Books and Reading Culture

Kompas reported (6/5/2022) that the Covid-19 pandemic had increasingly hit book sales and the reading culture in Indonesia. It is not easy to encourage parents and children to develop an interest in reading and have an affinity for books. With the pandemic eroded the people’s purchasing power, they saw buying books or other reading sources as being at the bottom of their priorities. After all, inviting children to enjoy books in the library or bookstore has not been a common practice for parents in Indonesia.

Inquisitions about the declining reading culture and affinity for books in this country are not new. In Nusa Jawa: Silang Budaya (Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 1996), professor Denys Lombard, a French scholar with expertise in Indonesian history, notes that Indonesians generally read very little. There are two reasons: The first is the low literacy rate and the second is the aversion to individual activities. For most Indonesians, reading is a culture of individualism.

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It also needs to be noted that nusantara's (archipelagic) literary activities are traditionally collective in nature, with stories being imparted to a group of listeners orally. Even though speakers of local oral traditions have been slipping away and being replaced by newsreaders and comedians on television or Tik Tok activists on social media, oral or speech transmission has become part of a collective social tradition. Lombard says reading in a soft voice to oneself in silence and solitude is completely against the ideal (of reading).

Myths and their various symbols, which flourished particularly in the era of the wayang (shadow puppet) tradition, have survived in the era of social media.

It is not surprising that very few Indonesians read modern literary works. The attitude toward reading is not the same as in Europe. Every educated European is eager about great contemporary romances, while their Indonesian counterparts will not shy away from saying that he or she has never spared time to peruse great works of literature. People in this country seem to be much more infatuated with mystical stories, gossip, rumors and chattering. Myths and their various symbols, which flourished particularly in the era of the wayang (shadow puppet) tradition, have survived in the era of social media.

Cultural activities to foster an affinity for book reading have long been initiated by communities and individuals. In the 1970s, Ajip Rosidi established Pustaka Jaya, a literary publishing company seeking to instill an appetite and habit of reading, especially among children. Being concerned about low literacy interest, Ajip wanted to catch up and even exceed what Balai Pustaka had achieved during the colonial era. His efforts received appreciation, apart from the limited results (Lombard, 1996:195).

The literacy rate has relatively increased in the last two decades. Unfortunately, visual culture (television) and digital culture (internet) have been too dominant to help drive the reading culture. In some ways, it is part of the barriers to reading culture. In such circumstances, literary books are still published with a relatively small circulation, and the number of newspaper readers do not grow much compared to the increase in the population of Indonesia. On the hand, the arising digital literature has yet to bear results.

This month of May marks two important anniversary days, National Education Day on May 2 and National Book Day on May 17, the latter also celebrated as the National Library Day. These two anniversary days are closely related to books as a medium to develop the nation's culture and education.

If books are considered cultural products, the decline in the book and reading culture is partly rooted in the reading attitude among the elite and communities. This can be seen whether or not those among educated circles, government officials or politicians, as well as the general public show their interest in reading.

Among the educated, a low reading habit is also shown by some lecturers or teachers. University and school students will read only as part of working on task assignments, not as a sign of self-awareness to update their knowledge. It’s no wonder that strange programs have emerged, such as Program Percepatan Guru Besar (professor-producing acceleration program). The idea about finding shortcuts to give instant results clearly permeates from a low reading environment, which more or less affects academic quality in Indonesia. A low reading culture comes across as "Googlization", an instant reference search that has weakened literary perusal-reliant research culture and increasingly hampered efforts to build a tradition of obtaining systematic knowledge accumulation.

Such an opinion backfires at times given common practices, in which some officials in this country go to university for an academic degree while they already serve in office.

Among the government’s elite and politicians, views are that reading is just a theorizing activity. They might see educating people in universities as no more dignified an undertaking than exercising practical politics. Because it's just theorizing, reading is not seen as noble activity! Such an opinion backfires at times given common practices, in which some officials in this country go to university for an academic degree while they already serve in office.

This way of thinking leaves today’s elite political discourses in this country not as developed in quality as those in past generations. Political speeches in the Soekarno-Hatta era did not lose their context and actualization coupled with intelligent quotes from various world's great thinkers, such discourses testifying to the high culture of reading and appreciation for books.

The substantive dearth of political and academic discourses also reflects the pathetic reading culture in society. Books are still considered an exclusive item. How can we grow a book culture if, for most Indonesian families, the household budget for mobile phone credit far overweighs that for books?

Book digitization has intensified since the 2000s, and for commercial purposes, several publishers have presented digital book packaging in appealing picture format and highlighted visual nuances. These efforts have attracted a growing new generation of writers and readers. However, as reported by Kompas, the reading culture generally remains stagnant, if not backward.

It demands revitalized efforts to shape the future of reading habits and book culture in this country. Of course, it is not like “turning the palm of the hand” in face of virtual snobbism, in which the current generation finds more affinity for surfing on social media. That may be why some celebrities, politicians, religious preachers and even scientists prefer to become YouTubers or influencers as the post-book generation is growing to indulge in virtual presentations.

KOMPAS/MOHAMMAD HILMI FAIQ

Idi Subandy Ibrahim

IDI SUBANDY IBRAHIM, Culture, Media and Communication Researcher; Postgraduate Lecturer, Pasundan University

(This article was translated by Musthofid)