Poems by Hendri Yulius Wijaya Translated by Edward Gunawan

Edward Gunawan‘s Introductory Translator Notes

These poems are by Hendri Yulius Wijaya, written in Bahasa Indonesia mixed with a spattering of English words and expressions. They are published as a full-length collection Stonewall Tak Mampir di Atlantis (translation: There’s No Stonewall in Atlantis) by Indonesian publisher “Buku Mojok Grup” in 2020 (ISBN # 978-623-91089-9-1). 

Wijaya stands as one of the rare handful of openly-out queer writers writing/publishing in Bahasa Indonesia and from Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation in the world. The translator of this work, Edward Gunawan, is a fellow openly-out queer Indonesian. Both are also of Chinese heritage, an ethnic minority in Indonesia that, as a community, has faced discrimination and persecution. 

In keeping with the author’s intentions of highlighting the plurality of languages found in the original text, the translator has approached the translation in the following ways: 

• [ Text in brackets ] denotes Indonesian words that appear in original poems, including Indonesian queer slang.
• Italicized text denotes English words that appear in original poems.
• With the author’s permission, footnotes that appear at the bottom of the original poems have either been reproduced as epigraphs or moved to the Endnote section. Endnotes in bold are translated reproductions from the original poems, while [ endnotes in bold and in brackets ] are the translator’s additions.
• Commonwealth English words and expressions in original poems have been adapted into North American’s context and spellings. 
• Original poem in Bahasa Indonesia is included after each translated piece.

Endnotes

[ Gaya Hidup Ceria ]

• Gaya Hidup Ceria: Name of the zine published by Indonesia’s first gay organization, Lambda Indonesia in 1982.
• Greenwich Village: The location where the Stonewall Inn is located in New York City. The Stonewall riots that emerged in the form of resistance from the queer community against the police in 1969 often mark the start of the queer political movement in the public sphere of the United States.
• Homo sensorium: A term used in the Netflix series, Sense8 (2015) which refers to a force that connects and unites the characters.
• [ Sashay, Shantay ]: An expression popularized by RuPaul through their iconic song “Supermodel (You Better Work” (1992), which means “to walk like you mean to be noticed.” 

Notes on the Demonstrators

• The original poem’s title is after [ “Catatan Seorang Demonstran” ] or “Notes of a Demonstrator” by Indonesian activist Soe Hok Gie (1983). 
• [ Kernet ]: A public bus driver’s assistant whose task is to collect payment from passengers.
• [ “Mijon, mijon…” ]: A colloquial nickname to a local brand of electrolytes-supplement beverages which dissociate salts into ions [ Mizone ], akin to “Gatorade.” However, the term has risen to meme-level internet fame in Indonesia as it has been used by both drink vendors and street buskers alike while hawking their services to the throngs of protestors and demonstrators in the 2010’s.
• “Feeling rich is sometimes more useful than actually being rich” is Joko Pinurbo’s sentence “Merasa kaya kadang lebih berguna daripada kaya sungguhan” in the poem “Uang Minah” (2020).

Rainbow, Rainbow 

• Inspired by the poem “Jalan Ngantor” by Ratri Ninditya in her poetry collection Rusunothing (2019).
• [ Jedorrr ]: Onomatopoeia of an explosion or a gun-shot in Indonesia, akin to “bang” or “boom.” The diction and references to colors in the preceding line of the original poem, along with the “jedorrr” onomatopoeia, are after an Indonesian children’s song “Balonku Ada Lima” or “I Have Five Balloons.”
• [ Khong Guan ]: A popular brand of biscuits popular in Indonesia, especially during the post-colonial late 20th century.

Hendri Yulius Wijaya is an Indonesian writer and researcher on gender, sexuality, cultural politics, and sustainability. The co-editor of Queer Southeast Asia (Routledge, 2022), he has also extensively written and provided commentaries on the development of Indonesian queer activism from the 1980s to the present, anti-LGBTQ+ panics, pornography, and sustainability in Indonesia for various national and international media outlets. For his long-term engagement with these issues, he was invited to deliver the 2023 Tomlinson Memorial Lecture at Nottingham University in the UK. Stonewall Tak Mampir Di Atlantis is Wijaya’s debut full-length poetry collection. 

Edward Gunawan is an Indonesian-born Chinese queer writer & translator who now resides in the Bay Area, CA. They authored chapbooks: Start a Riot! Prize-winning The Way Back (Foglifter Press, 2022) and Press Play (Sweet Lit, 2020), and their work has been published in Tripwire, TriQuarterly, and The Town anthology (Nomadic Press, 2023), amongst others. More info at addword.com. 

24 June 2024