Pramoedya Ananta Toer has passed away at age 81.
Probably the most important Indonesian writer of the 20th century, his oeuvre spanned the last years of Dutch colonial rule and the first generations of independence.
Much of his life was spent in custody, starting in 1947 when the Dutch imprisoned him for two years because of his role in the independence struggle. He was released in 1949.
After an scathing indictment of the Soekarno regime's treatment of the Chinese minority he was imprisoned again ten years later, spending a year in the slammer.
Following the alleged Communist coup in 1965 (almost certainly engineered by Suharto and the CIA to provide a pretext for the extermination of the Communists), he was sent into internal exile on the Island of Buru, a penal colony first employed by the Dutch to warehouse nationalists in the twenties and thirties.
Ironically, this period was to be one of his most productive; while confined, he wrote the Buru Quartet, which was published volume by volume after his release to house arrest in 1979, and, predictably, banned volume by volume shortly thereafter.
House arrest was finally lifted in 1992.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4959488.stm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pramoedya_Ananta_Toer
Article from the NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch):
http://www.nrc.nl/kunst/article300365.ece
A list of his works is shown below. Please note that they are listed by their titles in Dutch (I believe most of them have also been translated into English).
De vluchteling (Publ. 1950)
Guerrillafamilie (Publ. 1950)
Een koude kermis (Publ. 1951)
In de fuik (Publ. 1951)
Wat verdwenen is: verhalen uit Blora (Publ. 1952)
Corruptie (Publ. 1954)
Midah, het liefje met de Gouden tand (Publ. 1955)
De stroom uit het Noorden (Publ. 1979)
Aarde der mensen (Publ. 1980)
Kind van alle volken (Publ. 1980)
Voetsporen (Publ. 1985)
Meisje van het strand (Publ. 1985)
Het glazen huis Publ. 1988)
Lied van een stomme. Gevangene op Buru (Publ. 1989)
Lied van een stomme: Brieven van Buru (Publ. 1991)
De onheilskomeet (Publ. 1998)
Arok (Publ. 2001)
Verhalen van Djakarta (Publ. 2002)
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2 comments:
Well, guys. To know Uncle Pram's personal background reminds me of a quote from "Inventory" by Dorothy Parker,..Here is "Three'll be the things i have till i die,:Laughter and hope, and a sock in the eye."
Uncle Pram was totally a nationalist man for me,. He could have escaped from Indonesia (new era) but he didn't. He helps youngsters like me to open eyes. I adore his writing. He is the only writer now (for me) that links me to a past.
I mourn over his passing away too.
Btw, If you adore "The Buru Tetralogy/Quartet", let me advise you to read the other book of his. It's "SANG PEMULA" :Indonesian language that means "The beginner" I can't tell whether it's already translated into English or no but guys, u Check it.
regards.
Anonymous said...(It's me)
Well, guys. To know Uncle Pram's personal background reminds me of a quote from "Inventory" by Dorothy Parker,..Here is "Three'll be the things i have till i die,:Laughter and hope, and a sock in the eye."
Uncle Pram was totally a nationalist man for me,. He could have escaped from Indonesia (new era) but he didn't. He helps youngsters like me to open eyes. I adore his writing. He is the only writer now (for me) that links me to a past.
I mourn over his passing away too.
Btw, If you adore "The Buru Tetralogy/Quartet", let me advise you to read the other book of his. It's "SANG PEMULA" :Indonesian language that means "The beginner" I can't tell whether it's already translated into English or no but guys, u Check it.
regards.
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