A man of letters must have the courage to admit his mistakes and change the course of his path. The winner of the 2006 Anugerah Seni Negara and 2005 National Book Award for his unique take on Malay history and identity in the novel 1515, says: “I looked at myself, my carelessness, my mistakes. Reform, for him, meant shifting from traditional ideas and views on Islam to those with “progressive tones”. Nowadays, as a reformed and repented author, I hope I can speak or write for all.” In the second phase of my career, my conservative days, I wrote mostly Islamic works. “In my early days, I crafted healthy nationalism in my fiction. I was very naïve and followed in the footsteps of many writers before me. Retracing his transition, he says: “I started writing during my high school days. Call it serendipity: His newfound purpose as an “accidental” human rights defender coincided with the start of the third phase of his writing career. An English translation by Brigitte Bresson ( How Anyss Went to Heaven Dubooks) came out in 2016. The 2012 novel, which centres on feminism and Shia Islam, is still prohibited, as are Aku _, Maka Aku Ada! (a collection of articles and essays on politics, and religious and LGBT issues) and Sinema Spiritual (dramaturgy and film criticism from Islamic perspectives).įaisal’s fall from grace was sealed by the 2014 publication of Bagaimana Anyss Naik Ke Langit, about logging and the plight of the Penans in Sarawak.
Writing is the only sensible means for me to be disobedient and civilised at the same time.”ĭisobedience - going against the “norm” and espousing ideas contrary to those held by the majority - was behind Faisal’s tumble from being the “poster boy” of Malay literature to outsider, after the Home Ministry in 2014 imposed the first ban on his work, Perempuan Nan Bercinta, because “it may be detrimental to public order and public interest”. Not self-perfection, but perfection for society. Posted by Gerakbudaya on Monday, January 4, 2021 diabaikan adalah apakah kegemilangan dan kehebatan peradaban Melayu. Which brings readers to why Faisal - real name Dr Mohd Faizal Musa, a research fellow at the Institute of Malay World and Civilisation, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) - writes. So, although my essays are a reflection of the dark days pre-Pakatan, they can reflect what is happening today.” “As we are talking now, Kabul has fallen into the hands of the Taliban. Determinants of that come from nature, history, our way of life, faith, the self and our understanding of society.”įiction serves as a reminder of what happened before and could happen again, he says. The essays here are not only about being human, but becoming human. Artistic creation is an ultra-natural activity, a huge and tiring process of cognition. “Literature is about mankind, so it should be provocative. Politics, culture and themes such as feudalism, oppression, extremism and violence are discussed in the collection, which he started working on before PH took over the government.
The irony is, we don’t even feed litter to our pets.” The truth is, literature has been dog’s food. “After May 2018, whenever someone said literature is for the betterment of society - you know, the kind of tone to fit the Pakatan Harapan (PH) days - I felt insulted. But the experience left a bad taste in his mouth and led to Sastera Adalah Makanan Anjing, one of 44 essays in his latest book, named after the titular piece, released early this year. Justice prevailed when Faisal took his case to court and four titles were reinstated in January 2018. To me, that was a tragedy, a scholastic disaster.” When my books were banned, I had to fight for my rights all alone. “I felt dejected, peeved and abandoned by fellow writers when my freedom of artistic expression was being violated. What rubbed salt into the wound was that no one from the fraternity rallied around him. Having seven books banned out of the more than 30 to his name was a sore point for writer Faisal Tehrani.
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