aspiring writers the country aim to make a big splash in the largest book festival in the next year world.
Did you know a literary renaissance is taking place here in Indonesia? Last year, the organizers of the Frankfurt Book Fair International, the largest book fair in the world took note, and next year, Indonesia will be the guest of honor of the fair, an opportunity Unique showcase its authors to an audience of more than 300,000 participants and thousands of international media. In fact, this is the first time a country of Southeast Asia has never been selected for the honor.
Coming out of the dark
During the Soeharto era, Indonesia was subjected to draconian restrictions on freedom of speech and expression. edition to strict rules have left little space for writers to explore new topics. Challenging the government has become the reason for the crackdown, as the case of the most famous modern Indonesian writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer, the trends and the socialist critique writing led to his imprisonment. His most famous work, The Buru Quartet , was first told orally while he languished in prison island of Buru, where for years he n has not even been granted access to pen and paper.
In the 16 years since the fall of Suharto in 1998, Indonesia has undergone dramatic democratic transformation, and today is often considered the most dynamic democracy South East Asia. Similarly, the literary scene saw a similar bargain.
"Since the fall of Suharto in 1998, many writers have changed tactics and adopted an approach more in-your-face," said John H. McGlynn, president and co -founder of the Lontar Foundation based in Jakarta.
Pamuntjak Laksmi, whose book the issue of Red just released in English this year, agrees "the rhetoric of anti-communism as a pretext for state terrorism began to lose its power. therefore, he inaugurated a new thirst for alternative readings not only the myriad harms the Suharto regime, but also anti-communist massacres of 1965-1966. "
The diversity of stories
another example is Okky Madasari which Khatulistiwa Literary Award winning novel Maryam explored how the followers of religious minority is trying to survive the oppression of the majority and dominant opinion. such a bold subject would have been unthinkable before 1998, and shows how the country has evolved in such a period of time.
The most famous contemporary Indonesian author Andrea Hirata, whose novel Laskar Pelangi has been translated into 19 languages and has been made into a popular film, still one of the highest grossing films of Indonesia ever. Hirata believes that its success opens the door to more of its citizens to tell their stories to an eager global audience.
vague So besides Hirata, why not literary renaissance done abroad Indonesia?
One reason is the relative obscurity of Indonesia worldwide. This means that Indonesian culture - including its diversity -. Is unknown in countries that dominate the global edition
Adding to the challenge is that the best markets in the world, the US and the UK, do not leave space market lot for translated literature. According to the University of Rochester translation program, only a meager 3% of sales literature books on the US market are translations, and even that is dominated by a few global well known authors like Gabriel or Harumi Murakami Garcia Marquez.
However, Kate Griffin, director of the international program at the British Centre for Literary Translationbelieves that open new opportunities for writers. "The number of books published in translation increased steadily in the UK. This means it is a good time for Indonesia to promote literature for publishers in other countries," adding that his organization worked directly with Indonesian writers and publishers to bring their works to new markets. In addition, Griffin believes that the appointment of Indonesia in Frankfurt could be a turning point, citing the government's efforts to translate the work ahead of the festival.
For the sake of inspiring young writers in this country, we hope that Griffin is right. If all goes well, and the Government of Indonesia supported Frankfurt, perhaps in the coming years we will see more Indonesian works available in different languages in international bookstores worldwide.