Literature Commissar

Mar 5th, 2008, in Opinion, by Ross

View the original article here.

57 Comments on “Literature Commissar”

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Achmad Sudarsono Says:
March 5th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
O.K. Ross, question: do you speak or read Indonesian? Which of Pramoedya’s books have you read?
Achmad Sudarsono Says:
March 5th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
The thing is Ross, I don’t think you do speak or read Bahasa Indonesia at all.

Otherwise, why would you be quoting Max Lane’s awful translations. (Max has been known to recommend Stalin to young undergraduates, it’s true).

Whereever you’re from (other than the gutter), would you take, say, a Mongolian who didn’t speak English seriously as a pundit on the U.S. ? How ’bout an African who only spoke Zulu talking about English literature ? Or a Pakistani who only spoke Urdu talking about Australian literature and politics ?

More to the point, why should anyone take a grubby Jl. Jaksa drunkard like you seriously when you don’t speak the language of the country you’re talking about ?
trane Says:
March 5th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
Achmad,

I think the quotes from Pramoedya himself are worth taking seriously. They may have been taken out of context and all that, but they seem worrying enough to me.

I have only read Tales from Jakarta, which I enjoyed very much.

Best regards,
trane
Achmad Sudarsono Says:
March 6th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Trane,

I guess in a way, I’m saying, “so what.” If Pram was a major asshole, so what ?

His literature reflects a deep sense of the expanse of the human spirit — and it’s his books we should be judging him on.

There have been stories about Pramoedya and Lekra for a while. So yes, let’s not eulogise Pram – in the ’60s as an Icon of pluralism.

But it’s really his books he should be judged on — books the likes of Ross (has he ever read a book without pictures from cover to cover?) hasn’t read.
Achmad Sudarsono Says:
March 6th, 2008 at 8:01 am
P.S. — I just think it’d be good to establish Ross’s credentials — which are having groped a few 17 year old bar girls in Blok M and being able to bargain for a Steady Safe taxi at 4 am in the morning.
Subrata Says:
March 6th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Compared to Pram’s books, Ross’ “Red handed in Aceh” and “Red Jakarta” is like comparing a real literature to “kaki lima stensilan”. Sorry, Ross no contest!

And I am with mas Achmad on Ross all the way.

Peace.
spew-it-all Says:
March 6th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Sorry Ross, I reckon you must stop writing in IM as this is becoming your medium to promulgate your anti-communists creeds.

Sadly, opinion like this will give Indonesian under impression that expats can say anything about the country and can be an authoritative source for their fellows. Worse than that, inferior Indonesians would nod to anything nonsensical caming out of expat’s mouth.

I suspect that Ross hasn’t read all books of Pram. Most appallingly, his historical knowledge of Indonesia is very poor, let alone his research skills. Pram was never a head of Lekra, only head of literary section. Jubar Ajoeb was the secretary general.

As for Manikebu vs Lekra, please read more sources not only from a guy who tends to have alzheimer like Taufik. Any historical events should be read in the context, although different approaches might give various interpretations on them.

In 1990s, as a response to uproar caused by Ramon Magsaysay Award given to Pram, a discussion held in Jakarta and attended by various intellectuals, artists, and activists who were interested in the cultural debate in 1950-60s. Gunawan supported Pram and I think Arief Budiman did support him as well.
Ross Says:
March 6th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Oh, dear.
Achmad the Rude Supercilious Expat is in another tantrum, his posts almost awash with spittle as he rails against a guy he’s never met (otherwise he’d know I chat away in Bahasa Indonesia quite happily, to girls of all ages)

Leaving A.R.S.E. to his latest bout of mendacious toilet-talk, yes, the nominal boss of Lekra was another pinko, but Pramoedya was the leading light, spew-it-all. Please don’t let your hostility to anti-communism lead you to demand I be silenced. That’s the sort of thing Pramoedya was into.

Fans of my novels- and those who aren’t fans -are entitled to criticise them. They’re my hobby. I don’t claim they’re literary masterpieces, but a lot of folks enjoy the adventurous yarns- looks like even A.R.S.E. has read one or two, since he ascribes some my protagonists’ antics to myself!(tho’ even the dimmest bule in my writings never uses Safe and Steady taxis)
Incidentally, since the ‘argument’ has moved into this area, my new one is out, and it’s entitled ‘White Trash.’ And I started it before I’d even heard of Achmad!
Rambutan Says:
March 6th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Ross again, capedeeehhh…
Anyway, big surprise: Pramoedya was no saint. Who would have thought. The Lekra times are an old and well-known story and I’m not going to defend Pram for what he did. Yes, I believe it was wrong. He is not perfect. He was blinded by his believe in certain ideologies.
However, he paid dearly for it. He spent 14 years in Buru. More years under house arrest in Jakarta. He suffered a lot. More than anybody deserves. Please read ‘Nyani Sunyi Seorang Bisu’. It is a really impressive and moving book.
Independent of his suffering, his good and bad deeds, there is no doubt about the fact that he is one of Indonesia’s best (many believe THE best) writers. Anybody, who puts his mastery as a writer into question is blinded by its political beliefs/ agenda.
spew-it-all Says:
March 6th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
I know it’s not fair to ask you to be silent. However spurious and bigoted the opinion is, the right to express themselves must be served.

Yet it would be wiser to be more careful in addressing some problems and analysing historical event. I am not a leftist but it really gets up my nose when people are slack in dealing with historical event. So far the ‘truth’ of history has been constructed by either leftists, fervent nationalist or ignorant and obtuse right-wing.
Achmad Sudarsono Says:
March 6th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Ross,

Have you read any of Pramoedya’s novels in Bahasa Indonesia ?
dewaratugedeanom Says:
March 8th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
spew-it-all

So far the ‘truth’ of history has been constructed by either leftists, fervent nationalist or ignorant and obtuse right-wing.

Besides positivist history – no document, no history – oral history also takes an important part in the reconstruction of truth. However, every account of it will always be coloured by those who tell the tales. So, unless it’s blatant lies, let’s hear from all sides and then make up our minds.
spew-it-all Says:
March 10th, 2008 at 5:02 am
Dewa,

Ideally, we all should hear from all sides and then make up our minds. Yet, it’s not that easy. In the case of Indonesia, I’ve never seen anything written from left perspective, particularly during Suharto. Even when New Order collapsed, any attempts of writing alternative history faced prohibition. I’ve noticed oral history is now playing important in Indonesia although as methodology is rather new.

History war is healthy and a perfect testing ground for the representation of the past.
Oigal Says:
March 12th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Hey Ross,

As a writer of some note (mostly out of tune) and still fighting yesterday’s battles do you have your own website or blog? Most people here jump from topic to topic but you seem trapped in a fairly narrow band of paranoia. Perhaps if you have own site, you could rant n rave with your like minded cold war warriors and leave the humans in peace.

Of course, there is an element of risk in that aka “throwing a party and nobody comes” but better than continually riding on another blogs popularity.
Achmad Sudarsono Says:
March 13th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Oigal,

Owch. Harsh but fair.
treespotter Says:
March 14th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
“an unrepentant Red, namely Pramoedya Ananta Toer”

Do you even know the man is dead?
Ziad Says:
March 15th, 2008 at 1:25 am
It happens that I am reading one of Pramoedya’s books and I am deeply touched by his humanistic spirit and historic richness, I am sure if I was able to read it in its original language I would have enjoyed its vivid description of Indonesian society, but there is no doubt he is a great author who makes Indonesians proud, even those who don’t share is ideological leanings. I am re-posting here an old post with slight changes because I think that is what Ross is aiming at in the essence. I apologize for the excessive length but hope it will satisfy dear Ross.

Since many Indonesians in 2008 are still affected by the ‘red scare’………………http://www.indonesiamatters.com/1574/genocide/#comment-69694
Janma Says:
March 17th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Ross, I can’t help but think that all the things you say you are terrified of happening if the ‘Reds’ had gotten power here, happened anyway…. and the ‘Reds’ didn’t do them, the Orde Baru did them….
Newspapers closed down….. yep
Mass Killings…… Yep
Repression, incarceration or murdering of anyone who doesn’t tow the party line…. yep
Using Power to crush dissent… ditto…..
The list goes on.
Have you ever thought that the reason you are like this is because they forced you to read ‘Animal Farm’ over and over in school?
Hannah Says:
March 17th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
rambutan,

you have read nyanyi sunyi seorang bisu? can you tell me where you managed to get that because i would love to be able to buy it too…reading it in english is just not the same.
thanks!
Lairedion Says:
March 17th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
That’s right Mbak Janma,

Totalitarian states engaged in torture, oppression, killing, disappearing of “enemies” and curtailing of press and media, are covered with all kinds of ideologies (fascism, racism, communism, national-socialism, religion-based) but of course only the red ones are evil.

The likes of the fascist junta’s of Latin America of the 70’s and 80’s and Soeharto-ruled Indonesia were friendly to the West and the US in particular so why bother the thousands of killed and disappeared?
nenek sihir Says:
March 18th, 2008 at 7:55 am
‘Gadis pantai’ – the Indonesian version, not the English translation ‘The Girl from the coast’ is compelling, moving and beautifully written from start to finish…but you wouldn’t know that, would you Ross? Would you??? Good idea from another poster to bugger off and get yer own blog and stop using this site as a vehicle for your hateful rantings which border on the ludicrous. Didn’t they get rid of you on the expat site – maybe people here should consider boycotting IM or at least anything written by this sad fool. Beware the latent danger of sounding like an (extremely) stuck record-how much of this rubbish can one person keep churning out!

Hannah, I was in Gramedia and Toko Buku Gunung Agung recently (Bandung stores) and they stock Indonesian and English versions of Pram’s works, but they don’t always have all titles available.
Ross Says:
March 18th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Why do so many of these pinko clowns use Indonesian names to post when they are clearly clapped-out expats?
So now the cry is silence the Right in honour of the unlamented dead of the Left?
Is Indonesia Matters registered as a playpen for semi-educated lefties?
What a tolerant bunch you left-libs are!
And how literate- ‘bugger off..’ Oh dear, Nenek Sihir (nenek2 lampir?)go back to school before you criticise others for their lack of reading.

Yes Janma, Animal Farm was and is a good read. Lots of hard things happened under Suharto, but at least he’s gone -the real ratbags, in Hanoi and Vientiane and Beijing, have not yet been brought to book. May you, even though you are a Grandma, live to see them hung, as neatly as Saddam.
Janma Says:
March 18th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
May you, even though you are a Grandma, live to see them hung, as neatly as Saddam.

I’m only just past 40 ross, so I may outlive the pinkies yet! I thought I already had actually….. as for the ‘neat’ death of saddam…. I’d hate to see your idea of messy.
Ross Says:
March 18th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Wow, what a young grannie! I do apologise for assuming you were a senior cit.
timdog Says:
March 19th, 2008 at 6:36 am
I’m not sure about the character assasination, but I am inclined to agree with Ross when it comes to Pramoedya’s writing – in translation at least. I have reasonable spoken Indonesian, and can read Jawa Pos, but couldn’t begin to make any inroads into “literature”. So perhaps it is Max Lane’s own poor literary abilities that are behind the frankly rather low quality of much of the style and phrase in Pram’s books in English… I suspect not though, given that Lane is surely not responsible for the flaws of structure and characterisation, and also given that some of my literary-minded Indonesian friends have grudgingly conceded that much of Pram’s writing is pretty much unreadable in the original too – certainly compared to some of the younger generation of writers. I’d say for example that – in translation – Ayu Utami is a stunningly good writer in terms of style.

I’ve always thought it a shame that Pramoedya has such a looming, vital status in Indonesian literature and that the Buru Quartet itself casts such a long shadow. It’s a monumental work, with a monumental back-story, but given a detached literary assessment it’s a monumental failure. In my opinion.
Ross Says:
March 19th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
I pause to review the rubbish from ‘nenek sirih’ again- what rot she talks, me ejected from the expat site? I still post there quite often.
And further to my comments on bules who hide behind Indonesian names, presumably to lend credibility to their ‘insights,’ is the nenek a man posting as a gran?
Nenek means grandmother, but a lady would not use abusive talk like ‘bugger off,’ or is she one of those ‘liberated’ wimmin who think its all right for the gentler sex to swear like navvies?
No, of course I didn’t read Red Pram’s stuff in Bahasa Indonesia. I’m okay with Komaps but not that good. However, I didn’t read Tolstoy’s books in Russian and still enjoyed reading, himas with various other Russians, notably Solzhenitsyn, and the excellent Italian, Oriana Fallaci, now there’s a woman for you! I found her English livley, if a bit awry.
And yes, I know the old Commie Pram is dead, as is Jack the Ripper, one hopes, but we don’t mourn that loss. They both had time to repent but never made the effort.
Rob Says:
March 19th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Ross…

An interesting take on Indonesian literature and history!

The facts you present are like statistics; if you choose the right ones and put them together in the right way then they can support any argument that you might want to make…

I have read Pram’s books in Indonesian and in English where they have been translated…Any translation is prone to lose a little something in the translation process as some things just don’t translate well from the original to the target language. But the translations by Max Lane are pretty good and I have not seen any alternatives by other translators floating around. So, for those that do not read Indonesian (and it is one thing to speak Indonesian it is a different ball game when it comes to reading) beyond the Jawa Pos or Kompas then these translations of Pram’s work are a good introduction until such time as you can read the originals in Indonesian and make informed comparisons.

As you have pointed out there are arguments to be made that Pram had some skeletons in the closet but whether those skeletons, real or imagined, completely invalidate his literary opus requires a much more reasoned account than to just write it off as loony leftist, marxist tripe. But when it is all said and done I defend your right to post what you like and where you like within reason (defamation, slander, libel, that sort of thing) and with regard to the prevailing laws and regulations Simply, people do not have to read or respond to you if they don’t want to!

But history shows that Indonesia and all Indonesians continue to pay a price for 30 September 1965…And this price cannot be squarely and solely laid at the feet of the Communists, in fact it is some of Indonesia’s most fervent anti-communists that conceivably have to accept the blame…

Cheers
Patung Says:
March 20th, 2008 at 3:06 am
As you have pointed out there are arguments to be made that Pram had some skeletons in the closet but whether those skeletons, real or imagined, completely invalidate his literary opus requires a much more reasoned account than to just write it off as loony leftist, marxist tripe.

That’s an interesting point, there’s a good article on this The Line Through the Heart.

From the article, I can say two things about Arthur Koestler

1. Koestler often made a nuisance of himself and possibly committed rape.
2. Koestler was a great writer and “Darkness at Noon” is a classic.

Before anyone says that I’m comparing Pram to a rapist, no, the point from the article is that we can hold two seemingly contradictory ideas in our head at the same time and see that they are both true, the one doesn’t cancel the other out.

Ross’s article would have been better without the first paragraph, since as I’m trying to say it distracts from the point and is barely relevant but hey it’s an opinion piece and he can say whatever he likes. And it would have been better if some attempt at fairness had been made, some of Pram’s political record does have some serious blotches and spots but is that the whole story? I doubt it.
Achmad Sudarsono Says:
March 20th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Ok.

Ross. We’ve got it.

You haven’t read the books in Indonesian,

Personally, I think that means you’re talking through your ass. The English language translations just don’t capture the original. The moods, feelings, and ultimately meanings in Pram’s work, I think, are buried in the sounds of the language.

I find it hard to believe you read Tolstoy, because there aren’t any pictures them last time I checked.
Janma Says:
March 21st, 2008 at 10:45 am
Personally, I think saying that you can’t understand Pram’s books from the english translations is similar to people going on about not being able to understand the Koran except in Arabic….. it’s true there is a difference, but it’s not like there is no insight to be had from reading a translation.
I think the main problem with Ross reading Pram’s books is his perception (hate and fear of communists and the author himself) and that colors all he reads, so he only takes what reinforces his view anyway and does not process anything else.