At a book discussion event on October 6, 2023, which tried to look further behind and inside her latest work, Leila S. Chudori gave a description of the issues in it.
Titled Namaku Alam, the book is a spin-off from one of her novels, Pulang. In a discussion held at the Gedung Serba Guna, FIB, Diponegoro University, Leila S. Chudori said that the novel Namaku Alam tells the story of a character named Segara Alam with his own uniqueness. That uniqueness is the ability of photographic memory that makes him able to capture and remember all the events he experiences.
From this ability, Segara Alam’s story runs from a 3-year-old child to a teenager. The experience of events he experienced as a child then made Alam grow up carrying the burden of fear. This happened because of Segara Alam’s identity as the son of someone who was accused of being a sympathizer of one of the banned parties in Indonesia in 1965. From this, Alam grew up carrying the label of being the son of a ‘traitor to the nation’ by his peers.
Leila S. Chudori also mentioned that the problem of Namaku Alam is bigger than the character’s problem in it. This is because, according to her, there are issues of Indonesian history that are unclear until now and even issues of education that do not seem to foster critical views of their students.
After the presentation from Leila S. Chudori, who explained the various things behind Namaku Alam and its process, the discussion session continued by involving the participants. At the end of the event, Leila S. Chudori emphasized that the younger generation should keep questioning the existing history and not necessarily accept the history written and recorded in school books by the government. (YF)
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