PRAMOEDYA ANANTA TOER : A FAMOUS INDONESIAN AUTHOR

His nickname is Pram. Some people consider him as the best Indonesian writer but there are dissenting opinion about the quality of his works. Maybe he is not the best Indonesian writer, but one thing is certain – he is the most well known one. Who is Pram ?

Pramoedya Ananta Toer was born in 1925 in a small town called Blora in the province of Central Java, Indonesia. His father was a teacher and a political activist who took part in the struggle to free Indonesia from colonial rule. Pram spent his youth in his hometown. After graduating from high school he went to Jakarta, where he worked as a journalist. He worked in a communist newspaper Bintang Timur (eastern star).

He wrote a number of novels, play, short story and essay. His most famous works are the so called the Buru quartet. These works comprise of four novels. The first is Bumi Manusia which has been translated into English by the title This Earth of Mankind. The second sequel is Anak Semua Bangsa. It is translated into Child of all Nations in English. The third sequel is Jejak Langkah. In English its translation is Footsteps. The fourth sequel is Rumah Kaca. The English translation is House of Glass. These novels are about Indonesian struggle against colonial rule. Pram portraits the sorrow of Indonesian people under colonial rule and how they struggled very hard for freedom. These stories are very heart-touching. Another novel is Jalan Raya Pos, Jalan Raya Daendels (The Daendels Highway). This novel focuses on the historical background of the development of the first highway in the island of Java that took thousands of lives. Then Arok Dedes (these are names of a husband and wife) is another good novel. This novel is based on Javanese history. Pram used a well - known episode in Javanese history from the 11^th century to picture the struggle for power in Indonesian politics. Meanwhile Gadis Pantai (the girl from the coast) describes the sorrow of Indonesian women under the rule of despotic native bureaucrat. This story is also heart-touching. Larasati (this is a girl’s name) is a novel about the life of a girl in the Indonesian revolution in mid 1940’s.

Sekali Peristiwa di Banten Selatan (Once in south Banten) is a novel about political conflict in grass root level in the province of Banten in 1950’s. Midah si manis bergigi emas (Midah, lovely lady with the golden teeth)tells about a woman’s sorrow because she was the victim of men. Bukan Pasar Malam (It’s not an All Night’s Fair) tells about his family background in Blora, Central Java. The novel also describes the socio-political problems in Java after revolution. Pram also wrote Mangir (a name of a district) which is a play. It is a description of a power play between the despotic - oppressive King of Mataram and the pro - people Chief of Mangir.

All of his works tell about the evil of oppression, sorrow and the struggle for freedom and equality. The villain are colonial ruler, Javanese king, Javanese bureaucrat, powerful men. The victims are native people and women under colonial ruler or local ruler.

He also translated novels from Russia (Mother by Maxim Gorky) and a play from China into Bahasa Indonesia. The Chinese play is clearly a communist propaganda.

Because of his works and leftist political thinking Pram spent years in prison. Under colonial rule he spent three years in jail. Jail did not stop him from writing. During the Suharto’s New Order he spent fourteen years in Buru island where he wrote his famous quartet. His last work is Arok Dedes which has been translated into English as Arok of Java. His works has been translated into forty-one foreign languages.

Pram had received many awards from abroad but not from Indonesia. Maybe his leftist political views and his status as an ex political prisoner make everybody afraid to give him awards. There are rumors that Pram had been nominated to receive Nobel prize in literature and many people believe that he deserves it but so far this rumor is not proven.

In July 2006 Pram passed away peacefully in Jakarta. Indonesia lost one of its greatest writer.