Conveying Emotion in the Poetry of Norman Erikson Pasaribu: Review of Tiffany Tsao's Translation of Sergius Seeks Bacchus

Abstract

Members of the LGBT community occupy an extremely precarious position in Indonesia's post-authoritarian social-political landscape. As a nation historically built on family values, hegemonic heteronormativity continues to suppress the true cultural, religious, ethnic, and indeed, sexual and gender diversity of Indonesia. Identifying as a gay, ethnic Batak Christian, the poet, Norman Erikson Pasaribu lives as a triple minority in Majority Muslim, Java-centric, heteronormative Indonesia. In Sergius Mencari Bacchus (Sergius Seeks Bacchus), Pasaribu presents a series of heart-felt poems, and a very human account of the impact of living under conditions of extreme prejudice. Tiffany Tsao's English translation of his compilation of Indonesian poetry represents an important literary contribution to international understandings of the struggle of members of Indonesia's LGBT community. Tsao's translation thus becomes a direct line between Pasaribu and the wider English-speaking international community, as he expresses the human impact of multiple, often intersecting layers of oppression from society, church and most sadly, the intimate realm of the family.