Multiculturalism and Javanese Ways of Behaving as Reflected in Umar Kayam’s Works of Fiction

This study aimed to describe the construction of multiculturalism in Umar Kayam's works of fiction in terms of the forms of multiculturalism, the factors causing multiculturalism and the effects of multiculturalism. This study used sociology of literature approach that sees literature as a reflection of society. There were three short stories and two novels that became the subjects of this study. They were Seribu Kunang-kunang di Manhattan (1988), Sri Sumarah, Bawuk (1988), Para Priyayi (1991), and Jalan Menikung (1993). The results showed that (1) the forms of multiculturalism found in Umar Kayam’s works are recognition of difference, democracy, justice and equality before the law, cultural values and ethos, unity in diversity, respect for other’s ethnicity and nationality as well as religious belief, implementation of cultural philosophy, appreciation of the private and public domain, respect for human rights and freedom to choose culture in a community; (2) the causes of multiculturalism are migration, intra-ethnic and inter-ethnic marriage, occupation, and devotion to somebody/"ngenger", (3) the effects of multiculturalism are reflected in the tolerant nature, respect for individual or group of people, surrendered life, willingness to help others, humility, and respect for religious beliefs.


Introduction
Literary work is a literary response to the surrounding world.This is in line with what was stated by Pradopo (1995: 178) that literary work, which is the author's creation as a member of society, is not born in a socio-cultural vacuum.In creating literary works, the author is inspired by the reality of complex life in the surrounding areas (Teeuw, 1980: 11).According to Faruk (1988: 7), literature is a semiotic fact that sees cultural phenomenon as a cognitive system of sign.
Literary works and the reality of life are two social phenomena that are complementary in their selfhood as something existential.This implies that literary work and life, beside having their own autonomy, also have a reciprocal relationship (Mahayana, 2007: 5).The author's point of departure in creating literary works is inspired by the experiences in his/her life.However, it does not mean that every phenomenon can be recorded and later be reported in the form of literature.To produce good literary works, contemplation is needed before interpreting the life phenomena and subsequently articulating them into works of art.
Multiculturalism is assumed as something inevitable and it occured naturally in a diverse country such as Indonesia.It emerges because of differences but then may result in an appreciation or respect for the differences in the dimension of religion, ethnicity, class, and politics.Multiculturalism is one of the problems in a society and it is a social reality which has already existed since a nation is established.The problem of multiculturalism is not only of concern to the nation but also to the attention of Indonesian authors.Some authors who wrote about multiculturalism issues are: Arswendo Atmowiloto who wrote about the social class relationship between the aristocracy and the labor in the novel of Canting, Ahmad Tohari who depicted a society and rural poverty in the village of Karangsoga in the novel of Bekisar Merah, Ramadhan KH who wrote about marital problems and religious conversion in the Novel of Keluarga Permana and Linus Suryadi AG who told about the surrendered life of an underprivileged named Pariyem in Dalem Suryomentaraman in the novel of Pengakuan Pariyem.
Umar Kayam is a prolific author in Indonesia whose works contain social criticism.His works include the duology novels of Para Priyayi (1992), Jalan Menikung (1999), Mangan Ora mangan Kumpul (1990), Lebaran di Karet (2002), Kelir Tanpa A. On the Ideology of Characters, the Author's Philosophy, and the Society Understanding the characters presented in a novel means reading the author's ideology and philosophy to be conveyed to the reader.This means literature is a way to understand philosophy.The author's ideas and thoughts are delivered through the main characters who carry the message.In other words, literature is a means to understand the "elusive" philosophical thoughts.It is a medium that helps readers understand the abstract language of philosophy (Sutrisno, 1995: 28-29).
There are two points of intersection between philosophy and literature.First, literature can be the raw material of philosophy.Understanding philosophy through life experience by appreciating life reality can be done by using empirical findings, for example using the philosophy of language as the raw material of Linguistics.Besides, people can also understand philosophy by using the experience spoken by authors and artists.Second, the view that philosophy is "difficult and abstract" is a priori.Literature, in fact, can help readers to know about philosophy.It can be a medium of enlightenment for obscure understanding.Through the literary language which is communicative, fresh, and lively, philosophy may mean living a life and appreciating its meaning.When we read works of philosophical literature, such as Ziarah, Kering, Koong, Adam Marifat, or Laki-Laki yang Kawin dengan Peri, without an adequate understanding of the characters' nature and behavior, we will not be able to interpret their doings.
The emergence of sociology of literature is motivated by the fact that the existence of a literary work can not be separated from the social reality in a society.Damono (1979: 17) stated that in a work of literature, there is always a relationship among the writer, the work and the society.That is a kind of reciprocal relationship.As one approach to literary criticism, sociology of literature refers to the way of understanding and assessing literature that considers social aspects.Since literary work basically presents a picture of life, the life depicted here is mostly based on social reality (Wellek and Warren, 1990: 109).
In its further development, the approach of sociology of literature has many variants, each of which has its own theoretical framework and method.In this case, Junus (1986: 36) divided several kinds of sociology of literature: (1) the one that examines literature as a socio-cultural document, (2) the one that examines the income and marketing of literary works, (3 ) the one that examines public acceptance of literary works of a particular author and analyses the reasons, (4) the one that examines the socio-cultural influence of a creation of literary works, (5) the one that studies the universal mechanism of art, including literature, and (6) genetic structuralism developed by Lucien Goldmann from France.
The sociology of literature used in this study examined a work of literature as a socio-cultural document which means literature is a reflection of society.A work of literature is considered as an attempt to recreate human relationship with the family, society, politics, religion, and other social institutions because it is possible to be an alternative aesthetic aspect to adapt and it is possible to make changes in a society (Swingewood, 1972: 12), Sociology of literature discusses a literary work in relation to the society as well.The analysis does not intend to reduce the nature of this imaginative world into facts.Moreover, it also does not mean to transform the nature of facts to the world of imagination (Ratna, 2003: 117).

B. Multiculturalism in Literature
In the Great Dictionary of Bahasa Indonesia (2005), multiculturalism is defined as a symptom in a person or a society marked by the habit of using more than one culture.Multiculturalism is an ideology that recognizes and magnifies differences in equality, both individually and culturally (Fay, 1996, Jary and Jary, 1991, Watson 2000).In this model of multiculturalism, a society has a culture that is generally depicted in the pattern of a mosaic.This mosaic covers all cultures of small communities to form a larger community (Reed, ed. 1997).This model has actually been used by the founding fathers of Indonesia as a reference to design the so-called national culture, as what is stated in the explanation of Article 32 UUD 1945, which says: Indonesian national culture is the peak of local cultures.
Multiculturalism is not merely a discourse but it is an ideology that should be fought for as it is important to be a foundation of democracy, human rights and the people's welfare.It is not an independent ideology that is separated from other ideologies, and in order to understand and develop it to a larger social life, it requires a set of concepts as the reference.The concepts as the foundation of knowledge should be relevant to and support the existence as well as the function of multiculturalism in human life.This set of concepts must be communicated among experts who have the same view on multiculturalism so that there will be a common understanding and mutual support in fighting for this ideology.Some of the concepts which are relevant to multiculturalism are democracy, justice and law, cultural values and ethos, unity in diversity, ethnicity, ethnic culture, religious beliefs, cultural philosophy, private and public domain, human rights, cultural rights of a community, and other relevant concepts (Fay, 1996, Rex, 1985, Suparlan 2002) Multiculturalism in literature emerged in the 1960s and has been widely known since the 1970s.It was born in relation to the cultural needs of non-European migrants in the Anglophone countries.In general, it indicates that the birth of multiculturalism was related to the increasing unwanted social and cultural consequences of the huge migration to the countries of Europe, America, and Australia.In the later development, multiculturalism also raised more controversial issues, such as nationalism, aboriginality (in Australia), as well as differences in skin color and religion.(Rahman, 2014) In Indonesia, the spirit and principles of multiculturalism are clearly needed but by considering the Indonesian context.In this country, social grievances related to ethnicity happen frequently in several places, such as Mandura-Dayak ethnic quarrels in Sampit and Sanggau Ledo Regency in Central and West Kalimantan, residential combustion of Gafatar in West Kalimantan, and even forced eviction done by the local residents of Sampang Madura.There is no guarantee that such outbreaks will not happen again because people of Indonesia are still very vulnerable to be provoked by group sentiment (ethnic, religious, social, political, etc. ).This vulnerability is partly supported by a dim and poor view about diversity.Therefore, it is a must to continuously handle the cultural pluralism in our country by exploring the sources that will ensure the unity of the people.
In relation to multiculturalism, using the works of literature as a showcase of the Indonesian cultural diversity has been in line with the spirit of multiculturalism.It enables minor cultures to be equivalent to the major ones without mixing them.Thus the culture of Minang, Acehnese, Javanese, Betawi, Sundanese, Balinese, Dayak and many others still look different and are, in fact, different.However, they are equal.
Indonesian literature has provided deep dimension upon that diversity by exploring and questioning the traditional problems related to the ethnic cultures of Indonesia.There are some similarities between the issues of multiculturalism presented in Indonesian literature and in the reality, such as different religions in the novel of Keluarga Permana written by Ramadhan KH (1970) and Duology Para Priyayi (1990) and Jalan Menikung (1994) by Umar Kayam.In Keluarga Permana, Farida, the daughter of a very religious Islam family, must marry a Catholic, FX.Sumarto.Similarly, the marriages between Hardjoko and Nunuk as well as Eko and Claire are also those of different religions.Eko who is raised in a family of Islam Abangan (the syncretic version of Islam) retains his religion after his marriage to Claire from a Jewish family.
The issue of multiculturalism is not merely a question of interreligious relations but it also includes the problem of cultural migration and personal problem of striving for freedom.This happens in the story of Bawuk (1970) from an aristocratic family who strives to free herself from the noble tradition and mingles with the grassroots.She has to leave her family to marry Hasan, a communist.
Intersection of cultures, religions, ethnicities in literary works needs to be opened up by creating a new perspective, namely intersection of ethnic cultures.What are the problems that may arise if the Javanese culture intersects with Western Catholic culture?How does Sundanese culture view the culture Catholic or otherwise, where they are different from each other in all respects?How does Javanese culture regard some cultural change?Indonesian literature on multiculturalism can answer all of those questions.

Results and Discussion
The results showed that (1) the forms of multiculturalism found in Umar Kayam's works are recognition of difference, democracy, justice and equality before the law, cultural values and ethos, unity in diversity, respect for ethnicity, nationality and religious belief, implementation of cultural philosophy, appreciation of the private and public domain, and respect for human rights; (2) the causes of multiculturalism are migration, intra-ethnic and inter-ethnic marriage, occupation, and devotion to somebody/"ngenger", (3) the effects of multiculturalism are reflected in the tolerant nature, respect for individual or group of people, surrendered life, willingness to help others, humility, and respect for religious beliefs.

The Forms of Multiculturalism in Umar Kayam's Works of Fiction
Understanding the works of Umar Kayam, both the short story and the novel, particularly the two short stories entitled Sri Sumarah and Bawuk collected in the form of short story anthology of the same title, a short story of Seribu Kunang-Kunang di Manhattan and two duology novels entitled Para Priyayi and Jalan Menikung is like reading what is in the mind of the author who was a multiculturalist.Umar Kayam, a multiculturalist, academic, as well as a cultural and culinary connoisseur, also wrote down his experiences in literary works in cross-cultural, interfaith, and even across civilization dimensions.
Understanding Umar Kayam's life through his works can be started from the story of his adventures in New York in the short story entitled Seribu Kunang-Kunang di Manhattan through Marno, the main character who is innocent yet proud of the culture of his village, and Jane, who lives a metropolitan life with all the freedom she has.Marno, a villager who studies in metropolitan New York has to face the reality of free relationship between men and women that lead to infidelity.The affair ends without violence and coercion, and still, there is an element of faith in his life.
Through Sri Sumarah in the short story entitled Sri Sumarah, Umar Kayam depicted a character of Javanese woman whose husband is dead and she has to work as a masseur with the risk of delinquent behavior of her customers and she has to raise her daughter as a single parent.She also must surrender because her daughter is married to a communist activist; yet, she always helps and protects them.
Through Bawuk and her mother, Mrs Suryo, in the short story entitled Bawuk, Umar Kayam portrayed a Javanese female character who should be able to face the fact that what her youngest child chooses is different from her choice.Bawuk chooses to follow her husband, Hasan, who is a communist and she entrusts their children to her mother, Mrs. Suryo.Although she is raised in an aristocratic culture, it does not make Bawuk behave as a noble woman like her older brothers and sisters.
Lantip as the main character in the novel of Para Priyayi could change his life to become a member of aristocracy.His original name is Wage.He is a child of infidelity between Ngadiyem and Soenandar, a noble man.Wage can be an aristocrat because his father is a noble man and he grows up in an aristocratic culture in the family of Sosrodarsono.The way he thinks and behaves resembles those of the Sosrodarsono family.As he is a smart boy (read: Lantip) and he learns a lot, these make him a successful person.
Harimurti, Eko, Lantif, the family of Levin Alan Bernstein and Claire are characters that bring multiculturalism and appreciation without having to convert somebody's faith or beliefs.Eko remained a Muslim although he marries the daughter of a Jew.Similarly, Kevin Alan Bernstein greatly appreciates the choice Eko makes.The issue of interfaith marriage, the problem of having no child in a marriage, and criticism or satire about religious belief are addressed wisely by those characters.

Recognition of difference
Differences in personality, politics, faith or religious belief, and respect for diversity become an interconnected link among those works of fiction.In terms of social status, there are different views about 'aristocracy' between parents and their children, as what happens between Bawuk and her parents in the short story entitled Bawuk and between Tun and her parents in the short story of Sri Sumarah.Bawuk, as the youngest child of a family with high position in the society, looks different from her brothers and sisters.She mingles with maid and the underprivileged and leaves her big family to marry Hasan, a communist.Similarly, Tun also marries a communist activist, Yos.Then, both Bawuk and Tun become fugitives.
Nevertheless the strong disagreements between parents and children do not change the love of Bawuk's mother to her child when Bawuk becomes a fugitive, and it happens as well in Tun's life.The following excerpt shows the love of Mrs. Suryo to Bawuk.
"Be careful, Sweetie.Go till you find Hassan." In his works, Umar Kayam also provided freedom for the characters to choose their husband or wife by marrying a woman from different religion or even that from abroad.Hardjojo is married to Sus who is from a Catholic family in the novel of Para Priyayi.Eko is married to Claire from a Jewish family without leaving Islam.So is Sudarsono who is paired with Siti Aisah as well as Lantip, a Javanese, who is paired with Halimah, a woman from Padang.On marital issue, Umar Kayam talked about multiculturalism that permeates problems of culture and religion.However, the fact today shows that someone can not get married to his/her partner who is from different religion and it has been strengthened by the government regulation.
Finally the wedding of Claire and Eko came true.It was a civil marriage, not the religious one.

Maintaining Harmony
This aspect refers to living in solidarity despite the different social classes, religious beliefs, nationalities, and even politics.Bawuk as the daughter of an Onder, patrician official in an estate, gets along with the servants and the people of the village.In addition, Sri Sumarah, who already knows that her son-in-law is a communist, prefers to live with him at the same home.Hardjojo can also live in harmony with the Catholic family of Dik Nunuk.Moreover, Eko and Claire are close friends although they are from different religions and different countries.They even get married even though it is done only in a civil registry.
The following excerpt shows how readers can learn the sense of togetherness despite some differences.In Indonesian ideology, it is called Bhineka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity).

"Tiduran di balai-balai dengan seorang bediende, main-main dengan anak-anak desa di belakang kandang kuda adalah bukan kebiasaan yang baik buat seorang anak onder…" (Bawuk, hlm. 86)
Lying on the couch with a servant and playing with the village kids behind the stables is not a good habit for a child of an onder...

"Ah aku tetap jadi orang Indonesia asal unsur Jawa saja. " Mereka lantas tertawa bersama (Jalan Menikung, page 20). Eko tetap sebagai orang Jawa dan Islam walaupun ada di budaya Barat dan akrab dengan keluarga Yahudi.
"Ah, anyway, I want to be an Indonesian with Javanese origin." Then they laughed together.Eko remained a Javanese and Muslim although he was in the Western culture and lived with a Jewish family.
Those indicate that the vertices of harmony can be maintained, despite some differences in attitudes, religious orientations or beliefs.Even Lantip, the main character in the novel of Para Priyayi and Jalan Menikung, always emphasizes respect for other ethnicities.
The Relation between Aristocracy and the Underprivileged Within his works, Umar Kayam portrayed a good relationship between the aristocracy and the grassroots.It is seen from the relationship between Bawuk and her servants, Sastrodarsono and Lantip as well as his mother, the aristocrats in Wanagalih and the underprivileged in Wanalawas, or Eko, the Indonesian student in New York, and Prof. Levin.Those all show a good relationship between those in high social class and the lower class people.Moreover, such relationship brings another good effect by developing somebody's virtue such as helping others.Those who are rich help the poor; those of high intellectuality educate the less intellectual ones by building a school in Wanalawas as what is done by a rich man, Sastrodarsono.
The attitude to always willingly help and respect others is done both by the aristocracy and the underprivileged.The Sastrodarsono family willingly helps his niece and nephews to stay in Setenan (Sastrodarsono family residence) although his own nephew, Soenandar, betrays him by doing a rape and robbery.In another story, Sri Sumarah willingly sells her land to celebrate the wedding of his youngest daughter, Tun, although the wedding ends tragically because Tun's husband, Yos, is a communist and a fugitive.

The implementation of Cultural Philosophy
This aspect means believing Javanese philosophy and implementing it in facing problem of personal life and in ruling the nation.On the issue of marriage, Sri Sumarah said that her soul mate has been decided by God (sing wis pinasthi).Other cultural expressions are Memayu Hayuning Bhawana (preserving the beauty of the world) as what is said by Pakde in the novel of Para Priyayi, Mikul duwur lan mendhem jero (respecting parents while they are alive and after their deaths), and also nglumpukke balung pisah (gathering scattered bones or gathering separated family members) as what is said by Tommy in the novel of Jalan Menikung.
There are some Javanese lexicons used by Umar Kayam in the novel Para Priyayi.Some of them are spoken by Sastrodarsono, such as mbanyu mili (go with the flow), kencana wingka (gold and diamond look like earthenware), melik nggendong lali (excessive desire will make people arrogant), sangkan paraning dumadi (human will go to the place he was originated; or to God is where the human go after life.), mampir ngombe (life is so short), etc.In addition, there are still other cultural expressions as stated by Rama Dokter cegah dhahar lawan guling (eat less, sleep less), the one said by Noegroho inggih, inggih mboten kepanggih (saying 'yes' but does not really know what it means), and the one spoken by Siti Aisyah, the wife of Soedarsono, garwa, sigarane nyawa (spouse is half of our life).
Here some sentences containing Javanese philosophy found in the works Umar Kayam.

Sebaliknya, kami mengambil inisiatif ini justru untuk menegakkan prinsip mikul duwur mendem jero (Jalan Menikung, page 46)
Instead, we took the initiative to establish the principle of respecting our parents while they are alive or after their deaths.

The Causes of Multiculturalism
As what is found in the works of Umar Kayam, multiculturalism is caused by cultural experience, religious experience, and life experience.Cultural experience is motivated by migration from one village to another village, from one town to another town, and even from one country to another country.This movement will result in forming tolerance and appreciation of diversity.Other factors causing the rise of multiculturalism are inter-ethnic, inter-religion, and inter-nation marriages, choice of occupation, and "ngenger" or staying with aristocratic family or with people who have a higher social class.
that lead to multiculturalism are those of Bawuk, from aristocratic family, and Hasan, a communists; Tun, an educated woman, and Yos, a communist activist; Sudarsono and Aisah; Hardjojo and Soemini, who is a Catholic; Eko and Claire, who is from a Jewish family.The last two marriages mentioned above are those of different religions.However, they do not change the Islamic life of Hardjojo and Eko.They still believe in the Shahada although they are married to a Catholics and a Jews.
Choice of work can also lead to the rise of multiculturalism.Various occupations are attached to some characters, such as Tuan Suryo as an Onder (the head/director of an estate during Dutch colonialism), Hasan as a communist activists, Lantip's mother who is a tempe seller, Satrodarsono as a skilled teacher in a village school, Atmokasan as a farmer in the village of Kedungsimo, Martodikromo as a village farmer and a foreman in a sugar factory, Mukaram as a seller of opium, Raden Harjono as a skilled police who helps the government, Soenandar as a robber, Noegroho who is a state company director and the director general of the department of trade, Lantip who becomes a lecturer, Harimurti as a reporter and also Eko who is a deputy of assistant director.The relationship among people of those different professions results in the emergence of multiculturalism.

The Effects of Multiculturalism
The effects of multiculturalism in Umar Kayam's works of fiction are indicated by the tolerant nature that respects individual differences, surrendered life, willingness to help others, humility as well as freedom in the choice of religious beliefs.In the novel of Para Priyayi, Lantip has to let his mother who died because of eating poisoned mushrooms go; Mrs. Suryo willingly let her beloved youngest daughter go to find her husband who is a communists and she loves her grandchildren by providing them a good religious education.After the death of her husband Mas Marto, Sri must carry out the work as a masseur with all the risks of facing delinquent behaviors of her customers.Likewise, she was willing to lose everything for her daughter's education and marriage.
The following excerpts indicate the humility of the characters.
"Ndoro Guru Kakung looked really intimate in chatting with them as they were people who he had known for so long." Baju dan celananya nampak mewah, mahal, dan modis.Meskipun begitu di tengah-tengah paman-pamannya di kamar kerja bapaknya itu Bambang tampak sopan, rendah hati, tidak sok, dan murah senyum (Jalan Menikung, page 44) His shirt and pants seem luxurious, expensive and fashionable.Nevertheless with his uncles in his father's working room, Bambang was polite, humble, not pretentious, and full of smile.

Conclusion
The forms of multiculturalism found in Umar Kayam's works of fiction are recognition of difference shown in both attitude and actions, maintaining harmony, relationship between the aristocracy and the underprivileged as well as the application of Javanese philosophy in real life.The factors causing multiculturalism are cultural knowledge, migration from village to town, from one city to another city and even from one country to another country.Other motivating factors are inter-ethnic, inter-religion, or even inter-nation marriage, choice of occupation and "ngenger" or staying with a family of high social status.The effects of multiculturalism are reflected in the tolerant nature, respecting other individual or group of people, surrendered life, willingness to help others, humility, and respect for religious beliefs.

Suggestion
The forms of multiculturalism in literature can be implemented in the practice of character education.The values of multiculturalism that can be developed into teaching materials are recognizing differences, maintaining harmony or being tolerance by respecting other religious beliefs, building relationships between those from high class society and the underprivileged, willingness to help others and practicing Javanese philosophy in real life.
Understanding the causes of multiculturalism, such as migration, will provide an insight about environment and human behavior.The occurrence of inter-ethnic, inter-religion or inter-nation marriages may arise people's understanding about different religions, ethnicities and countries.Various kinds of occupation provide opportunities for people to build a positive attitude of tolerance.The opportunity to do "ngenger" in a high class family (either in social or education level) will form a pattern of multiculturalism, i. e. mingling with others.
Understanding multiculturalism and its contributing factors will result in the nature of being tolerant, respecting others, surrender to God, helping others, and humility.Therefore, multicultural features need to be transferred in a work of fiction, particularly through the main characters in Umar Kayam's work of fiction.