Ping on top of Pong
Although a few modern literary works had been written in Indonesia, modern Indonesian literature can truly be said to have grown and flourished after the National Awakening. The National Awakening refers to the Second Youth Congress held on October 28, 1928. It was during this congress that the Youth Pledge was born:
• First: "We the sons and daughters of Indonesia, acknowledge one motherland, Indonesia."
• Second: "We the sons and daughters of Indonesia, acknowledge one nation, the Indonesian nation."
• Third: "We the sons and daughters of Indonesia, uphold the language of unity, Bahasa Indonesia."
(1) Indonesia at its inception consisted of relatively autonomous kingdoms such as Mataram in Java, the Bugis Sultanate in Sulawesi, the Sultanates of Ternate and Tidore, the Sultanate of Aceh, the Sultanate of Riau Lingga, and so on. By the mid-20th century, all these kingdoms were under Dutch colonial rule.
After that, discussions about Indonesia (1) and Indonesianism spread rapidly to almost every corner of the country. Several writers who had previously written about their respective regions began dedicating their works to an imaginary collective community (2), namely Indonesian nationalism.
Mohammad Yamin, one of the authors of the "Youth Pledge," initially (in 1920) wrote a poem titled "Homeland" which goes as follows:
HOMELAND
At the border, the Barisan hills,
Looking down, beneath me it sees;
Visible are the jungle forests and valleys;
Also rice fields, beautiful rivers:
And indeed, behold as well,
The green sky changes color
By the tops, coconut leaves;
That's the land, my homeland
Sumatra is its name, my spilled blood.
...
After the Youth Pledge, what he referred to as the homeland had changed as seen in his poem "Indonesia, My Spilled Blood."
(2) The formulation of this imagined community refers to Ben Anderson's book Imagined Communities, published by Verso in London.
...
To Indonesia we are faithful
Where is it that in my heart I forget,
If the blood in body and face
Originates indeed in the ancestral land;
If the petals of the frangipani trunk
I see many against my eyes
Covering the graves of father and mother?
...
The same thing happened to writers in various regions of Indonesia, such as J.E. Tatengkeng from Sulawesi, A.A. Panji Tisna from Bali, Marah Roesli and Abdoel Moeis from Minangkabau (West Sumatra), and others, no longer defining themselves and discussing themselves as individuals from their respective regions but rather beginning to discuss themselves as part of the Indonesian nation.
After the Youth Pledge, the New Poet Generation emerged with figures such as Sutan Takdir Alisyahbana, Sanusi Pane, Armijn Pane, and Amir Hamzah. Pujangga Baru emerged to sever ties with the traditions of their respective regional literatures and decided to give birth to modern Indonesian literature. Sutan Takdir Alisyahbana, who later wrote an essay entitled "Clear Slogan" and sparked a major controversy known as the "Cultural Polemic." In the essay, STA formulated Indonesia and Pre-Indonesia. All regional traditions—including their literatures—were included in Pre-Indonesia. As for Indonesia, he firmly declared an orientation towards the West. Several senior cultural figures, thinkers, and activists rose up and attacked the young STA. (3)
(3) Among them is prominent figure i.e. Ki Hajar Dewantara (who later became the first Minister of Education of Indonesia), Dr. M. Amir, Sanusi Pane, Dr. Purbatjaraka, Dr. Sutomo, Tjindarbumi, Adinegoro, etc. The polemic was later edited by Achdiat Kartamihardja and published under the title "Polemik Kebudayaan." See Achdiat K. Mihardja. (1948). Polemik Kebudayaan. Jakarta: Balai Pustaka.
Meanwhile, the poets Amir Hamzah and Sanusi Pane tended to be enriched with an orientation towards the East. (4)
Pujangga Baru produced works that were more convincing literarily than the previous generation. STA himself, who wrote poetry and several thick novels, was more valued for his ideas than for his literary works. Amir Hamzah, on the other hand, produced poems that were highly aesthetic. As for prose, Armijn Pane's novel "Belenggu" marked a new chapter in the writing of novels in Indonesia. STA's thoughts on modernity, the decision to break away from old traditions, and looking towards the West found its realization in the novel "Belenggu." Written in a realistic style with a dominant stream of consciousness, this novel showed that in the face of the particularities of human real life, all concepts and discourses that seemed smooth were in fact so vulnerable and problematic.
The Indonesian Revolution followed by the independence of Indonesia on August 17, 1945, gave birth to a different literary generation known as Generation 45. Figures of this generation include Chairil Anwar (poet), Asrul Sani (essayist and playwright), Idrus (short story writer), Utuy Tatang Sontani (playwright), who were soon followed by Mochtar Lubis, Pramoedya Ananta Toer (novelist and short story writer), Sitor Situmorang, and Toto Sudarto Bachtiar (poets). Of course, there are many more names of writers in this generation, but only the famous ones with superior works are mentioned here.
(4) Amir Hamzah—whom the legendary critic H.B. Jassin dubbed “the King of Poets” of the Pujangga Baru era—wrote poetry in the tradition of Islamic Sufism, while Sanusi Pane was oriented towards the Hindu/Indian tradition. In the polemic, the idea even emerged to create a synthesis of the West with the East, namely a combination of Faust (West) with Arjuna (East).
During the 1960s, President Sukarno's government began to face a crisis due to extraordinary inflation and sharp domestic political disputes. The so-called September 30th Movement (1966) occurred, during which several key generals (of the Army) were killed. The political situation was uncertain, and students staged large-scale demonstrations everywhere. National security was entrusted to General Soeharto by Sukarno, and immediately General Soeharto disbanded the Communist Party, which at that time was the third-largest political party in the General Election. President Sukarno's accountability in Parliament was rejected. He was removed from the presidency, and General Soeharto was appointed by the People's Consultative Assembly as the second President of the Republic of Indonesia. (5)
During the crisis and thereafter, there was intense literary conflict between the groups affiliated with the Indonesian Communist Party, which were part of the People's Cultural Institute (LEKRA), and the signatories of the Cultural Manifesto. Pramoedya Ananta Toer became the chairman of LEKRA, while Mochtar Lubis and H.B. Jassin were in the Cultural Manifesto group. Later on, due to political pressure, some signatories of the Cultural Manifesto sent letters of apology to President Sukarno. Meanwhile, when the Indonesian Communist Party was disbanded by Soeharto, LEKRA was automatically dissolved, and its members were arrested and imprisoned. Pramoedya Ananta Toer was imprisoned and later exiled to Buru Island, where he famously wrote his "Buru Quartet".
(5) President Soeharto established a regime that he called the New Order. The large number of political parties was simplified into three: the Nationalist Party (Indonesian Democratic Party/PDI), the Religious Party (United Development Party/PPP), and the Worker's Party (Functional Group/Golkar). Subsequently, Golkar consistently won the General Elections, and Soeharto remained in power for over 30 years.
With the disappearance of LEKRA from the literary scene, only the Cultural Manifesto group remained. This is what H.B. Jassin referred to as the Generation of '66, in accordance with the name of the political movement and student demonstrations in 1966. Those included in this generation include Taufiq Ismail, Goenawan Mohammad, Sapardi Djoko Damono, Slamet Soekirnanto, and others.
At the beginning of President Soeharto's administration, which was oriented towards the West, especially the United States, literary figures had high hopes for democracy and freedom of expression. Indonesian literature entered a new phase, characterized by various aesthetic experiments, including avant-garde movements. Names such as Putu Wijaya, Danarto, Umar Kayam, Ahmad Tohari, Iwan Simatupang (prose), Soetardji Calzoum Bachri, Abdul Hadi WM, Saini KM (poetry), Arifin C. Noer, Wisran Hadi (drama), etc., emerged during this period.
In this constellation, Rendra's position—the greatest poet of Indonesia—can be said to be unique. His name emerged in the 1950s. His works, which were full of concern for the common people and the oppressed, did not make him closely affiliated with LEKRA, while his mastery of Western aesthetics and literary insights did not align him closely with the Cultural Manifesto. During the New Order regime, Rendra, besides having his dramas and poetry readings banned, was also imprisoned by the New Order due to his sharp criticisms.
During this period, Mochtar Lubis and his friends also published the literary magazine "Horison." This magazine became a center for various aesthetic experiments in Indonesian literature. The birth of the literary magazine "Horison" was followed by the establishment of the arts center Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM). Both Horison magazine and TIM became the focal points of literary creation in Indonesia. Those whose works were published in Horison and/or invited to perform at TIM were recognized as literary figures. This continued until the 2000s.
Towards the end of the 1990s, Indonesia was hit by a serious economic crisis that had serious political implications. Soeharto finally signed an agreement with the IMF, but it did not help the economic situation. Once again, students across Indonesia demonstrated. Ministers resigned. Riots broke out in Jakarta in May 1998. Students occupied the parliament building, and Soeharto finally resigned. This era is known as the Reform Era.
The downfall of the New Order regime, which ruled for 32 years, was greeted with euphoria. Themes that had been suppressed during the New Order began to emerge, ranging from super liberal ideas to radical thoughts. New political parties emerged rapidly. Dozens of political parties enlivened the first General Election after the New Order regime. Until now, the large number of political parties has remained. Parties that are not popular are quickly eliminated, but new parties emerge. The bases of these many political parties are varied, ranging from ideologically based political parties to parties that are entirely pragmatic and oriented towards economic gain and power acquisition.
Aesthetic, Thematic, Political
In the realm of prose, particularly novels, Pujangga Baru generation attempted to depart from the old style reminiscent of Malay folklore and drew inspiration from the developing novel writing styles in Europe, especially from the Romantic movement. Sutan Takdir Alisyahbana, one of the main figures of Pujangga Baru, could even be said to have written in the style of “sturm und drang”, with his novels leaning towards Romanticism.
Overall, it can be said that fundamentally, during Pujangga Baru era, Indonesian literature was written with a shared aesthetic and political (thematic) foundation. Although each writer of this period had their own uniqueness, it can be concluded that essentially, the writers of this period wrote literary works based on a more or less similar aesthetic foundation. This similarity also occurred both politically and thematically. Themes such as the search for Indonesian national culture, tradition versus modernity, became the main themes of all literary works in this period.
With the onset of Indonesia's independence revolution, young writers emerged. H.B. Jassin, the most prominent literary critic in Indonesia at that time, named this generation Angkatan 45 (Generation of '45) and highlighted a shift in aesthetic from Pujangga Baru generation to Angkatan 45. The main figures of this generation were Chairil Anwar in poetry, Idrus in prose, Utuy Tatang Sontani in drama, and Asrul Sani, who mostly wrote essays and acted as a thinker. They attempted to depart from the aesthetic foundation of Pujangga Baru and sought a new aesthetic foundation. H.B. Jassin enthusiastically welcomed and declared the success of Angkatan 45 in solidifying the aesthetics of their own generation.
Chairil Anwar, hailed by H.B. Jassin as the greatest poet of this generation, marked a new aesthetic milestone in modern Indonesian poetry, different from Pujangga Baru generation. Similarly, Idrus with his sharp and ironic short stories, and Utuy Tatang Sontani. Following this generation, names such as Mochtar Lubis, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Sitor Situmorang, and others emerged.
Here are a few examples of a comparison between the poetry of Sutan Takdir Alisyahbana (Pujangga Baru) and Chairil Anwar (Angkatan 45).
Sutan Takdir Alisyahbana
API SUCI
Selama nafas masih mengalun,
Selama jantung masih memukul,
Wahai api, bakarlah jiwaku,
Biar mengaduh biar mengeluh.Seperti baja merah membara,
Dalam bakaran Nyala Raya,
Biar jiwaku habis terlebur,
Dalam kobaran Nyala Raya.Sesak mendesak rasa di kalbu,
Gelisah liar mata memandang,
Di mana duduk rasa dikejar.Demikian rahmat tumpahkan selalu,
Nikmat rasa api menghangus,
Nyanyian semata bunyi jeritku.HOLY FIRE
As long as breath still flows,
As long as the heart still beats,
Oh fire, burn my soul,
Let it groan, let it lament.Like red-hot steel blazing,
In the blaze of the Holy Flame,
Let my soul be consumed,
In the blaze of the Holy Flame.The tightness presses on the heart,
Restless eyes wander,
Where the feeling sits is pursued.
Thus, grace pours forth always,The pleasure of the fire consumes,
My song only a sound of my cry.
Chairil Anwar
…
Cemara menderai sampai jauh
terasa hari akan jadi malam
ada beberapa dahan di tingkap merapuh
dipukul angin yang terpendamAku sekarang orangnya bisa tahan
sudah berapa waktu bukan kanak lagi
tapi dulu memang ada suatu bahan
yang bukan dasar perhitungan kiniHidup hanya menunda kekalahan
tambah terasing dari cinta sekolah rendah
dan tahu, ada yang tetap tidak terucapkan
sebelum pada akhirnya kita menyerah
UNTITLEDThe pine stretches so far from my sight
I feel the day will soon dimmer to the night
On the window, some branches will be frail
struck by the wind, dormant like in jailI am now someone who can endure
It's been a while, I am no longer a child
But there was indeed a substance occur
That wasn't the calculation now I needed.Life just only delays the defeat I have taken,
Growing estranged from the teenage love affair
And knowing, something remains unspoken,
Before ultimately surrendering in despair.
From a generational perspective, both the New Poets generation and Generation of '45 embodied similar aesthetic foundations, thematic scopes, and political orientations. Figures such as Sutan Takdir Alisyahbana, Sanusi Pane, Armijn Pane, Amir Hamzah, to name a few prominent ones, although their works had their own distinctiveness, lived within the same aesthetic foundation, thematic scope, and political orientation. The same applies to Chairil Anwar, Idrus, Utuy Tatang Sontani, Asrul Sani, Mochtar Lubis, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Sitor Situmorang, and others in Generation of '45.
However, there was a drastic change in the 1960s. In this era, while there was still aesthetic similarity, there were sharp differences in thematic scope and especially in political orientation. This change began after the general elections of 1955. The top five winners of the first general elections in Indonesia were:
No. Party Number of Votes Percentage Number of Seats
1. Partai Nasional Indonesia (PNI)
Indonesian National Party 8.434.653 22,32 57
2. Partai Majelis Syuro Muslimin Indonesia (Masyumi)
Indonesian Council of Muslim Scholars Party 7.903.886 20,92 57
3. Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)
The Awakening of Muslim Scholars 6.955.141 18,41 45
4. Partai Komunis Indonesia (PKI)
Indonesian Communist Party 6.179.914 16,36 39
5. Partai Syarikat Islam Indonesia (PSII)
Indonesian Islamic Union Party 1.091.160 2,89 8
Mochtar Lubis and Pramoedya Ananta Toer, who belonged to the same Generation of '45, now held different political positions. Mochtar Lubis led the newspaper Indonesia Raya, while Pramoedya Ananta Toer became the Chairman of the People's Cultural Institute (LEKRA). This had a significant impact on the later writers who emerged in the 1960s, such as Taufiq Ismail, Goenawan Mohammad, Sapardi Djoko Damono, A. S. Dharta, Sobron Aidit, and others. The growing influence of the Indonesian Communist Party on one side and LEKRA as its cultural wing led to several writers creating and signing the Cultural Manifesto as their stance. It became clear that LEKRA members and the signatories of the Cultural Manifesto were adversaries and engaged in heated debates. However, upon observation, it is evident that despite sharp political differences, both of these opposing groups worked on the same aesthetic foundation. For example, the anti-communist poems of Taufiq Ismail had aesthetics that were more or less similar to those of A.S. Darta, a member of LEKRA and pro-communist.
The fall of President Sukarno, replaced by General Suharto, and the dissolution of the Communist Party forced LEKRA to disappear from the literary scene. Thus, the universal humanistic principles embraced by the Manifesto Cultural group became the only discourse in Indonesian arts, especially literature.
In the early era of the Suharto New Order regime, especially in the 1970s and beyond, Indonesian literature shared thematic and political similarities among writers of this generation, but there were significant differences in aesthetics. Novels by Putu Wijaya, Ahmad Tohari, or Dananto, for example, each had different aesthetic foundations. Meanwhile, the poetry of Abdul Hadi WM, for instance, differed in aesthetic foundation from that of Soetardji Calzoum Bachri. Here are just a few examples:
Abdul Hadi WM
GOD, WE’RE SO CLOSE
God
We're so close
Like fire with heat
I am hot in your fireGod
We're so close
Like cloth with cotton
I am cotton in your clothGod
We're so close
Like wind with its directionWe're so close
In the dark
Now I am ablaze
In the light of your lamp.
Soetardji Calzoum Bachri
PING PONG
Ping on top of pong
Pong on top of ping
Ping says pong
Pong says pingwant pong? say ping
want want say pong
want ping? say pong
want want say ping
yes pong yes pingyes ping yes pong
no pong no pingI don't have ping
I don't have pongby the edge of ping I want pong
no no say ping
ping pong I want ping
no no say pong
the pain of your distance piercing loudly
or
Tragedi Winta & Sihka (6)
(6) Kawin = married, kasih = affection, kaku = stiff
kawin
kawin
kawin
kawin
kawin
ka
win
ka
win
ka
win
ka
win
ka
winka
winka
winka
sihka
sihka
sihka
sih
ka
sih
ka
sih
ka
sih
ka
sih
ka
sih
sih
sih
sih
sih
sih
ka
Ku
The fall of President Suharto, which marked the era of reform, led to differences in aesthetics, themes, and politics. During this time, writers wrote with different aesthetics, themes, and political orientations. The diversity of styles, aesthetics, and themes was still accommodated by literary magazines like Horison and TIM. However, over time, both of these centers began to weaken. Horison eventually publicly announced its demise at TIM on July 26, 2016. The "funeral" ceremony was attended by many writers and artists (7) .
(7) Taufiq Ismail, as the editor of Horison magazine, announced that Horison would cease print publication and transition to an online platform. However, with the closure of Horison in print, Horison is considered defunct as no writers take Horison online seriously. It is seen merely as another social media platform. Furthermore, besides Taufiq Ismail, there are no reputable writers serving as its editors.
Along with the increasing popularity of social media, literary works also shifted to the personal social media accounts of the respective writers. With the collapse of TIM as a literary center, literary communities, both large and small, emerged. These communities initially referred to a specific location, such as the Salihara Community founded by poet and essayist Goenawan Mohammad in Jakarta, Sanggar Minum Kopi in Bali, the Berkat Yakin Ari Pahala Community and its friends in Lampung, the Rumah Dunia Gola Gong Community in Banten, the Ada Kopi Mahwi Air Tawar Community in Depok, as well as the Forum Lingkar Pena and the Indonesian Literary Community, which had branches in many regions of Indonesia, among others. These communities had their own networks with activities centered around their community network, although occasionally involving writers outside their community circle. Although they operated independently within their respective communities, members of each community still knew each other. Some members of the Salihara Community were acquainted with members of the Berkat Yakin Community, Rumah Dunia Community, Indonesian Literary Community, Forum Lingkar Pena Community, and vice versa.
However, with the declining popularity of print media and the increasing prevalence of social media, subsequently born communities became smaller in membership and more intimate in their relationships, resembling peer groups. Among such literary communities, they tended not to know each other. They preferred to hang out in coffee shops or other places to read and discuss the works of their fellow community members. There was no longer a "central" reference point for the value and quality of literature. There was no longer a recognized literary center as a place to ordain someone as a writer. An individual was recognized as a writer by their own group and was likely not known by other groups.
The themes they wrote about tended to be intimate with the world and scope of their respective community readings. In this context, national political issues are no longer the main focus in their literary works.
Agus R. Sarjono is primarily known as a poet, although he also writes short stories, novels, and especially essays and theatre play. He received the Mastera Literary Award from Malaysia (2012) and the Sunthorn Phu Award from Thailand (2013). A former editor of the literary magazine Horison (1997-2013), he has served as chairman of the Literary Committee of DKJ (Jakarta Arts Council) from 1998 to 2002, chairman of DKJ (2003-2006), and lecturer in the Theater Department of ISBI Bandung.
With a multi-party system, where the number of parties is numerous but the identity of each party is not very clear, national politics revolves around presidential candidates contesting in presidential elections. With such a pivot, before, during, and after the presidential elections, each camp has its own buzzers with a line-up of issue spreaders and debaters on social media. This situation makes national political issues fragmented, where a fact that is more or less the same will receive completely different—sometimes even contradictory—interpretations depending on which camp the interpreter belongs to. This situation has caused young Gen-Z writers to lose interest in national political issues.
Famous writers from previous generations, such as Goenawan Mohammad and Taufiq Ismail, are still involved in national political issues to some extent. However, because Goenawan Mohammad, who is actually a national literary figure like Rendra or Pramoedya Ananta Toer, is now better known as a writer in the Salihara community, while Taufiq Ismail is known as a writer for Horison online, the influence of these two writers, does not significantly affect the literary circles of the current generation.
Especially after the general elections won by Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming, social media has been filled with insults, harsh criticisms, accusations of cheating, and the like from the losing camps, both from the Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar camp and the Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfoud M.D. camp. Conversely, the Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming camp has been celebrating the victory of their candidate and accusing the other camps of refusing to accept defeat. Usually, after such heated exchanges, the elites and leaders of each camp start to soften and pragmatically build a "new coalition" with the election winner.
Therefore, it is understandable if these small groups of young writers prefer to write poems about the sunset, a cup of coffee, and the smile of a lover rather than the tumultuous world of Indonesian politics. They seem to know that whatever happens in the practical political world will eventually dock at the same oligarchic harbor.