In the Jakarta Post Gindho Rizano has an opinion piece arguing: Wanted in the bookstores: Literary canon, pointing out:
Now browse through our regular local bookstores; you will find contemporary local books and translated bestsellers. However, classics are few, especially in Indonesian literature.In sum:
Indonesian literary canon is not entirely available to us -- implying we are not literate and cultured enough. Aren't we supposed to be living in the postmodern age in which we constantly refer to the works of the past ? The sad truth is that we are not that literate yet, and it is a good idea to focus on a modernizing project to make buying, reading and enjoying literature our habit.And Rizano suggests:
Our classics simply need to be available to the reading public; and in this visual age, they'll need proper packaging to become "objects of desire". A bit of promotion backed by intellectuals will definitely get the ball rolling. The book industry should be on the front-line in battling philistinism; we critics, academic and reviewers will do all the talking.Well, any nudge in the direction can't hurt (and it certainly would be good to see) .....