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Adnan’s Poetry: The Absence of The Body

Adnan’s Poetry: The Absence of The Body

by | Aug 4, 2022 | Kidung

M.A. Haris Firismanda merupakan mahasiswa S2 Kajian Sastra dan Budaya Universitas Airlangga.

The city is always assumed to be a humanistic space because its presence encompasses the dimensions of human life with all its problems, even though the dimension of humanity in that space begins to be submerged by the relentless passage of time. This causes people to no longer be able to reflect on the corporeality they possess. They can no longer reflect on their own presence, that is, a body that has integrity in urban spaces.

Unfortunately, the body, which stores rationality and modernity, always buries humanity in urban spaces. Urban society is then no longer seen as a real body but as a symbolic one, thus shaping them like a robotic mechanism. This causes their bodies to be consumed by time and their entities folded into an artificial space.

This is what was realized by Adnan—the poet who forged his literary life in the city of Surabaya—who captures the side of life in urban Surabaya with all its busyness in the whirl of time and expanse of space. He captures this restlessness into his latest poetry book titled “The Body That Devours Itself”. This poet attempts to speak out against the condition of Surabaya, crowded with urban noise and development. This work leads to a philosophical reflection owned by Horkheimer—one of the philosophers placed as one of the pioneers of the critical school. He argued that there is a human effort to become rational, but this actually turns the rational human back into something irrational (Sindhunata, 2019:198). This phenomenon is not much different from development that ignores the environmental ecosystem, and the naturalness of nature that also equips humans themselves to survive. Moreover, it stores a phenomenon of a very individualistic social space towards each other’s busyness. From here, Adnan seems to want to present again the dimension of humanity that tries to become gods in themselves without seeing it wholly in a confined condition.

This phenomenon can be seen through the poem titled “11 Bodies in a Surabaya Room” including the poem titled “Searching for Human Body from Urban Body”, Adnan presents various urban society vocabularies that are dense such as city buses, noisy exhausts, motorcycles, train tracks, supermarkets/malls. These diction choices store the side of human life that is forcibly created by themselves as part of the advancement of civilization. Especially how the urban human body begins to lose its own humanity, trapped by the sequence of time especially in lines 23-24 of the poem as follows:

“…oh, how can I see my own head, how can I define myself…”

From this sentence, the poet begins to imagine something separated between the body and the soul or humanity that disappears due to being consumed by each individual’s ego in the dimension of space and time. Because of this, it also threatens the values of Arek Suroboyo regarding life on mutual cooperation, and it is also inscribed with the value of egalitarianism as a concept in unifying social interaction especially in this society (Hadi and Supratiningsih. 2018:398). Moreover, this value also stems from the experience of living together in a society, not from each subjective individual thought (Hadi and Supratiningsih. 2018:398). This simultaneously affirms equality towards each other in thinking without knowing any particular caste. Thus, this principle is built by Arek Suroboyo. They come from egalitarian and cooperative spaces. Not from individualistic life values.

Adnan’s poetry also presents social criticism. This is shown in one of the titles “Buying a Gallon From the Body of God”. The poem juxtaposes God as the highest degree, but it reflects the greed of humans for abundant wealth with the pretext of urban development. This is shown from the phenomenon behind the development that also harbors an act of corruption especially in the ninth stanza of this poem as follows:

“Writing a name or Corrupting, as long as check marked sitting with air conditioning, eating food taken from Mars using jets and helicopters”

moreover, the choice of diction “rolling” as a repetition of diction that frequently appears in the poem stores an image of urban human life’s greed.

Furthermore, the choice of diction “gallon” certainly has a different interpretation. If this poem only used the word “bottle”, it certainly would not store an image of something excessive. A gallon is synonymous with a large water bottle, which of course, means “more” or “wanting to be more,” indicating human life in perpetual lack. In the psychoanalytic view of Lacan, he explains that when humans are born, they will identify themselves through the real, the imaginary, and finally, the symbolic condition. The choice of diction for the gallon, as something excessive, stores a symbolic text condition of human desire (desire). This traps humans in the network of that chain of signifiers (Lacan, 1977: 54-55).

Therefore, the greed for development and the depiction of places in the poem shown in

the following verse:

“luxurious places, black suits, bulging bellies especially gallons”

certainly explains how humans in the urban environment are formed without knowing their own bodies as humans that are hard to find especially in urban environments. His verse contains cynicism towards that life.

Adnan’s poetry presents various social criticisms and reflections on the search for the body in the city of Surabaya, lost in the contained local values and the principle of mutual cooperation that begins to fade due to artificial community life. Thus, these poems then question again how the body is searched for as an autonomous human.

Adnan’s poetry stores a satire embedded in the network of signs in his verses. It is a reflection and re-questioning of the urban community body that has been consumed by the whirl of time and folded into the expanse of space in urban community activities.

Kampong as The Deployment of Arek Subculture

Kampong as The Deployment of Arek Subculture

by | Jun 21, 2022 | Kampung

Anugrah Yulianto Rachman. Peneliti Arek Institute.

The kampong holds cultural wealth. Its presence is not just as a matter of urban settlement, but this environment also serves as the central locus for the dissemination and development of the Arek subculture during colonialism. They, as the peripheral society of colonial development, designed their cultural life within the kampong.

Unfortunately, the cultural wealth in the kampong is never seen by many people. This phenomenon is always positioned as a development issue. Eventually, it causes life in the kampong to be placed only as a matter of settlement and poverty. This logic, of course, folds the cultural reality occurring in the life of the kampong Arek.

This developmentalist logic is actually also a legacy from the colonial era. In the early days of the emergence of the Gemeente Surabaya, the colonial government also saw that the presence of the kampong was a settlement issue. The kampong Arek were considered to have crowded the settlements located between the elite residential complexes of the European group. This caused the colonial government to have to immediately take action to resolve the issue.

Kampong in Developmentalism Logic

The administrative change of the city of Surabaya in 1906 caused massive development for this city. The colonial government began to build a clean water irrigation system, electric tram transportation, modern ports, and so on. Surabaya turned into a modern city in the style of the Dutch colony (Frederick, 1989). This progress created a settlement issue for Arek Surabaya because their living space was replaced by colonial urban areas.

This indigenous community eventually chose to occupy the narrow space between the spaces of Geemente Surabaya. They occupied kampongs located in narrow alleys and streets not yet paved by the Gemeente government. Due to this housing issue, the colonial government built a residential complex in the Keputran area in 1929 because Arek Surabaya began to crowd the settlements in those kampongs.

The case of moving kampong communities to the residential area in Keputran, Gemeente Surabaya, shows that their settlement was seen by the colonial government as a development issue. Eventually, it led to the resolution of the issue through the relocation of kampong community settlements. It shows the colonial government’s viewpoint towards the indigenous people.

In the period after colonialism, the same approach was still used. Kampongs are always seen as a development issue. The area is always assumed to be a backward living environment and far from development because it harbors issues: slums; poverty, and backwardness. This was the government’s viewpoint afterward in viewing the kampong.

The New Order, known as the development regime, also colored the advancement of kampong life. Because the development program in the kampong was first carried out in 1969, and it was only in 1976 that it received assistance from the World Bank (Silas, 1992). The program had three types of assistance: People Self-help projects, W.R. Soepratman projects, and Urban Kampong Improvement Programme.

Furthermore, these programs encompassed the development of the kampong such as the construction of access roads, drains, health facilities, elementary schools, and garbage bins for cleanliness management. These activities, of course, refer back to the approach used by the colonial government in addressing the housing issues of the indigenous people, that is, through a developmental approach.

The development pattern, in the kampong, will, of course, have implications for how the government and researchers view this living environment. It leads them to see this phenomenon as one of the objects of development. Kampongs are always positioned as an entity that is left behind from the progress of modern life. Its presence must be saved and given certain advancements regarding modern life.

Further, this area is always seen as the settlement of marginal or peripheral groups. The inhabitants within the kampong are always positioned as lower-class society and marginal settlements. The categorization of marginal settlement differences is always based on aspects such as: security, permanent and temporal houses, cheap/expensive sale prices, and accessibility being easy or difficult (Silas, 1989).

On one side, the presence of the kampong is always attached to the logic of development, while on the other hand, its presence actually has a cultural dimension folded within that logic. This cultural dimension is never brought to the surface. However, if traced further, the presence of the Arek subculture is also a phenomenon of the kampong’s presence during colonialism.

Although the presence of this subculture is still debated regarding its tracing and origins, the definite period that can be marked to trace its existence is the colonial period (1900-1942), that is, the transition to becoming the Gemeente Surabaya. Because that period brought about the phenomenon of settlement and identity of the indigenous community, in this context, is the emergence of the Arek subculture.

Kampong as The Locus of Arek Subculture Deployment

The emergence of the Arek subculture is still debated among academics. Some researchers state that this subculture appeared during the 4th to 9th centuries AD. The eruption of Mount Kelud, which erupted 22 times, covered the river surrounding the delta in the Arek subculture area, turning it into a single island (Abdillah, 2007). This phenomenon later shaped the character of the Arek Surabaya.

Because the area of Surabaya, before the eruption of Kelud, was delta-shaped, it caused the Arek community to speak loudly. This habit underlies the tough character of the Arek community. Thus, the natural phenomenon of Mount Kelud led to the formation of the character of the Arek community. The term Arek itself is taken from the Old Javanese term meaning a call for a brother or sister.

Unfortunately, there is no strong historical evidence to prove this thesis. However, the presence of this subculture can be traced to the colonial period because, during that time, a phenomenon of identity for the indigenous people, especially the Arek subculture community, was created. As previously explained, the transition to Gemeente caused settlement issues for the indigenous people.

This phenomenon led to the creation of settlement boundaries between the European elite group and the Arek community. The boundary was between the kampong and the elite settlements. At that time, the Arek Surabaya, as the peripheral society from colonial development, seized urban space by occupying areas between urban areas, that is, the kampong.

Eventually, this led to the Arek community, who were essentially immigrants, forming their cultural identity within the kampong. Thus, the presence of the colonial city is the presence of the kampong that creates this subculture identity. The Arek community is not limited to any specific ethnic or social group. They are immigrants and settlers who share common values, namely Arek Surabaya.

This influences the values associated with Arek Surabaya, characterized by courage, realism, and material progress (Frederick, 1989). Because they are not a specific group or ethnicity but immigrants sharing the same life values, the Arek community further strengthens its cultural and social identity within the kampong. They build these cultural values within that environment.

Therefore, the kampong, in fact, preserves both the social and cultural cohesion of the Arek community. This environment forms the identity of being Arek because, as a community of immigrants and those displaced from their living spaces by colonialism, they build a form of social-cultural identity together. This also marks the emergence of the Arek subculture as a fragment of the parent Javanese culture.

In summary, the kampong is the central locus for the dissemination of Arek culture because the emergence of this subculture stems from the settlement phenomenon during colonialism. It is not just a matter of settlement but also this environment harbors the cultural life of this subculture.

Responsive and Crafting Ludruk Categorisation

Responsive and Crafting Ludruk Categorisation

by | May 4, 2022 | Arek-Arek

Alvianta Virgosa – Komite Pendampingan Arek

The evolution of the times forces the art of Ludruk to adapt to all changes. This adjustment, with the times, is an adaptation in the form of performances. This can be seen through the change from Ludruk Tanggapan (responsive Ludruk performances) to Ludruk Garapan (crafted Ludruk performances). Both have differences because this art form adjusts to the conditions of the times and their environment.

Ludruk Tanggapan is a form of Ludruk performance held in response to specific events, such as weddings, slametan (Javanese ceremonial feasts), or harvest seasons. When these events occur, the performances of this group are always enlivened by the presence of night markets, and the duration of the performance is very long. This performance can start from 9 p.m. until the early morning.

On the other hand, Ludruk Garapan is a performance that usually appears in government agendas, festivals, or competitions. This performance is arranged to suit the market and to shorten the time. In an interview, Arimbi–a Ludruk artist–explained that the structure of Ludruk Tanggapan performances has a longer duration than Ludruk Garapan. The structure of the Ludruk Tanggapan performance is as follows: (I) Opening with Remo dance attractions, (II) Snake dance (III) comedy sketches, (IV) Presentation of the main story or drama, which is the core of the performance.

Unlike the structure of Ludruk Tanggapan, Ludruk Garapan has a shorter duration. This is shown by cutting some parts of the Ludruk Tanggapan structure, including: removing the snake dance performance and reducing the duration of the performance. As a result of this time reduction, this type of Ludruk has a duration of only two to three hours.

The classification of Ludruk Tanggapan and Ludruk Garapan is not new. This phenomenon has been ongoing since the New Order government in the 1990s. At that time, the government had many agendas involving the Ludruk art community. These agendas included festivals, competitions, and government performances.

The numerous events were more directed towards Ludruk Garapan performances. This was marked by a shorter performance duration than Ludruk Tanggapan. This time reduction was adjusted to the sequence of events arranged by the New Order Government.

On the other hand, Ludruk Tanggapan performances were rarely found. Because every Ludruk performance in that period was always under military supervision. This resulted in their inability to perform as freely as before. Ludruk at that time was only emphasized to show the main event, namely the comedy sketches and the presentation of the drama.

After the New Order fell, from the 2000s to 2010, the art of Ludruk once became a favorite entertainment for the public. Ludruk Tanggapan performances became a frequent sight due to the many celebrations inviting Ludruk art. Here, the art activists began to return to the traditional elements of Ludruk art like in the old days. These elements included the Remo dance given a long time, snake dance, comedy sketches, and the presentation of the drama.

The resurgence of this art began to be felt during this period. This is shown through the high enthusiasm of the public to host Ludruk in an event. Although not as massive as in the previous period, this art began to be favored by many modern youths and the elderly because it became a catharsis for the romance of past entertainment.

However, from 2012 to the present, the art of Ludruk has experienced ups and downs in its performances. Ludruk Tanggapan began to lose its appeal to the public. This was caused by the transition in the evolution of the times. The development of various forms of entertainment and spectacles such as television, radio, the internet, and others made Ludruk lose its function as a modern ritual (Azali 2012).

In his writing, Azali shows that the enthusiasts for the art of Ludruk began to decrease due to the development of various forms of entertainment and spectacles. People prefer forms of entertainment that do not require energy to leave the house such as watching television, listening to the radio, and playing on social media. From this change in public habits, Ludruk artists are forced to brainstorm to innovate their performances again, especially artists in urban communities.

Upon closer examination, the phenomenon of Ludruk Garapan is a phenomenon of Ludruk groups in urban areas. Because, Ludruk Garapan groups appeared due to government programs such as festivals or cultural events. The limited performance time at these events causes changes in the structure and duration of performances from Ludruk Garapan groups.

Garapan is one of the forms of Ludruk groups that has most developed in urban areas, especially in Surabaya.

Overall, the phenomenon of Ludruk Tanggapan is a form of adaptation by Ludruk artists to their conditions and environment. This leads to adjustments in the performance style of Ludruk, such as cutting down on the duration and adjusting the structure of the performance.

Alih Wahana Karya Orang-Orang yang Berjalan dari Depan dan Belakang

Alih Wahana Karya Orang-Orang yang Berjalan dari Depan dan Belakang

by | Apr 29, 2022 | Arek-Arek

Adnan Guntur – Komite Sanggar Arek.

Adnan Guntur menerbitkan karya alih wahana yang berangkat dari karya puisi–“Orang-Orang yang Berjalan dari Depan dan Belakang”–yang telah diterbitkannya. Ia merbitkan karya puisi dalam buku puisinya yang berjudul “Tubuh Mati Menyantap Dirinya Sendiri”. Sebelumnya, ia menghalih wahanakan karyanya dalam bentuk karya seni pertunjukan yang diterbitkan oleh Sanggar Arek di kanal Youtubenya. Sekarang, Ia mencoba untuk bermain dalam wahana baru, yaitu karya seni lukis.

Karya ini dilukis sendiri oleh Adnan Guntur. Ia menumpahkan keresahan dalam puisinya ke atas kanvas yang berukura 15×20. Ia memilih untuk menggunakan media kanvas.

The 1965 Coupe and The Existence of Gambus Misri

The 1965 Coupe and The Existence of Gambus Misri

by | Apr 11, 2022 | Arek-Arek

Alfian Widi Santoso | Mahasiswa Ilmu Sejarah, Unair | Peneliti Arek Institute

Jombang is a region that intersects many Javanese subcultures, including the Arek, Mataraman, and Pasisiran subcultures. Geographically, Jombang is indeed a region located in the center of East Java, leading to a diverse artistic and cultural landscape in this area. One of the most interesting phenomena is the tension between the Abangan and Putihan groups. This has given rise to a new artistic current in this area, where the art has contexts with the intersection of subcultures and the political conflicts occurring in Jombang.

The class classification has been revealed in the phenomenal book by Clifford Geertz titled “Abangan, Santri, and Priyayi”. Clifford Geertz’s writing may have been refuted in recent research, suggesting that this stratification may only be applicable in the Modjokuto area, not throughout Java (Geertz, 1983). However, it has provided a sufficient depiction of the sociological and anthropological landscape occurring in the Jombang environment because, in the period afterward, the groups in this classification have horizontal conflicts.

In Geertz’s study, it is revealed that these three social trichotomies are an important milestone for examining many things, especially in matters of subculture such as the arts. At the beginning of the 20th century, the priyayi could already be eliminated in this differentiation, as they were preoccupied with their own worldly affairs due to the education program from the ethical politics, coupled with the weakening influence of this group itself. Eventually, in this group classification, only Abangan and Putihan remained.

Unfortunately, both the Abangan and Putihan groups often clashed in a cultural context, during colonialism, the Old Order, and the New Order. This significant conflict eventually led to the emergence of many subcultures due to the situation of the times. This phenomenon proved to heat up further in a cultural context. The political transition from the Old Order to the New Order led to many massacres and acts of exclusion against the Abangan group. This phenomenon led to the emergence of a new art stream from the Putihan group, namely Gambus Misri.

Etymologically, Gambus Misri can be divided into two words: Gambus and Misri. Gambus itself means a form of music that spread in the Malay region, and Misri means Egypt, as Egypt is one of the hubs or qiblas of Gambus music itself. One of the factors is the emergence of the singer Umi Kulthum, a very famous artist of her time. Even so, Gambus Misri would later innovate on its own regarding the music it used, especially with the emergence of A. Kadir to Nasida Ria. Additionally, Gambus Misri also follows the Zapin dance pattern, and its comedy is based on Stambul comedy (Sugiarti: 2017).

This article attempts to explore the political and cultural domains that led to the emergence of the Gambus Misri phenomenon in Jombang. This is closely related to the social trichotomy researched by Geertz, as Jombang is not exempt from the cultural phenomena he described. Additionally, numerous Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) are established, and the agrarian community is widespread across the countryside (Dewi, 2019).

The emergence of Gambus Misri represents the santri community’s unease with their entertainment, heavily reliant on religious norms, especially Islam. Especially during the heyday of Ludruk art, which was the only form of entertainment among the lower-middle-class communities, was banned in the pesantren social system around the 1960s. In an interview, Nasrul Ilahi—a Jombang cultural figure—explained the reason for the prohibition of Ludruk art in the Putihan group, stating:

“Ludruk, from the strict santri perspective that follows Molimo teachings, is considered entertainment for people without religion, as Ludruk performances at that time were closely associated with drinking alcohol, sex, gambling, and other sinful activities.”

From this explanation, for the Putihan group, Ludruk art was considered a deviation from religious values. Yet, Ludruk is a performing art that carries a dimension of populism. On the other hand, both the santri and abangan groups shared the same goal: to be free from colonial shackles.

“The kyais could only recommend their students to seek entertainment typical of pesantren, such as the Zapin dance or playing the gambus. Interestingly, people outside the santri community who did not like Ludruk (notably considered negative entertainment at the time) heard about this, and eventually, those outside the pesantren attempted to acculturate Ludruk with pesantren arts. Finally, around one or two decades after Ludruk appeared; Gambus Misri was created from the collective idea of the community,” said Nasrul Ilahi.

In the interview, Nasrul narrated the background of the emergence of this art based on the tension between these two groups because, but Gambus Misri itself also adapted Ludruk art patterns. The significant difference lies in the context of the storyline, comedy, dance, and musical accompaniment, which are more Islamic in nature.

During the Old Order era, there was another polemic between these two social groups. At that time, both arts were always tied to political contests, especially as these contests had segregation and horizontal conflicts, such as differences in groups and teachings represented by the Abangan and Putihan trichotomy.

This political contestation also extended to cultural issues, even worse than during the colonial period. This is evident in the hostility between communist and religious groups. Indeed, many unclear accusations were made between these two groups. In cultural matters, communists had Lekra (People’s Cultural Institution) as an underbow in cultural issues. In this context, Lekra always sponsored Ludruk performances. This is evident in the National Lekra Congress’s decision regarding Film and Drama Art, which stated that in Drama Art, Lekra had the task to investigate, explore, abandon, and develop all kinds of drama that live among the people, supported by one of its work programs to endeavor ideological and artistic education (Yulianti & Dahlan, 2008).

Eventually, through the decision of the National Lekra Congress, it became a marker for future cultural conflicts. Unavoidably, in the ’60s, the tension between the Abangan (Lekra) group and the Putihan group intensified because Ludruk raised very controversial storylines at that time. For example, two famous storylines of its time were “Gusti Allah Ngunduh Mantu” and “Malaikat Kimpoy” (Tempo, 2013). This caused the Putihan group to become greatly alarmed. Even in Kedungsari, Sumobito, Jombang, the community there tried to compete with Ludruk, which was heavily sponsored by Lekra, by establishing Gambus Misri “Bintang Sembilan”—the naming refers to the majority of people in Kedungsari village being members of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).

This cultural conflict continued until the eruption of the 1965 tragedy, which ended the era of Ludruk due to its storylines that ignited the anger of the Putihan group. However, Ludruk and Gambus Misri have closeness because both arts are tied to the lower class of society, and there were no other entertainments. According to Nasrul Ilahi:

“In Sumobito around the 1960s, Ludruk and Gambus Misri performances alternated, for example, Ludruk in the first week and Gambus Misri in the second week, a phenomenon that continued until Ludruk went dormant due to the events of 1965”

On the other hand, following the turmoil of 1965, it is suspected that many Ludruk performers sought refuge within the Gambus Misri group, as these Ludruk players did not want to be affected by the massacre and exclusion of the Abangan group. This is because Ludruk artists were always associated with the Abangan group, which was notably considered the underbelly of the PKI (Communist Party of Indonesia).

In short, the art of Gambus Misri emerged due to tensions between the Abangan and Putihan groups. Due to this tension, the Putihan group introduced a new stream of art with Islamic dimensions. This art once filled the cultural space of the Jombang community alongside Ludruk art, but during the bloody events of 1965, Gambus Misri became a haven for Ludruk artists who did not want to be eliminated and killed.