During the Covid-19 pandemic, literary communities in various regions remain active in holding literary events albeit in virtual spaces. Literature is moving in a new direction that is called a grassroots movement.
By
BUDI SUWARNA, ELSA EMIRIA LEBA, MOHAMMAD HILMI FAIQ, DWI AS SETIANINGSIH
·6 minutes read
ARSIP LAKOAT KUJAWAS
Suasana lokakarya musikalisasi puisi yang dilakukan oleh anak-anak Lakoat.Kujawas di Mollo Utara, Timor Tengah Selatan, Nusa Tenggara Timur. Lakoat.Kujawas, didirikan oleh Dicky Senda pada 2016, merupakan kewirasahaan sosial yang fokus pada pengembangan pendidikan, kebudayaan, dan ekonomi kreatif masyarakat lokal. ARSIP LAKOAT KUJAWAS 05-02-2022
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Literary communities have flourished in various parts of the country during the last several years. These communities are moving in a new direction, namely as part of the literacy movement and empowerment of the people at the grassroots level.
This community consists of various groups, ranging from children, adults, students, employees in urban areas, to housewives in the village. Observers see this as a symptom of literary democratization that can lead to the birth of various alternative discourses.
Literary communities have emerged in West Sulawesi. Dahri Dahlan, a literary writer of Mandar said on Thursday (3/3/2022) that there were at least 13 literary communities in West Sulawesi that involved many people from various walks of life, including migrant workers. Some communities, especially those engaged in theatre, have existed since 1990. Others have just emerged in the 2000s.
The emergence of these communities was followed by an increase in the publication of literary books in 2015. “Suddenly the people in West Sulawesi seemed to be competing to write and publish story books. Literary activities have become a lifestyle," he said.
Dahri is the author of a Mandar children's story called the Story of Samariona, which was adapted into a drama (podcast) by Teater Koma.
From the passion for literature in West Sulawesi, Dahri said, new writers emerged and mostly worked on specific issues. One of them was Nasmawati Nahar, who focused on writing stories of women and migrant workers who became victims of violence, he said.
Meanwhile, in North Mollo, South Central Timor, East Nusa Tenggara, there is a literary community called the Lakoat Kujawas community, which was established and initiated by Dicky Senda. The community, which started in a small library, has many members consisting of at least 200 children and 50 adults spread across several villages, such as Taiftob and Obesi.
Through various writing trainings, community members have succeeded in producing various books with stories based on local traditions, legends and Mollo fables. They also collected photos of Mollo and Mollo's culinary recipes and then uploaded them on social media.
Bendipustaka Paqissangang
One of the activities of Bendilibrary Paqissagang, Polewali Mandar, West Sulawesi. A very young girl reads one of the poems by our famous poet, Chairil Anwar, which is compiled in the book "AKU".".
Dicky said that in the past many young people did not know the history, culture and narrative of Mollo and now they had learned a lot . "Art and culture have become a bridge between the young and old generations because they touch feelings and souls, and are also relevant to life," said Dicky.
In Banggai regency, Central Sulawesi, a literary community called the Babasal Mombasa community has also rapidly gown. Babasal is an acronym for the three tribes in Banggai, namely Banggai, Balantak and Saluan. As for Mombasa, it means reading. Ama Achmad, the founder of the Babasal Mombasa community, said the community was formed as a marker of Banggai's cultural identity.
The community regularly documents daily events taking place in Banggai in written form and regularly holds poetry readings. It also plans to publish literary books in the regency, which does not yet have a bookstore.
A similar movement has also emerged in Madura. One of them is the Women's Reading Community, which was founded by Iffah Hannah in 2016. In the community, women from various backgrounds and ages are encouraged to share stories from the books they read and discuss social issues that are often faced by women. Some members regularly write about their experiences on community websites in various writing genres.
In Solok, West Sumatra, the Gubuak Kopi movement was established in 2012. The community, initiated by Albert Rahman Putra, has documented many things about Solok through the Kampuang Vlog program. This campaign was enthusiastically welcomed by the people of Solok by sending documentation of social portraits and contemporary faces of Solok. Until now, there have been around 3,000 uploads on the Instagram account @solokmilikwarga.
The community also regularly publishes books and holds art and literature projects. It has also trained 100 young writers who have become its members. "We want to build a narrative about Solok with various methods," said Albert.
ARSIP LAKOAT KUJAWAS
Children in the Lakoat Kujawas community perform traditional dances from Timor, East Nusa Tenggara. The children are from Taiftob Village, North Mollo, South Central Timor..
During the Covid-19 pandemic, literary community activities in various regions continue even though they are often held in virtual spaces. From remote areas in Indonesia, they hold a webinar on literary writing or literary discussions on IG Live, even virtual residencies.
The Women’s Reading Community, for example, held an IG Live to share experiences about novel writing by presenting Khilma Anis, the author of Hati Suhita, whose circulation has almost reached 90,000 copies through self-selling.
Literary democratization
Nirwan Arsuka, literary observer and initiator of the Literacy Program for the Mobile Library, saw the emergence of communities in recent years as an interesting phenomenon because there is a kind of democratization of literature. The members of the communities are not only well-established writers, but also people who initially did not have much contact with the literary world.
“This has actually taken place since a long time ago, but friends in such communities have been fluent in using literature as a cultural or political expression. They use literature not for the individual ego, but for the collective. This trend is widespread in many areas far from Java," Nirwan said on Wednesday (3/3).
Such a phenomenon, continued Nirwan, was important because it led to the emergence of new narratives packaged in various mediums, ranging from written texts, drama performances, comics, to films. The perspective they use was quite different from the common perspective in looking at regional problems.
This trend is widespread in many areas far from Java.
Nirwan saw that there were several factors that pushed this phenomenon. First, the ease of obtaining and disseminating information in the digital era. Second, the growth of indie publications in various regions. Third, there is an awareness among the local literary community that they must have an authentic voice. “Now the voices of the periphery are considered important and are increasingly valued. It encourages friends to explore local narratives," he said.
The passion for literature in the region, continued Nirwan, had produced many unique works. "Regarding works that have high quality, we just have to wait," he said.
This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.
