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John McGlynn: Taking literature far and beyond

JOHN MCGLYNN Traffic jams and unpredictable weather may be the two things American translator and editor John McGlynn hates most about Jakarta, but these have not stopped him from making the city his home for the last 32 years

Stevie Emilia, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta (The Jakarta Post)
Tue, April 22, 2008

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John McGlynn: Taking literature far and beyond

JOHN MCGLYNN

Traffic jams and unpredictable weather may be the two things American translator and editor John McGlynn hates most about Jakarta, but these have not stopped him from making the city his home for the last 32 years.

McGlynn's passion for Indonesian culture and literature runs deep in his veins, too thick for him to be able to leave, even after briefly "trying".

He suggested several reasons for his decision to stay, but the main reason was to guard his "child", the Lontar Foundation, which he helped set up with four noted Indonesian writers in 1987; hoping to promote Indonesia to the rest of the world through literature and culture.

"I view it as my child. The original idea was mine and we have some very good people who helped build it, but it wouldn't be where it is today without the help of many, many people," McGlynn acknowledged.

"This was my idea, and I don't have children of my own, so I view it like my own child. That's why I came back after (briefly) 'trying' to leave a couple of years ago."

Sitting comfortably in his meeting room, McGlynn sipped his tea surrounded by the things he loves most and has worked to help produce -- works of Indonesian literature in translation.

In a hushed tone, he shared the latest off-the-record gossip in the literary scene, expressing his personal views on certain novels, before getting down to business.

Beaming with pride, McGlynn disclosed a plan to relaunch Lontar, which is in its 20th year, along with detailed programs for the next four to five years.

"After all these years, it's like having a new spirit," he said.

His love affair with Indonesian literature had gone beyond his own imagination.

Born 55 years ago into a farming family in Casa Novia, Milwaukee, McGlynn's childhood dreams constantly changed from being a fireman, to an architect and a puppeteer.

He once intended to pursue a degree in graphics and fine arts, until a fascination with Javanese shadow puppets ignited his desire to further his studies in Indonesia.

He took up Bahasa Indonesia at Wisconsin University to prepare for his fellowship studying puppetry in Yogyakarta, but it fell through and instead he came to Jakarta to study the language at the University of Indonesia.

"For a young man who studied Indonesian culture and literature, the country was the most happening place for Indonesian language and culture," he said, taking his thoughts back for a moment to the time when he first set foot here.

At that time, McGlynn worked as a freelance translator for different institutions, but had no interest in pursuing an academic career. He soon befriended numerous literary figures like poet Sapardi Djoko Damono and writer Goenawan Mohamad.

And then Lontar was born, and the man found his home.

"I like it here. I like what I began to do. I like what Lontar has done to people," McGlynn said. "I feel we have an important role to play. I think everybody needs to feel that in their lives, and I get that (feeling here)."

Since McGlynn has been in Indonesia (most of his adult life), his friends have become his other reasons for staying.

"I have a large family, but they're scattered around the U.S. and I do see them -- most of my friends live in Indonesia," he said.

When he goes away, the thing he misses most is the closeness of Indonesians, for example, when they speak to each other.

"In a U.S. living room you sit like five feet apart from the person you're speaking with, but here in Indonesia, you're sitting about one foot apart -- sometimes next to each other. That's what I miss, that closeness," he said.

This line of work has made him aware of the many frustrating problems faced by translators, editors and writers.

He said translators receive no subsidies to translate Indonesian works, such as into English, and many can barely survive with advance payments of predicted sales of some 2,000 books.

The role of editors here, McGlynn said, is not regarded as important either.

"Once a writer produces a work (here), it goes to the printer," he said. "But almost all good works that come out in English have been heavily edited. Editors play a major role in the creation of English literature."

"I'm sorry to say, (poor editing) is the big problem with Indonesian literature. (As a translator), you can't fix a book when you translate it. If you find something wrong in the original, you can't fix it.

"If it's badly edited," McGlynn said, "you will produce a bad English translation."

The constant, everyday challenge he faces is not, however, translating or editing, but raising funds, making proposals and doing administrative work for the foundation.

"The boredom only comes when I'm not 'allowed' to exercise my creative spirit," he said. "It's hard, but well worth it."

The 55-year-old has translated or edited nearly 100 works, but said those with special meaning were his translations of several works by Pramoedya Ananta Toer, which he published under a pseudonym; in particular The Mute's Soliloquy, which is a compilation of essays and letters by the author that he augmented with additional interview material.

Until now, McGlynn has been unable to find time to produce an original creative literary work of his own, although he does have a number of unpublished manuscripts.

"One (of the manuscripts that is) very close to my heart -- which, incidentally, has nothing to do with Indonesia -- is a collection of more than 1,000 love letters exchanged by my parents during their engagement, which spanned from 1939 to 1945," he said.

"Together, these letters form a micro-social history of the United States during the Great Depression and World War II."

Despite years of experience, McGlynn declined to nominate his favorite Indonesian literary writer.

"I had so many wonderful teachers ... the large number of whom I truly respect. Maybe that's why I keep staying here too -- because I do love them and their work. "I want my family, my Western family, to know my Indonesian family as well," he said.

McGlynn observed with fascination the emergence of new writers, several whose works have become bestsellers.

"There's a chance they might become prominent writers, but there's huge challenges to that possibility -- I mean the number of people reading and buying books is going up, so there's a greater chance that young writers can actually make a living as a writer, or pursue their writing career, but for most it will be hard going," he said.

"I truly respect the younger generation," he went on. "They're coming out -- not everything is good -- but (they're) expressing themselves. You're getting a much wider range of expressions today than ever before."

When asked to name any writers who might become prominent figures with an international reputation like Pramoedya Ananta Toer, there was no hesitation in his reply: "Not yet (any), frankly".

"But Pram is an odd person in the sense that he made this conscious choice of becoming novelist, because he knew that a novel is seen as the most important genre in Western literature -- almost a political choice on his part, 'if I want to introduce Indonesia to the world, it must be through the novel'."

"Very few Indonesian writers (at least the ones I know) are like that. They don't operate that way. They want to tell their stories and they want it to get done. They don't spend a long time (to get it done).

"It takes a year or so to write a nice thick novel with all the historical details and that kind of thing. It takes a lot of time and research to make a good novel, especially a historical one, or it takes a lot for a person with experience and great knowledge to create a realistic world on the page."

McGlynn finds a large portion of Indonesia's contemporary literature is semi-fantastic, which irritates him, he said.

"There are so many real life stories that are interesting. One of Lontar's significant undertakings was interviews with around 150 former political prisoners.

"Their stories are so interesting. Why do we have to create something unreal when the real thing is so much more interesting?"

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