Ginting Munte

Introduction

“Texts are therefore not structures of presence but traces and tracings of otherness. They are shaped by the repetition and transformation of other textual structures,” said John Frow in his ‘Intertextuality and Ontology’[1]. These definitive sentences are one of the ten theses he proposed to begin the theoretical discussion upon the term intertextuality.[2] What is vehemently interesting in intertextuality to be talked about when observing the works of art? It is its use of the voluminously spacious and diversified word: text(s). On the condition that we accept the theory of intertextuality, we are then prepared to accept that things, from the atomic to the gargantuan ones, are texts; and thus the prefix inter- indicates the interlocking connection which becomes ‘the blessed tie that binds’. This theory is then igniting a way of thinking that a textual form of creation does not stand alone in vacancy. So long as humans can track down histories, interconnections are more likely of the discovery. Continue reading

It is not excessive to say that human language itself is figurative per se. Surely, it is not uncommon to have metaphoric expression such as “Don’t be a donkey that you fall twice at the same pitfall!” in our daily language. How can then, if not for its figurative quality, our interlocutor understand the meaning of that particular speech? On one hand, when each is alienated, ‘donkey’, ‘fall twice’, and ‘the same pitfall’ might stand alone for their own semantics (and this phenomenon is called ‘literariness’). On the other, when put in the same line, they no longer speak for (and as) themselves. They are sure standing post-semantically for other possible meaningful effects (Culler, 2000:67-68). Continue reading

Aku tak bisa tidur. Begitulah. Tak bisa. Dan hanya begitu saja.

Tidak! Tidak seperti itu. Tak pernah seperti itu. Malam-malam sebelumnya aku tidur tepat waktu dan terpekur nyenyak sekali. Tapi, kenapa malam ini? Sesuatu. Sesuatu pasti terjadi sebagai sesuatu yang punya alasan. Melantur kalau sesuatu terjadi begitu saja. Aku tak pernah percaya. Semuanya. Semua! Ada barisan alasan yang sembunyi di balik tabir panggung tempat sesuatu dilakonkan. Mereka sembunyi bukan untuk sembunyi. Mereka sembunyi untuk mengejek kesadaran orang, untuk ditemukan. Dan tak secuilpun sabar mereka rompal oleh kala. Mereka tetap menunggu, sampai suatu nalar menghampiri dan berteriak, “Ci-luk-ba! Kau kutemukan. Kau kena. Sekarang gantian, kau yang jaga.”

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