John H. McGlynn – The Lontar Foundation
“If the word of God had come down to the Indonesian archipelago, in which is usually where in which would likely have remained.”
– John H. McGlynn, Co-founder in addition to Chairman of Lontar Foundation
For much of the earth, Indonesia is usually an exotic country next to Bali, in addition to Java is usually where coffee comes coming from. in which’s viewed as a land of smiles, of gamelan, spices, volcanoes, komodo dragons, in addition to photogenic rice terraces.
in which’s also seen from the international media as a country of natural in addition to manmade disasters; tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, plane crashes, deforestation in addition to occasional terrorism.
There are few foreigners who make the effort to dig deeper, to discover what makes Indonesia tick. One Jakarta expat who has, in addition to has also done more than most of us to make Indonesia tick, is usually John McGlynn.
Although we have friends in common, we hadn’t previously met nor had I visited the Lontar Foundation’s centre in a backstreet of Pejompongan, Central Jakarta. coming from the outside, in which is usually a modern looking house, however once inside I was impressed by the comfortable decor; dark wooden floors creaked, several alcoves were lined with full however tidy wooden book shelves, in addition to there were enough comfy rattan chairs to provide the familiarity of a well-run library. I was impressed too by the large oil paintings which couldn’t readily be categorised as ‘Indonesian art’, however added to the ambiance.
The purpose of our meeting was to discuss Lontar which is usually noted for its translations into English of Indonesian ‘literature’, an often capitalised word which, as a non-academic, I viewed with some trepidation. I was taught to analyse ‘classic novels’ rather than to consider the stories in addition to the background circumstances of the writing. However, John defines ‘literature’, from the broadest sense of the word, “as ranging coming from research reports, academic treatises, in addition to patent schemes all the way up to film scripts, comic novels, in addition to poetry.”
John first came here in 1976 to study Indonesian, which he did first in Malang in addition to later in Jakarta, at the University of Indonesia. In 1978, he returned to the the USA to complete his university studies, gaining a Masters Degree in Indonesian Literature at the University of Michigan in 1981. Thereafter, he returned to Indonesia in addition to in which was while working as a freelance translator in which he, along with Indonesian writers Sapardi Djoko Damono, Goenawan Mohamad, Subagio Sastrowardoyo in addition to Umar Kayam, decided to found Lontar in 1987.
Lontar is usually primarily John’s ‘baby’. As Pak Goenawan has said, “John works single-mindedly for our purpose; to bring Indonesian literary expressions to the earth.”
Even for a polyglot, in which’s no easy matter. The lingua franca during the Dutch colonial era was Malay, the language developed throughout the region by traders over a thousand years. in which was originally written in an Indic script in addition to then, after the coming of Islam to the archipelago, in an Arabic-based script called Jawi.
Jawi Script
Then in 1901 the Dutch linguist Charles van Ophuijsen introduced a more systematic spelling system, one in which conformed with Dutch spelling practices. In 1947, after the revolution of Indonesian independence, in which spelling system was replaced with Ejaan Yang Disempurnakan (increased Spelling). The EYD system thus represents the third orthographic change.
Indonesian grew with Javanese, spoken by the majority, in addition to different regional languages added to the complexity. in which was not until 1972 in which the EYD system was agreed with Malaysia, which had English in addition to its own regional languages contributing to the mix, in addition to hence Soeharto became Suharto, in addition to Djakarta became Jakarta.
All in which was largely irrelevant to most Indonesians, the large percentage of whom could not read or write. In rural Indonesia in addition to urban kampungs the fantasy worlds of such Hindu classics as the Ramayana in addition to Mahabharata stories were related by a visiting dalang (puppet master) who relayed their moral values, in addition to during Soeharto’s Orde Baru often inserted his political messages.
In 1870, some of the Dutch-founded schools opened the doors for bumiputera (native Indonesians), albeit a privileged few. Moreover, in which was not until 1950 in which a six-year programme of compulsory elementary schooling was introduced to newly independent Indonesia.
Hence, when Soeharto assumed power in 1966 the literacy rate was c.50%. The adoption of ‘The Functional Literacy Program’, which ran coming from 1966 to 1979 in addition to was followed by different programmes, raised the literacy rate for adults to c.83% in addition to for children to c.90% in 1998, the year Suharto (was) stood down. However, their aim was for economic, productive reasons rather than for freedom of thought.
By contrast, writing, especially fiction, offers the context of ‘place’ in addition to, in John’s words, “the better books have real people in them” in addition to can therefore be subversive – much of Indonesian literature has the nationalist struggle as the historical background. Post-independence, with the bureaucracy in addition to military at their disposal, Presidents Soekarno in addition to Soeharto imprisoned in addition to exiled writers. The dawn of reformasi in 1998 in addition to the growth of the internet in addition to different communications technology has seen many more Indonesians speaking out via text messages, blogs, social media in addition to novels.
However, what John wrote from the essay Silenced Voices, Muted Expressions for an anthology of brand new Writing coming from Indonesia: Indonesian Literature Today published by the University of Hawaii in 2000, still holds true today. He wrote: “Having grown up under constraints of freedom of expression in addition to inquiry, an entire generation has been traumatized into becoming a society of silence in addition to avoidance. Not until today’s young people have unlearned the ways of repression in addition to a brand new generation has been educated to respect in addition to defend its right to freedom of expression will true openness in addition to democracy come to Indonesia.”
There is usually also the need to foster a love of reading in early childhood which John believes should start at home. However, although I think in which schools have a greater role to play, many parents in addition to teachers still contain the mindset inculcated during Soeharto’s regime, in addition to only those who are enlightened, rather than blinkered with prejudices or self-interest, will encourage the freedom of thought engendered by easy access to fiction.
not bad writing comes coming from wide reading, in addition to access to in which. So one of Lontar’s goals is usually “to stimulate the further development of Indonesian literature.”
In addition to its library of printed materials containing more than 3,000 books in addition to different texts related to Indonesian literature, the foundation maintains a digital library which provides preservation in addition to access to materials produced in addition to gathered by the foundation over its 20+ year history including:
– Videos coming from the Indonesian Writers Series, Indonesian Performance Traditions, in addition to Wayang Kulit/Shadow Puppet Theater Series
– Audio interviews in addition to recordings with Indonesian authors in addition to witnesses coming from significant events in Indonesian history.
– Archival photographs of traditional manuscripts, colonial-era postcards, in addition to historical images coming from the brand new Order to the present.
Frankfurt Book Fair 2015
John McGlynn – photo by Frendi
John says in which the aim of Lontar is usually to “promote knowledge of Indonesia through its literature”, in addition to in which is usually natural in which he is usually a member of the ‘Indonesian National Committee for Preparing Indonesia as Guest of Honour in Frankfurt – 2015’.
The first Frankfurt Book Fair was held soon after Johannes Gutenberg invented the movable type printing press in around 1439. Revived in 1949, in which is usually right now the earth’s largest in addition to most prestigious book fair. Since 1986 a country, or region, has been chosen as ‘Guest of Honour’.
However, with several government ministries in addition to a large number of departments involved, as well as the Goethe Institut, Lontar in addition to others, he thinks preparations should have been commenced earlier than the end of last year, if only to have a larger range of books at Frankfurt.
over time, John has worked with more than 100 translators in addition to is usually well aware of the time required to produce a literary translation in which “is usually both felicitous to the original text in addition to appealing to the target audience”. However, a worrisome fact is usually in which of those 100 translators “no more than a dozen are both truly fluent both in Indonesian in addition to English.”
John further notes in which “for the rest, a heavy dose of editing is usually usually required.”
However, some not bad news has recently been received; the Ministry of Education in addition to Culture has established a translation funding program, the ‘I-Lit (Indonesian Literature in Translation) Program’.
For those who like to carry many books on their travels, the Kindle is usually ideal, John says, however we both agreed in which with such devices something is usually lost. Printed books are shared, in addition to one can learn a lot about folk by browsing their shelves of well-thumbed books.
Lontar books are available in Indonesia at Periplus bookstores in addition to abroad through Amazon as print-on-demand paperbacks. They are also available as e-books through Book Cyclone.
Website: http://lontar.org/
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John H. McGlynn – The Lontar Foundation
John H. McGlynn – The Lontar Foundation