Linda Christanty: The need for critical thinking

Sunday, October 24, 2004
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Winning a prestigious literary prize provides more of a burden than pride and joy for writer Linda Christanty, who frets that her works still lack much in quality.
Her reticence is despite the praise of the jury of the 2004 Khatulistiwa Award, who said her short story collection, Kuda Terbang Maria Pinto (Maria Pinto's Flying Horse), was "unpredictable, multidimensional, meaningful and able to adhere to writing technique and theme".
Linda, 34, said she found it hard to turn her ideas into simple but meaningful sentences.
"By simple, it doesn't mean I don't pay attention to structure, syntax or semantics. But I want the flow and the language to work well, and readers can feel the emotion right away, even if they cannot relate to the story," said Linda, who shared the prize for works of fiction with author Seno Gumira Ajidarma.
"I still cannot do that."
It did not seem to be the insincere lament of a winner trying so hard to be humble. Instead, Linda really did feel that she did not deserve the prize.
She also showed concern that she would fall into the trap of some fellow writers, believing in their own hype and becoming smug.
The local literary scene has perked up in recent years with the emergence of young writers, many of them women, and more works published than a decade ago.
However, as Linda put it, it has become a tumultuous market.
Many people write but take the art lightly, barely paying attention to logic, structure and characterization, resulting in mediocre works lacking intricacy and depth.
It does not seem to dissuade the critics and literary experts from hailing the next great literary hope, and showering them with hyperbolic praise.
Women writers, a rarity at one time, have been singled out for particular attention, to such an extent that author and columnist Ayu Utami even thought she was overrated.
It may be part of the well-intentioned effort to encourage young writers, but it often misleads readers into buying the vaunted works, only to be disappointed.
There is also the danger of the rise of second-rate writers elevated by one or two literary figures.
"There are the flowery blurbs from noted authors, and then what? Does that mean everybody has to write like that? Critical readers with knowledge will know which one is good, but I'm afraid there will be people who think that 'Oh, so this is what good writing is like', and then they start to write like that," said Linda, who studied Indonesian literature at the University of Indonesia.
Young writers need to be encouraged, but there also must be fair criticism of the literary offerings.
"Some say that readers will learn how to be critical. But I don't think that's true. We need to create a scene where fair criticism is given, so that readers will be critical and writers learn how to write well," she said.
Unbiased criticism is not yet an accepted part of the culture of this country, especially in the close-knit community of writers and publishers.
In a rather embarrassing move, a book shop owner-cum-writer recently slammed a noted critic in a long-winded full page opinion piece in leading Kompas daily. He declared that writers should follow their artistic calling without paying attention to critics, nor heavyweight literary method and theory.
So, no place for literary criticism, but let's just flog some trite works by those with overblown literary pretensions?
"I don't agree with that," Linda said of the piece. "Writers need to learn their craft, the language and the theory. Because the language is the tool of expression."
Born in Bangka island in southern Sumatra, Linda has written short stories, her favorite medium, since she was a teenager.
Her breakthrough came when she was one of the 10 winners of the short story competition held by Kompas in 1990.
Titled Daun-daun Kering (Dried Leaves), the story tells of a young woman left at loose ends after her boyfriend dumped her.
Kuda Terbang, meanwhile, consists of 12 short stories published in various publications, from Kompas to Media Indonesia and a+ magazine, from 2002 to 2004.
The title story is the strongest, about the myth of a woman chief commander riding a flying horse, told by a military man to a stranger.
It was inspired by a similar tale of East Timor.
"I just want to tell the story of war from the point of view of a soldier. A soldier usually comes from a poor farming family, who would like to escape his fate by being in the army. But in the end, in war and violence, they have to face their family."
An activist during Soeharto's regime, Linda's writing often has political themes, such as telling of an activist traitor, bomber or war.
She is also interested in homosexuality, inspired by her friendship with a lesbian who is now out of the closet.
Linda's writing may still lack intricacy and insight, but it is unpretentious and earnest.
She is now working for the Indonesian representative of the Brussels-based European Center for Common Ground, writing a radio soap opera called Menteng Pangkalan.
"It is aimed at educating the public about how to resolve community conflicts through dialog rather than violence," Linda said.
She also would like to try writing a novel.
"The short story cannot always accommodate an idea as a whole, it only works as fragments. I figure the idea will be more thorough and more intricate in a novel," said Linda, crossing her fingers.

Labels: literary, profile

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Magazines reach out to well-heeled

Sunday, October 24, 2004
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

While browsing through a local society magazine, "Johan", an Indonesian who has lived in the Netherlands for most of his life, pored over the parade of photos of people hobnobbing and partying.
The 33 year old, who rarely makes trips to his homeland, finally came across a face he recognized, a man striking a pose at a trendy club.
"Hey, I know this guy! He works at a bar in Amsterdam, carrying kegs of beer! Well, now I know what he's doing every time he comes home to Jakarta," he said.
With a look of surprise, Johan pointed again to the man's picture. "Look at his outfit, it's gotta be expensive."
And part of his surprise may have come from the fact that in this supposedly impoverished, indebted third world country, we can get to see the upper crust having their cake and eating it too in several glossy society magazines.
The magazines provide information for the rich and famous on where to shop, dine, spend their vacations and get a Botox jab, as well as allocating ample photo space for them to have their moment in the spotlight.
A sickening show of vanity and pretentiousness, you say? Jealousy gets you nowhere would be the likely retort.
The Peak and Indonesian Tatler, both in English, have been joined by Prestige Indonesia, a franchise of the Singapore magazine, which was launched in a swank do at a five-star hotel in Jakarta in September.
Prestige Indonesia's publisher and editor-in-chief, Ronald Liem, said the timing was right to launch another society/lifestyle magazine in the country, with an increasingly educated and sophisticated market.
The market for luxury products is also growing, with new boutiques opening here.
"Luxury product advertisers have the budget and they are looking for the right media to advertise their products. They are looking for something like this in Indonesia," said Ronald, who also publishes the English-language travel and lifestyle magazine DestinAsian.
Prestige also has a sister company involved in luxury businesses, such as property and retailing, which means in terms of advertisements, the magazine is in safe territory.
Of course, the focus on glitz and glamor is not for everybody. Photographer James Nachtwey once said that his commitment to documenting war and poverty was partly due to fact that the media gives too much attention to lifestyle, celebrities, fashion and entertainment.
Ronald argued that people want to find escapism amid the bombardment of depressing news about terrorism and global problems.
"The market is big enough, there is a market segment there. We are targeting people who aspire to have this kind of lifestyle."
It is targeting the affluent market, but about half of its 15,000 print run gets complimentary distribution to the main movers and shakers.
Instead of hiring professional models for its layouts, the magazine uses socialites and celebrities.
"I think Indonesian ladies are quite famous for being beautiful and are beautiful dressers. So, we approach the celebrities and socialites. That's the unique selling point of the magazine," Ronald said.
Amid the heavy advertisement load, product information, fashion and party pages, he added that the magazine aspired to offer something different from other magazines in content.
There are columns with financial advice, Ronald said, such as how to spend money wisely (an apartment in Sydney or the Caribbean? A private jet or private boat?), as well as information about heritage, culture and restaurants.
"Some people consider it soft journalism, well, it's not New Yorker. But we want our readers to actually learn something about it, 'cause I don't like to waste trees. When we do a profile, we won't ask those superficial questions like a favorite brand and so on. We talk about a philosophy or rule of leadership, that's more interesting.
"It's not high journalism, but we can add more substance with the questions we have."
Despite the desire for the magazine to bring more depth to its content, many people, even those in the targeted readership market, find them to be superficial and only serving to confirm societal status.
But restaurateur Amalia Wirjono said the magazine helped her keep in touch with upper class society, her target audience as well, to promote her restaurant Koi.
"True, it is more of a status thing. If I want information, I look someplace else," said Amalia, who makes frequent appearances on the party pages of society magazines as well as appearing on the cover of Prestige Indonesia.
Director Nia Dinata, whose 2003 film Arisan (Gathering) poked fun at her own crowd of urban socialites, said she did not see any reason to subscribe to such magazines.
"What we need right now is a magazine like Vanity Fair, that can balance the articles on lifestyle and serious issues like politics. Even the pieces on politics are an easy read."
It's true that there is no middle ground here between the serious content of magazines like Tempo and Gatra, or the light entertainment and lifestyle magazines of Kosmopolitan and a+, as well as the society magazines.
There is no magazine that can create a happy medium like Vanity Fair, which runs cover stories on Reese Witherspoon or Jude Law along with scathing condemnations of George W. Bush, or even music magazine Rolling Stone's current affairs articles.
Ronald disagreed.
"It doesn't fit into the whole thing if we suddenly talk about corruption and stuff. This is not the concept of the magazine. if you mix socialites with politicians and stuff, you get things mixed up."
Media observer Veven SP Wardhana said that the difference was that in developed countries people consider lifestyle and entertainment to be sources of information, not status symbols.
"That's why we can find in-depth analysis on lifestyle in a foreign magazine, not just the superficial stuff," he said.
The ultra-lite content has more to do with the mentality of the people in this country, he added, as well as the fact that the reading habit remained poor.
"Finding writers won't be a difficult thing, as media people are pretty flexible. But people are not really looking for information here. There are people who do, and they will go straight to the source: Foreign magazines or the Internet."

Labels: culture, media

Posted by hera at 1:27 AM | Permalinks | Comments

Gender expert Musdah speaks within reason

Sunday, October 03, 2004
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post,Jakarta

Siti Musdah Mulia has raised the ire of many for her boldness in criticizing some aspects of Islam considered sacred.
Take, for instance, her views on the jilbab (head covering), which she herself wears, but says is an entirely personal decision, with no directive demanding it.
As for polygamy, the 45-year-old gender and religion expert notes that it has been prohibited in Tunisia, which has a constitution based on sharia law, as a crime against humanity.
"It's very interesting how the ulema there came to the decision. They have seen the social excess from polygamy and they think only a prophet can achieve the fairness (in the respective marriages) that is a prerequisite of polygamy.
This is no shallow babbling from a pseudo intellectual or a "celebrity" activist, for the mother of three has studied Islamic teachings all her life.
Born in Bone, South Sulawesi, she was the top doctoral graduate in Islamic political thinking at Syahid Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN Syahid) in Jakarta, as well as the first woman to hold a PhD in the field.
Now a lecturer at her alma mater, the mother of three is also the author of several books, including on contemporary Islam, Islamic public policy, gender equality and polygamy.
She is the director of religious research and social affairs at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and her team has just completed the counter legal draft of the compilation of articles under Islamic law.
The latter will likely spark anger among some clerics, as several articles go against existing concepts, including allowing interfaith marriages and giving the right of a woman to divorce her husband.
Musdah will probably take any attacks in stride, for she has been fearless in fighting for gender equality and attempting to shift religious thinking to be more accommodating to the human aspects of an issue.
She said conservative people "used to annoy me, but now I pity them. I think their narrow-mindedness is due to limited access (to knowledge) and the opportunity to see the other side".
But it still hurts when she is labeled a tool for Western concepts.
"That makes me feel so sad. I don't need people to pay me to fight for humanity, to formulate Islamic teachings that are more friendly to women," said the secretary-general of the Indonesian Conference on Religion and Peace (ICRP) and director of the Religion and Gender Evaluation Institute (LKAJ).
Here is an excerpt of an interview with Musdah last week.

Question: What was the reason behind the issuance of the counter legal draft of the compilation of articles under Islamic Law (KHI)?
Siti: The compilation is a positive law in Indonesia. It is stipulated in the 1991 Presidential Instruction and has been the guidance for all the judges in the religious court.
However, many articles in the compilation are no longer able to accommodate contemporary issues.
There are no stipulations for issues like illegitimate children, or the now rampant cases of domestic violence. Settlement of the cases has been very biased because the judges have no reference (to draw upon).
And then there is the prohibition of interfaith marriages. With the globalization process, it is inevitable that people are easily connected with each other. Why is it banned while even the ulema have different perspectives on that matter?
Therefore, the compilation needs to be reevaluated. It has been 13 years since it was stipulated. Many things have changed in our society within that period.
This counter legal draft will certainly cause anger among the ulema.
I bet (laughs). But let them be.
People always say that religious teachings are final, it's God's law, no need to tinker with them. That statement especially arises during the discussion of marital law.
I tell them that the whole marital law is manmade, none of it is a fax from heaven. Why be afraid? God won't get mad, He's very wise.
Yet there are people with access and education (to knowledge) who are still conservative.
That's because they don't want to use their reason. People use their logic and reason for everything, except within the religious scope. But religion demands people to use their reason so that it is not something that is taken for granted.
There are many verses in the Koran which criticize people who do not use their logic: "Do you really want to follow the perspectives of your parents.. your ancestors?". That can be interpreted as "Are you not willing to use your reason?" Religion is a very rational thing.
How long did it take you to realize there are many religious misperceptions?
I grew up in a very strict Islamic boarding school environment. My grandfather is a noted ulema. My parents didn't allow me to befriend non-Muslims. If I hung out with an ethnic Chinese friend, a Christian, they ordered me to shower afterwards.
Contact with men was prohibited, I could not laugh hard -- everything was under tight control. But at that time I believed that was the right way.
The turning point came when I took a postgraduate program about the history of Islamic concept. The religious concept was taught critically, with reason.
As I had the opportunity to visit Islamic countries all over the world, I saw that Islam had many faces. It opened my eyes that some of what my grandfather and the ulema taught me in the boarding school had to be reevaluated. Some of it was right, but the rest was just myths.
Why did you choose the politics of Islam for your PhD?
I wanted to find out whether the political scene is really as slick, dirty and as masculine as people think, and whether Islamic politics really conflicts with the modern perspective.
It turned out that the preconceived notion was untrue. Islam is very modern, I would even say it's radical. Unfortunately, the ideas are not being developed and promoted.
The concept of an Islamic country is not merely about cutting criminals' hands off, stoning adulterers or the obligation for women to wear jilbab.
If you look into the literature, there are many forms offered and there are many variants involved in the form of Islamic government or a country. In the long history of Islam, it has been different from time to time.
Which means there is no single standard concept about the form of a country. Instead, it has to suit the situation and the condition of the society, and its preference. Be it a kingdom or a republic, it's OK.
Islam only gives basic principles that must be upheld in a governmental system. They refer to the tauhid concept of worshiping only one God. Thus, the rest of the creatures are equal, and this is the root of the real democracy.
So, the concept of egality, fraternity and equality must not be claimed as Western values, and Muslims must not think of it as Western related. It's a universal value. And those concepts were already practiced ideally in the period of Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century.
What about sharia law?
Sharia must be based on the Islamic principles mentioned earlier, and it has to constantly accommodate those universal principles.
There must not be any coercion. Women may wear jilbab if they want to. If they don't, no problem. There is no single directive saying that (not wearing) jilbab is something haram (forbidden) or not.
I personally think jilbab is a fashion statement. You may wear it if you're comfortable, or if you believe it's part of your religion. But it doesn't concern other people. It's your personal choice and matter.
But isn't the nature of religion to spread its teachings?
There are some absolute teachings that cannot be rejected, Some dogmatic issues that you can't say no to. Like there is only one God, or monotheism, and that Muhammad is the prophet and the messenger of God. Well, basically the five pillars of Islam and six pillars of faith.
That's all. The rest can be negotiated. Like jilbab, it's ikhtilaf, which means there are different opinions on it. It's not something that is agreed upon unconditionally.
Every religious follower must think that their religion is the most tenable. Now, how do we manage it so that people can live harmoniously while still holding to that claim.
My belief in Islam, for instance, must not hamper me from appreciating other religions, from accepting another religion's righteousness, and from interacting with other religious followers.
Unfortunately, those things have yet to be implemented in our society.
What went wrong?
Because people perceive religion as divine, therefore it must not be criticized.
Now, how to explain to society that religious teachings consist of basic principles, which are absolute, and nonbasic principles which are the interpretation of the basic principles. The latter are not absolute.
At that time, the principles perhaps were suitable, but is it really so now? Therefore, let's evaluate, reread. Let's pick the suitable ones, and the rest ... Well, religion is made for the benefit of humans.
The problem is that religion has always been for God, to worship God. Therefore, it doesn't bring positivity to humanity.
A man prays all the time, fasts and performs the haj, but he still beats his wife. It's such a sad irony. Religion must bring peace to other people. God doesn't need anything. He doesn't need to be worshiped, He's already perfect.
Since religion is contextual, is it still needed?
It depends on the individual. If he or she thinks religion doesn't bring peace of mind, then there's no use in having a religion. Just follow your conscience, seriously.
No matter how people sugarcoat things, I personally consider Islam very patriarchal. What do you say to that?
That's the problem. Because Islam descends from the very patriarchal Arab society, so a patriarchal interpretation is inevitable.
Religion is considered very sacred so that only certain people can read the literature and explore the teachings. There are hardly any women ulema, because since we're little, the ulema has always been associated with men.
There was the prohibition for women to serve as a witness in marriage, because back then, maybe it was not easy to seek capable and intellectual women. But not now. Ditto for the marriage guardian for women. If women are mature and can decide for themselves, why need the guardian? ...
Since you wrote your PhD dissertation about politics, how come you are not involved in practical politics?
Because it's still pretty much a man's world ... True, I should start to get involved and tidy things up. But maybe later, when I'm retired, which is like 14 years from now (laughs).
The political scene is still very much a jungle, so let's clean it up, little by little, to make it more women friendly.

Labels: Islam

Posted by hera at 1:54 AM | Permalinks | Comments