Oleh Much. Khoiri
JUDUL tulisan ini sengaja saya pilih untuk mengajak mahasiswa saya kelas Introduction to Literature (3 sks) yang saya ampu untuk mengenal kembali apa itu sastra. Mengapa? Saya yakin mereka telah mengenal sastra sewaktu masih bersekolah di tingkat SMP atau SMA—dalam pelajaran Bahasa Indonesia. Namun, amat mungkin, dalam rentang waktu itu hingga memasuki perguruan tinggi, mereka tidak mendapatkan exposure karya sastra—akibatnya mereka seakan melupakannya.
Sekarang saya mengajak mereka untuk mengenalnya kembali—setidaknya menyegarkan lagi ingatan dan pemahaman mereka tentang sastra dan seluk-beluknya. Ini penting sebab matakuliah ini merupakan pengantar untuk sastra, matakuliah pembuka pintu—semacam pintu gerbang—bagi pembelajaran sastra secara lanjut di program studi Sastra Inggris, FBS Universitas Negeri Surabaya (Unesa). Maka, konsep sastra perlu dipahami dengan bahasa yang sama.
Baiklah, guna memahami sastra, mari kita gunakan akal sehat (common sense) saja: Perlu dijawab siapakah yang mengkreasikan sastra? Apakah tentang hidup dan pengalaman manusia? Apakah sastra mengandung estetika, sekaligus memberikan tawaran pelajaran hidup? Dari wujudnya, apakah sastra itu karya tertulis saja ataukah juga karya tak tertulis alias lisan?
Tentu saja, sastra itu dikreasikan oleh manusia yang ahli di bidang sastra, yang materi dasarnya diambil dari hidup dan pengalaman manusia. Karena hidup dan pengalaman manusia hampir tak berbatas, maka materi untuk sastra sangat melimpah—bergantung pada kepekaan si pencipta (karya) sastra itu dalam berkreativitas.
Apakah sastra dibuat langsung dari fakta—berisi hidup dan dan pengalaman manusia? Tentu tidak. Jika fakta diboyong langsung ke dalam karya, itu lebih merupakan berita atau sejarah. Sementara itu, sastra diciptakan atau dikreasikan dengan menggabungkan fakta dengan imajinasi—dan bahkan imajinasi mengambil porsi yang jauh lebih besar. Tanpa imajinasi, karya tidak tepat dinamakan karya sastra.
Wujudnya, ada karya sastra tertulis, ada pula karya sastra lisan (oral literature)—yang memiliki estetika (nilai keindahan) tertentu. Keindahan karya sastra bukan hanya terletak pada keindahan makna, melainkan juga keindahan bahasa atau diksi yang digunakan, sebab bahasa sastra bukan hanya denotatif (lugas, apa adanya) melainkan juga konotatif (kiasan). Ungkapan “Kamu sangat cantik” itu denotatif; sedangkan “Kulihat bintang di kedua matamu” itu ungkapan konotatif.
Sekarang, sastra lisan dan sastra tertulis. Novel Olenka (Budi Darma), Sajak Ladang Jagung (Taufiq Ismail), Seribu Masjid Satu Jumlahnya (Emha Ainun Nadjid) adalah contoh kecil karya sastra tertulis—sebagaimana kitab epos Mahabharata dan Ramayana (C. Rajagopalachari). Sementara itu, cerita-cerita rakyat (foklore), dongeng (folktales) atau tembang-tembang Jawa seperti Macapat adalah contoh karya sastra lisan—meski akhirnya toh diabadikan dalam bentuk tulisan, untuk kepentingan pembelajaran atau sosialisasi kepada generasi penerus.
Singkat kata, sastra bisa didefinisikan sebagai “abstraksi hidup dan pengalaman manusia yang dikreasikan dalam bentuk-bentuk estetik—baik tertulis maupun lisan—sehingga pembaca memperoleh kesenangan dan sekaligus pemahaman tentang makna hidup.” Sebagai sebuah abstraksi, sastra memilik jarak dengan fakta yang sebenarnya, dan imajinasilah yang sangat dibutuhkan untuk membuat sastra benar-benar menjadi sastra.
Jadi, sekali lagi, karya sastra itu bukan semata fakta mentah tentang hidup dan pengalaman manusia, sebab jika demikian, ia sejatinya adalah berita atau sejarah. Sastra itu dikreasikan berdasarkan fakta hidup dan pengalaman manusia, ditambah imajinasi si pencipta sastra. Sastra bukan seratus persen fakta dan bukan seratus persen imajinasi, melainkan gabungan dari keduanya dengan prosentase tertentu.
Sekarang, memang adakah sastra yang tidak benar-benar sastra? Ini masalah kualitas karya sastra dipandang dari kacamata ahli sastra—sama dengan kualitas lukisan dilihat dari kacamata ahli lukisan, sama dengan kualitas lagu ditinjau dari kacamata ahli musik. Itu patokannya. Tentu, di mata mereka, ada karya sastra yang benar-benar sastra (interpretive literature), namun ada juga sastra yang bukan benar-benar sastra alias pelarian (escape literature).
Escape literature atau sastra pelarian (ada juga yang menyebutnya sastra main-main) adalah karya sastra yang diciptakan untuk membawa pembaca lari dari hidup yang nyata dan memberikan kesenangan atau hiduran semata, biasanya dengan cerita atau tema yang mudah diikuti dan yang menyenangkan dibaca. Bisa saja diksi-diksinya indah berbunga-bunga, namun tidak ada isinya. Sastra pelarian hanya memuaskan pembaca dalam tempo sesaat.
Kita telah berkenalan dengan karya sastra pelarian jika kita membaca novel Twilight (Stephanie Myer), 50 Shades of Grey (E.I. James), The Colour of Outer Space (H.P. Lovecraft), Exit Here (Jason Meyers), dan The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks). Dalam konteks Indonesia, novel serial Lupus (Hilman Hariwijaya) dianggap sebagai karya sastra pelarian, karya yang digilai remaja Indonesia di masanya.
Sementara itu, interpretive literature (ada juga yang menyebutnya sastra serius) adalah sastra yang dicipktakan pengarang untuk membawa pembaca masuk lebih dalam ke dalam dunia nyata dan memprovokasi pikiran, bahkan memperluas kesadaran kita tentang hidup. Sastra jenis ini menawarkan pemahaman tentang hidup sehingga manusia menjadi lebih bijak. Diksi-diksi yang digunakan membawa makna-mana yang dalam, sehingga membuat pembaca merenung dan memetik hikmahnya. Kepuasan terletak pada keindahan makna, bukan keindangan diksi semata.
Contoh interpretive literature adalah A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khalid Hosseini), Fahrenheit 451 (Jay Bradbury), Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad), The Color Purple (Alice Walker), The Stranger (Albert Camus), dan sebagainya. Kita juga bisa mengenal karya interpretif atau karya serius seperti Merahnya Merah (Iwan Simatupang), Bumi Manusia (Pramoedya Ananta Toer), Orang-Orang Bloomington (Budi Darma), Balada Orang-Orang Tercinta (WS Rendra), Opera Kecoa (Riantiarno), dan masih banyak lagi.
Sekali lagi, pemerian semacam itu berdasarkan kacamata ahli sastra, yakni mereka yang merupakan pembaca berpengalaman (experienced reader) dan sekaligus menguasai ilmu sastra dan kritik sastra. Mereka menilai kualitas karya sastra juga berdasarkan kaidah-kaidah sastra yang pakem—meski kemampuan intuitif mereka pastilah dilibatkan. Jadi, bagi pembaca yang kurang berpengalaman seyogianya menerima adanya dikotomi yang mungkin kaku dalam menilai kualitas karya sastra. Jika ingin peka dalam menilai, ya silakan banyak membaca karya sastra.
Pertanyaannya, apakah dikotomi sastra pelarian dan sastra interpretif (serius) itu berlaku untuk semua genre-genre sastra (literary genres)? Genre-genre sastra hanyalah urusan bentuk yang mewadahi gagasan—dan kualitas gagasanlah yang lebih banyak menentukan pelarian atau interpretifnya karya sastra. Jadi, dikotomi itu berlaku untuk genre-genre utama dalam sastra: prosa/fiksi, puisi, dan drama. Kita akan membahas genre-genre ini secara terpisah.[]
(BERSAMBUNG)
*Penulis adalah dosen, sponsor literasi, editor dan penulis bersertifikat, telah menerbitkan 81 judul buku.
N.B. Jangan lupa meninggalkan komentar. Terima kasih.
I’m really happy because I can study literature again with a broader scope.
The explanation made everything clearer, this helped me understand what literature really is
Literature makes us more sensitive, wiser, and more human.”
I liked this article so much cause it changes me how i see literature and makes me more think deeper futher into literature!
This article very clearly explains what literary works are and the differences between them. So it makes me able to differentiate a little between interpretive literature and Escape literature. It’s very easy to understand!
The explanation was delivered clearly and made me remember back when I was in junior high school, when I first started to get to know literature more deeply.
The explanation changed the way I see literature is and helped me to understand the true concept of literature
I love the way Mr. Khoiri writing, this is such a great because the explanation so much clear to understand and makes me feel like studying or get to know literature is very fun. This so much help to seeing more detail about the concept of Literature.
This is truly a beautifully written and clearly articulated explanation, I have a strong interest in literature, and this has further increased my enthusiasm to study literature with you in class. Thank you very much for writing this, Mr. Khoir
Luar biasa, artikel yg mencerahkan bagi sy dan pembaca. SIAP IKUTI ATIKEL SELAMJUTNYA (Sabungannya) BAH! Matur Nuwun
Menjadi lebih bijak dan positif ketika menyelami sastra dalam kehidupan,Apakah alam semesta dunia ini adalah bagian dari karya sastra Tuhan?
This article uses words that are very easy to understand and reminds me of what I learned about this subject in high school.
Amelya Putri Humayrah (2025A)
It’s just so fascinating how we human beings can create such mesmerizing works using only our imagination, our creativity, and our emotional intelligence, things that truly can change the world. There are so many things I have yet to know about literature, but each time I learn more about them I just can’t help but fall in love with them even more. Reading this article makes me want to keep looking forward to learning more about it.
This paper, besides providing broader information about literature, also made me realize that literature has several influences and benefits for humanity. Sometimes literary works are entertaining, and sometimes they are more serious. Many people learn about past events through works, whether in the form of fairy tales, legends, or other forms. This paper is excellent and provides me with deep insight into the influence of literary works.
thank you, Mr. Khoiri, for the article about literature. through this article, i gained a deeper understanding of how literature connects language, culture, and human experience. it made me realize that learning literature is not only about reading texts, but also about understanding meaning, perspective, and life itself. i truly appreciate the insight and knowledge shared through your work.
thank you, mr khoiri, for sharing your article on literature. this helped me see literature from a broader perspective and i also understand the importance for literature beyond the class. This also showed me how literature can shape the way we think, feel, and view the world. im grateful for the opportunity to learn from you.
Terima kasih Bapak Khoiri atas artikel sastranya yang membuat saya sangat membuka wawasan yang lebih luas lagi tentang sastra.
So far, no one has been able to write as clearly and neatly as this. The material presented in this written form makes it easier for me to understand. This article really helps me learn.
Thank you, Mr. Khoiri, for this well-written article about the concept of literature. This article really helped me gain more knowledge about literature and about how captivating and beautiful it can be. I believe I will learn a lot in your Introduction to Literature course, and I’m really looking forward to it, Sir.
Thank you for sharing this article Mr Khoiri !
its way beyond amazing how we could pour our soul into literature. And from this article i find it very fascinating how literature can connect alot of things into a form of writing. Thank you for sharing it with us.
This topic is deepening my knowledge for Literature, back in my junior highschool or senior highschool i was only knew that Literature is a work from human’s expression or experiences written on a paper resulting an artwork like novel or poetry. But it’s more deeper than that, it contain abstraction of human’s expression and experience to make it more esthetic and beautiful to read or listen. I start my literature readings in highschool with a book that caught my interest which is The Trial by Franz Kafka. It was hard for me to understand the content, now i know why it’s hard, from this topic i realized it’s interpretive literature, there are so many connotation that i have to understand to uncover the meaning behind its content. What a magnificent topic Mr. Khoiri
Mr Khoiri’s detailed explanation reminded me of the meaning contained in the literary works I had read. I haven’t read many, but some works were able to transport me into the author’s world.
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Thank you, Sir. This explanation is easy to understand. I like your point that ideas are more important than genre in literature. It helps me see literary works more clearly.
Very Insteresting Concept,Sir. I Like The Explaination that you shared to us, The Ideas are really having huge impact toward literature. i would like to hear it more.
This article is an excellent as a starting point for students to explore literature more deeply. I am personally very honored to be taught by such a great lecturer and writer.
This is truly beautiful writing. I can learn more about literature, not just the types that were explained in class. But there are many more types in several categories. This makes me want to know more about literature. Thank you for writing this, Sir. Can’t wait for the next explanation about literature in class next week!
This article does a great job of breaking down different literary works. It really helped me wrap my head around the difference between interpretive and escape literature because it’s so easy to follow
Riffa andhika achmad dwi saputra (2025A)
Sebagai seseorang yang juga menulis cerita fiksi, saya merasa artikel ini cukup menggugah. Selama ini saya menulis dengan kesadaran bahwa sastra hanyalah ruang ekspresi, namun baru melalui pembahasan “sastra pengungsi” dan “sastra interpretif” saya benar-benar menyadari bagaimana posisi dan pengalaman penulis memengaruhi cara sastra bekerja. Pembagian ini memperkaya cara saya memandang sastra, baik sebagai karya maupun sebagai respon terhadap realita.
Membaca tulisan bapak ini membuat saya mengingat bagaimana dulu saya mulai menyukai sastra. Dari yang awalnya saya hanya iseng membaca novel untuk terlihat keren, lalu saya terpukau dengan rangkaian kalimat indah di dalamnya, dan sampai lah saya ke titik “saya ingin membuat cerita seindah ini,” “suatu saat saya ingin jadi penulis juga.” Bagi saya, sastra adalah bentuk seni yang tidak kalah cantiknya dengan musik ataupun lukisan, karena seperti kata bapak di kelas, “sastra membuat kalimat/ungkapan sederhana, menjadi memukau dan menyentuh hati.” Terima kasih, pak. Melalui tulisan dan kalimat Anda yang rapi ini membuat saya lebih memahami dan mengenal sastra. Juga nantinya akan saya jadikan pendukung untuk menyanggah orang-orang yang suka berkata, “ah buat apa kuliah sastra, kalau isinya cuman baca novel mah anak SD juga bisa,” padahal sastra bukan hal se-remeh itu. Sehat selalu, Pak Khoiri.
Reading this article makes me remember how I first started to love literature. From just casually reading novels to look cool, then I was amazed by the beautiful series of sentences in them, and I reached the point of “I want to write a story as beautiful as this,” “someday I want to be a writer too.” For me, literature is an art form that is no less beautiful than music or painting, because as Mr. Khoiri said in his class, “literature makes simple sentences/expressions, become stunning and touching.” Thank you, sir. Through your writing and neat sentences, I have become more understanding and familiar with literature. Also, I will use it as support to refute people who like to say, “ah, why study literature, if the content is only reading novels, elementary school students can also do it,” when literature is not that trivial. Stay healthy, Mr. Khoiri.
I really enjoyed reading Mr. Khoiri’s article. The content was interesting and easy to understand.
This is the first time i read something that might enlighten me with how i see literature so far
This article teaches me what literature is and what kinds of literature there are, very helpful for a beginner who wants to learn literature.
This article unlocks a new knowledge to me about literature, all i know was literature is about writings and stories, but there’s a lot of branches of it that most people doesn’t know (including me). A lot of things to learn about, thanks for the new insights, Sir Khoir.
As someone who love reading books growing up, this article is very insightful and open up a new way to view literature. Thank you Sir!
supeer insightful, the way you broke down the concept made it much easier to grasp what literature is really about!
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This article opens my interest and curiosity to knowing more about literature, growing up i wasn’t fully aware of what literature was and i would love to learn more this with you sir!
This article is very impressive! This helps me know more about what literature actually is and i’m curious of the next part of this article!
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what a great introduction! I really like how you explained that literature isn’t just ‘raw facts’ or ‘pure fantasy,’ but a mix of both through imagination. The distinction between Escape and
Interpretive literature is also reminds us that a good book should do more than just entertain, it should make us think more deeply about life. This is the perfect ‘gatekeeper’ for students to start appreciating literature again.
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I really enjoy Mr. Khoiri’s way of writing. his explanations are easy to follow, so the material doesn’t feel difficult or boring. because of that, learning about literature becomes more interesting, and I can understand the ideas more deeply. It also makes me more curious to explore literature further.
naturally like your web site however you need to take a look at the spelling on several of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling problems and I find it very bothersome to tell the truth on the other hand I will surely come again again.
This article remains me when i was in senior high school, had teacher with character similar to yours.
Always using simple word but contain deep meaning and motivational. Explain clearly, short but understanable.
When I was 14, I thought literature was just boring words. But now, I know how to enjoy writer’s experience and imagine what the writer does through using words.
I love this because it helps me understand literature better. In addition, the article makes me feel supported as someone with a strong imagination.
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I really enjoyed reading this article. The explanation is clear and easy to follow, and it helped me understand literature in a broader way. It also made learning about literature feel more interesting and easy to understand.
I love how Sir Khoiri explain what literature in his own style, i can clearly understand what he want us to understand about literature is. im looking forward to learn more about literature.
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Membaca artikel ini membuat saya yakin bahwa sastra itu tidak sebatas tulisan saja. Sangat menarik mengetahui bahwa dengan akal yang diberikan Tuhan, manusia dapat menciptakan karya sastra yang indah dan sangat luas jangkauan nya.
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Bapak Khoiri dapat menjelaskan sastra dengan sangat jelas dan mudah sehingga saya dapat memahami dengan cepat tentang bagaimana itu sastra. Sebuah kehormatan bagi saya dapat dibimbing oleh bapak Khoiri, saya benar-benar memahami apa yang sudah dijelaskan oleh anda🙏🏻.
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Actually, I’m new to literature and this is a new insight for me and you explained it simply. Thank you, Mr. Khoiri!
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