Indonesia and the Malay World

ISSN: 1363-9811 (Print) 1469-8382 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cimw20

CERPEN KORAN

Stefan Danerek

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

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13639811.2013.826425

Published online: 23 Sep 2013.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 175

View related articles

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=cimw20

Download by: [Stefan Danerek] Date: 30 October 2015, At: 19:36

 St ef an Danerek

CERPEN KORAN
Its canon and counter-world

This article explores, from humanistic and sociological perspectives, how recent short
stories (cerpen) in two leading Indonesian newspapers address continuing socio-political
trends. 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 the
standard for the genre, ends with an analysis of a recent award-winning short story
Downloaded by [Stefan Danerek] at 19:36 30 October 2015

by Seno Gumira Ajidarma. That story is then linked by thematic association to short
stories 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, political
Islam and increasing religious intolerance. No other trend was thematised in the sample.
The authors used spiritual motifs, folklore and marvellous imagery that subvert a rigid
worldview in defence of tolerance, pluralism and freedom of faith. This deployment
expressed a universal humanism and was in three cases set within Islamic parameters
and worldviews.

Keywords: Indonesian literature; cerpen koran; short stories; Seno Gumira

Ajidarma; Islam; universal humanism

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

1
In literature canon is commonly understood both as a selection of works to be used and read, and as
the 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 are
published 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 story
must, like the novel, constantly renew itself. See also canon and bracketed terms in the glossary to
Bakhtin (1981: 423– 434).

Indonesia and the Malay World, 2013

Vol. 41, No. 121, pp. 418–438, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13639811.2013.826425
# 2013 Editors, Indonesia and the Malay World
 C ER P EN K O R A N 419

male authors. 2 After the overview, prominent and recent literary awards are examined
and the award-winning short story ‘Dodolitdodolitdodolibret’ by Seno Gumira Aji-
darma is analysed. Seno’s story sets the scene for a discussion of recent short stories
chosen from a survey of the national daily newspaper, Kompas, generally considered
the leading newspaper in terms of both readership and influence, and the large regional
daily, Jawa Pos, from 18 September to 18 December 2011. 3 The main questions explored
are: Do short stories address continuing socio-political trends?4 If so, which trends, how,
and in which forms?
Mikhail Bakhtin’s idea of language (1981) as ideologically saturated, plural and
socially constructed, formed in relation and ‘heteroglossic’, coupled with ideas from
Edward Said’s (2004) humanistic reading science, inform analysis of the texts. 5 It is
the intentional dimension of literature, its worldview, that ‘requires the concrete
social context of discourse [...] to be revealed as the force that determines its entire
stylistic structure [...] from within’ (Bakhtin 1981: 300), which will be examined.
Downloaded by [Stefan Danerek] at 19:36 30 October 2015

The selected stories were chosen for their engagement with socio-political trends and
not for comments on literary merit although some observations will be made on
aspects of the crafting, primarily on the form the engagement takes.

T he significan ce of new spapers to the Indonesian short

story

Newspapers have been veryimportant to Indonesian literature from its genesis in the Malay
press of the late colonial period (c. 1900) until the present. Acanon, mostly novels, 6 came
2
Sastra koran refers first to literature published in newspapers, and second to the formal qualities
associated with literature published in newspapers, foremost the short story. The term cerpen
koran is largely interchangeable with the terms cerpen aktual and cerpen faktual, terms that should
be understood literally – actual issues and facts. These terms are explained later and examples
provided.
3
Nugroho 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.
4
I assumed that there would appear works that engage with socio-political issues and I had previously
identified an anti-authoritarian thread in the genre. The discussion of the genre and its authors stem
from a previous study (Danerek 2006) that included a six-month brief survey (2002–2003) of short
stories from seven national and large regional newspapers.
5
Heteroglossia is ‘the condition governing the operation of meaning in any utterance, ensuring
primacy of context over text’ (Bakhtin 1981: 263, 428). Literary studies are, accordingly, compara-
tive and sociological. Tony Day’s words in the review (2007: 173) of Maier (2004) is instructive when
confronting a variety of different texts, as in a sample or survey with many different points of views
on 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 worlds
where flux and hybridity [...] reign supreme’.
6
Maman S. Mahayana (2006) researched newspapers and short stories and concluded that writers of
literary history have, in all periods, mistakenly focused on books (Maman 2010). E.U. Kratz’s (1988)
bibliography of literature from only journals for the years 1922– 1982 noted 27,000 titles of poetry,
drama and prose, constituting an argument for a shift of attention from books and novels to other
forms of publication and genres.
 420 I N D O N ES I A A N D T H E M A L A Y W O R L D

intobeinginthe1920sthroughtheeffortsofthestatepublishinghouse, BalaiPustaka, which

was established partly as a response to the heterogeneous Malay press.
It wouldnot beuntil therevolutionarywar of1945–1949that theshort storyhaditsreal
breakthrough. ‘Generation 45’ authors, Abdullah Idrus and Pramoedya Ananta Toer, who
were both influenced byWestern and Russian realists, wrote short storiesabout occupation,
revolution and suffering, some of which were first published in magazines. But they mostly
became known throughthe anthologiesthat were published byBalaiPustakaaround 1950. In
those days, revolution, universalism, humanismand the ‘bondwiththe 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 and
towards experimentation, at least in the leading Indonesian literary journal Horison.
Short story writing was booming in magazines in the mid 1950s, but books and novels
remained 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 more
Downloaded by [Stefan Danerek] at 19:36 30 October 2015

abundant and more important as a medium for the short story. Because newspapers need
cultural material, compete with each other, and leading newspapers set the example, most
newspapers publish short stories in their Sunday editions. The inauguration in 1992 of the
annual Kompasawards for best short story and publication of the best-of-the-year anthology
constituted both affirmation of prestige and support for the art form.8 Kompas became,
through its decades-long dedication, the genre’s barometer and canon in itself, and the
annual anthology reversed the ephemeral nature of newspaper short stories.
Newspapers, not least Kompas, influence the form of the short story owing to their
large circulation and availability. Cerpen koran (newspaper short story) refers both to
newspaper short stories and to the formal qualities associated with them: actuality,
social themes, realism and a limit on length. 9 Seno Gumira Ajidarma, whose stories
will be addressed here, is an influential author and associated with the development
towards documentation and current affairs, although he often writes surreal stories
with elements of the fairy tale. He has contributed short stories to various publications
for three decades, notably Kompas, and together the author and the newspaper represent
a significant part of the canon of the contemporary Indonesian short story. 10

7
Many Generation 45 authors gathered in and around a group that developed the manifesto, Surat
Kepertjajaan Gelanggang (1950). This letter is translated in Teeuw (1986: 127). This revolutionary
generation envisioned an Indonesian culture without an east – west dichotomy but artists were gen-
erally more inspired by western thought than their own eastern roots. Keith Foulcher (2012: 31–56)
has written extensively on cultural politics and universal humanism.
8
Kompas has paid more for short stories than other newspapers and the amounts of its awards have been
significant. Honoraria are not fixed. Kompaspays a minimum IDR1 million (about USD100). Jawa Poshas
graduallyincreaseditshonorariatoIDR1million(source: privateemail, ShoimAnwar, 18February2013).
9
Edgar Allen Poe’s 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.
10
An anti-authoritarian thread runs through Seno’s works. See Bodden (1999: 153–156) about Seno’s
resistance in fiction against authoritarianism As Seno states: ‘I concentrate completely on ensuring
that 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 Seno’s oeuvre, see Fuller (2004, 2010).
 C ER P EN K O R A N 421

Literature and new spaper short stories in the reform period

Online literature is plentiful but no website has been able to challenge the hegemony of
newspapers, neither do literary journals, which remain few in number and rarely appear
regularly. 11 Newspapers are online, too, and there are blogs that archive newspaper
short stories. Moreover, the number of newspapers has significantly increased since
the fall of the New Order. Sastra Islam is rarely published in newspapers, at least not
in 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 definitions
involving faith. One reasonable, if rather wide definition of Islamic literature is that it
is in accordance with Islamic values and written by a Muslim.
Female metropolitan liberal writing, mislabeled sastra wangi (fragrant literature), flour-
ishedafter AyuUtami’snovel, Saman, appearedin1998. 13 Islamicliterature – sastraIslami or
sastra Islam– whichhasmanyfemale metropolitanwriters, hasalsogrowntobe mainstream
Downloaded by [Stefan Danerek] at 19:36 30 October 2015

after the 1990s. The two contrastinggroupshave received much critical attention, but none
of them dominates the newspapers. 14 Djenar Maesa Ayu of the liberal camp, however, has
been widely published by the large dailies, notably Kompas. 15 She has written, among other
things, about young metropolitan female subjects and against what Djenar and her peers
regard as outdated morals. Djenar and other liberal female writers were well received by
the literary establishment and garnered significant media attention. 16 Therefore, it makes
sense to talk about liberal female authors as dominating the canon of contemporary Indo-
nesian literature (Arimbi 2009: 14), especially the novel. Male writers, however, dominate
the important short story genre, both numerically and by critical acclaim.17

Rec ent literary aw ards and prom inent stories

In 2008, AnugerahPena Kencana (PenaKencanaawards) for both poetryand short storieswas

launched. Were it not discontinued after 2009, it couldhave beenanon-partisan colleague to
11
Jurnal Cerpen Indonesia (2002) first appeared in 2002 and was intended to be a quarterly but only one
issue per year has been published for the last few years.
12
Helvy Tiana Rosa is a pioneering figure for the writers who gather in the writers’ group, Forum
Lingkar Pena. See Danerek (2006: 40–41, 49– 56). Monika Arnez (2009: 62) states: ‘Helvy has suc-
ceeded in establishing a significant literary dakwah movement that calls out to both young men and
women to work for the country’s moral and social reform.’ A common tenet in sastra Islam is that
Islamic art is art for humankind because of Allah. Maier (2004: 388– 395) quotes several Muslim
authors on sastra Islam, noting that the ‘should-ness’ involved in definitions is untenable because
the nature of Malay is dialogic and heterogeneous.
13
I 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 new
female talent.
14
Danerek (2006) and Arnez and Dewojati (2010) discuss and compare the two mainstreams.
15
Djenar was represented with two stories in the 2003 ‘best of Kompas’ anthology, one of which was
awarded best cerpen of the year 2002: canonised.
16
See the chapter on canonisation of sastrawangi in Danerek (2006: 167– 183).
17
See Danerek (2006: 25, 27). The current readings also support the claim.
 422 I N D O N ES I A A N D T H E M A L A Y W O R L D

the Kompasawards, which since 2005 hasinvited external jurymembers. The Pena Kencana
awards’selection process for short storieswasevidence of the hegemonyof newspapers and
affirms the authenticity of Kompas. Nominations for short stories were selected from 12
national and large regional daily newspapers – no journals of any kind – throughout Indo-
nesia. Twentywinnerswerechosenbyprominent critics, amongthemshort storywriter and
professor, Budi Darma. The leadingpublisher, Gramedia, published the 20 best storiesas 20
Cerpen Indonesia terbaikand the anthology’s readers were invited to vote for the best storyby
text messagingfrommobile phones. Thewinner was‘Cintadiatasperahucadik’ [Love onan
outrigger canoe], 18 alovestorybySeno(Ajidarma2007) set inapoor coastalvillage, andwas
first 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 outrigger
canoe, but were unable to return to their village for aweek astheytried to catch alarge fish.
The moral is that both will have to seek a divorce and that ‘it is nobody’s business that they
have made love on the outrigger canoe’.
Downloaded by [Stefan Danerek] at 19:36 30 October 2015

Seno’s ‘Cinta di atas perahu cadik’ was also chosen as best short story in the 2008
Kompasawardsandit wasnot till 2011 that ‘Dodolitdodolitdodolibret’ wonthe same acco-
lade (Ajidarma 2010). 19 The examples cited above are evidence of the continuing stand-
ing, akind ofhegemony, in the short storygenre ofnewspaper short storiesgenerally, and
Kompas 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 judging
panel said that the jury chose the two winning stories20 because they were considered
to have a logical link between the written text and reality (Kompas 2012). 21 Did the
others 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 brief
survey (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 the
idea is ‘just a fairy tale’. Yet Kiplik believes it is possible if he only studies how to pray
the right way hard enough. Kiplik thinks: ‘How can prayers be accepted if the words are
wrong? If the words are wrong, then the meaning will be different, even contradictory.
And hey, isn’t the book, Prayingtheright way, sold everywhere?’22 Kiplik becomes known
as the convinced Guru Kiplik after he begins propagating his beliefs to everyone. On a
missionary journey, he visits a remote island that has a few harmonious inhabitants who
pray a lot – but in the wrong way – while going about their daily activities. Kiplik
curses their ways and begins to teach them how to pray the right way, so that they
will be able to walk on water. After he has succeeded in teaching them how to pray

18
The stories discussed here can be accessed online. All translations are mine. Indented quotes are
with the permission of the authors.
19
‘Dodolitdodolitdodolibret’ ends with a disclaimer stating that the story is the writer’s version of
similar stories with backgrounds from the world’s different religions. A.N. Basral (2010) was first
to identify the Russian folk tale, Three hermits by Tolstoy (1886), as the likely source of inspiration.
20
There is usually only one winner.
21
Putu’s words were not reported as direct speech in the news report.
22
‘Bagaimana 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 Benar
memang dijual di mana-mana?’
 C ER P EN K O R A N 423
Downloaded by [Stefan Danerek] at 19:36 30 October 2015

FI GU R E 1 Short stories publi shed in Kompas and Jawa Pos between 18 September and 18
December 2011.
 424 I N D O N ES I A A N D T H E M A L A Y W O R L D
Downloaded by [Stefan Danerek] at 19:36 30 October 2015

FI GU R E 1 Conti nued
 C ER P EN K O R A N 425

he leaves the island. Soon after departure, and after prayer time, Guru Kiplik sees the
islanders 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 a
stand for freedom of faith, although its style resembles a fairy tale. There are no specific
coordinates in space or time to determine its setting, except the reference, ‘Isn’t the
book Praying the right way sold everywhere?’ Similar book titles are plentiful in most
Indonesian bookstores and from other vendors. 23 The image of naturally religious
islanders 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-
iticallyinclined Islamand accompanyingreligiousintolerance?24 InIndonesia, duringthelast
10 years there has been increasing pressure to conform to the dictates of various religious
organizations. There has also been mounting intolerance and violence against those who
‘praythe wrongway’. Indonesia’snational motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unityin Diversity),
Downloaded by [Stefan Danerek] at 19:36 30 October 2015

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. For
instance, the Muslim Ahmadiyah, a peaceful sect relatively small in numbers that has
existed undisturbed in Indonesia for over 80 years, has come under fire, particularly
from 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 fatwa
in 2005 that stated the Ahmadiyah had left Islam (murtad) and urged the Government to ban
them.25 Since then violationsoffreedom ofreligion have increased. MUIalso issued a fatwa
against secularism, liberalism and pluralism the same year. A joint ministerial decree was
finally 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 by
those ‘who pray the right way’. Few people in official positions or large organizations have
defended the Ahmadiyah, and those that did, did so belatedly. The Shia community since
2012 have been facing a similar situation as the Ahmadiyah. Violations of religious
freedom have also befallen Christians, including acts of terrorism against them.26

23
A detail connected with the work’s compositional principle, the ‘life-giving centre’ of the work of
art (Spitzer 1948: 19, quoted in Said 2004: 65).
24
The Saudi state religion, best known as Salafism (that is, Wahhabism), strives for domination over
mainstream Sunni Islam. This ideology despises all cultural-historical heritage, including that of
Islam. The evidence is that the Saudi state with the blessings of its Wahhabist clerics is even bulldozing
the Islamic heritage sites of Mecca and Medina (see, for instance, Thompson 2012), continuing a long
tradition of vandalism that includes the destruction of the graves of the Prophet’s family and friends.
Indonesians first encountered Wahhabism when Sumatran pilgrims visited Mecca in 1803 during the
first violent Wahhabi occupation of the city. Once home they inspired the long Padri war against
upholders of tradition.
25
MUI is an umbrella organisation for Muslim organisations, including small radical groups and its
member FPI, has often used threats and violence to back up MUI fatwas. See the International
Crisis 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 persecute
minorities. In most cases, the convicted are Muslims who have insulted Islam (Crouch 2012:1).
26
For reports on religiously motivated violence, see for instance the Setara Institute (2013) and the
International Crisis Group (2008).
 426 I N D O N ES I A A N D T H E M A L A Y W O R L D

This scenario compounds the widely criticised anti-pornography and ‘porno-action’

(pornoaksi) bill which, after a long period of deliberation and resistance, finally became
law in October 2008. This law can, in theory, make much of both traditional culture and
the arts illegal. It curtails personal freedoms and can be seen as an attempt to impose
sharia law on women’s 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 certainly
been on the rise in the new democracy. The tale ‘Dodolitdodolitdodolibret’
relates to this development. Even the ‘it is nobody’s business’ attitude of the
‘Cinta di atas perahu cadik’ story can be interpreted in the context of the anti-por-
nography laws. ‘Dodolitdodolitdodolibret’ projects a counter-world of ‘unreconciled
opposition to the depredations of daily life’ and to the ‘identities ...given by the flag
or the national war of the moment’ (Said 2004: 35). A reading, conscious of the
‘background animating dialogue’ (Bakhtin 1981: 420), reveals Seno’s resistance to
Downloaded by [Stefan Danerek] at 19:36 30 October 2015

a 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, which
increases and explains its appeal. There is a ‘logical link between the written text and
reality’. The story can be said to belong within Indonesian universal humanism, the one
that emphasises the bond with the people: the naturally religious islanders who are able
to walk on water.

S hort stories from K om pas and J aw a P os , 18 S eptem ber –

18 D ecem ber 2011

Several new authors appeared between 2002 and 2006, and the writers who were held
in 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 authors
who have published since the early 1970s such as Yanusa Nugroho, Sori Sinegar
and 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 regarded
M. 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 greater
critical acclaim and, in my view, maintained a slightly higher average quality than
27
Short stories from Kompas and Jawa Pos were first accessed in the online editions for subscribers on
or near the day of publication. Jawa Pos short stories also appear in Indopos (Jawa Pos group). Kompas
stories are archived at Cerpen Kompas blog (2013). Jawa Pos and Kompas stories are both archived at
the Cerpen Koran Minggu blog (2013) including the stories discussed here. Jawa Pos did not publish a
short story on 18 and 25 September 2011 and Kompas did not appear because of holidays on 6 and 27
November 2011. The ratio of established versus non-established authors in my previous study
(Danerek 2006) was similar to the 2011 period under discussion.
28
Kompas published a story by Djenar that must be seen as rather haphazard (Ayu 2011). A reader at
the Cerpen Kompas blog commented that the editors might have intentionally let it through to
subvert Djenar’s status.
 C ER P EN K O R A N 427

Jawa Pos. 29 Categorised according to the main themes the sample’s 24 stories (see
Figure 1) include eight ‘social’, six ‘moral/ religious’, six ‘other’, three ‘family’ and
one ‘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. Three
stories are clearly influenced by, and addressed, continuing socio-political trends and
another brought attention to a specific contemporary issue. The four stories are all
written by established authors and belong to the most accomplished of the sample. In
other stories, crime, corruption or social tragedy form themes where no socio-political
trend or specific issue could be identified nor was an answer provided to what was
depicted. Without dwelling on esthetic quality, it is worth noting that the authors and
stories of the canon (by selection, critical appraise and readers’ appreciation) in Indonesia
address 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 be
Downloaded by [Stefan Danerek] at 19:36 30 October 2015

discussed: Yanusa Nugroho’s (Tangerang) ‘Salawat dedaunan’ (Prayers of leaves; 2011)

in the ‘moral/ religious’ category. In relation to this story I will also discuss one by
M. Shoim Anwar, a Surabaya-based author who contributed a more complex tale in
Jawa Pos, that addressed a continuing social problem. But first, I will discuss two
stories that appeared in Kompas that addressed socio-political trends: one ‘political’ by
Triyanto Triwikromo (Semarang) and one ‘social’ by Gde Aryantha Soetama (Bali).
The stories of Triyanto Triwikromo (2011) and Gde Aryantha Soetama (2011) have
fantastic elements and can be categorised as ‘magic realism’, also known as ‘marvellous
realism’ (Sp. realismo maravilloso). Triyanto contributed ‘Burung api Siti’ (Siti’s fire
birds), a story told from an omniscient perspective. It opens with a breathtaking
vision 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 watch
the hundreds of couples of dating herons in amazement; the birds chirping in
unison, exclaiming the most poignant and deafening cries, yet simultaneously
moving like dancers in the palace. [...] However, that day in October 1965
when 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 the
disgusting reptiles [...] thrusting and crushing their heads. 32

29
‘The author [...] sends his best stories to Kompas [...] if they are refused, they are then sent to
another’ (Danerek 2006: 101, 126). Authors continue to prioritise Kompas above Jawa Pos and
other newspapers, but this may change with the increasing honoraria offered by Jawa Pos.
30
Similar to the more extensive 2002– 2003 survey.
31
The onesthat are discussedwill most likelybe republished in anthologies. Seno’s‘Dodolitdodolitdodoli-
bret’ and Yanusa’s‘Salawat dedaunan’ have been re-published in the aforementioned ‘best of’ anthologies.
32
Tak 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 bergerakmirip penari keraton. [...]
Akan tetapi, hari itu, pada Oktober 1965 saat angin laut begitu asin dan amis, burung-burung bangau itu
nyaris tidak melakukan gerak apa pun. [...] Siti menduga ada ratusan ular raksasa yang menelan mereka
[...] menyambar sayap, lalu menghajar, dan mengkremus kepala-kepala mereka.
 428 I N D O N ES I A A N D T H E M A L A Y W O R L D

Siti is prepared to rescue the birds that prevent him from seeing and hearing awful events
on the nearby cape. Slaughterers (para pembantai) are shouting the name of Allah, wield-
ing machetes and thrusting bayonets. The perpetrators, men and women from the
neighboring 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 a
‘common view’). ‘We have to kill them because these religion-hating people
killed the generals first’ (a common view referring to the six generals murdered on
30 September 1965 at Lubang Buaya, uttered by a man in a white robe, indicating a
santri, an orthodox Muslim). The men in white robes purify their acts, carried out
with joy, with religious shouts. ‘If they don’t die now, they will kill all our descendants
in the future’ (a woman, uttering a common justification for herself). ‘This is a national
duty ....’ (a soldier).
In the next part of the story, the death squad arrives in Siti’s village to kill his father,
a beloved man (lelaki kencana). In the omniscient narrator’s view: ‘Simply because he did
Downloaded by [Stefan Danerek] at 19:36 30 October 2015

not want to join the soldiers and the people who claim to be so pure, Azwar, Siti’s father,
inevitably became the most hated of the hunted creatures.’
Siti and Azwar are reciting from the Qur’an, discussing the difference between the
herons at the cape and the ababil birds that stopped the elephant army in a story from the
Qur’an. ‘Can the herons become fire birds?’ asks Siti. Azwar replies: ‘Everything can
happen if Allah permits it.’
Next, the death squad attacks with holy shouts and they wound Siti’s father. Fighting
erupts as the villagers come to Azwar’s 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: a
flock of herons take a crucial part in the plot, performing divine intervention – ‘with
Allah’s permission’ – like the ababil birds in the Qur’an. The story’s theme is the
national tragedy of 196533 and its unresolved historical debate provides the context
and the force that determines its stylistic structure. The fact that the story was published
in 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 the
communist 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 a
widespread belief – the background dialogue – is expressed as such in the story, not
least in the ‘common view’ utterances made by the assailants as they seek to justify
their acts. The potential victims and protagonists, Siti and Azwar, are neither atheists
nor communists. They are portrayed as good people, faithful Muslims who are loved
by 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 humanism
emerges, which might be called a Muslim universal humanism because of the role of
faithful Muslims, the intervention of the divine in the plot and the siding with the
33
See for instance Cribb (2001) about the events of 1965– 1966.
34
There is ample literature and a recent film which have stated this, but Indonesian history is still
waiting for its synthesis. The semi-documentary, The act of killing (Oppenheimer 2012), features
former killers who act themselves, thus admitting to acts of torture and murder.
 C ER P EN K O R A N 429

dispossessed. Family members and descendants of the victims of 1965–1966, 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 flag
or even the ‘national war of the moment’, in the light of the background dialogue of
MUI 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 the
wind, are clear and distinct. Whispers become melodious conversations. 35

A type of meditation group follows a guru who teaches them how to capture the
moment before one falls asleep, which enables the practitioner to fly and view his
Downloaded by [Stefan Danerek] at 19:36 30 October 2015

own body from above. Two advantages of mastering the technique is that one will be
able to choose the hour of one’s 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 be
moved because then it will die. That is what happens, inviting a conflict with the
nearby community, where rumours of ‘misguided teachings’ have spread because the
retreat 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 hotels
with menus of yoga, meditation and samadhi became envious [...]. 36

Asuccessful student of Guru Tung, a man with a death sentence who has been able to visit
the retreat during detention, has his last wish fulfilled before being executed, that is, to
‘visit’ hisguru. However, hisguardsmove hisphysical bodyduringhislongflight out ofhis
body and he dies. The untimely death becomes hot news and those hostile towards Guru
Tung’sretreat seize the opportunityto turn against it. Afrenzied mob appears, led byfour
men 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 to
show them who we are’. When the four leaders enter Guru Tung’s room, they discover
only a pile of ashes where the guru should have been. He has completed moksa (the final
stage of Javanese mysticism), his body has combusted, and he is now a conscious ray of
light. When the four men kick the ashes of Guru Tung it is like lightning strikes. The
guru makes himself appear through another lightning energy release and says: ‘Now
they know who we are.’ The four men are blinded by the light. The story ends:

35
Jika hendak tamasya, kami akan pergi ke batas tidur, tubuh pun melayang-layang, terayun-ayun seringan
kapas. [...] Kicau burung, suara serangga, dan desau angin, jernih dan jelas sumbernya. Bisikan-bisikan
menjadi percakapan nan merdu.
36
Pedukuhan 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 [...].
 430 I N D O N ES I A A N D T H E M A L A Y W O R L D

If we want to meet Guru Tung after the events of that evening we will lie on our
backs 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 on
the 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 universal
humanism has a presence in this suggestive story, too. This story can be classified as
magic 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 a
topical one as it has been a growing sector of tourism in Bali in recent years. Spiritual
tourism is described as commercial and less attractive than the occasional retreat, but in
the story the mob turns against the spiritual practice, which has a Balinese tradition
within leak, a shamanistic application. So ‘Batas tidur’ reverberates with dialogue on
Downloaded by [Stefan Danerek] at 19:36 30 October 2015

social reality.

‘B urung api S iti’ and ‘B atas tidur’

Both stories feature actual elements: in ‘Burung api Siti’ it is the 1965 debate; in ‘Batas
tidur’ 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 violence
against a revered and spiritual man; (2) a marvellous event that restores peace: in
‘Burung 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 burst
of energy that blinds the assailants; (3) both stories have beginnings and endings that
are suggestive and esthetic; and (4) both stories recognise true spirituality and hold
out against violent mobs who act in the name of religion, people ‘who pray the right
way’. As in Seno’s ‘Dodolitdodolitdodolibret’, the people who are wrong are right
and tolerance is conveyed for the religious practices of others. The dialogue is topical
and 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 elderly
woman who is a stranger appears at an aged, quiet and small mosque which has
three male caretakers. The large courtyard outside the mosque, overshadowed by a
huge tamarind tree, is covered with leaves. The men are discussing repair funds as
the mosque does not even have money to pay someone to clean the courtyard. The
old lady tells the men who thought her a beggar, that she has come for repentance.
37
Setelah peristiwa petang itu, jika hendak bertemu Guru Tung, kami akan telentang menatap
angkasa, [...] bersujud pada sunyi, memohon pada hening dan sepi, agar bisa bersua dengan
kosong sejati. Kami akan terus di campuhan ini, meresapi aji batas tidur, agar bisa memilih sendiri
hari mati.
38
A version of Nenek pemetik daun [The leaf-picking grandmother] can be accessed on the Si Pencari
Ilmu (2011) blog.
 C ER P EN K O R A N 431

‘The three mosque caretakers became silent for a moment. [...] “Please take ablution
and pray, grandmother,” said Haji Brahim smiling.’
But to the men’s amazement the grandmother begins to pick up the leaves from the
courtyard. 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, forgive
me. Blessings to the Prophet.’39 [...] Haji Brahim was shaken by the grandmother’s
sincerity and innocence. It seemed to him that the grandmother testified before the
thousands of leaves that she was asking for mercy. 40

The old woman works for a couple of days without rest which intrigues the community
and people visit in large numbers and bring her food. While at the mosque they pray
together. After more than two days of constant work the old woman falls down and
dies. The people are shocked and someone tries to bring her to a clinic, but for
Downloaded by [Stefan Danerek] at 19:36 30 October 2015

some reason it does not happen. She is given a quick burial behind the mosque. After
the burial, the people discover that the courtyard is perfectly clean and that a net is
tied under the branches of the tamarind tree, almost as if it were a miracle.

The corners of Haji Brahim’s 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 could
the 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 receive
Allah’s mercy?’ – ‘Allah’s forgiveness? Yes, I’m sure it is possible. God’s will is infinite.
Everything can happen if God permits it.’
‘Salawat dedaunan’ carries a moral message that God’s mercy is available for those
who sincerely ask for it. The only magic element is that of the mysterious old woman
appearing from nowhere, single-handedly cleaning the courtyard and bringing the com-
munity together, thus, adding a layer to an otherwise conventional tale. The story
resembles 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 in
helping each other. Haji Brahim was moved by the old woman’s probity and he
admits that she may receive God’s forgiveness for her untold sins. The grandmother
also 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

39
‘Gusti, mugi paringa aksama. Paringa kanugrahan dateng Kanjeng Nabi’ (Javanese).
40
Pada 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 si
nenek. Di matanya, si nenek seperti ingin bersaksi di hadapan ribuan dedaunan bahwa dirinya sedang
mencari jalan pengampunan.
41
Sudut mata Haji Brahim membasah. ‘Semoga kau temukan jalanmu, nek,’ gumamnya. Dan ketika semua
orang, yang puluhan jumlahnya itu, secara bersamaan menemukan apa yang dipandang Haji Brahim,
mereka ternganga. Bagaimana mungkin halaman masjid bisa sebersih seperti itu.
 432 I N D O N ES I A A N D T H E M A L A Y W O R L D

(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 dialogising
background of the MUI, FPI and other hardline organizations. A universal humanism
appears – or a compassionate belief within Islamic parameters – that affirms and
honors the religious approach of the poor old woman, who inspires sympathy in Haji
Brahim and persuades the reader. The quotation ‘Lord, forgive me. Blessings to the
Prophet’, 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 on
water – God willing. 42
ShoimAnwar’s‘Sulastridanempat lelaki’ (Sulastriandfour men; 2011) tellsthestoryof
an Indonesian female worker in the Middle East. Sulastri, the narrator, is working illegally,
havingoverstayed, in an unnamed Arab countryby the Red Sea. In the openingscene, she is
Downloaded by [Stefan Danerek] at 19:36 30 October 2015

tryingto hide from apoliceman at a pier. He yells questions in Arabic at her from adistance.

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

Sulastri remembers her family and husband back home. Her husband’s priorities, sacred
attire and meditation, are what has caused her to work abroad. The image of her
husband is then substituted for that of a nasty Pharaoh who frightens her and calls
her his slave. Sulastri tries to escape from him. Then Prophet Moses appears. Sulastri
asks 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 don’t have any work, Moses.
Aren’t you the lazy ones?
We do not get any justice, Moses.

42
‘Salawat dedaunan’ is more elaborate than the Madurese folk tale that I read, but it is basically the
same story. The community, and the grandmother’s effect on it in Yanusa’s narrative is not in the folk
tale.
43
Sulastri tahu, polisi tak akan menangkapnya tanpa imbalan. Dia hanya menghindar sesaat dari tindakan
fisik. Polisi tak mungkin menyerahkannya pada kedutaan untuk dideportasi. Seperti juga teman-teman
senasib, Sulastri menggelandang.
It is said that intermediaries, often Indonesians, are able to arrange deportation papers unofficially
with the Saudi authorities for a fee of 1,000 riyal (about USD270) per person. For an illegal migrant
worker, having the deportation papers means the Indonesian embassy is obliged to pay his or her
ticket home. The migrant worker who wants and has paid to be deported is cheated if the police
do not arrive at the agreed time and place of arrest for the deportation.
 C ER P EN K O R A N 433

In your country justice is a slogan. 44

Moses keeps on reprimanding and complaining about Indonesians. Sulastri runs, crying
for help, with Pharaoh chasing. Finally, she manages to embrace Moses who then lends
her his staff, which she thrusts at Pharaoh. He disintegrates and is carried away by a giant
snake into the Red Sea. In the end, Sulastri finds herself at the beach, with no staff in her
hands, 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 real
incident, 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 is
reminiscent of the encounter in heaven between God and a devoted believer in A.A.
Navis’s 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-
Downloaded by [Stefan Danerek] at 19:36 30 October 2015

ity, or borrowing of that particular well-known part. The title suggests a feminist angle
and Sulastri has problems with all the men in the story: the policeman (society), her
husband (family), Pharaoh (ruler) and Moses (religion). Moses is, however, conscious
of gender and tells Sulastri that both men and women have an obligation to improve
their lives. The feminist angle forms an ideological base for this story, together with
social 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 fantasy
through the dream.

‘S alaw at dedaunan’ and ‘S ulastri dan em pat lelak i’

Neither ‘Salawat dedaunan’ nor ‘Sulastri dan empat lelaki’ engages with any particular
recent event but the latter joins the dialogue on the situation of migrant workers, and
the 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 are
different paths to redemption, including doing good for one’s 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 in
‘Sulastri dan empat lelaki’. ‘Salawat dedaunan’ is a moral tale with no clear link to social
44
‘Kau masukkenegeri ini secara haram. Bagaimana aku bisa menolongmu?’ [...] ‘Saya ditelantarkan suami, Ya
Musa.’ [...] ‘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 tidakpunya pekerjaan, Ya Musa.’ ‘Apa bukankalianyangmalashingga suka jalanpintas?’‘Kami takmem-
peroleh keadilan, Ya Musa.’ ‘Di negerimu keadilan telah jadi slogan.’
45
Abuse of TKI has been a topical theme and appeared several times in the 2002– 2003 sample. The
Indonesian Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration estimates the number of undocumented Indo-
nesians in Saudi Arabia at about 200,000 (Cochrane 2013).
46
Forty-five Indonesian women were on death row in Saudi Arabia earlier this year (Chamberlain
2013). 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 and
the world.
 434 I N D O N ES I A A N D T H E M A L A Y W O R L D

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 the
actual background context of imposed formalised religion. ‘Sulastri dan empat lelaki’ is
contextual, which ‘Salawat dedaunan’ is not at first impression. Shoim’s story does not
involve freedom of faith.

S um m ary and conclusion

Kompashas been the leading institution in the genre for about two decades, and the same
can almost be said of Seno. Questions concerning legitimacy have appeared within this
article. Kompas does invite competent external judges for the annual awards, but the
weekly choice rests with its editors who receive several stories daily and have to
publish a worthy one weekly. The established names are known by the editors, and
Downloaded by [Stefan Danerek] at 19:36 30 October 2015

readers have favorites, so there is a possibility that there is more weight attached to a
name than the story itself which could be the case with Djenar’s story in the sample.
The authority of Kompas and Seno was affirmed by ‘Cinta di atas perahu cadik’, selected
as ‘best story’ for the Kompasawards as well as the Pena Kencana awards, which included
votes from readers.
Three cases of inspiration or adaptations from other texts were identified here: (1)
Seno’s award-winning ‘Dodolitdodolitdodolibret’ draws inspiration from other similar
stories, probably Tolstoy’s Three hermits. Yanusa’s ‘Salawat dedaunan’ is an elaborate
adaptation of a Madurese folk tale; Shoim’s ‘Sulastri dan empat lelaki’ contains a
passage of social critique that resembles ‘Robohnya surau kami’, in condemning those
who put formal religious adherence before works and deeds, a theme that echoes in
‘Dodolitdodolitdodolibret’ and ‘Salawat dedaunan’. ‘Re-accentuation’ is at work,
although Threehermitsand the folk tale that informed ‘Salawat dedaunan’ and ‘Robohnya
surau kami’ carried comparable meanings in other contexts and times. But they are all
understood correctly, with their current modifications, and in the same way against the
current ‘background animating dialogue’.
There were no dakwah stories in the sample, but two stories involved Islam and
Islamic practices. And as every author or every story, is an ideologue, these tales con-
stitute a different dakwah of heterodox and inclusive Islam: sastra Islamor Islami, accord-
ing to the aforementioned definition. The pluralistic, tolerant worldview that
permeates the award-winning story by Seno also filters through the first three
stories analysed, and the fourth story by Shoim brought up a human rights discourse.
This worldview projects a counter-world that represents an unreconciled opposition to
the depredations of daily life and to the identities given by the national war of the
moment. Even the stories that are historical (Triyanto) or folktale-like (Seno,
Yanusa) are windows into this Indonesian reality, and in the stories by Yanusa and
Triyanto this worldview may be referred to as Muslim universal humanism, because
of the religious discursive approach taken in both (‘Everything can happen if Allah
permits it’). ‘Burung api Siti’ showed that good Muslims have God on their side and
that extremists are misguided. ‘Salawat dedaunan’ revealed that mercy is in the
hands of the All Merciful and it defended traditional unorthodox Islam and deed.
Gde’s 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
 C ER P EN K O R A N 435

wins through his faith or practice. It, too, took a stand for spirituality and diversity of
faith, 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 book
Howto pray the right way is sold everywhere.
The stories from Kompascertainly project or take a stand for pluralism and diversity
of faith, and in internally persuasive ways, particularly in the stories by Seno and Yanusa,
but also in Gde’s. In Triyanto’s story, the historical discourse surrounding the events of
1965 is an explicit theme, but the shouts of Allahu Akbar from machete-wielding men in
white robes echo into the present, not least because intolerance paired with organization
can lead to mass murder. Pluralism and a tolerant, undogmatic Islam is the worldview
that these authors (or editors and jurors) offer, and they are among Indonesia’s finest in
the genre. This worldview manifests itself also in tales without an apparent realist setting
and reverberates with social dialogue in the context of structurally imposed religion and
intolerance, which is not exclusively an Islamic domain. Gde’s story is set in Bali, where
Downloaded by [Stefan Danerek] at 19:36 30 October 2015

the events of 1965 were as traumatic as in Triyanto’s Java, and where there is resentment
towards non-Balinese through a ‘strong Bali movement’, Ajeg Bali, which is Balinese
Hinduism.
The stories from Kompasby Triyanto and Gde exceed in complexity the social realist
type, with elements of the marvellous, history and culture. It is also true of ‘Salawat
dedaunan’, a moral tale with a mystery that is near the marvellous. ‘Sulastri dan
empat lelaki’, the story about a female TKI, has the esthetics of a cerpen koran embedded
in a dream, and the social situation of TKI is the dialogue in which it engages. Only
Triyanto’s 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 culminateswithamoksa followed byaninverted one, the thirdisamysterytale and
in the fourth the Prophet Moses and Pharaoh appear in a dream. The marvellous adds to
the portrayals ofIndonesian realities, alayer that western derived realisms onlycapture at
a distance. Bhabha (1990: 7) wrote that magic realism is ‘the literary language of the
emergent post-colonial world’ and it seems to fit when reading the canon of Indonesian
newspaper 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 in
the sense that it subverts the rigid worldview and therefore supports a counter-world to
authoritarianism. The image ofpeople runningonwater in ‘Dodolitdodolitdodolibret’ isa
carnival image, too. Like ‘Salawat dedaunan’, the text is a hybrid re-accentuated one that
belongs to several different linguistic consciousnesses widely separated in time and social
space, as far back as to the ancient world.
The stories by Seno and Yanusa are closely related to folklore. Similarly, the
Moses’ part of Shoim’s story is a Muslim variant of a Saint Peter’s joke. The marvel-
lous imagery and folklore motifs affirm that the Indonesian short story is the ‘small
hero’ in the line of anti-authoritarian and anti-canonical popular strategies, identified
by Bakhtin in the novel as mediated through medieval folklore by Rabelais. In their
contemporary context the stories suggest that the wisdom of indigenous spiritual tra-
ditions provide an answer to the present anxieties. Spirituality is important in several
of the texts, if not the solution, especially in ‘Burung api Siti’, ‘Salawat dedaunan’ and
‘Batas tidur’.
 436 I N D O N ES I A A N D T H E M A L A Y W O R L D

Pluralism and a contextual universal humanism, also in the form of a compassionate

Islam, constitute the life-giving center in the analysed works. All stories project hope.
Sulastri’s fate in Shoim’s story remains unsettled though, and this TKI story about the
tragedy of the poor exemplifies the universal humanist cerpen koran that draws attention
to a social problem.

A ck now ledgem ent

I would like to thank the three anonymous IMW reviewers for their comments on an
early version of the typescript, especially the one who commented at length. I also
thank the IMW editors, and for English language corrections and suggestions, Robert
Finlayson.
Downloaded by [Stefan Danerek] at 19:36 30 October 2015

References

Ajidarma, Seno Gumira. 1999. Fiction, journalism, history: a process of self-correction.

Indonesia 68: 164– 171.
Ajidarma, Seno Gumira. 2007. Cinta di atas perahu cadik [Love on an outrigger canoe].
Kompas, 10 June.
Ajidarma, Seno Gumira. 2010. Dodolitdodolitdodolibret. Kompas, 26 September.
Anugerah Pena Kencana. 2008. 20 cerpen Indonesia terbaik 2008 [20 best Indonesian short
stories 2008]. Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama.
Anwar, Shoim M. 2011. Sulastri dan empat lelaki [Sulastri and four men]. Jawa Pos, 6
November.
Arimbi, Diah Ariani. 2009. Reading contemporary Indonesian Muslim women writers represen-
tation, identity and religion of Muslim women in Indonesian fiction. Amsterdam: ICAS/
Amsterdam University Press.
Arnez, Monika. 2009. Dakwah by the pen. Reading Helvy Tiana Rosa’s Bukavu. Indonesia
and the Malay World 37 (107): 45–64.
Arnez, Monika and Dewojati, Cahyaningrum. 2010. Sexuality, morality and the female role:
observations on recent Indonesian women’s literature. Asiatische Studien/ Études
Asiatiques 64 (1): 7–38.
Ayu, Djenar Maesa. 2011. TUNGGU! Kompas 25 September.
Bakhtin, Mikhail M. 1981. The dialogicimagination: four essays. Translated by Caryl Emerson
and Michael Holquist. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Baldick, C. 2001. The concise Oxford dictionary of literary terms. New York: Oxford University
Press.
Basral, Akmal Nasery. 2010. DODOLIT DODOLTOLSTOY catatan singkat atas cerpen
terbaik Kompas 2010. , http:/ / gemasastrin.wordpress.com/ 2011/ 06/ 30/ dodolit-
dodol tolstoy. Accessed 5 February 2013.
Bellows, L. 2011. The aroused public in search of the pornographic in Indonesia. Ethnos:
Journal of Anthropology 76 (2): 209–232.
Bhabha, Homi. 1990. Nation and narration. London: Routledge.
Bodden, M. 1999. Seno Gumira Ajidarma and fictional resistance to an authoritarian state in
1990s Indonesia. Indonesia 68: 157–163.
 C ER P EN K O R A N 437

Cerpen Kompas blog. 2013. , http:/ / www.cerpenkompas.wordpress.com. Accessed 6

February 2013.
Cerpen Koran Minggu blog. 2013. , http:/ / www.lakonhidup.wordpress.com. Accessed
6 February 2013.
Chamberlain, G. 2013. Saudi Arabia’s treatment of foreign workers under fire after behead-
ing of Sri Lankan maid. Observer, 13 January, p. 23.
Cochrane, J. 2013. Indonesia asks saudis to extend deadline for undocumented workers.
New York Times, 10 June. , http:/ / www.nytimes.com/ 2013/ 06/ 11/ world/ asia/
indonesia-asks-saudi-arabia-to-extend-deadline-for-workers.html?_r= 0. Accessed
11 July 2013.
Cribb, R. 2001. GenocideinIndonesia, 1965–1966. Journal ofGenocideResearch3 (2): 219–239.
Crouch, M. 2012. Indonesia’s blasphemy law: bleak outlook for minority religions. Asia
Pacific Bulletin 146. , http:/ / www.eastwestcenter.org/ publications/ indonesias-
blasphemy-law-bleak-outlook-minority-religions. Accessed 1 February 2013.
Cuddon, J.A. 1999. The Penguin dictionary of literary terms and literary theory. 4th edition.
Downloaded by [Stefan Danerek] at 19:36 30 October 2015

London: Penguin Books.

Danerek, Stefan. 2006. Tjerita and novel: literary development in post-New Order Indonesia.
Lund: Lund University.
Day, T. 2007. Maier, Henk. We are playing relatives: a survey of Malay writing. Indonesia 84:
173–174.
Foulcher, K. 2012. Bringing the world back home: cultural traffic in Konfrontasi, 1954–
1960. In L. Lindsay and M.H.T. Liem (eds), Heirs to world culture: being Indonesian
1950–1965. Leiden: KITLV Press, pp. 31–56.
Fuller, A.C.S. 2004. Postmodernismand howAjidarma used it against the NewOrder. MA thesis,
University of Melbourne.
Fuller, A.C.S. 2010. Jakarta Flânerie: Seno Gumira Ajidarma’s writing of urban Indonesia. PhD
thesis, University of Tasmania.
International Crisis Group. 2008. Indonesia: implications of the Ahmadiyah decree. Crisis
Group Asia Briefing 78, 7 July. , http:/ / www.crisisgroup.org/ ~ / media/ Files/ asia/
southeastasia/ indonesia/ b78_indonesia___implications_of_the_ahmadiyah_decree.
pdf. Accessed 21 February 2013.
Jurnal Cerpen Indonesia. 2002. No. 1. Yogyakarta: Yayasan Cerita Pendek Indonesia.
Kompas. 2003. Cerpen pilihan Kompas. Jakarta: Penerbit Buku Kompas.
Kompas. 2011. Jakarta. http:/ / www.kompas.co.id
Kompas. 2012. Yanusa dan Agus Noor dapat penghargaan [Yanusa and Agus Noor received
prizes]. 29 June. , http:/ / oase.kompas.com/ read/ 2012/ 06/ 29/ 06174841/
Yanusa.dan.Agus.Noor.Dapat.Penghargaan. Accessed 5 May 2013.
Kratz, E.U. 1988. Abibliography of Indonesian literature in journals: drama, prose, poetry/ Biblio-
grafi Karya Sastra Indonesia dalammajalah: drama, prosa, puisi. London: School ofOriental
and African Studies.
Maman, S. Mahayana. 2006. Bermain dengan cerpen: apresiasi dan kritik cerpen Indonesia
[Playing with short stories: appreciation and criticism of Indonesian short stories].
Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama.
Maman, S. Mahayana. 2010. Angkatan sastra 2000 Menengok masa lalu menatap masa
depan [Generation 2000 looking back and towards the future]. , http:/ / mahayana-
mahadewa.com/ 2010/ 10/ 08/ angkatan-sastra2000menengok-masa-lalu-menatap-masa-
depan. Accessed 6 February 2013.
Maier, Henk. 2004. We are playing relatives: a survey of Malay writing. Leiden: KITLV Press.
 438 I N D O N ES I A A N D T H E M A L A Y W O R L D

MUI. 2013. , http:/ / www.mui.co.id. Accessed 1 February 2013.

Navis, Ali Akbar. 1956. Robohnya surau kami [The decay of our prayer house]. Bukittinggi:
Nusantara.
Nugroho, Yanusa. 2011. Salawat dedaunan [Prayer of leaves]. Kompas, 2 October.
Nugroho, Y., Putri, D.A., and Laksmi, S. 2012. Mapping the landscape of the media indus-
try in contemporary Indonesia. Report Series. Engaging Media, Empowering Society:
Assessing media policy and governance in Indonesia through the lens of citizens’ rights.
Research collaboration of Centre for Innovation Policy and Governance and HIVOS
Regional Office Southeast Asia, funded by Ford Foundation. Jakarta: CIPG and
HIVOS.
Oppenheimer, J. (dir.) 2012. The act of killing [film].
Redana, Bre. 2002. Banjar Tampak Gangsul. Media Indonesia, 29 September.
Said, E.W. 2004. Humanismand democratic criticism. New York: Columbia University Press.
Setara Institute. 2013. , http:/ / www.setara-institute.org. Accessed 1 February 2013.
Si Pencari Ilmu blog. 2011. Kisah hikmah shalawat dan nenektua dari Madura [AMadurese tale
Downloaded by [Stefan Danerek] at 19:36 30 October 2015

of wisdom, blessing and an old grandmother] , http:/ / sipencariilmu.wordpress.

com/ 2011/ 07/ 30/ . Accessed 10 February 2013.
Soetama, Gde Aryantha. 2011. Batas tidur [Border to sleep]. Kompas, 23 October.
Spitzer, Leo. 1948. Linguistics and literary theory. Princeton: Princeton University.
Teeuw, Andries. 1986. Modern Indonesian literature I. Dordrecht: Foris Publications.
Thompson, D. 2012. The Saudis are bulldozing Islam’s heritage. Why the silence from the
Muslim world? Telegraph, 2 November. , http:/ / blogs.telegraph.co.uk/ news/
damianthompson/ 100187644/ the-saudis-are-bulldozing-islams-heritage-why-the-
silence-from-the-muslim-world. Accessed 2 April 2013.
Tolstoy, Leo. 1886. Three hermits. , http:/ / onlineliterature.com/ leotolstoi/ 2896.
Accessed 5 February 2013.
Triwikromo, Triyanto. 2011. Burung api Siti [Siti’s fire birds]. Kompas, 30 October.
Utami, Ayu. 1998. Saman. Jakarta: Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia.

A uthor biography

Stefan Danerek’s current interests are the history of Swedish seafarers in the Indies, and
language/ narrative documentation in Eastern Indonesia. He has also translated Indonesian
works of fiction. Stefan was awarded a PhD in 2007 from Lund University, Sweden.
Email: ideaatwork@gmail.com