The
world in the 21st century is apparently vulnerable to political,
economic, social and cultural dynamics since the so called “development “was
achieved instantly by putting political ethics aside. The universe is getting
deeper alienated from its inhabitants, the forests are cultivated
uncontrollably that leads to natural disasters, drought and flood, while
communities are deprived of their lands.
Meanwhile, educational activities tend to overlook locally inherited cultural aspects, special needs and uniqueness. Economic policies, on the other face of the coin, exclude the rights of the poors and the weaks, while political conflicts have caised bloodshed, war, death, loss and emasculate the law. Corruptions are commonplace either in developing or less developed countries, and many countries are ignoring the fulfillment of the poor’s basic human rights. And the most crucial issues are the fading consciousness of humanity and other fundamental issues. Under such circumstances, the worst affected are women;[1] they are forced to be human shield in armed conflict and the subject of conquest[2] (see: Serbia[3], Nepal[4], Africa[5], Aceh[6], etc), suffering from severe poverty[7] and more.
Meanwhile, educational activities tend to overlook locally inherited cultural aspects, special needs and uniqueness. Economic policies, on the other face of the coin, exclude the rights of the poors and the weaks, while political conflicts have caised bloodshed, war, death, loss and emasculate the law. Corruptions are commonplace either in developing or less developed countries, and many countries are ignoring the fulfillment of the poor’s basic human rights. And the most crucial issues are the fading consciousness of humanity and other fundamental issues. Under such circumstances, the worst affected are women;[1] they are forced to be human shield in armed conflict and the subject of conquest[2] (see: Serbia[3], Nepal[4], Africa[5], Aceh[6], etc), suffering from severe poverty[7] and more.
The
mentioned above conditions raised the needs for responsible solution to avoid
the human civilization and humanity from declining. In response to the needs,
what role we should play in cultural movement? What can poets do to save human
civilization?
Civilization and Cultural Movement
Cultural
discourse is not really new. Since our childhood days, we have been taught to
live in civility. We were taught not to be greed, to be mean and cruel, to be
annoying and not to hurt others. We all grew up into these cultural virtues.
Rather than a set of jargon, these moral standards have meaningful values and
signify our humanity.
According
to E.B. Tylor (1871)[8],
culture involves human activities, including knowledges, beliefs, arts, moral,
rules, customs and human habits. Harris (1999)[9]
expanded the definition with learning process by which human race developed
their thinking and behaviour. Both definitions indicates the importance of
culture in regaining humanity and human civilization.
These
are the contexts in which cultural movement should be discussed towards
dignifying solutions for problems of humanity in accordance with principles of
tolerance, highest respect to diversity and peace, reducing selfishness,
strengthen solidarity and participation and enlightening.
Like
starting new life, the healing of human civilization needs to commence with
reconstructing the thinking and opening our hearts to local cultural values,
principles of humanistic religions, equality and justice. Diversity may lead to conflict, however this
is not something to avoid but to manage in peaceful ways. Conflicts are needed
in life to sharpen our sensitiveness and accelerate the dynamics of the
thoughts.
Within
the contexts of differences in beliefs, race and nationality, in the middle of
global financial frenzy, amongst various conflict resolutions, human dignity is
examined, put at stake and being fought for. Could these differences bring
justice for all? Will the flow of wealth be be distributed fairly instead of
enrich the few out of many? Does the development involve all parties, including
women? This is the spirit of the culture, when the heart and mind are tested
with power and opportunities, when differences are widening.
The
test are in different levels, from households, relationship, workplace,
government to international relations. Therefore, it is necessary to heal the
civilization by adopting cultural approach, leaving overvalued jargon behind
and putting political ethics in the first place.
Life
can be even more beautiful with mutual understanding and respect. It can also
be meaningful with sharing and complementing each other. It is the time to
celebrate diversity, to savour our culture, and to maximize the use of our
heart and mind.
How
can all these matters be reconstructed and developed? Studies have been carried
out, many reports have been published in books, seminars and conferences but
this critical situation seems to be unchanged. This is our time to look at our
language and literature.
Poets and Language
As a
matter of fact, healing our civilization is never an easy work to do. Poets are
human, neither a prophet nor God. However, they have been an important part in
cultural movement. They are there to tell the truth and to question the world
with the very heart, to sharpen our humanity and to revive our sensitiveness,
to voice the voiceless, to bring clarity and to wash the haze away. The may
take us to revisit our life in spiritual way, to weave the scattered piece of
events with colourful language and metaphores, analogy and heartmoving words.
Centuries ago, Aristotle described
poetry as the mimesis of the world.[10]
Modern day scientists, namely Abrams and Riceour, follow his track in studying
literature and the culture thru written works. While Abrams[11]
offered mimetic approach, a referential aspect of literature and the real
world, Ricoeur[12]
said that poetry is the best embodiment of the concept of to be-in-the world.
Let’s see the following poems by
Indonesian poet, WS Rendra;
“menghisap sebatang lisong/melalui
Indonesia Raya/mendengar 130 juta rakyat/dan di langit dua tiga cukung
mengangkang/berak di atas kepala mereka/matahari terbit/fajar tiba/dan aku
melihat delapan juta kanak-kanak/tanpa pendidikan/aku bertanya/tetapi
pertanyaan-pertanyaanku/membentur meja kekuasaan yang macet/dan
papantulis-papantulis para pendidik/yang terlepas dari persoalan kehidupan.” (“Sajak
Sebatang Lisong”).[13]
Lighting
a cigar/thru Indonesia Raya/listen to 130 million people/two or three birds
squatting/dropping feces on their head/the sun rises/the day breaks/and I see
eight million kids/without schooling/I ask question/that hits the table of
authority, gigantic and stuck/and the blackboards in the classrooms/are
separated from the problems in real life (A Stick of Cigar Poem)
“Angin gunung turun merembes ke
hutan/lalu bertiup di atas permukaan kali yang luas/dan akhirnya berumah di
daun-daun tembakau/kemudian hatinya pilu/melihat jejak-jejak para
petani-buruh/yang terpacak di atas tanah gembur/namun tidak memberi kemakmuran
bagi penduduknya.” (Sajak Burung-burung Kondor)[14].
Mountain
wind blows, permeates the dense forest/moves over the river/and finally resides
in tobacco leaves/and in her heart was only blue/seeing the fottprint of
peasant-worker/carved in fertile land/giving no wealth to the people (A Poem of
The Condors)
Those
two poems cited above strongly reflect the reality of a chaotic country with
massive poverty and unawareness of the issue. That is how Rendra express his
mind about injustice in Indonesia, a political context that remains untill
today. Now let me share poems of Jalaluddin Rumi and Dato’ Dr. Kemala:
“The
springtime of Lovers has come/that this dust bowl may become a garden/the
proclamation of heaven has come/that the bird of the soul may rise in flight/the
sea becomes full of pearls/the salt mars becomes sweet as kauthar/the stones
becomes a ruby from the mine/the body becomes wholly soul.” (Jalaluddin Rumi)[15]
“Suatu
bunyi suatu lengking kecil/bangun menyapa/renung diri!/suatu bisik suatu risik nyaman/mendepani
hening sepi/meditasi!” (Dato’ Dr. Kemala[16])
The citations above gave us a thought to ponder
about tafakkur and the strong desire
to be in solitude with God and eternity and personal discovery. In love of the
God, there’s nothing to fear, nothing seems too hard to handle.
Now, let’s see how women express their mind in words
and literature:
“In love/nothing exists between heart
and heart/speech is born out of longing/true description from the real
taste/the one who tastes/knows;/the one who explains, lies/how can you describe
the true from of something/in whose presence youe are blotted out?/and in whose
being you still exist?/and who lives as a sign for your journey.” (Rabia al Basri: Reality)[17]
“…who
makes me know all men will leave me/if I love them/father who made me a
maverick/a writer/a namer” (Diane Wakoski: “The Father of My Country”)[18]
“when
she died/a man saw white doves/fly from her mouth” (Eileen Myles: “Joan”)”[19]
The
differences are quite obvious between those works by women and that of Rendra,
Rumi and Dato’ Kemala. It all highlights the fact of different voices to come
out from real life that leads us to discussion about civilization and
solidarity. This is the essence of poet’s voice when women are playing the
drum.
Conclusion
Poems
are the calling of the soul. Poems are about life and it gives life, and the
voice of the poets are key in reading, cultivasting and weaving our life and
preserving humanity. At this point, we know the importance of the poets in
resolving the crisis of the 21st century. May their voices echo
throughout the world. With poems we humanize others. With poetry, children,
teenagers, adults, elderlies, males and females
are able to voice the life and to live up the culture with their own way
and language.
(*Some ideas in this paper are previously
published in Aceh Independen Daily, March, 2009).
Reference
Abrams, M.H.,
1999. A Glossary A Literary Term, 7th
Edition. Boston: Heinle & Heinle
Ahmad Kamal Abdullah, 2011, Meditasi Dampak 70, Kuala Lumpur, Insandi Sdn Bhd.
E.B. Taylor, E.B., 1971. Primitive Culture. J. Murray, London.
Deepak Chopra, Deepak (Ed), 1998. The Love Poems of Rumi. New York: Random
House, Inc.
Djohar, Zubaidah, 2009. Questioning peace: is there a justice for women the victim of sexual
assault? Banda Aceh: Aceh Institute Press.
Harris, Marvin, 1999, Theories of Culture in Postmodern Times. New York: Altamira Press.
Ricoeur, Paul. 2009. Hermeneutika Ilmu Sosial. Yogyakarta: Kreasi Wacana.
Rendra, 1996, Potret
Pembangunan dalam Puisi, Jakarta, Penerbit Pustaka Jaya.
Moore, Honor, 2009.
Poets From The Women’s Movement.
PoetryDaily. USA: Literacy Classics of the United.
---------
ICRC, 2012. Nepal:
Women from Opposing Sides of The Conflict. http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/news-footage/2012/nepal-tvnews-2012-03-06.htm
Jonathan D, Quick and Mayssa El Khazen, June 2010.
Injustice, Impact, Inspiration: Women, The MDGs, and Faith. CCIH
Annual Conference. http://www.ccih.org/Women-MDGs-Faith-JQuick-MElKhazen-CCIH-June2010.pdf
Maria Villelas Arino, June 2008. Nepal a Gender View of the Armed Conflict
and The Peace Process. http://escolapau.uab.cat/img/qcp/nepal_conflict_peace.pdf
2004. Rabia Al Basri Poem. PoemHunter.Com-The
World’s Poetry Archive. http://www.poemhunter.com/i/ebooks/pdf/rabia_al_basri_2004_9.pdf
The Forgotten Frontline: The Effects of War on Women. http://www.rescue.org/forgotten-frontline-effects-war-women
The Hunger Project. Empowering Women as Key Change Agents. http://www.thp.org/what_we_do/program_overview/empowering_women?gclid=CKT85fiIzbICFQV66wod_CEAQg
[1] Jonathan D, Quick and Mayssa El Khazen, Injustice, Impact, Inspiration: Women, The MDGs, and Faith. CCIH
Annual Conference. June 2010 http://www.ccih.org/Women-MDGs-Faith-JQuick-MElKhazen-CCIH-June2010.pdf
[2] The Forgotten Frontline: The
Effects of War on Women. http://www.rescue.org/forgotten-frontline-effects-war-women
[3] Human Right Watch. World
Report 2012: Serbia. http://www.hrw.org/world-report-2012/serbia
[4] ICRC, Nepal: Women from
Opposing Sides of The Conflict. 2012 http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/news-footage/2012/nepal-tvnews-2012-03-06.htm
[5] Maria Villelas Arino, June 2008. Nepal a Gender View of the Armed Conflict and The Peace Process. http://escolapau.uab.cat/img/qcp/nepal_conflict_peace.pdf
[6] Zubaidah Djohar, Questioning
peace: is there a justice for women the victim of sexual assault? Banda
Aceh: Aceh Institute Press. 2009.
[7] The Hunger Project. Empowering
Women as Key Change Agents. http://www.thp.org/what_we_do/program_overview/empowering_women?gclid=CKT85fiIzbICFQV66wod_CEAQg
[8] E.B. Taylor, Primitive
Culture. J. Murray, London, 1971.
[9] Marvin Harris, Theories of
Culture in Postmodern Times. New York:
Altamira Press, 1999.
[10] M.H. Abrams, A Glossary A Literary Term, 7th Edition. Boston: Heinle
& Heinle, 1999.
[11] Idem
[12] Paul Ricoeur, Hermeneutika Ilmu Sosial. Yogyakarta:
Kreasi Wacana, 2009.
[13] Rendra, Potret Pembangunan
dalam Puisi, Jakarta, Penerbit Pustaka Jaya, 1996.
[14] Idem
[15] Deepak Chopra (Ed), The Love
Poems of Rumi. New York: Random House, Inc, 1998.
[16] Ahmad Kamal Abdullah, Meditasi Dampak 70, Kuala
Lumpur, Insandi Sdn Bhd, 2011.
[17] Rabia al Basri, Rabia Al Basri Poem. PoemHunter.Com-The
World’s Poetry Archive, 2004. http://www.poemhunter.com/i/ebooks/pdf/rabia_al_basri_2004_9.pdf
[18] Honor Moore, Poets From The
Women’s Movement. PoetryDaily. USA: Literacy Classics of the United.
States, Inc, 2009. http://www.loa.org/images/pdf/304/Honor_Moore_interview.pdf
[19] Ibid.,
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