Literacy is not merely a matter of being able to read and write or being free from illiteracy. Literacy means understanding and appreciating books as the foundation of modern culture. Indonesia is currently at the best moment to nurture its civilization and humanity through the world of books.
Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press, which enabled the mass production of books, remains one of humanity’s most important discoveries and achievements even today, when humans are inundated with tremendous innovations and technological revolutions such as computers and the internet, DNA and cloning, genetic engineering, and quantum theory. This is because books are what fundamentally shape, build, and develop modern culture. Every new development in science and technology today cannot be separated from the role of books as a medium for recording and documenting it so that its continuity can be maintained.
Books are windows to the world and windows to knowledge. When the modern world bases human superiority over other creatures on their intellect, books become an integral part of that intellect. Psychology recognizes that humans possess various types of intelligence. Among these are linguistic, logical, visual, auditory, kinesthetic, verbal communication, spiritual, and many more. Books are capable of summarizing most of these intelligences, bringing them to light, nurturing them, developing them, and recording them.
Through writing, humans can record their thoughts and choices when dealing with the real world and the world of ideas. These written records can overcome the distortions of space and time to the maximum extent possible, thereby enabling the dissemination of ideas to reach a wider audience. This continues with the emergence of responses that agree, continue, reject, oppose, or blend with other ideas that are completely different.
Although there is a saying that the world cannot be perfectly expressed in words, it is clear that the written word, books, are the best medium for summarizing human rationality and civilization. Books enable the interweaving of various discourses in human life; recording and disseminating them, saving them from possible extinction and oblivion.
Literacy in Indonesia
Despite its significant role in modern culture, books may still be considered foreign objects that are marginalized in Indonesian society. We do not give proper recognition to the fact that in the past, even our ancestors were willing to write down their knowledge and wisdom on stone, animal skins, or wood. We forget that the pioneers of the independence movement used books and print media as tools for advocacy and resistance against the colonizers.
The question that must be asked is where does Indonesian society today place books in their culture and civilization? Or, conversely, how should books transform and play their role in the footsteps of knowledge and the progress of modern Indonesian humanity?
The most fundamental problem in our literacy is the strength of oral tradition and the dark history of the written world in our culture. Social norms and ethics have not yet placed writing as part of civilization. People cannot convey their opinions or personal views only in writing when they have to settle a matter with another party, for example. Or that an invitation letter is not sufficient to invite someone else, let alone a public figure. It is even possible that a court decision, a written text with legal force, has no power when faced with weapons.
In a different aspect, this oral culture is demonstrated by the public’s preference for watching poetry or short story readings rather than reading and enjoying the books themselves. The public also accepts dubbing of foreign films on television without question and ignores the aesthetic and cultural discrepancies that arise from this process of voice dubbing compared to the system of translation in written text. We can also see the tangled fate of books and print media by comparing nominal calculations, namely that the value of our media spending is no more than one-fifth of cigarette spending. It is common for publishers to be grateful that pop music cassettes can sell 500,000 copies in just one week, then more than a million cassettes in three months, while poetry books can sell 1,000 to 3,000 copies in a year. Also, in terms of the number of book titles published each year, it never exceeds the number of pubs, restaurants, and other entertainment venues. Life may indeed be more enjoyable if spent sitting in a cafe, smoking a cigarette, and listening to the melodious voice of a charming singer.
At a deeper level, books and the written traditions of the archipelago’s culture have indeed gone through many dark periods in history. During the era of kingdoms, books were considered part of mythology. Books were written by and for kings, nobles, and other high-caste individuals as part of the legitimization of their power and hegemony of knowledge over the ignorance of the common people. When Western colonialism took over, books became forbidden items that had to be restricted, regulated, and controlled. Western nations knew that books were tools for enlightenment, which made people understand their oppression and their human right to independence. This was evident in the existence and role of the print media and political manifesto books, which were used as the most important tools of struggle by every group and organization during the pioneering days of Indonesian independence.
However, independence and the formation of the Republic of Indonesia did not improve the position of books. Books have not yet become part of the human heritage that underpins modern life. Moreover, books remain confined to their narrow position as part of the hegemony of power and politics. This policy was mainly carried out by the New Order government through the banning of mass media, the prohibition of books, and even the distortion of historical writing.
Reform and Leftist Books
And then Indonesia experienced a terrible storm. Crises occurred in all areas of life: monetary, economic, political, social, ethnic, cultural, and so on. The reforms that overthrew the military-led New Order government did not immediately lead to a situation conducive to a better, more democratic and humane, just and prosperous life. However, optimism for overcoming these trials must continue to be nurtured. The vitality that always exists within society must be maintained and developed. This also applies to the world of books.
Contrary to the prevailing assumption that the reading culture and literacy of society do not yet have a solid and encouraging foundation, the publishing world has experienced a remarkable revival during this crisis. With the collapse of government repression and hegemony, print media and book publishers have sprung up, bringing with them a diversity of visions and aspirations of society. Books, as the basis of modern culture, have found their true role and position amid the struggle to overcome the crisis affecting various aspects of life. This can be seen in the emergence of many new publishers, the diversity of book themes published, the emergence of young authors, and the popularity of translated books. Apart from the idealistic debate over the vision of publishers and the quality of the books published, this phenomenon is something to be welcomed. The beginning of the collapse of the New Order government marked the emergence of books that raised political discourse. Sensitive themes that were previously forbidden became sought after. Critical views of Suharto’s political administration and forward-looking perspectives in line with the euphoria of reform, which was hoped to bring about an ideal democratic and just society, were the main themes of books in the early days of the publishing world’s revival.
This phenomenon continued with the publication of books with leftist themes. People who had long been powerless under the repressive New Order government seemed to be looking for ways to express their resistance and freedom. Thus, even though the MPRS decree prohibiting the spread of Marxism-Leninism or communism was still in effect and the Attorney General’s Office had not yet lifted the ban on the distribution of books considered leftist, such as the works of Pramoedya Ananta Toer, these types of books were widely published and freely available in bookstores.
In line with the intense political atmosphere, the public also expanded their reading horizons. This led to the phenomenon of Kahlil Gibran, dozens of whose works were translated and published in various versions. All of them sold well and fueled the growth of many new publishers. After that, diversity truly flourished in the world of books. These new readers devoured everything that publishers put out: Naquib Mahfouz novels, Sufism, religion, the Chicken Soup series, Japanese comics, Harry Potter children’s novels, short story collections, practical management and marketing tips, popular psychology, literary books by female authors, as well as books on education and feminism.
Looking Ahead
Momentum for the Indonesian book industry has emerged within society. Growing interest in reading and purchasing power, publishers’ freedom to bring new ideas to the fore, and a population of over 200 million that is still very open to being developed as potential readers should fuel optimism about the existence of books as the foundation of modern civilization and culture.
In the early stages of this revival, there are many issues that we can observe. For example, there is fierce competition among publishers with little respect for copyright, low appreciation for authors, translators and publishing workers, and a lack of distribution, among other things. Society also still has much to learn in terms of accepting the diversity of book types and learning to live in a democracy: diverse choices also involve tolerance, broadening horizons, and reading material that must be of increasingly high quality.
*) This article was published in Matabaca Vol. 1/No. 12, August 2003.
