The Role of Essay Poetry in Promoting Literary Diplomacy: Insights from Denny JA's Works

The Role of Essay Poetry in Promoting Literary Diplomacy: Insights from Denny JA's Works

The role of essay poetry in promoting literary diplomacy and its ability to create connections across cultures.

Denny JA, a prominent Indonesian poet, has brought poetry to the center of the public arena by introducing a new genre of essay poetry. Essay poetry combines elements of prose and poetry, and according to experts, it has the potential to become a form of literary diplomacy.

The book features six expertise reviews of five literature works of Denny JA, discussing his contributions to Indonesian literature and the potential of essay poetry to convey important messages across cultures. The reviews cover various perspectives, including sufistic, cosmological, and micro-macro-mezzo level analyses.

What is essay poetry and how is it different from traditional poetry?

Essay poetry is a literary form that combines elements of prose and poetry. It uses footnotes like in prose and contains big ideas of the times with popular language, as well as marrying fact and fiction. According to the Official Indonesian Language Dictionary (KBBI), essay poetry is defined as “A form of literature containing a social and moral message through simple words in verses, in the form of facts, fiction, and footnotes.”

Compared to traditional poetry, essay poetry has more flexibility in terms of structure and content.

How has Denny JA contributed to the development of essay poetry?

He has contributed to the development of essay poetry by bringing it to the center of public discussions beyond the world of literary communities. Denny JA's essay poetry has been reviewed by several professors with different backgrounds from various universities, and his works have also been recognized with an ASEAN level literary award from Malaysia. Additionally, experts believe that essay poetry has the potential to become a form of literary diplomacy, and Denny JA's intellectual, academic, and political consulting background can play a more in-depth role in the diplomacy ecosystem.

What is literary diplomacy and how can essay poetry be used as a form of it?

Prof. Dr. Ramzah Dambul discusses the potential of essay poetry in promoting literary diplomacy, particularly in the Indonesia-Malay archipelago. According to Prof. Dr. Ramzah Dambul, literary diplomacy is a form of diplomacy that uses literature as a means to promote cultural understanding, mutual respect, and dialogue between nations. Essay poetry, with its ability to convey social and moral messages through simple words in verses, facts, fiction, and footnotes, can provide creative inspiration for theater directors and actors to create performances that can promote cultural exchange and understanding across cultures.

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Archipelago Insight, 2023