Name :Baskhoro

Student Number: 392019071

JOURNAL 1

Keywords: Novels, local colors, communism, culture, Indonesian history

Motivation:

The writer is very interested in taking the novel Menggarami Burung Terbang (Seasoning the
flying Bird), because she is interested in reviewing important historical events of the PKI (the
tragedy of the Indonesian communist party) where there were many conflicts and conspiracies at
the time, and these facts are explained in a work of fiction and how the Javanese world view
emerged to understand the local philosophical understanding of the event. Also this is the
fictional work of Sitok Srengenge's first novel “Seasoning the flying bird”, where because of his
work (Novel) he was locked up during 1948 and 1965. The writer said if this novel has an
extraordinary plot in the story, there is a solid realist in the novel, where the writer argues that
the novel seasoning flying birds is an Indonesian novel with Javanese nuances in it.

Problem & Method:

The main problem highlighted in Sitok's work is the problem of how the local community at the
time of the sad events of Indonesia during the PKI era was able to respond to this with a
Javanese philosophical view, of course, Sitok's story was wrapped in fiction. The writer also said
that the problems he highlighted in The novel are in the simple village people who are confused
by the political events and mass brutality that have befallen them, and how to see this condition
with signs from nature.

Broadly speaking, the method used by the writer is an objective method that is centered on the
literary work itself, and sees the overall contents of the novel combined with its background, but
there is also a little formalism theory about fabula and syuzhet in this literary work, where the
author focuses on the events of PKI and afterwards and also local color as the background for the
story. divided for the plot itself is evidenced in the section on the explanations about parts of the
salting bird's own flying bird story.

Argument & Evidence:

In the opening section, the writer argues that the Sitok story entitled "Menggarami Burung
Terbang" is a work set in the background of the PKI incident which is peppered with local
wisdom. This is evidenced in the last sentence:
“While sharing some elements with Ahmad Tohari’s 1985 trilogy Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk (A
dancing girl of Paruk Village), such as the manipulation of village cultural performances by the
PKI, the style of Sitok’s novel is markedly different from that of Tohari’s work in its rich, dense
blend of realist prose in Indonesian, Javanese mythology and Javanese language. Another
distinguishing feature of Sitok’s novel is its magic realist quality”

The author also includes historical evidence with his writing about the PKI tragedy in Indonesia
in the story of the “Menggarami Burung Terbang. In this statement she also uses the sentence
support Easter '(Easter 2005: 55), Jhon Roosa (2006: 16) and Quinn (1992: 124)
so that the writing is really strong.

Going to the discussion, we will have a discussion about "Warna Lokal" as one of the
manifestations of this story, where local colors become the background of an important story in
local literature such as Sitok's.

“In my discussion of the novel I argue that its ‘teleological view of phenomena’ can be
understood as a manifestation of warna lokal or ‘local colour’, a phenomenon that periodically
comes to the fore in Indonesian fiction. Indeed, the drive to rediscover and represent the ‘real’,
local Indonesia is not a new phenomenon.”.

It was he statement that based on the research he conducted, it is proven that local colors have
become the color of local literary juices dating from the colonial period. The evidence from her
statement could see from this sentences:

“The search for the local had been a key force for the four colonial authors whose stories were
later anthologized by Pramoedya Ananta Toer in Tempo doeloe. Stories in that anthology such
as Francis’s Tjerita Njai Dasima (The story of Nyai Dasima) and Kommer’s Tjerita Nji Paina
(The story of Nyi Paina) are depictions of domestic life that focus on relationships – forced
marriages, faithful and faithless nyai (mistresses), as Watson (1971:423) observes – between the
Dutch and their colonized subjects.”.

Turning to the next discussion, the author discusses how local colors or local traditions become a
form of resistance in the field of lottery against the regime during the Soeharto era.It could see
from her statement :

“Post-Soeharto, warna lokal can further be understood as a manifestation of an intensifying

regionalism, which can be read as an expression of resistance to the ‘official nationalism’ that
developed during the Soeharto years, resistance that has been strengthened by the process of
decentralization. It is useful to draw comparisons between warna lokal and expressions of
Indonesian nationalism.”

The basis of the statement was to see how the Suharto regime was running at that time. In this
statement she also uses the support sentences of Henk Maier (1994) and Will Derks (2002),
Michael Bodden (2001), '(Mohamad 2002: 208) so that his writing is really strong.
The next, writer discusses the function of local color for Indonesian bank literature itself.It could
see from this sentences:

“What, then, is the function of warna lokal in literature in post-Soeharto Indonesia? A number
of commentators have pointed out that globalization has not delivered to Indonesia the benefits
of highly evolved civilization, but rather has destroyed traditional values, leading in turn to the
destruction of the spiritual values that define Eastern nations. It is seen as imperative to restore
those values in the face of the seemingly unstoppable forces of globalization. This is where
warna lokal comes in”. In this statement he also uses the sentence support Murniah (2006) so
that his writing is truly strong.

After discussing local colors, the author argues that the seasoning flying bird novel is an example
of a Javanese novel that has a thick local color where there are a Javanese cultural identity and
cultural values in it. It could see from this sentences:

“What differentiates this novel from Indonesian novels written in Indonesian is its focus on and
privileging of Javanese cultural identity and values, and the absence in it of both overtly
nationalistic discourse and narratives of modernity.”. In this statement she also uses supporting
sentences from Quinn (1992: 75), (1992: 59, 134, 185), Headley (2004: 380) and Quinn (1992:
185).

The author, in his discussion of the Sitok's novel, mentions that the Javanese novel contains
Javanese canon. It could see from this sentences:

“In the Javanese novel there are many references to other works in the Javanese literary canon,
such as folk literature, myths and popular history, and to well-known romantic or moralistic
verses, sung in the form of tembang macapat.”. In this statement she also uses the support
sentence from Quinn (1992: 99).

Furthermore, the author discusses that this novel is a novel about a proletarian society. It coukd
see from this sentences:

“Unlike the priyayi (elite, official class) novels that are a sub-set of Quinn’s Javanese novel, this
is a novel about wong cilik, whose lives are contained within the borders of family and village,
overshadowed by the dark, confining humidity of the teak forests of East Java, which
simultaneously nurture and constrain them.”. In this statement she also uses the support
sentences from Mulder (1978: 17), Robert Cribb (1990: 199), Soekarno's speech.

Henceforth the writer will explain this story of how the story of Javanese figures in Indonesia
was dominated by the PKI mass tragedy. It could see from this sentene:

“Notwithstanding the pitfalls he falls into as an urban writer giving voice to village people, the
particular skill of Sitok Srengenge as a storyteller is his ability to contextualize momentous
national events within the mundane, yet richly drawn, routines of the villagers. He does this by
juxtaposing carefully crafted and poignant cameos of village life against the unexpected and
shocking historical incidents of 1965.”. In this statement she also uses support sentences from
Kenneth Orr (1990: 189), Upomo Surjohudojo (1974: 6), James Scot (1985: xv), Donald Hindley
(1964: 9 -11), and Cribb (1990: 9).

Conclusion:

Javanese novels with PKI stories in them wrapped in Javanese philosophy provide historical
depth and aesthetic impact that comes from deeply rooted beliefs. This is the key to the local
color of the seasoning flying bird. The readers of this novel are immersed in the revival of
Javanese culture in Sitok Srengenge, which is rich in Javanese culture. Here local colors place
major national to regional events in the context of the views of Javanese villagers who interpret
them in culturally specific ways.