A literary A literary mirror mirror A literary mirror is the first English-language work to comprehensively analyse Indonesian-language literature from Bali from a literary and cultural viewpoint. It covers the period from 1920 to 2000. This is an extremely rich field for research into the ways Balinese view their culture and how they respond to external cultural forces. This work complements the large number of existing studies of Bali and its history, anthropology, traditional literature, and the performing arts. A literary mirror is an invaluable resource for those researching twentieth-century Balinese authors who wrote in Indonesian. Until now, such writers have received very little attention in the A literary existing literature. An appendix gives short biographical details of many significant writers and lists their work. I Nyoman Darma I Nyoman Putra I Nyoman Darma Putra teaches Indonesian literature at the Faculty of Arts at Udayana University in Bali. He is the author of several mirror books in Indonesian on a variety of literary and cultural topics, Balinese reflections on modernity including Tonggak Baru Sastra Bali Modern (2000; 2010), Wanita Bali and identity in the twentieth century Tempo Doeloe Perspektif Masa Kini (2003; 2007), and Bali dalam Kuasa Politik (2008). From 2007 to 2010 he was a postdoctoral research fellow at the School of Languages and Comparative Cultural Studies, University of Queensland, 2007-2010, during which he published a number of journal articles including in Indonesia and the Malay World, Asian Studies Review, and Rima. ISBN 9789067183703 7890679 183703 I Nyoman Darma Putra KITLV_A literary mirror 215x302_DEF.indd 1 08-02-11 15:28 A LITERARY MIRROR VERHANDELINGEN VAN HET KONINKLIJK INSTITUUT VOOR TAAL-, LAND- EN VOLKENKUNDE 271 I NYOMAN DARMA PUTRA A LITERARY MIRROR Balinese refl ections on modernity and identity in the twentieth century KITLV Press Leiden 2011 Published by: KITLV Press Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies) P.O. Box 9515 2300 RA Leiden The Netherlands website: www.kitlv.nl e-mail: [email protected] KITLV is an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) Cover photo: Teenagers in Balinese attire riding a bike in a contest to celebrate the anniversary of the city of Denpasar, Bali, 7 December 2009. Photo by Komang Suryawan. Cover: Creja ontwerpen, Leiderdorp ISBN 978 90 6718 370 3 KITLV Press applies the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc-nd/3.0/) to selected books, published in or after January 2011. Authors retain ownership of their copyright, but they permit anyone unrestricted use and distribution within the terms of this license. Printed editions manufactured in the Netherlands Contents Abbreviations ix Preface xi I Introduction; National literature, regional perspective 1 Indonesian literature; An overview 4 Newspaper literature 9 Tension between national and regional literature 14 Social commitment and mirror of identity 18 II The development of Indonesian literature from Bali 27 Historical overview 28 The colonial period 32 The national revolution period 40 The New Order period 53 The Reformation period 59 Filling the space 64 III From Balinese to Indonesian; Poetry from the colonial and national revolution periods 67 Early poetry and the debate over traditional identity 68 Contesting traditional status 73 Social concern as a refl ection of regional identity Poems related to gender issues 86 Shifting from regional to national identities 91 Different types of national identities 100 vi Contents IV Reinventing Balinese cultural identity; Poetry from the New Order and Reformation periods 111 Following the national pattern 111 Poetry as self refl ection 115 Expressions of social concern 121 Loss of land and identity 128 Temple space and cultural loss 136 Images of the human condition 140 Voices of resistance 145 V Contesting caste identity 149 Literature and caste issues 149 Intercaste marriage and status 152 Caste in the play Kesetiaan perempuan 155 Intergenerational caste confl ict 160 The tragedy of intercaste marriage 167 The caste system and false identity 176 Caste confl ict and issues of gender 183 VI Female identity; From repression to resistance Gender issues in public discourse 191 The representation of women as sexual objects 196 Women as victims of progress 202 Female identity and gender equality 207 From repression to resistance 215 Between male and female writing 223 VII Balinese and Westerners 227 Early encounters between Balinese and Westerners 230 Between friend and intruder 233 Stereotyping and changing perceptions 240 Romantic relations and the possibility of intimacy 245 Are you Mr Wayan? 253 Romance and magic 255 The absence of Balinese women characters 260 Balinese identity and the ‘Other’ 262 Conclusion 267 Contents vii Appendices A Brief biographical notes on some Balinese writers 277 B Poems cited in Chapter III 285 C Poems cited in Chapter IV 305 D Poems cited in Chapter VI 329 E Sources of poems 337 F Sources of prose and plays 345 Bibliography 349 Glossary 371 Index 373 Abbreviations GMNI Gerakan Mahasiswa Nasional Indonesia, Nationalist Students’ Movement of Indonesia Himpi Bali Himpunan Penulis Indonesia Bali, Association of Indonesian Writers, Bali branch HPS Himpunan Peminat Sastra, Literary Association KKPI Konperensi Karyawan Pengarang Indonesia, Indonesian Writers’ Conference Krismon Krisis moneter, monetary crisis Lekra Lembaga Kebudayaan Rakyat, Institute of People’s Culture Lesiba Lembaga Seniman Indonesia Bali, Institute of Indonesian Artists in Bali Listibiya Majelis Pertimbangan dan Pembinaan Kebudayaan, Committee for Cultural Advancement and Development LKN Lembaga Kebudayaan Nasional, Institute of National Culture Manikebu Manifesto Kebudayaan, Cultural Manifesto Manipol Manifesto Politik, Political Manifesto Nasakom Nasionalisme-Agama-Komunisme, Nationalism, Religion and Communism PKI Partai Komunis Indonesia, Indonesian Communist Party PNI Partai Nasionalis Indonesia, Indonesian Nationalist Party x Abbreviations USDEK Undang-undang dasar 1945 (1945 constitution), Sosialisme Indonesia (Indonesian Socialism), Demokrasi terpimpin (Guided democracy), Ekonomi terpimpin (Guided economy) and Kepribadian Indonesia (Indonesian identity) Preface In the mid-1920s, Balinese writers began to write new forms of literature in Malay, soon to be declared the national language of the future Indonesian nation. Their works were published in newspapers based in North Bali: Surya Kanta (The Beautiful Sun), Bali Adnjana (The Voice of Bali) and Djatajoe (The Messenger). Initially, most of the works written were syair and pantun, Malay poetic structures that were popular in the archipelago at that time, while short stories and plays appeared only occasionally. In the 1930s, in addition to poetry, plays and short stories, Balinese writers began to publish novels. These new forms of literature are different from traditional Balinese literary genres, written in the Balinese or Old Javanese languages, which have developed at least since the sixteenth century (Creese 2004a:7). While traditional Balinese literature still continues to fl ourish, the birth of modern Indonesian literature in Bali in the 1920s not only marked a new phase in literary life on the island but also the beginning of Balinese writers taking part in the development of the national literature. This participation continues and the work of writers such as Panji Tisna (1930s), Putu Wijaya (1970s) and Oka Rusmini (2000s) has entered the Indonesian literary canon. Since the 1950s Bali’s contribution to national literature has not been limited to literary works. The island has also hosted various literary activities, and Balinese writers have attended events around the nation. A number of national literary and cultural congresses attended by representative writers from most Indonesian regions were held in Bali, as well as some international events. In 1962, for example, the left wing cultural organization Lekra (Lembaga xii Preface Kebudayaan Rakyat, the Institute of People’s Culture) held its national conference in Denpasar. The conference ran successfully in terms of the number of participants taking part and the resolutions reached, and this led to Bali being selected as the venue for the executive meeting of the Asia-Africa Writers Council in the following year, 1963. In 1982 Bali hosted the Temu Puncak Penyair ASEAN (Summit for the Appreciation of ASEAN Poets) in Denpasar. More recently the International Literary Biennale was held in 2003, with some Balinese writers taking an active part. Balinese writers have frequently been invited to participate in literary forums in Jakarta and in regional areas like West Sumatra, Lampung, West Java, Yogyakarta and Surabaya, and also in international poetry readings both in Indonesia and overseas, an example being the Winternachten Festival in the Netherlands. The sustained contributions of Balinese writers to the national literature and the lively range of literary activities on the island suffi ce to show that Bali is one of the major regional literary centres in Indonesia. Despite this, Indonesian literature originating from Bali receives very little scholarly and critical attention. Although Bali has been one of the most densely studied areas in many academic fi elds (Schulte Nordholt 1996:vii), local and foreign scholars tend to overlook literary