Good Goethe! A poet’s
lament
Poets dwell in sacred
space.
Go slash the jungles, pierce the gloom. Java’s
mysteries touch the sky Sealing secrets like the tomb.
Are Indonesians bibliophobic - and if so, why?
For Berthold Damshäuser who teaches Indonesian language and
literature at the University of Bonn, the answer to the first question is: ‘Yes.
Indonesians are not great booklovers.’
He believes the prime reason is that the nation’s cultural traditions
are oral.
However a new chapter may be opening. Optimists say pages
are turning and cite a bookmark: Indonesia’s position as Guest of Honor at last
year’s Frankfurt International Book Fair, and a further appearance this year.
Damshäuser is also a prominent translator and with a group
of others compiled 33 Tokoh Sastra Indonesia
yang paling Berpengaruh (Thirty-three most influential figures in
Indonesian literature).
That sounds scholarly, reasonable and civilized. But budding
penmen and women – beware. The world of belles-lettres
is not beautiful; it’s more like nature – red in tooth and claw.
The academic was
attacked on Facebook where critics angry about inclusions and omissions claimed
the book should be burned and the author sent to Auschwitz, demonstrating a
history fail as the notorious concentration camp was closed in 1945.
Damshäuser used the anecdote at Malang State University’s
Café Pustaka Discussion Group to show young authors edging into the arts that literary
criticism and ranking writers is not a passion-free pastime – particularly for
outsiders.
That’s technically his status – but professionally and spiritually
he’s almost a bumiputera (native) with
four decades of archipelagic experience to reinforce the claim.
Jokingly known in
Indonesia as Pak Trum for reasons that would take several stanzas to explain, Damshäuser
is chief editor of Orientierungen, a
journal on Asian cultures and editor of Indonesian poetry magazine Jurnal Sajak.
He translates Indonesian poetry into German and vice versa,
often working with Bandung poet and author Agus R. Sarjono a former guest
writer at the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation’s retreat in Langenbroich. Together
they’ve put works by 19th century poet and philosopher Johann
Wolfgang (von) Goethe and others into the hands of Indonesians.
Despite efforts to boost interest in Europe, Indonesian
Studies and the language are wilting as elsewhere, including the nation’s
southern neighbor, Australia. Damshäuser
has only 60 undergraduates and five masters’ students.
“Pragmatically students are thinking that all the important
texts are in English so that’s the language they have to master or get their
friends to translate,” he said.
“I know it’s claimed that basic Indonesian is easy because
of a lack of tenses and genders, but it’s full of ambiguities. It’s a very difficult language if you want to
understand it properly.
“Take for example the term Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan (PDI-P – the major political
party in the Parliament.) Is it Indonesia or the party that’s
democratic? Where do I attach the
adjective? And who’s struggling? I’ve also had problems getting the meaning
right with clauses in Pancasila (the State philosophy).”
Now 59 Pak Trum first learned about the mysterious East
Indies as a teen laboring on the docks during university breaks. Also on the wharves were friendly Indonesians
who invited him to visit.
He did. “I thought it
a kind of paradise.” He fell in love not just with the country but also Jakartan
Dian Apsari. They married and settled in Bonn where Pak Trum consolidated his
reputation as a fluent Indonesian speaker and expert on its literature.
Although his skills were as a translator he was chosen to interpret
for the late President Soeharto during two visits to Germany, and two visits to
Indonesia by former Chancellor Helmut Kohl.
These garnered a wealth of anecdotes and friendships, with Damshäuser
invited to the homes of Soeharto and former vice president B J Habibie who had
been educated in Germany.
“Soeharto was always soft and polite towards me and his
staff,” he said. “I didn’t see him as a
monster. He felt that what he was doing
as president was right. He was not a strict Muslim but an abangan (a Javanese relaxed about religion) and he was proud of
that.”
Damshäuser is a regular visitor to Indonesia, sometimes
backed by the Goethe Institut, the
German cultural organisation and language school with branches in Jakarta and
Bandung.
From a culture of discipline, planning and punctuality to
laid back Indonesia hasn’t been an easy journey. When he started he asked: “How can I deal with this country?” The loving and hating lasted quite a long time…but
it’s no longer polarising.
“In Germany we celebrate the individual and the rights of
minorities,” he said. “I now see my
culture differently, and know that along the way we’ve lost a kind of
equilibrium that’s still present in Java.”
His experiences have been published this year as a
collection of essays - Ini dan itu Indonesia
– pandangan seorang Jerman (This and that in Indonesia – a German’s views.)
He said that during the Frankfurt Book Fair
the media called Indonesia ‘the country without readers’. Wikipedia
lists a total of 29 Indonesian poets past and present. Germany (population 80
million, one third of Indonesia’s) has 50 whose surnames start with A and
B.
Despite comments about the paucity of bibliophiles there
seems to be no shortage of poets in Malang. After his speech Damshäuser was busy
handling questions about topics, styles and getting into print.
“I’ve already been given four or five published
anthologies,” he said. “Among them are some very talented young writers often
using pantun the traditional
Malay oral expression.
(Pantun is a four-line verse
consisting of alternating and roughly rhyming lines, each of eight to 12
syllables. An example by Anon heads this story.)
“People want to hear the words. The poets write for their works to be
performed and getting books printed here is far cheaper than Europe. It seems
to me that there have never been so many books and so few readers.”
(First published in The Jakarta Post 5 December 2016
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