* " HIS - ( THEIR) STORY " FICTION * *=====================================*
On 2 October 2016 at 15:38, 'Sunny' [email protected] [GELORA45] < [email protected]> wrote: > > > *Di NKRI fiksi, dongeng, diulang-ulangkan dalam pemberitaan penguaasa > rezim neo-Mojopahit agar umat percaya dengan maksud menjadi “fakta” > sejarah. * > > http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/09/30/can-fiction- > ever-be-alternative-history.html > > Can fiction ever be an alternative to history? > > - Taufiq Hanafi > > Leiden, The Netherlands | Fri, September 30 2016 | 08:44 am > > In the preface to the textbook *Sejarah Nasional Indonesia *(Indonesian > National History, 1990), historian and former education minister Nugroho > Notosusanto draws a comparison between the coming into being of Indonesian > standardized history and the growth of a single majestic tree. > > He argues that it is deep rooted in the past and can gradually provide a > shade of truth for the nation’s future. Furthermore, its objective and > scientific nature will create nothing but balance and harmony in the > process of national development. > > His analogy, however, is knotty (pun intended). It is knotty especially at > the notion that history is singular, which could imply that other versions > of narratives must not chime in and disrupt the telling of the great > national tale. > > Mind you, that proud Sundanese would object to and feel saddened by > Mohammad Yamin’s historical narrative of Gajah Mada, the prime minister of > the Majapahit Empire, who he constantly glorified as a national hero, > peacemaker and unifier of the Nusantara archipelago. > > *Sang Mokteng Bubat*, a historical roman dubbed factual by many > Sundanese, deals with this issue of singularity, mainly in the constantly > avoided history about relations between Sunda and the Majapahit kingdom. > > It argues that Gajah Mada’s unification was actually the origin of > colonial rule imposed by non-Europeans in the archipelago. But no matter > how historical *Sang Mokteng Bubat* might be, this tale disrupts the > official written history and is, thus, skipped over. > > Similarly, the bleakest moment in our history is passed by in silence. > > Almost all Indonesian written history in Indonesia skips over the mass > killings of the communists and left-wing sympathizers after the aborted > coup blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in 1965. > > Take the obligatory read, *Pendidikan Sejarah Perjuangan Bangsa* (the > History of the National Struggle) for example. We were so accustomed to > this that we thought the historical events presented in the book were all > thorough, truthful and, most importantly, heroic. > > I can clearly recall when my fifth grade teacher had my classmates and I > role play, assuming the roles of heroes in an ongoing plot to crush the > villainous communists. > > We were instructed to show admiration for the Army and the people for > their outstanding success in crushing the September movement of the PKI and > to believe that the anti-communist purge was the right thing to do in order > to support the national struggle and to march toward a just and prosperous > society under Pancasila. > > We were also instructed to believe that Soeharto was a hero who had so > much love and respect for his people and his country. > > This was all clearly stated in the book. As for the massacre, the book > remains silent. > > Never did we learn from history books that the purge meant the butchering > of more than half a million of our brothers and sisters. > > Had I known that crushing the communists could mean plucking out their > nails with pliers, slitting their throats and guts, like what happened to > Adi Rukun’s brother in the movie Look of Silence, I would not have taken > the role of the heartless heroes. > > Clearly, I was misinformed about this, and about many other things. And > clearly, I was not alone. > > It was only years later, when I resorted to reading fiction, that I found > our history textbook was principally used to justify the evil of the regime > and served as a tool to ascribe onto others all wickedness that it did not > wish to recognize in itself. > > The history book was so cleverly crafted that readers were in constant > denial about the genocide. > > Furthermore, readers even became nostalgic about the regime’s heroism and > never found it necessary to unearth the atrocities that it had buried. > > This could be one of the many reasons that reconciliation among us is > never within easy reach. > > In fiction, however, the killings are made clear. Ahmad Tohari in the > *Ronggeng > Dukuh Paruk* (Dancer of Paruk Hamlet) trilogy narrates a description of > the mass killings in Central Java and the close cooperation between the > army and paramilitary groups. > > I personally never knew about this political cooperation until years after > Soeharto fell. > > *Mencoba Tidak Menyerah* (Trying not to Surrender) by Yudhistira ANM > Masardi vividly portrays the systematic massacre and politics of fear > through the eyes of a small boy who is searching for his father after he > was made to disappear due to his affiliation with the communists. > > This too was a piece of information that actually took place but was never > widely studied in schools. > > Ashadi Siregar centers his novel on students who were annihilated by the > army after the aborted coup, while Umar Kayam questions how society has > been dehumanized for not having the courage to address the issue. > > There seems to be a little bit more freedom in literature to speak about > these topics that must not be spoken of. I am now more than interested in > finding the reason that Indonesian fictional works could actually do this. > > But in the beginning, upon finding out things that I had not known before, > I was in some sort of denial. > > I thought there was no way that that fiction could speak the truth and be > historical. But as I read more and more narratives other than the > standardized history, I finally came to the realization that fiction, to > some extent, actually did. > > Literature, according to Hoadley ( 2005 ), can reveal the coercion and > violence exercised by the state over its citizens that has been denied in > the nation’s written history. Fiction replaces the role of history. > > But this does not suggest that the official history, which is dubbed > central, objective and scientific, be sidelined. > > I just find it compulsory that the peripheral, subjective and fictional be > taken into account and analyzed accordingly, because that was the only > access that most Indonesians living under the New Order regime had. > > It could be true that fiction did not serve as a reliable source of > historical information, but neither did Indonesian historical writings. Our > historical writings and fictional works are, anyway, in so many ways > equally fictional. > > If writing history, as suggested by Nugroho Notosusanto, is similar to > growing trees, then let there be more trees and let people learn to choose > which tree gives better shade. > _________________________________ > > *The writer lectures at the School of Arts, Padjadjaran University in > Bandung and works as a researcher at the Graduate School of Humanities, > Leiden University in the Netherlands.* > > >
