Cerpen Koran - Stefan Danerek

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CERPEN KORANStefan DanerekPublished online: 23 Sep 2013.

To cite this article: Stefan Danerek (2013) CERPEN KORAN, Indonesia and the Malay World, 41:121,418-438, DOI: 10.1080/13639811.2013.826425

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Stefan Danerek

CERPEN KORAN

Its canon and counter-world

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

Keywords: Indonesian literature; cerpen koran; short stories; Seno GumiraAjidarma; Islam; universal humanism

This article begins with a discussion of the role of newspapers in the development of theIndonesian short story (cerita pendek, cerpen) and the formation of a canon1 wherein themuch discussed female, liberal and Islamic mainstreams matter less than variety and

1In literature canon is commonly understood both as a selection of works to be used and read, and asthe rule system that governs selection. As Baldick states (2001: 33): The canon of a national litera-ture is a body of writings especially approved by critics or anthologists and deemed suitable for aca-demic study. This article allows for a more flexible view on the concept. Authors and works that arepublished 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 storymust, like the novel, constantly renew itself. See also canon and bracketed terms in the glossary toBakhtin (1981: 423434).

Indonesia and the Malay World, 2013

Vol. 41, No. 121, pp. 418438, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13639811.2013.826425

# 2013 Editors, Indonesia and the Malay World

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male authors.2 After the overview, prominent and recent literary awards are examinedand the award-winning short story Dodolitdodolitdodolibret by Seno Gumira Aji-darma is analysed. Senos story sets the scene for a discussion of recent short storieschosen from a survey of the national daily newspaper, Kompas, generally consideredthe leading newspaper in terms of both readership and influence, and the large regionaldaily, Jawa Pos, from 18 September to 18 December 2011.3 The main questions exploredare: Do short stories address continuing socio-political trends?4 If so, which trends, how,and in which forms?

Mikhail Bakhtins idea of language (1981) as ideologically saturated, plural andsocially constructed, formed in relation and heteroglossic, coupled with ideas fromEdward Saids (2004) humanistic reading science, inform analysis of the texts.5 It isthe intentional dimension of literature, its worldview, that requires the concretesocial context of discourse [. . .] to be revealed as the force that determines its entirestylistic structure [. . .] from within (Bakhtin 1981: 300), which will be examined.The selected stories were chosen for their engagement with socio-political trends andnot for comments on literary merit although some observations will be made onaspects of the crafting, primarily on the form the engagement takes.

The significance of newspapers to the Indonesian short

story

Newspapers have been very important to Indonesian literature from its genesis in the Malaypress of the late colonial period (c. 1900) until the present. A canon, mostly novels,6 came

2Sastra koran refers first to literature published in newspapers, and second to the formal qualitiesassociated with literature published in newspapers, foremost the short story. The term cerpenkoran is largely interchangeable with the terms cerpen aktual and cerpen faktual, terms that shouldbe understood literally actual issues and facts. These terms are explained later and examplesprovided.3Nugroho et al. (2012: 67) states that Kompas and Jawa Pos remain the two most widely read news-papers 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 previouslyidentified an anti-authoritarian thread in the genre. The discussion of the genre and its authors stemfrom a previous study (Danerek 2006) that included a six-month brief survey (20022003) of shortstories from seven national and large regional newspapers.5Heteroglossia is the condition governing the operation of meaning in any utterance, ensuringprimacy of context over text (Bakhtin 1981: 263, 428). Literary studies are, accordingly, compara-tive and sociological. Tony Days words in the review (2007: 173) of Maier (2004) is instructive whenconfronting a variety of different texts, as in a sample or survey with many different points of viewson the world: The ability to read a Malay literary text effectively [. . .] depends on adopting a strat-egy [. . .] of identification, [. . .] with foreign writers, of feeling at home in their alien textual worldswhere flux and hybridity [. . .] reign supreme.6Maman S. Mahayana (2006) researched newspapers and short stories and concluded that writers ofliterary history have, in all periods, mistakenly focused on books (Maman 2010). E.U. Kratzs (1988)bibliography of literature from only journals for the years 19221982 noted 27,000 titles of poetry,drama and prose, constituting an argument for a shift of attention from books and novels to otherforms of publication and genres.

C ERP EN KORAN 4 1 9

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into being in the 1920s through the efforts of the state publishing house, Balai Pustaka,whichwas established partly as a response to the heterogeneous Malay press.

It would not be until the revolutionarywar of 19451949 that the short story had its realbreakthrough. Generation 45 authors, Abdullah Idrus and Pramoedya Ananta Toer, whowere both influenced byWestern and Russian realists, wrote short stories about occupation,revolution and suffering, some of which were first published in magazines. But they mostlybecame known through the anthologies that were published by Balai Pustaka around 1950. Inthose days, revolution, universalism, humanism and the bondwith the people were empha-sised by authors.7 The latter three ideas have been important until today, which will be dis-cussed below. In the 1970s, universal humanism moved away from social context andtowards experimentation, at least in the leading Indonesian literary journal Horison.

Short story writing was booming in magazines in the mid 1950s, but books and novelsremained the focus of critical attention. After a downturn during the turmoil of the 1960s,the genre gradually became more prestigious after the 1970s when newspapers were moreabundant and more important as a medium for the short story. Because newspapers needcultural material, compete with each other, and leading newspapers set the example, mostnewspapers publish short stories in their Sunday editions. The inauguration in 1992 of theannual Kompas awards for best short story and publication of the best-of-the-year anthologyconstituted both affirmation of prestige and support for the art form.8 Kompas became,through its decades-long dedication, the genres barometer and canon in itself, and theannual anthology reversed the ephemeral nature of newspaper short stories.

Newspapers, not least Kompas, influence the form of the short story owing to theirlarge circulation and availability. Cerpen koran (newspaper short story) refers both tonewspaper short stories and to the formal qualities associated with them: actuality,social themes, realism and a limit on length.9 Seno Gumira Ajidarma, whose storieswill be addressed here, is an influential author and associated with the developmenttowards documentation and current affairs, although he often writes surreal storieswith elements of the fairy tale. He has contributed short stories to various publicationsfor three decades, notably Kompas, and together the author and the newspaper representa significant part of the canon of the contemporary Indonesian short story.10

7Many Generation 45 authors gathered in and around a group that developed the manifesto, SuratKepertjajaan Gelanggang (1950). This letter is translated in Teeuw (1986: 127). This revolutionarygeneration envisioned an Indonesian culture without an eastwest dichotomy but artists were gen-erally more inspired by western thought than their own eastern roots. Keith Foulcher (2012: 3156)has written extensively on cultural politics and universal humanism.8Kompas has paid more for short stories than other newspapers and the amounts of its awards have beensignificant. Honoraria are not fixed. Kompas pays a minimum IDR1 million (about USD100). Jawa Pos hasgradually increased its honoraria to IDR1million (source: private email, ShoimAnwar, 18 February 2013).9Edgar Allen Poes formula, that every word must have a function in the composition and that the total-ity 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 Senos works. See Bodden (1999: 153156) about Senosresistance in fiction against authoritarianism As Seno states: I concentrate completely on ensuringthat the forbidden text [. . .] can be disseminated in a way that is safe and according to the rules (Aji-darma 1999: 166). For more comprehensive analyses of Senos oeuvre, see Fuller (2004, 2010).

4 2 0 I NDONES I A AND THE MALAY WOR LD

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Literature and newspaper short stories in the reform period

Online literature is plentiful but no website has been able to challenge the hegemony ofnewspapers, neither do literary journals, which remain few in number and rarely appearregularly.11 Newspapers are online, too, and there are blogs that archive newspapershort stories. Moreover, the number of newspapers has significantly increased sincethe fall of the New Order. Sastra Islam is rarely published in newspapers, at least notin the form it is associated with, but sastra Islam authors contribute occasionally.12

The issue of Islamic literature is complex because it implies distinction and definitionsinvolving faith. One reasonable, if rather wide definition of Islamic literature is that itis in accordance with Islamic values and written by a Muslim.

Female metropolitan liberal writing, mislabeled sastra wangi (fragrant literature), flour-ished afterAyuUtamis novel, Saman, appeared in 1998.13 Islamic literature sastra Islami orsastra Islam which hasmany femalemetropolitanwriters, has also grown to bemainstreamafter the 1990s. The two contrasting groups have receivedmuch critical attention, but noneof them dominates the newspapers.14 Djenar Maesa Ayu of the liberal camp, however, hasbeen widely published by the large dailies, notably Kompas.15 She has written, among otherthings, about young metropolitan female subjects and against what Djenar and her peersregard as outdated morals. Djenar and other liberal female writers were well received bythe literary establishment and garnered significant media attention.16 Therefore, it makessense to talk about liberal female authors as dominating the canon of contemporary Indo-nesian literature (Arimbi 2009: 14), especially the novel. Male writers, however, dominatethe important short story genre, both numerically and by critical acclaim.17

Recent literary awards and prominent stories

In 2008, Anugerah Pena Kencana (Pena Kencana awards) for both poetry and short stories waslaunched.Were it not discontinued after 2009, it could have been a non-partisan colleague to

11Jurnal Cerpen Indonesia (2002) first appeared in 2002 and was intended to be a quarterly but only oneissue 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, ForumLingkar Pena. See Danerek (2006: 4041, 4956). Monika Arnez (2009: 62) states: Helvy has suc-ceeded in establishing a significant literary dakwah movement that calls out to both young men andwomen to work for the countrys moral and social reform. A common tenet in sastra Islam is thatIslamic art is art for humankind because of Allah. Maier (2004: 388395) quotes several Muslimauthors on sastra Islam, noting that the should-ness involved in definitions is untenable becausethe 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 newfemale 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 wasawarded best cerpen of the year 2002: canonised.16See the chapter on canonisation of sastrawangi in Danerek (2006: 167183).17See Danerek (2006: 25, 27). The current readings also support the claim.


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the Kompas awards, which since 2005 has invited external jury members. The Pena Kencanaawards selection process for short stories was evidence of the hegemony of newspapers andaffirms the authenticity of Kompas. Nominations for short stories were selected from 12national and large regional daily newspapers no journals of any kind throughout Indo-nesia. Twentywinnerswere chosen by prominent critics, among them short storywriter andprofessor, Budi Darma. The leading publisher, Gramedia, published the 20 best stories as 20Cerpen Indonesia terbaik and the anthologys readers were invited to vote for the best story bytextmessaging frommobile phones. Thewinnerwas Cinta di atas perahu cadik [Love on anoutrigger canoe],18 a love story by Seno (Ajidarma 2007) set in a poor coastal village, andwasfirst published by Kompas. The story is realist and told through third persons and the author.The plot is short: two lovers, both unhappily married to others, go fishing in an outriggercanoe, but were unable to return to their village for aweek as they tried to catch a large fish.The moral is that both will have to seek a divorce and that it is nobodys business that theyhave made love on the outrigger canoe.

Senos Cinta di atas perahu cadik was also chosen as best short story in the 2008Kompas awards and it was not till 2011 that Dodolitdodolitdodolibret won the same acco-lade (Ajidarma 2010).19 The examples cited above are evidence of the continuing stand-ing, a kind of hegemony, in the short story genre of newspaper short stories generally, andKompas and Seno in particular. One of the winners of the Kompas awards in 2012 is dis-cussed in the current sample. The critic, Putu Fajar Arcana, who was on the judgingpanel said that the jury chose the two winning stories20 because they were consideredto have a logical link between the written text and reality (Kompas 2012).21 Did theothers fail to do that? And why is a logical link between text and reality so important?

First, I will analyse Dodolitdodolitdodolibret because this story and Seno rep-resent the canon and address the same socio-political trend as stories from the briefsurvey (Figure 1). Kiplik is the only character with a name in the story. In the first para-graph, Kiplik ponders on how a person can walk on water, although he realises that theidea is just a fairy tale. Yet Kiplik believes it is possible if he only studies how to praythe right way hard enough. Kiplik thinks: How can prayers be accepted if the words arewrong? If the words are wrong, then the meaning will be different, even contradictory.And hey, isnt the book, Praying the right way, sold everywhere?22 Kiplik becomes knownas the convinced Guru Kiplik after he begins propagating his beliefs to everyone. On amissionary journey, he visits a remote island that has a few harmonious inhabitants whopray a lot but in the wrong way while going about their daily activities. Kiplikcurses their ways and begins to teach them how to pray the right way, so that theywill be able to walk on water. After he has succeeded in teaching them how to pray

18The stories discussed here can be accessed online. All translations are mine. Indented quotes arewith the permission of the authors.19Dodolitdodolitdodolibret ends with a disclaimer stating that the story is the writers version ofsimilar stories with backgrounds from the worlds different religions. A.N. Basral (2010) was firstto identify the Russian folk tale, Three hermits by Tolstoy (1886), as the likely source of inspiration.20There is usually only one winner.21Putus words were not reported as direct speech in the news report.22Bagaimana 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 Benarmemang dijual di mana-mana?


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FIGURE 1 Short stories published in Kompas and Jawa Pos between 18 September and 18

December 2011.

C E R P EN KORAN 4 2 3

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FIGURE 1 Continued


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he leaves the island. Soon after departure, and after prayer time, Guru Kiplik sees theislanders running quickly on the water towards his boat. They shout: Teacher! Teacher!Come back! We have forgotten how to pray the right way!

The story has religious practice as its theme and it is easily interpreted as taking astand for freedom of faith, although its style resembles a fairy tale. There are no specificcoordinates in space or time to determine its setting, except the reference, Isnt thebook Praying the right way sold everywhere? Similar book titles are plentiful in mostIndonesian bookstores and from other vendors.23 The image of naturally religiousislanders is not a far-fetched, albeit romantic, image of the archipelago, either.

So what is the dialogizing background to the tale, if not the rise of a formal and pol-itically inclined Islam and accompanying religious intolerance?24 In Indonesia, during the last10 years there has been increasing pressure to conform to the dictates of various religiousorganizations. There has also been mounting intolerance and violence against those whopray thewrong way. Indonesias national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity),has been put to test. Pushed by hardliners, state actors have been involved in violating reli-gious rights and have condoned such violations by enacting discriminative legislation. Forinstance, the Muslim Ahmadiyah, a peaceful sect relatively small in numbers that hasexisted undisturbed in Indonesia for over 80 years, has come under fire, particularlyfrom the notorious Front Pembela Islam (FPI, Islamic Defenders Front), a militant organ-ization. Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI, Board of Indonesian Ulama) re-issued an old fatwain 2005 that stated the Ahmadiyah had left Islam (murtad) and urged the Government to banthem.25 Since then violations of freedom of religion have increased. MUI also issued a fatwaagainst secularism, liberalism and pluralism the same year. A joint ministerial decree wasfinally issued in 2008 against Ahmadiyah teachings that again served to escalate violations.Ahmadiyah adherents were driven from their homes and, in a few incidents, murdered bythose who pray the right way. Few people in official positions or large organizations havedefended the Ahmadiyah, and those that did, did so belatedly. The Shia community since2012 have been facing a similar situation as the Ahmadiyah. Violations of religiousfreedom have also befallen Christians, including acts of terrorism against them.26

23A detail connected with the works compositional principle, the life-giving centre of the work ofart (Spitzer 1948: 19, quoted in Said 2004: 65).24The Saudi state religion, best known as Salafism (that is, Wahhabism), strives for domination overmainstream Sunni Islam. This ideology despises all cultural-historical heritage, including that ofIslam. The evidence is that the Saudi state with the blessings of its Wahhabist clerics is even bulldozingthe Islamic heritage sites of Mecca and Medina (see, for instance, Thompson 2012), continuing a longtradition of vandalism that includes the destruction of the graves of the Prophets family and friends.Indonesians first encountered Wahhabism when Sumatran pilgrims visited Mecca in 1803 during thefirst violent Wahhabi occupation of the city. Once home they inspired the long Padri war againstupholders of tradition.25MUI is an umbrella organisation for Muslim organisations, including small radical groups and itsmember FPI, has often used threats and violence to back up MUI fatwas. See the InternationalCrisis 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 persecuteminorities. 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 theInternational Crisis Group (2008).


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This scenario compounds the widely criticised anti-pornography and porno-action(pornoaksi) bill which, after a long period of deliberation and resistance, finally becamelaw in October 2008. This law can, in theory, make much of both traditional culture andthe arts illegal. It curtails personal freedoms and can be seen as an attempt to imposesharia law on womens bodies (Bellows 2011: 210).

However, the situation should not be exaggerated as there are, for example,positive developments in civil society, but a new authoritarianism has certainlybeen on the rise in the new democracy. The tale Dodolitdodolitdodolibretrelates to this development. Even the it is nobodys business attitude of theCinta di atas perahu cadik story can be interpreted in the context of the anti-por-nography laws. Dodolitdodolitdodolibret projects a counter-world of unreconciledopposition to the depredations of daily life and to the identities . . . given by the flagor the national war of the moment (Said 2004: 35). A reading, conscious of thebackground animating dialogue (Bakhtin 1981: 420), reveals Senos resistance toa new flag in the making.

Dodolitdodolitdodolibret is a universal and amusing tale, relevant wherever reli-gious overconfidence arises, but it also reads like a national allegory for its time, whichincreases and explains its appeal. There is a logical link between the written text andreality. The story can be said to belong within Indonesian universal humanism, the onethat emphasises the bond with the people: the naturally religious islanders who are ableto walk on water.

Short stories from Kompas and Jawa Pos, 18 September18 December 2011

Several new authors appeared between 2002 and 2006, and the writers who were heldin esteem then are still contributing to Kompas and Jawa Pos.27 Seno, Triyanto Triwik-romo and Djenar, amongst the most popular and acknowledged of the reform period,appeared in the sample that I compiled for 2011.28 Other contributors were authorswho have published since the early 1970s such as Yanusa Nugroho, Sori Sinegarand Gde Aryantha Soethama. All of the above named authors had at least one publi-cation in Kompas. Jawa Pos had recurring authors too, notably the widely regardedM. Shoim Anwar. Jawa Pos published a few witty tales and crime stories, which differ-entiated it from the generally more highbrow Kompas that had authors with greatercritical acclaim and, in my view, maintained a slightly higher average quality than

27Short stories from Kompas and Jawa Pos were first accessed in the online editions for subscribers onor near the day of publication. Jawa Pos short stories also appear in Indopos (Jawa Pos group). Kompasstories are archived at Cerpen Kompas blog (2013). Jawa Pos and Kompas stories are both archived atthe Cerpen Koran Minggu blog (2013) including the stories discussed here. Jawa Pos did not publish ashort story on 18 and 25 September 2011 and Kompas did not appear because of holidays on 6 and 27November 2011. The ratio of established versus non-established authors in my previous study(Danerek 2006) was similar to the 2011 period under discussion.28Kompas published a story by Djenar that must be seen as rather haphazard (Ayu 2011). A reader atthe Cerpen Kompas blog commented that the editors might have intentionally let it through tosubvert Djenars status.


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Jawa Pos.29 Categorised according to the main themes the samples 24 stories (seeFigure 1) include eight social, six moral/religious, six other, three family andone political. Eighteen out of these 24 stories were realist, including four with unli-kely plots and excluding four with fantastic elements.30

Social themes and realism are the main orientation in newspaper short stories. Threestories are clearly influenced by, and addressed, continuing socio-political trends andanother brought attention to a specific contemporary issue. The four stories are allwritten by established authors and belong to the most accomplished of the sample. Inother stories, crime, corruption or social tragedy form themes where no socio-politicaltrend or specific issue could be identified nor was an answer provided to what wasdepicted. Without dwelling on esthetic quality, it is worth noting that the authors andstories of the canon (by selection, critical appraise and readers appreciation) in Indonesiaaddress important issues and that they do it in stylistically accomplished ways.31

One of the two stories chosen for Best of Kompas 2011 is in the sample and will bediscussed: Yanusa Nugrohos (Tangerang) Salawat dedaunan (Prayers of leaves; 2011)in the moral/religious category. In relation to this story I will also discuss one byM. Shoim Anwar, a Surabaya-based author who contributed a more complex tale inJawa Pos, that addressed a continuing social problem. But first, I will discuss twostories that appeared in Kompas that addressed socio-political trends: one political byTriyanto Triwikromo (Semarang) and one social by Gde Aryantha Soetama (Bali).

The stories of Triyanto Triwikromo (2011) and Gde Aryantha Soetama (2011) havefantastic elements and can be categorised as magic realism, also known as marvellousrealism (Sp. realismo maravilloso). Triyanto contributed Burung api Siti (Sitis firebirds), a story told from an omniscient perspective. It opens with a breathtakingvision of hundreds of herons, the favorite sight of the 10-year old boy, Siti:

There is no beauty as graceful as the dance of herons making out. Siti would watchthe hundreds of couples of dating herons in amazement; the birds chirping inunison, exclaiming the most poignant and deafening cries, yet simultaneouslymoving like dancers in the palace. [. . .] However, that day in October 1965when the wind was so salty and sour, the herons did not move at all. [. . .] Siti ima-gined that hundreds of giant snakes were devouring them. In his mind he saw thedisgusting reptiles [. . .] thrusting and crushing their heads.32

29The author [. . .] sends his best stories to Kompas [. . .] if they are refused, they are then sent toanother (Danerek 2006: 101, 126). Authors continue to prioritise Kompas above Jawa Pos andother newspapers, but this may change with the increasing honoraria offered by Jawa Pos.30Similar to the more extensive 20022003 survey.31The ones that are discussedwill most likely be republished in anthologies. Senos Dodolitdodolitdodoli-bret and Yanusas Salawat dedaunan have been re-published in the aforementioned best of anthologies.32Tak 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 tan-gisan 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 itunyaris tidak melakukan gerak apa pun. [. . .] Siti menduga ada ratusan ular raksasa yang menelan mereka[. . .] menyambar sayap, lalu menghajar, dan mengkremus kepala-kepala mereka.


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Siti is prepared to rescue the birds that prevent him from seeing and hearing awful eventson the nearby cape. Slaughterers (para pembantai) are shouting the name of Allah, wield-ing machetes and thrusting bayonets. The perpetrators, men and women from theneighboring village, all have similar words that claim to clear themselves of guilt:We have to kill them, because they were going to kill us (a soldier, uttering acommon view). We have to kill them because these religion-hating peoplekilled the generals first (a common view referring to the six generals murdered on30 September 1965 at Lubang Buaya, uttered by a man in a white robe, indicating asantri, an orthodox Muslim). The men in white robes purify their acts, carried outwith joy, with religious shouts. If they dont die now, they will kill all our descendantsin the future (a woman, uttering a common justification for herself). This is a nationalduty . . . . (a soldier).

In the next part of the story, the death squad arrives in Sitis village to kill his father,a beloved man (lelaki kencana). In the omniscient narrators view: Simply because he didnot want to join the soldiers and the people who claim to be so pure, Azwar, Sitis father,inevitably became the most hated of the hunted creatures.

Siti and Azwar are reciting from the Quran, discussing the difference between theherons at the cape and the ababil birds that stopped the elephant army in a story from theQuran. Can the herons become fire birds? asks Siti. Azwar replies: Everything canhappen if Allah permits it.

Next, the death squad attacks with holy shouts and they wound Sitis father. Fightingerupts as the villagers come to Azwars aid. The herons arrive, encircling the fighting.God allows them to interfere. Some attackers are blasted with fireballs and the remain-der flee. Azwar is saved. Peace returns to the village.

Burung api Siti is categorized as magic realist because it involves the marvellous: aflock of herons take a crucial part in the plot, performing divine intervention withAllahs permission like the ababil birds in the Quran. The storys theme is thenational tragedy of 196533 and its unresolved historical debate provides the contextand the force that determines its stylistic structure. The fact that the story was publishedin October when the debate always resurfaces added immediacy to the subject.

The story is factual only in the sense that as the plot plays out the victims of thecommunist witch-hunt are proven innocent.34 The simplified dichotomy between com-munists/atheists and the religious (Islam) that is expressed in official history and is still awidespread belief the background dialogue is expressed as such in the story, notleast in the common view utterances made by the assailants as they seek to justifytheir acts. The potential victims and protagonists, Siti and Azwar, are neither atheistsnor communists. They are portrayed as good people, faithful Muslims who are lovedby their community, whereas the attackers are portrayed as a self-righteous and self-deceiving group consisting of soldiers, Muslim santri and others. In this internally per-suasive perspective the common and official view is negated. A universal humanismemerges, which might be called a Muslim universal humanism because of the role offaithful Muslims, the intervention of the divine in the plot and the siding with the

33See for instance Cribb (2001) about the events of 19651966.34There is ample literature and a recent film which have stated this, but Indonesian history is stillwaiting for its synthesis. The semi-documentary, The act of killing (Oppenheimer 2012), featuresformer killers who act themselves, thus admitting to acts of torture and murder.


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dispossessed. Family members and descendants of the victims of 19651966, them-selves often victimised, are still waiting for recognition of their suffering and for com-pensation. Burung api Siti projects a counter-world to the identity projected by the flagor even the national war of the moment, in the light of the background dialogue ofMUI fatwas and increasing intolerance.

Batas tidur (Border to sleep) by Gde Aryantha Soetama is told from a we per-spective. The story begins:

If we feel like going sightseeing, we go to the brink of sleep, the body drifts away,swaying as light as cotton. [. . .] The chirping of birds, sounds of insects and thewind, are clear and distinct. Whispers become melodious conversations.35

A type of meditation group follows a guru who teaches them how to capture themoment before one falls asleep, which enables the practitioner to fly and view hisown body from above. Two advantages of mastering the technique is that one will beable to choose the hour of ones death in case one is terminally ill, for instance and that death becomes less frightening. The technique is described and the danger men-tioned that if the practitioner succeeds in leaving his body, then the body must not bemoved because then it will die. That is what happens, inviting a conflict with thenearby community, where rumours of misguided teachings have spread because theretreat attracted odd people: ex-criminals, ex-junkies and the dying.

The Astungkara hamlet became known, visited by many people from every conti-nent and country [. . .] the entrepreneurs of spiritual tourism in villas and hotelswith menus of yoga, meditation and samadhi became envious [. . .].36

A successful student of Guru Tung, a man with a death sentence who has been able to visitthe retreat during detention, has his last wish fulfilled before being executed, that is, tovisit his guru. However, his guardsmove his physical body during his long flight out of hisbody and he dies. The untimely death becomes hot news and those hostile towards GuruTungs retreat seize the opportunity to turn against it. A frenzied mob appears, led by fourmen who declare the guru to be deviant and a deceiver. Some shout Buuuurrrn . . .Kiiiill! Guru Tung seizes the opportunity, telling his students that now it is time toshow them who we are. When the four leaders enter Guru Tungs room, they discoveronly a pile of ashes where the guru should have been. He has completed moksa (the finalstage of Javanese mysticism), his body has combusted, and he is now a conscious ray oflight. When the four men kick the ashes of Guru Tung it is like lightning strikes. Theguru makes himself appear through another lightning energy release and says: Nowthey know who we are. The four men are blinded by the light. The story ends:

35Jika hendak tamasya, kami akan pergi ke batas tidur, tubuh pun melayang-layang, terayun-ayun seringankapas. [. . .] Kicau burung, suara serangga, dan desau angin, jernih dan jelas sumbernya. Bisikan-bisikanmenjadi percakapan nan merdu.36Pedukuhan 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 [. . .].


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If we want to meet Guru Tung after the events of that evening we will lie on ourbacks staring at the sky [. . .] pleading in silence to meet the real void. We will con-tinue here, in this little valley, to perfect the technique of catching the moment onthe border of sleep, in order to choose for ourselves our hour of death.37

Batas tidur does not communicate a social dialogue as distinct as in Burung api Siti,but the story is sympathetic to the odd meditation center and its adherents, so universalhumanism has a presence in this suggestive story, too. This story can be classified asmagic realism, because of the marvellous events that occur. However, the motif of spiri-tual tourism, including the usage of spirital usage as a term in public discourse, is atopical one as it has been a growing sector of tourism in Bali in recent years. Spiritualtourism is described as commercial and less attractive than the occasional retreat, but inthe story the mob turns against the spiritual practice, which has a Balinese traditionwithin leak, a shamanistic application. So Batas tidur reverberates with dialogue onsocial reality.

Burung api Siti and Batas tidur

Both stories feature actual elements: in Burung api Siti it is the 1965 debate; in Batastidur it is in the motif of spiritual tourism. Other similarities include: (1) the appear-ance of a frenzied mob that is a reference to a purer religion intent on using violenceagainst a revered and spiritual man; (2) a marvellous event that restores peace: inBurung api Siti, God intervenes through the herons whose sounds are like zikir(Islamic chanting); in Batas tidur, the guru performs a moksa and returns in a burstof energy that blinds the assailants; (3) both stories have beginnings and endings thatare suggestive and esthetic; and (4) both stories recognise true spirituality and holdout against violent mobs who act in the name of religion, people who pray the rightway. As in Senos Dodolitdodolitdodolibret, the people who are wrong are rightand tolerance is conveyed for the religious practices of others. The dialogue is topicaland delivered in an organic way, which offers a counter-world to intolerance and com-munal violence.

Salawat dedaunan (Nugroho 2011) is inspired by a Madurese folk tale and is pre-sented as a story once told by a Haji Brahim to a first-person narrator.38 An elderlywoman who is a stranger appears at an aged, quiet and small mosque which hasthree male caretakers. The large courtyard outside the mosque, overshadowed by ahuge tamarind tree, is covered with leaves. The men are discussing repair funds asthe mosque does not even have money to pay someone to clean the courtyard. Theold lady tells the men who thought her a beggar, that she has come for repentance.

37Setelah peristiwa petang itu, jika hendak bertemu Guru Tung, kami akan telentang menatapangkasa, [. . .] bersujud pada sunyi, memohon pada hening dan sepi, agar bisa bersua dengankosong sejati. Kami akan terus di campuhan ini, meresapi aji batas tidur, agar bisa memilih sendirihari mati.38A version of Nenek pemetik daun [The leaf-picking grandmother] can be accessed on the Si PencariIlmu (2011) blog.


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The three mosque caretakers became silent for a moment. [. . .] Please take ablutionand pray, grandmother, said Haji Brahim smiling.

But to the mens amazement the grandmother begins to pick up the leaves from thecourtyard. She also refuses help, saying there is no heavier burden than that of sin.

She looked at every leaf that she picked for a moment and muttered, Lord, forgiveme. Blessings to the Prophet.39 [. . .] Haji Brahim was shaken by the grandmotherssincerity and innocence. It seemed to him that the grandmother testified before thethousands of leaves that she was asking for mercy.40

The old woman works for a couple of days without rest which intrigues the communityand people visit in large numbers and bring her food. While at the mosque they praytogether. After more than two days of constant work the old woman falls down anddies. The people are shocked and someone tries to bring her to a clinic, but forsome reason it does not happen. She is given a quick burial behind the mosque. Afterthe burial, the people discover that the courtyard is perfectly clean and that a net istied under the branches of the tamarind tree, almost as if it were a miracle.

The corners of Haji Brahims eyes became moist. May you find your way,Grandma, he muttered. And when all the people, who numbered in the dozens,discovered what Haji Brahim was seeing, they were dumbfounded. How couldthe mosque courtyard be that clean?41

The community now wants to become more involved in the activities of the mosque.The narrator remembers his question to Haji Brahim: Could the old woman receiveAllahs mercy? Allahs forgiveness? Yes, Im sure it is possible. Gods will is infinite.Everything can happen if God permits it.

Salawat dedaunan carries a moral message that Gods mercy is available for thosewho sincerely ask for it. The only magic element is that of the mysterious old womanappearing from nowhere, single-handedly cleaning the courtyard and bringing the com-munity together, thus, adding a layer to an otherwise conventional tale. The storyresembles a saint story, and Haji Brahim (a pilgrim and religious community figure)admits to the narrator that the old woman had opened their eyes. The result is an aware-ness in the community to be more involved in the daily upkeep of the mosque and inhelping each other. Haji Brahim was moved by the old womans probity and headmits that she may receive Gods forgiveness for her untold sins. The grandmotheralso gives priority to leaf picking, while uttering prayers like the islanders in Dodolit-dodolitdodolibret, rather than performing the ritual prayer as suggested by Haji Brahim

39Gusti, mugi paringa aksama. Paringa kanugrahan dateng Kanjeng Nabi (Javanese).40Pada 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 sinenek. Di matanya, si nenek seperti ingin bersaksi di hadapan ribuan dedaunan bahwa dirinya sedangmencari jalan pengampunan.41Sudut mata Haji Brahim membasah. Semoga kau temukan jalanmu, nek, gumamnya. Dan ketika semuaorang, yang puluhan jumlahnya itu, secara bersamaan menemukan apa yang dipandang Haji Brahim,mereka ternganga. Bagaimana mungkin halaman masjid bisa sebersih seperti itu.


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(and which the old woman does in the folk tale). The worldview is that of a tolerant,undogmatic Islam.

The concrete social context for this religious discourse can only be the dialogisingbackground of the MUI, FPI and other hardline organizations. A universal humanismappears or a compassionate belief within Islamic parameters that affirms andhonors the religious approach of the poor old woman, who inspires sympathy in HajiBrahim and persuades the reader. The quotation Lord, forgive me. Blessings to theProphet, uttered in Javanese, is an exaltation of the Prophet, which is common in tra-ditional Javanese Islamic spirituality. The discourse is similar to that of Dodolitdodolit-dodolibret: people pray differently and it is even possible to reach heaven to walk onwater God willing.42

ShoimAnwars Sulastri dan empat lelaki (Sulastri and fourmen; 2011) tells the story ofan Indonesian female worker in the Middle East. Sulastri, the narrator, is working illegally,having overstayed, in an unnamed Arab country by the Red Sea. In the opening scene, she istrying to hide from a policeman at a pier. He yells questions in Arabic at her from a distance.

Sulastri knew that the police would not arrest her without remuneration. She wasjust avoiding being physically handled for a moment. No way would the police handher over to the embassy for deportation. Like her friends in the same boat, Sulastriwas homeless.43

Sulastri remembers her family and husband back home. Her husbands priorities, sacredattire and meditation, are what has caused her to work abroad. The image of herhusband is then substituted for that of a nasty Pharaoh who frightens her and callsher his slave. Sulastri tries to escape from him. Then Prophet Moses appears. Sulastriasks for help and is met by criticism from a thunderous voice:

How can I help you if you entered this country in an unlawful way? [. . .]My husband abandoned me, [. . .] I am a woman, oh Moses.Both men and women have an obligation to change their own fates.My country is poor, Moses.Your country has an abundance of wealth. You see, here it is dry and arid . . . .We dont have any work, Moses.Arent you the lazy ones?We do not get any justice, Moses.

42Salawat dedaunan is more elaborate than the Madurese folk tale that I read, but it is basically thesame story. The community, and the grandmothers effect on it in Yanusas narrative is not in the folktale.43Sulastri tahu, polisi tak akan menangkapnya tanpa imbalan. Dia hanya menghindar sesaat dari tindakanfisik. Polisi tak mungkin menyerahkannya pada kedutaan untuk dideportasi. Seperti juga teman-temansenasib, Sulastri menggelandang.It is said that intermediaries, often Indonesians, are able to arrange deportation papers unofficiallywith the Saudi authorities for a fee of 1,000 riyal (about USD270) per person. For an illegal migrantworker, having the deportation papers means the Indonesian embassy is obliged to pay his or herticket home. The migrant worker who wants and has paid to be deported is cheated if the policedo not arrive at the agreed time and place of arrest for the deportation.


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In your country justice is a slogan.44

Moses keeps on reprimanding and complaining about Indonesians. Sulastri runs, cryingfor help, with Pharaoh chasing. Finally, she manages to embrace Moses who then lendsher his staff, which she thrusts at Pharaoh. He disintegrates and is carried away by a giantsnake into the Red Sea. In the end, Sulastri finds herself at the beach, with no staff in herhands, asking herself if it was all a dream.

This story with its Arab setting has a social theme. It is not directly inspired by a realincident, but news stories regularly appear about the fate and mistreatment of Indone-sian migrant workers (TKI, tenaga kerja Indonesia), usually in Saudi Arabia, where hun-dreds of thousands of Indonesians work.45 The dialogue between Sulastri and Moses isreminiscent of the encounter in heaven between God and a devoted believer in A.A.Naviss classic short story, Robohnya surau kami (The decay of our prayer house), pub-lished in a popular anthology (Navis 1956) named after it. This is a case of intertextual-ity, or borrowing of that particular well-known part. The title suggests a feminist angleand Sulastri has problems with all the men in the story: the policeman (society), herhusband (family), Pharaoh (ruler) and Moses (religion). Moses is, however, consciousof gender and tells Sulastri that both men and women have an obligation to improvetheir lives. The feminist angle forms an ideological base for this story, together withsocial concern for the most vulnerable of the TKI, forming a human rights discourse.46

The style can be defined as magic realism because it is social and involves the fantasythrough the dream.

Salawat dedaunan and Sulastri dan empat lelaki

Neither Salawat dedaunan nor Sulastri dan empat lelaki engages with any particularrecent event but the latter joins the dialogue on the situation of migrant workers, andthe former joins the on-going dialogue about religious pluralism. Both stories are inter-textual and the sources have been identified. Salawat dedaunan affirms that there aredifferent paths to redemption, including doing good for ones community. That was basi-cally the message of Robohnya surau kami, which emphasised work before ritual obli-gations and criticised Indonesians for not doing enough, an argument that resurfaces inSulastri dan empat lelaki. Salawat dedaunan is a moral tale with no clear link to social

44Kau masuk ke negeri ini secara haram. Bagaimana aku bisa menolongmu? [. . .] Saya ditelantarkan suami, YaMusa. [. . .] 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 mem-peroleh keadilan, Ya Musa. Di negerimu keadilan telah jadi slogan.45Abuse of TKI has been a topical theme and appeared several times in the 20022003 sample. TheIndonesian Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration estimates the number of undocumented Indo-nesians in Saudi Arabia at about 200,000 (Cochrane 2013).46Forty-five Indonesian women were on death row in Saudi Arabia earlier this year (Chamberlain2013). The story of Sulastri connects through Saudi Arabia to the other stories that have been dis-cussed because so many Indonesians work in the nation that exports Wahhabism to Indonesia andthe world.


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reality, as positively referred to by the Kompas awards juror, unless the link is the ideo-logical one of a compassionate, undogmatic Islam, which is what reverberates against theactual background context of imposed formalised religion. Sulastri dan empat lelaki iscontextual, which Salawat dedaunan is not at first impression. Shoims story does notinvolve freedom of faith.

Summary and conclusion

Kompas has been the leading institution in the genre for about two decades, and the samecan almost be said of Seno. Questions concerning legitimacy have appeared within thisarticle. Kompas does invite competent external judges for the annual awards, but theweekly choice rests with its editors who receive several stories daily and have topublish a worthy one weekly. The established names are known by the editors, andreaders have favorites, so there is a possibility that there is more weight attached to aname than the story itself which could be the case with Djenars story in the sample.The authority of Kompas and Seno was affirmed by Cinta di atas perahu cadik, selectedas best story for the Kompas awards as well as the Pena Kencana awards, which includedvotes from readers.

Three cases of inspiration or adaptations from other texts were identified here: (1)Senos award-winning Dodolitdodolitdodolibret draws inspiration from other similarstories, probably Tolstoys Three hermits. Yanusas Salawat dedaunan is an elaborateadaptation of a Madurese folk tale; Shoims Sulastri dan empat lelaki contains apassage of social critique that resembles Robohnya surau kami, in condemning thosewho put formal religious adherence before works and deeds, a theme that echoes inDodolitdodolitdodolibret and Salawat dedaunan. Re-accentuation is at work,although Three hermits and the folk tale that informed Salawat dedaunan and Robohnyasurau kami carried comparable meanings in other contexts and times. But they are allunderstood correctly, with their current modifications, and in the same way against thecurrent background animating dialogue.

There were no dakwah stories in the sample, but two stories involved Islam andIslamic practices. And as every author or every story, is an ideologue, these tales con-stitute a different dakwah of heterodox and inclusive Islam: sastra Islam or Islami, accord-ing to the aforementioned definition. The pluralistic, tolerant worldview thatpermeates the award-winning story by Seno also filters through the first threestories analysed, and the fourth story by Shoim brought up a human rights discourse.This worldview projects a counter-world that represents an unreconciled opposition tothe depredations of daily life and to the identities given by the national war of themoment. Even the stories that are historical (Triyanto) or folktale-like (Seno,Yanusa) are windows into this Indonesian reality, and in the stories by Yanusa andTriyanto this worldview may be referred to as Muslim universal humanism, becauseof the religious discursive approach taken in both (Everything can happen if Allahpermits it). Burung api Siti showed that good Muslims have God on their side andthat extremists are misguided. Salawat dedaunan revealed that mercy is in thehands of the All Merciful and it defended traditional unorthodox Islam and deed.Gdes story, in a Hindu setting, was similar to Burung api Siti in several respects,not least in plot, where a misguided mob attacks a revered spiritual leader who


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wins through his faith or practice. It, too, took a stand for spirituality and diversity offaith, against people who claim to pray the right way but act wrongly and treat spiri-tuality as a commodity. And, indeed, according to Dodolitdodolitdodolibret, the bookHow to pray the right way is sold everywhere.

The stories from Kompas certainly project or take a stand for pluralism and diversityof faith, and in internally persuasive ways, particularly in the stories by Seno and Yanusa,but also in Gdes. In Triyantos story, the historical discourse surrounding the events of1965 is an explicit theme, but the shouts of Allahu Akbar from machete-wielding men inwhite robes echo into the present, not least because intolerance paired with organizationcan lead to mass murder. Pluralism and a tolerant, undogmatic Islam is the worldviewthat these authors (or editors and jurors) offer, and they are among Indonesias finest inthe genre. This worldview manifests itself also in tales without an apparent realist settingand reverberates with social dialogue in the context of structurally imposed religion andintolerance, which is not exclusively an Islamic domain. Gdes story is set in Bali, wherethe events of 1965 were as traumatic as in Triyantos Java, and where there is resentmenttowards non-Balinese through a strong Bali movement, Ajeg Bali, which is BalineseHinduism.

The stories from Kompas by Triyanto and Gde exceed in complexity the social realisttype, with elements of the marvellous, history and culture. It is also true of Salawatdedaunan, a moral tale with a mystery that is near the marvellous. Sulastri danempat lelaki, the story about a female TKI, has the esthetics of a cerpen koran embeddedin a dream, and the social situation of TKI is the dialogue in which it engages. OnlyTriyantos story can be called both actual and factual because it connects with the his-torical dialogue about 1965 that occurs every October.

All four stories of the sample have fantastic elements: one has a divine intervention,another culminateswith amoksa followed by an inverted one, the third is amystery tale andin the fourth the Prophet Moses and Pharaoh appear in a dream. The marvellous adds tothe portrayals of Indonesian realities, a layer that western derived realisms only capture ata distance. Bhabha (1990: 7) wrote that magic realism is the literary language of theemergent post-colonial world and it seems to fit when reading the canon of Indonesiannewspaper short stories. Magic realism has authority. In its divine manifestations it is dif-ficult to argue with as it is the argument. The marvellous is connected with the carnival inthe sense that it subverts the rigid worldview and therefore supports a counter-world toauthoritarianism. The image of people running onwater in Dodolitdodolitdodolibret is acarnival image, too. Like Salawat dedaunan, the text is a hybrid re-accentuated one thatbelongs to several different linguistic consciousnesses widely separated in time and socialspace, as far back as to the ancient world.

The stories by Seno and Yanusa are closely related to folklore. Similarly, theMoses part of Shoims story is a Muslim variant of a Saint Peters joke. The marvel-lous imagery and folklore motifs affirm that the Indonesian short story is the smallhero in the line of anti-authoritarian and anti-canonical popular strategies, identifiedby Bakhtin in the novel as mediated through medieval folklore by Rabelais. In theircontemporary context the stories suggest that the wisdom of indigenous spiritual tra-ditions provide an answer to the present anxieties. Spirituality is important in severalof the texts, if not the solution, especially in Burung api Siti, Salawat dedaunan andBatas tidur.


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Pluralism and a contextual universal humanism, also in the form of a compassionateIslam, constitute the life-giving center in the analysed works. All stories project hope.Sulastris fate in Shoims story remains unsettled though, and this TKI story about thetragedy of the poor exemplifies the universal humanist cerpen koran that draws attentionto a social problem.

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank the three anonymous IMW reviewers for their comments on anearly version of the typescript, especially the one who commented at length. I alsothank the IMW editors, and for English language corrections and suggestions, RobertFinlayson.

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Author biography

Stefan Danereks current interests are the history of Swedish seafarers in the Indies, andlanguage/narrative documentation in Eastern Indonesia. He has also translated Indonesianworks of fiction. Stefan was awarded a PhD in 2007 from Lund University, Sweden.Email: [email protected]


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Documents

Cerpen Koran - Stefan Danerek