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Taking on nothing but Sundanese culture
Pokoknya Sunda: Interpretasi untuk aksi (Nothing but Sunda: Interpretation for action) by Chaedar Alwasilah Publisher: Kiblat, 2006 194 pages Glancing one's eyes over the title of this book, one may suspect that the author purposefully intends to disseminate ethnocentrism among readers who probably come from diverse cultural backgrounds
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Pokoknya Sunda: Interpretasi untuk aksi
(Nothing but Sunda: Interpretation for action)
by Chaedar Alwasilah
Publisher: Kiblat, 2006
194 pages
Glancing one's eyes over the title of this book, one may suspect that the author purposefully intends to disseminate ethnocentrism among readers who probably come from diverse cultural backgrounds.
The title seems to suggest that everything related to Sunda, be it language, culture, literacy, ethnic identity or education, are central to all reality.
However, a close inspection of its content reveals the author's balanced views of respecting cultural values other than the Sundanese's.
The theme bearing the name Sundanese -- one of the country's ethnic groups -- that Alwasilah exposes in this book is not meant to demonstrate the superiority of Sundanese culture over other cultures in multicultural and multiethnic countries, particularly Indonesia.
Rather, it is meant to show critiques of Sundanese culture per se, which are driven by Alwasilah's apprehension about its fate in this fast-changing world.
In the education realm, for instance, Alwasilah is particularly critical of the paucity of appreciation of the richness and vitality of ethnic literature in schools.
This reality, however, never dampens his enthusiasm in promoting the essentials of local culture in language education. Local wisdom, he implicitly begs, which is not highly valued must be reinvigorated so that students will have a sense of appreciating and preserving their cultural heritage.
Born and raised in a pesantren (Islamic boarding school) environment in Garut, West Java, Alwasilah is undoubtedly adroit at discussing issues related to Sundanese cultures.
His adroitness is depicted in more than 250 articles (most of which are about Sundanese cultures) that he published in mass media.
Other important works meriting a mention here are Dari Cicalengka sampai Chicago: Bunga Rampai Pendidikan Bahasa (1994), Politik Bahasa dan Pendidikan (1997) and Language, Culture, and Education: A Portrait of Contemporary Education (2001).
Pokoknya Sunda is one of his masterpieces that spells out practical strategies of revitalizing and preserving Sundanese cultural heritage without provoking readers to overlook the significance of other cultures.
This book is in fact an anthology of Alwasilah's essays loaded with social critiques. Because Alwasilah expresses apprehension not only about the cultural heritage of the Sundanese alone, he also includes the explication of other related issues such as the fate of national education in general, language planning, language education, the tradition of literacy and other social phenomena in the country.
What needs to be appreciated in his bid to reinvigorate Sundanese cultural heritage is Alwasilah's ground-breaking proposal of the renaissance of Sundanese culture and the establishment of the Center for Sundanese Study.
This proposal is not without its raison de *tre, however. A prolific writer and researcher for years, Alwasilah knows perfectly well how to elevate Sundanese culture both nationally and internationally.
In 2001 he was involved in the International Conference on Sundanese Culture in Bandung.
Attended by scholars from foreign countries around the world, the conference was an initial move for the renaissance of Sundanese culture. From this conference, Alwasilah expects two essential things: the understanding of Sundanese people, particularly the young generation, and the strategy of cultural legacy to young generation.
To fulfill these expectations, he brings into question the involvement of related parties such as scholars, journalists, educators, religious leaders and the like.
Written in elegantly well-chosen diction and lucid exposition, this anthology serves as a critical impetus for those in quest of cultural relativism. It can also become an insightful source of reference for language students, scholars, authorities and culture observers in their bid to interpret the richness and vitality of local cultures.
The writer is chief editor of the Indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching. He can be reached at setiono.sugiharto@atmajaya.ac.id.
