The poem titled Ibu Indonesia that
is recited by Sukmawati Soekarnoputri at Indonesia Fashion Week 2018 is deemed
as controversial. Many people accused that some phrases of it contain blasphemy
towards Islam as it compares sari konde with
cadar and kidung with azan. Several
days ago, Sukmawati Soekarnoputri herself held a press conference in which she
tearfully apologized in public for her works that offended many Muslims within
this country. Nevertheless, up until this very moment, reports that demand her
to face legal action keep on piling up.
In analyzing this case, it would be highly unjust to put aside the fact
that Ibu Indonesia is a poem. Based
on the definition stated by Herman J. Waluyo, a poem is a form of literature
works to express the writer’s thoughts and feelings in imaginative ways. With
the twist of words, poem has its own values and aesthetics. That being said,
just like any other text, the nature of poem, too, is a polysemy; it is open to
be critically read by everyone—resulting in possibility of variety of
understanding and multiple interpretations. Thus, most often than not, the
coexistence of these interpretations can be contradictory from one reader to
another.
The phrases in Ibu Indonesia poem
that compares sari konde with cadar and kidung with azan are
accused for being blasphemous towards Islam, because Sukmawati Soekarnoputri
compares between what is believed as the obligations of a religion with the
local and cultural values of a country. These two things—based on those who
were triggered by this poem—are not apple to apple to begin with. The question
is, is that so? Aren’t religious practices are essentially a part of cultural
products in the very first place?
The widely-acknowledged definition of culture is the manifestations of
human intellectual achievements and activities that are usually done
collectively in a particular society, such as beliefs, languages, social
habits, arts, and ways of life. Essentially, though The Almighty God is Divine Ontology and God’s Speech is Divine Discourse, but human’s thoughts,
understandings, and interpretations of God and all things-related are somehow,
something worldly and profane. The interpretations of human towards a text—be
it a poem or a holy book—is the result of human’s thoughts and perceptions.
This makes it appropriate to say that human’s interpretations are indeed a part
of cultural products. Moreover, religious practices as cultural product are an
interaction process. As time goes by, religions have been altering, renewing,
perfecting, and affecting cultures, and vice versa.
Besides, if we are to stand in the shoes of those who accused this poem
as problematic and controversial, I think this poem just makes even more sense
than it already does. They were enraged by the phrase “Sari konde ibu Indonesia sangatlah indah, lebih cantik dari cadar dirimu,” because they believe that the
essence of cadar is not to showcase
beauty, but to protect the self from temptations. If that so, then this line is
by any means not problematic and controversial at all, because Sukmawati merely
stated that the sari konde is
prettier, while cadar is not, because
it is—as they believed—indeed not primarily intended to make one appear pretty.
It is the order of The Almighty God and those who wear it seek for God’s
blessings instead of society’s justification of one’s appearance. The same
interpretation could also be implemented in the phrase “Suara kidung Ibu Indonesia sangatlah elok, lebih merdu dari alunan azan,” that is also not problematic and
controversial at all, because azan is
not a singing contest, it is a God’s calling to the believers to perform
prayers, unlike most melodious kidung performances
that require the singer to sing it beautifully because it meant to be an
enjoyable entertainment. The way I see it, based on these simple examples, the
nature of poem as a text is polysemy, which makes it able to be interpreted
openly.
What is important to note is that reading a poem means reading the
tangled and intertwined relations between denotations and connotations in it.
Therefore, a poem also has intertextuality—the relationship between and within
the text itself. It should be read and understood exactly as a whole and not
only piece by piece without acknowledging its former and later phrases. Poem is
rich of denotations as well as connotations meanings hidden behind the
figurative language (majas). As a
literature work, poem is not born within a void; there are always several
discourses that serve as its background story. Hence, to read a text is to read
in front of the text as well as to read behind the text. To read behind the
text means to reconstruct the historical context from which the text emerged,
whereas to read in front of the text means to recontextualize it in the light
of present need. This hermeneutics methodology in reading a text is explained
by Gerald O. West as double movement; from the present to the past, and from the
past to the present. Besides intertextuality, a text should also be
examined alongside the extratextuality, in which are the surrounding contexts
where it is read, including but not limited to the discourses of politics,
power, traditions, history, linguistics, psychology, and many more.
Ibu Indonesia is among other poems featured in an anthology of
poetry titled Ibu Indonesia which is
published in 2006. The time gap between its publication date and its recitation
in public is more than ten years, which means that there are a lot of contexts
within the text that are no longer the same or relevant to this date. In her
apology, Sukmawati Soekarnoputri stated that she has no intention to offend any
parties. Instead, she was asserting that she just wanted her poem to serve as a
reminder for this nation to uphold the value of diversity and to be proud of
our cultural identity. If it is true that the relations between the text, the
reader, and the writer is a negotiation process and a never-ending battle of
meanings; then it would be undeniably unjust to claim that the writer ‘lose’
just because her own poem that is intended to represent reality as how she perceived
it, is being interpreted by some readers based on the reality inside their own
beliefs instead. It would be undeniably unjust to claim that the writer ‘lose’
when her initial intention is to make her poem as value-free as it can possibly
go, but some readers are reading the poem based on those values instead.
To conclude, when it is being read and processed in someone’s mind, a
single text is in fact able to deliver meanings beyond the text originally can
physically bear. Those meanings are tangled and intertwined in so many
different ways for us readers to interpret. If a text is deemed as potentially
problematic, controversial, and insulting, then most often than not, it is us
the readers who need to dig deeper and reflect further; do we as readers are
able to fully distinguish between what the writer is saying and what we think the writer is saying.
