By A. Zamroni Sw.
Budi Darma dan novel Olenka (http://www.biografi-penulis.blogspot.com-medium.com)
Budi Darma
was born in Rembang, Central Java, on April 25, 1937. He was the fourth of six
children (all boys). Budi Darma spent his childhood and adolescence in various
cities on the island of Java - such as Semarang, Yogyakarta, Salatiga, Jombang,
Kendal, and Bandung - because he followed his father who worked as a post
office employee.
Budi
Darma's parents both came from Rembang. His father was named Munandar
Darmowidagdo (born 1900) and his mother named Sri Kunmaryati (born in 1909).
Budi Darma married Sitaresmi (born 7 September 1938) in 1968. They have three
sons, namely Diana (born 15 May 1969), Guritno (4 February 1972), and Hananto
Widodo (3 June 1974).
Budi
Darma completed primary school education in 1950 in Kudus, completed junior
secondary education in 1953 in Salatiga, and completed high school education in
1956 (Wikipedia calls it 1957) in Semarang. After graduating from high school,
he continued his studies at the Department of English Literature, Faculty of
Letters and Culture, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta. He completed his
higher education in 1963.
After
graduating from UGM, Budi Darma worked as a lecturer at the English Department
of the IKIP Surabaya — now the State University of Surabaya (Unesa).
This work he has been doing since 1963 until now. In his career as a lecturer
at the State University of Surabaya / IKIP Surabaya, he had served as Head of
the Department of English Literature (1966-1970 and 1980-1984), Dean of the
Teaching Faculty of Letters and Arts (1963-1966 and 1970-1974), and Rector of
the IKIP Surabaya ( 1984—1988). Now Budi Darma is a professor at the State
University of Surabaya. Apart from teaching at this college in Surabaya, he
also teaches at a number of foreign universities.
Budi
Darma earned his Master of Arts in English Creative Writing in 1975 at Indiana
University, United States. He attended a university based in the City of
Bloomington, Indiana, with a scholarship fee. With a scholarship from The Ford
Foundation, he then completed his doctoral education (Doctor of Philosophy) at
the same university in 1980. After earning a doctorate, Budi Darma became a
visiting research associate at Indiana University. In 1967, for three months,
he attended the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, United
States. In 1970 - 1971, he also received a scholarship from the East West
Center to undertake a non-degree study of basic humanities 'basic humanities'
at the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, United States.
Indonesian Prose reformer
Budi
Darma began to be active and productive in writing since 1968/1969. Besides in
Indonesian, he also writes in English. His writings are in the form of short
stories, novels, essays and papers. Apart from the short anthology of Kritisus Adinan (2002), until now a number of his books have
been published; among others, Olenka (novel, 1983), Rafilus (novel, 1998), Ny. Talis (novel, 1996), Bloomington's People (collection
of short stories, 1981), Soliloquy (collection of essays, 1983), A number of Literary Essays (collection of essays, 1984), Harmonium (collection of essays, 1995), Fofo and Senggring (collection of essays , 2005), as well as a
translated work (The Legacy by Intsi V. Himanyunga, 1996). Other works
include Modern Literature of ASEAN (Chief Editor, 2000) and ASEAN Literary Essay Collection (ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information).
The non-literary books that he has produced include, among others, History of November 10, 1945 (Pemda Jatim, 1987) and Culture in Surabaya (IKIP
Surabaya, 1992).
His
short stories are published in the literary magazine Horison, Kompas daily
(Sunday edition), as well as the Best
Short Story Collection book selected
by Kompas. His inspiring essays have
also been published in Horizon and Kompas.
Some of his short stories written in English have been published in various
mass media published in Indiana, Bloomington. Other writings have been
published in several magazines, including, Budaja
(Yogyakarta), Basis (Yogyakarta), Gama (Yogyakarta), Gadjah Mada (Yogyakarta), Gema Mahasiswa (Yogyakarta), Contact (Yogyakarta), Tjerita (Jakarta), Indonesia
(Jakarta), Roman (Jakarta), Forum (Jakarta), and Gelora (Surabaya), as well
as the newspapers Berita Nasional (Yogyakarta), Minggu Pagi (Yogyakarta), Kontak (Surabaya), Jawa Pos (Surabaya), and Indonesia
(Semarang).
Budi Darma's name began to skyrocket and
became widely known in the literary world since publishing a number of absurd
short stories in the literary magazine Horison
in the 1970s. During his stay in
Bloomington City, he wrote eight short stories which were later published in
the book collection of short stories The
People of Bloomington (1980) and the novel Olenka (1983). The short
story "People of Bloomington" won the SEA Write Award from the Thai Government
(1984). Olenka, published by Balai
Pustaka, received a wide and positive response from critics, observers and
literary connoisseurs. The novel, written at the end of 1979, is considered to
have brought a renewal in storytelling techniques. Budi Darma won various
awards through Olenka. Olenka became the first winner of the Jakarta Arts
Council Roman Contest (1980). Olenka also received the Jakarta Arts Council
Literature Prize (1983). A year later (1984), Olenka also won the ASEAN
Literature Prize (SEA Write Award).
Budi
Darma's prose works (short stories and novels) are discussed in a separate
chapter in the book by the critic A. Teeuw, Modern
Indonesian Literature (Volume 2).
Budi Darma's short story published by Horizon,
"The Child" by Satyagaraha Hoerip was included in the anthology of Indonesian Short Stories (Volume 3). His
short story entitled “Pria Pemanggul Goni” was chosen as the best short story
for Kompas daily in 2012, while another short story, “Derabat”,
was made the title of the 1999 Compass
Best Short Story Collection and Budi
Darma was named as a short story writer who is loyal to his age. The two short
stories were transformed into a drama, namely “Orez” (performed by ISI
Yogyakarta students) and “Kritisus Adinan” (performed by STSI Bandung
students).
Budi
Darma's contribution to the progress of literature is considered very large.
His short stories and novels brought new changes in storytelling and
characterization techniques, which in turn influenced many Indonesian short
stories and novelists who emerged afterward. Budi Darma's storytelling
technique is often seen as a collage technique, while the characters he
displays often have strange or absurd characters. Together with Iwan
Simatupang, Putu Wijaya, and Danarto, he is often categorized as a reformer of
modern Indonesian literature for the prose genre.
Budi
Darma has an amazing speed in writing short stories or novels. He is used to
writing without prior planning. Olenka's
novel, which won various awards, for example, was completed in just three
weeks. In an interview with the journal Prose
(2003), he said, “I write without my
plans, and also without a draft. If writing could be equated with fighting, I
just followed the mood, without outlining strategy, nor detailing tactics.
Behind the mood, meanwhile, there's an obsession.”
Achievement Figures
While
studying in the United States, Budi Darma was included in the category of
outstanding students so that his name was immortalized in Who's Who in The World (1982/1983).
He was registered as a member of the Modern Language Association (MLA), New
York, for the period 1977—1990. His name is also listed in the book Indonesian Author Encyclopedia. When he graduated from his undergraduate
education from the UGM Faculty of Letters and Culture, he won the Bintang
Wisuda Bhakti award as the best graduate.
Budi
Darma was declared a Surabaya citizen with achievements in literature for two
consecutive times, namely in 1987 and 1988, by the Mayor of Surabaya, Purnomo
Kasidi. In 2004, he was awarded the citizen with artistic achievement by the
governor of East Java. In 1993, he was awarded the Indonesian Government Art
Award.
As a
writer, academician, and intellectual, Budi Darma is often asked to give
lectures, teach, and test prospective scholars or doctor of literature both at
home and abroad. Not infrequently he also received invitations to do research,
especially on English or American literature. In the midst of his busy
schedule, he is listed as the chief
editor of the Modern Literature of
ASEAN (2000) published by the ASEAN
COCI (Committee on Cultural Information). This book discusses the development
of literature in several ASEAN countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand,
Brunei Darussalam, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam. Budi Darma has
participated in literary and cultural broadcast programs at RRI (Semarang, Yogyakarta, and Surabaya)
and TVRI (Surabaya).
In the
collaboration of Mastera (Southeast Asian Literature Council), Budi Darma has
been a guide for young short stories, essays and novelists from Brunei
Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia in the Mastera Writing Program (1998, 1999,
2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008). He was appointed as a comparative literary
expert in the Indonesian Mastera expert membership. This man who is known to be
friendly and polite is also involved in mentoring various workshops and
literature upgrading for Language Center employees and young lecturers from
various universities in Indonesia which are held by the Language Center,
Ministry of National Education.
Budi
Darma is known as a character who has broad insight because of his passion for
reading and writing. This creative writer has a passion for reading since he
was a teenager. When he was in junior high school in Salatiga, he had read a
lot of Indonesian and foreign literary books. In the Salatiga government library,
he often fills his spare time devouring works by Idrus, Merari Siregar, Suman
Hs., and so on. With only limited English skills, he also read works by Karl
May, Hector Malot, Alexander Dumas, and so on. The story in one of the Russian
short stories (in English) entitled "The Darling" is more or less
related to Olenka's character in Olenka's
novel.
Budi
Darma's penchant for reading is thought to have been transmitted by his mother,
who had a good reading tradition for her era. The literature that his mother
read a lot was puppet stories and Javanese mythology. In addition, when
studying at UGM, Budi Darma stayed at the house of his uncle who was a lecturer
and legal expert, namely Prof. Mr. Notosusanto (Nugroho Notosusanto's father -
writer, historian, and former minister of education and culture). The
scientific discussions that were often held with his uncle also opened and
broadened Budi Darma's scientific horizons.
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