Indonesia, as an Indonesian, for more than 70 years — long enough to realise the country is a constant multiplicity. I don’t know whether I am capable of explaining it to foreigners. The only way to speak of Indonesia is not to speak for Indonesia.”’ As I read the it, that last sentence lingers in my head. Nobody, nothing, could represent the epitome of a grand idea called Indonesia. One can only try to illustrate a layer, a few layers maximum maybe, of what makes Indonesia, Indonesia.
It’s true; one has yet ever imagined how to simply describe Indonesia with all her complexities.
As I started writing this piece, consciously now I realize that The Book Project is carrying a spirit to define Indonesia. Inez, my writing partner, and I have been working on The Book Project for the last six months. Inez is writing a non-fiction book and I am writing a 60,000 words novel. We are on the last editing phase, and you know how slow it could get during the last editing phase! But we are getting there; Inez and I aim to get the books out by end of August (save the date on your calendar for our book launch!).
It started off with a simple idea (“But so awesome! Oh, yes I do believe that it will be a hit!” says every new author); to write Indonesian stories and publish it in English. The idea seemed crazy and almost everyone we talked to responded that it would automatically self-destruct before it’s even lifted off the ground.
According to a Jakarta Post article, “Indonesia is the second worst among the world’s 61 most literate nations, only higher than Botswana, according to a new study conducted by Central Connecticut State University in the US.” Another article in Republika reported, “Head of RI Library Sri Sularsih disclosed, the Indonesian public’s interest in reading is very minimal, according to the latest data of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), i.e. 17 percent, while 91.68 percent of the Indonesian people prefer to watch television.” Based on those two reports, it was seemingly worthless effort for a couple of Indonesians to ever try to write in English, even less chance to be picked out and read by Indonesians.
Something kept us going, something unseen and unspoken. Something I couldn’t express, but now, thanks to Doughty’s article, it started to make sense.
That is probably why I started The Book Project publication on Medium; each piece is a marking for each step of the progress, neatly stored in an infinite digital journal. The Book Project has been giving me a thrill for the last six months. I have constantly been questioning, re-configuring, rethinking, the daily essentials of an Indonesian life. I hope, as I struggle to get the novel finished, I can recount all these hiccups and share them here. All those glitches and blockades, the excuses we keep telling ourselves, are endless invaluable lessons. Why let them slip away if I can write them down? It’s all part of the process.
To me, The Book Project is not so much as portraying the true Indonesia to the world. It’s about finding new meanings of Indonesia, and my personal journey of rediscovering Indonesia.
I am writing an Indonesian story through the words and structure of English as my second language. I am promoting an Indonesian story through the eyes of somebody foreign to Indonesia. I am positioning my self on the outside, looking in. I am deconstructing my thoughts, so I can reconstruct meanings. I am redefining myself of being an Indonesian. I am rediscovering Indonesia.
Thank you for reading! Please hit the green heart and help share to spread the ideas that resonates mostly with you or the ones that connects with other people’s experiences and interests. Keep the ball rolling :)
