Imagine entering a bookstore in Saudi or Indonesia. What are the chances that you might find English books being translated into Arabic/Indonesian? Compared that to the number of books by Saudi/Indonesian authors translated into English, or any other language?
In terms of volume, there maybe plenty of books by Indonesian and Saudi authors being published every month in their respective countries. But these books do not cross borders. Books written by Saudi and Indonesian writers do not travel as far as novels written by American, English or - heck – Desis (Indian, Pakistani, Bengali, Afghani) have.
In fact, you’d see more Japanese than Indonesian comic books in Indonesia, just as much as you’d see translated novel English novels than Saudi - again, in Saudi.
When it comes to international acclaim, Indonesian and Saudi authors brutally compete with each other at being stagnate and obscure.
As diverse as both cultures are, they're both as equally non-existent in the international book market. Correct me if I'm wrong, but when was the last time we heard of an Indonesian or Saudi writer selling books like cupcakes? Fact is, we haven't heard of a modern Saudi or Indonesian writer winning much literary acknowledgment - or merit - from the book industry in the past ten twenty years.
What’s up with that?
Is there a common issue that brought the Indonesian and Saudi authorship into its trodden state in days where books are as obtainable as broadband internet?
What the causes are NOT
If the problem is in language barriers, that Arabic and Indonesian are not the lingua franca of the world, then why do we find so much of the Japanese culture embedded in ours? We know more about Geisha, Anime, sake and Samurais than tribal hierarchy in Central Arabia or Kejawen religion in Java.
If the problem is the convolution of the publishing industry, then there should not be so many books being published everyday in the International market and I should not be seeing translated books by Seth Godin in Indonesia.
If the problem is poverty, that Indonesians do not have enough food to sustain them while writing, then books like Harry Potter and Carrie should not have been born; because their writers were broke when writing them.
If the problem is resource curse, that Indonesia and Saudi are countries that suffer from culture shock by the sudden wealth gained from its natural resources, then that is supposed to dismiss both intellectual and material poverty excuse, which is not the case that we find in Saudi and Indonesia.
No, reader, those were NOT the problems, nor excuses that brought the Saudi and Indonesian literature into obscurity on the global stage.
What the causes ARE
A. Genetics.
For one thing, it’s not in our genes to read and write beautifully. In cultures where writing and reading are common behavior for the past century, we see more internationally acclaimed writers in them. There are more writers from the US, China, Japan and Europe because having children who can read is a steady barometer of successful parenting for the past CENTURY.
In Saudi and Indonesian heritage, the barometer of successful parenting is whether or not your child can recite the Qur’an. Writing and reading, for the past hundred years, are uncommon behavior amongst the bedus in the desert or the farmers in the rice fields.
B. Oral Tradition
And before there was religion in these countries, knowledge and wisdom were passed on through generations by oral means. Again, Quran recitations, wayang and diwaniyyat.
Which is probably why, as Indonesians and Saudis, we make great poster children for potential terrorists. Haha.
C. Resource Curse
The other reason is that, while both Saudi and Indonesian societies are patriarchal and socially unequal, these societies are also resource cursed. Had it only been patriarchal and collectivistic, then the same modern intellectual poverty would occur in Japan. If it had only been caused by religion, then the awesome writers Desi from India or the Persians, or the Egyptians would not be so successful in the international book market.
D. E. F.…How to stall the intellectual growth of three generations in a row
I couldn’t separate these three symptoms from each other. They seem to work together like ingredients to a creatively stuck society:
- First, bring a regime. Put a tyrannical king, president, or even a god of some sort, as head of state. That will limit the thinking process and threaten every mental inclination to misbehave.
- Next, have a miniature of that king or president or god in every room in the house, dictating to the core of every individual what to do and think and have for dinner.
- Finally, practice social inequality generously. PS: Girls don't need to go to school.
Conclusion
Writing and reading and book publishing are complex behavior that DEMANDS a lot of HIGHER mental processing. And the combination of the above, oral tradition, religion, patriarchy, social inequality, and dependence on natural resources have been injecting us, Indonesian and Saudis, with frustrating invisibility on the international book market.
The question that remains, then, what are we going to do about that, huh?
PS: If you think this had been a great example of an AWFUL writing, then you have to pardon me; it's just ain't in my genes. Ha.
PPS: Found an article by Richard Oh on the same subject, WHY AREN’T MORE INDONESIAN LITERARY WORKS PUBLISHED ABROAD?
Interesting post …
ReplyDeleteYou’re, unfortunately, right! Talking about Saudi Arabia at least, we really lack a global presence literature map.
If you allow me, I will add another reason to your list of why we do not have reputable authors; it is that we do not really respect or acknowledge writing as a job. So even with the presence of talent, a writer won’t ever think of becoming a professional writer.
so why did you need to use the word retarded? it's a slur that hurts people with special needs. Mocking them with your language is so unnecessary.
ReplyDeleteI'd agree with you that our societies (and I'm not leaving my beloved Desis out of this!) are to blame for producing a culture which does not appreciate the arts. Science and technology are race-less. Awareness of a country on the international stage comes through their arts.
ReplyDeleteI'd argue that the reason we know and respect American and Japanese cultures so much is because of their cinematography. Hollywood and Anime are the ambassadors of culture here.
And finally, I do not agree that the reason is genetic at all. It takes more than a couple of centuries to ingrain a literary blocker into the genetics of a population, or at least that is my understanding of evolutionary biology.
The middle east (but arguably it was mostly the Persians) used to be at the forefront of scientific research and philosophical literature. But all it took to end that was a couple of illiterate generations.
Nidal,
ReplyDeleteNote that I'm limiting my geographic scope to Indonesia and Saudi. So the following argument does not include Muslim scholars, philosophers & writers from Sham, Persia, Andalucia and Northern Africa.
My hypothesis is that, though the Arabs of the Peninsula were sharp and proud of their poetry in the Jahiliyyah, the arrival of al-Qur'an crushed their linguistic confidence, and vaporized whatever was left of it upwards, to precipitate and fall on the Northern parts of Arabia, where Arabic literature has been flourishing since: Bilad as- Sham (including Iraq & Jordan and everything in between) and Northern Africa.
If al-Quran arrived around the 7th century, then it has been at least 14 centuries since Arabs of the peninsula had a shot at producing bestsellers. Does this hypothesis support my evolutionary argument?
Anon,
You're sweet, but this what happens when Hollywood movies are your only source of English language education. Retard, literally means "to slow or delay the progress of something", for which using it in describing the state of literature in Indonesia and Saudi, is in no way offensive.
AnEyeonSaudi,
I don't believe I've ever welcomed you here before. Ahlan wa sahlan, and may your eyes enjoy the views around here.
True, it's unfortunate that writing is no longer a respected vocation in Arabia, the very place where Imru al-Qays and al-Khansaa' are cherished for. And it's nobody's fault, really. No responsible and sober parent would hope their children growing up becoming writers, musicians or ballet dancers. Dude, it's not just writers who suffer from lack of vocational respect, it's everybody in the cursed creative industry!
But then, when was there an acclaimed writer/artist who was not miserable?
Simply put, if a society puts no premium at all on its language and its literary traditions, then it follows that people would no longer care about being good enough as writers to produce literary works. So much more if they're not a society of readers.
ReplyDeleteYour situatiion is quite similar to that of mine here.
sad but true,
ReplyDeletethe society here does not help, even in school it does not help in educating and teaching the students about reading "unless it's the quran ofcourse"...
I was lucky to have my Mom as she had a passion for books, she planted that in me at a very young age.
best friend for me in waiting in line at the bank or government office is a good book, but when the guy next to you tells you shouldn't you be reading quran!!! i simply answer : I was about to ask you the same question???
the writers here struggle, as their rights are not protected, a writer wrote a book, got the AUTHORIZATION form a government department, got it printed, started selling, 2 people "and i mean two human being or maybe not!" hate the book cuz it's not what they THINK!!! it's get pulled out of the market, makes me think why would i invest in such risky business???!!!
another fact: i enter a book store here in Khobar, looking for a Book, i look around me i could be the only Saudi there, there could be another but he came to buy a book for school...
SaudiMajix,
ReplyDeleteYou know that Naguib Mahfouz is banned in Saudi, right? The Arabic version, I mean. *hint*hint*
Oh, and thanks for the reminder on AUTHORIZATION from the government thing. Seriously, man, if somebody wants to publish the next award winning novel, they shouldn't do so in Saudi or Indonesia, huh?
And the thing with the Qur'an - you know, it's one thing to read it, and it's another to try understanding it, and it's waaaaay another whole thing trying to practice its teachings. The heck, isn't reading a lot of books, beside the holy books, included in PRACTICING the teachings of al-Qur'an?
Awesome stuff you made me think, dude. Thanks!
Coral,
And your town too!
lets talk about Saudi for a second "yeah right, a few years might do it and thats a maybe" anyway,
ReplyDeleteWriters rights are not being met "as if there is any", their are many writers out there and damn good ones, but most of their writing don't meet the condition of the Islamic laws such as most Romance that involves relationships out of wedlock and intellectual thinking, society wise or political, most Saudi writers use non Saudi publication to publish their own book.
the funny part is it's okay everyday you read it in poems "sha'ar" in Saudi major newspapers, hypocrite I think is the word i'm looking for.
and for this matter not only Saudi but the gulf countries and most of the arab worlds, you might remember Dr,Alia of Kuwait, and wrote about the increasing numbers of lesbians in Kuwait youth society. she was jailed O.o
some books of Nizar Qbany are banned too, and I can add many names and the list keep going and going and going!
even blogs are being censored, nothing new there.
well it's a very interesting subject for me is personal since my mom is a writer her self, so i'm talking about this first hand.
I feel there is more but hey lets give some room for others ^.^
cheers
cheers