Following the reform of the spelling of Indonesian in 1972, his name is sometimes spelled Pramudya Ananta Tur; this form is not preferred by the author. Born: Blora, East Java, 6 February 1925. Education:Studied in his father’s nationalist (Budi Utomo) school, 1929-39; Radio Vakschool (Radio Technician’s School), Surabaya, 1940-41. Military Service: 1945-46, Press officer, Badan Keamanan Rakyat (a civil defence unit), before transferring to the Siliwangi Division of the Indonesian Army: promoted to Second Lieutenant. Family: Married 1) Arfah Iljas, 1950, two children; 2) Maemunah Thamrin, 1955, six children. Career: After graduating from Radio Technician’s School, returned to Blora to provide for his family by working as a petty trader, rather than serve in the Dutch military reserve. Following his mother’s death in May 1942, he left for Jakarta where he worked in the Japanese-run Domei Press Agency, followed various courses, including short-hand, made the acquaintance of various political leaders, and became interested in literature. Left Domei in May 1945, and Jakarta in June 1945, eventually joining the army of the new Republic of Indonesia (proclaimed 17 August 1945), as a press officer. Following the reorganisation of the army in 1946, joined the Voice of Free Indonesia and was arrested by Dutch marines on 2 July 1947: held as a prisoner of war until the end of the Indonesian Revolution against the Dutch, at the end of December 1949. While in prison, wrote various short stories and the novel Perburuan (The Fugitive) which were smuggled out and published. After he was released from prison, worked briefly for the Indonesian government literary agency, Balai Pustaka in May 1950, before establishing his own literary agency, Duta, in 1951. In 1953, visited the Netherlands as a guest of the Stichting Culturele Samenwerking (Foundation for Cultural Cooperation), but was disappointed by Dutch materialism. In October 1956, visited People’s Republic of China, and thereafter became increasingly identified with the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and its literary organisation Lekra (Lembaga Kebudayaan Rakyat), although never formally becoming a member of the party. Following the Coup of the 30 September 1965, which was blamed on the PKI, was arrested and imprisoned in various centres, eventually being sent to the island of Buru in Eastern Indonesia after August 1969. Was finally released in December 1979. Lives in Jakarta Timur, Indonesia. Awards: Pustaka award for Perburuan (The Fugitive), 1951; Badan Musyawarah Kebudayaan Nasional award for cerita dari Blora; Honorary Life Membership, International PEN, Australian Centre 1982; Honorary Membership, PEN Centre, Sweden, 1982; Honorary Membership, PEN Center, United States, 1988; Freedom to Write award, PEN America, 1988; Honorary Membership, Deutschsweizereiches PEN, Switzerland, 1989; The Fund for Free Expression award, New York, 1989; International PEN English Centre award, 1992; Stichting Wertheim award, Netherlands, 1995; Ramon Magsaysay award, Philippines, 1995; Chancellor’s Distinguished Honor award, University of California, Berkeley, 1999; Honorary Doctorate: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1999; Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Republic de France, 2000; Fukuoka Asian Culture Grand prize, Fukuoka, Japan, 2000.
Publications
Fiction
Kranji Bekasi Jatuh. 1947.
Perburuan. 1950; as The Fugitive, translated by Harry Aveling, 1975;translated by Willem Samuels, 1990.
Percikan Revolusi (short stories). 1950.
Subuh (short stories). 1950.
Mereka yang Dilumpuhkan. 1951.
Bukan Pasarmalam. 1951; as It’s Not An All Night Fair by C.W. Watson, 1973, reprinted 2001; as ”No Night Market” in A Heap of Ashes, translated by Harry Aveling, 1975.
Cerita dari Blora. 1952; three stories, ”Lonely Paradise,” ”The Birth,” and ”The Vanquished,” in A Heap of Ashes, translated by Harry Aveling, 1975.
Keluarga Gerilya. 1950.
Gulat di Jakarta. 1953.
Midah Si Manis Bergigi Emas. 1954.
Korupsi. 1954.
Cerita Calon Arang. 1957.
Cerita dari Jakarta. 1957; as ”Tales from Djakarta,” various translators, introduced by B. R. O’G. Anderson, reprinted 2000.
Suatu Peristiwa di Banten Selatan. 1958.
Orang-orang Baru dari Banten Selatan. 1959.
Bumi Manusia. 1980; as This Earth of Mankind, translated by Max Lane, 1982.
Anak Semua Bangsa. 1980: as Child of All Nations, translated by Max Lane, 1984.
Jejak Langkah. 1985; as Footsteps, translated by Max Lane, 1990.
Gadis Pantai. 1987; as The Girl from the Coast, translated by Harry Aveling, 1991.
Rumah Kaca. 1988; as House of Glass, translated by Max Lane, 1992.
Arus Balik. 1995.
Arok Dedes. 1999.
Mangir. 1999.
Larasati: Sebuah Roman Revolusi. 2000.
Other
Hoakiau di Indonesia. 1960.
Panggil Aku Kartini Saja. 1962.
Sang Pemula. 1985.
Nyanyi sunyi Seorang Bisu. vol 1: 1995; vol. 2: 1997.
Editor, Tempo Doeloe. 1982.
Editor, Hikayat Siti Mariah. 1987.
Editor, Memoar Oei Tjoe Tat. 1995.
Editor, Kronik Revolusi Indonesia. 1999.
Critical Studies:
Pramoedya Ananta Toer dan Karya Seninya by Bahrum Rangkuti, 1963; ”Pramudya Ananta Tur: The Writer as Outsider,” Cultural Options and the Role of Tradition by A.H. Johns, 1979; ”Pramudya Ananta Tur: The Writer as Outsider” in Cultural Options and the Role of Tradition by A.H. Johns, 1979; Social Commitment in Literature and the Arts: The Indonesian ”Institute of People’s Culture" by Keith Foulcher, 1986; ”The Early Fiction of Pramoedya Ananta Toer, 1946-1949” and ”Literature, Cultural Politics, and the Indonesian Revolution,” both by Keith Foulcher, in Text/Politics in Island Southeast Asia, ed. D.M. Roskies, 1993; Pramoedya Ananta Toer: De Verbeelding van Indonesie by A. Teeuw, 1993; Pramoedya Ananta Toer: Selected Early Works 1949-1952 by Nur’ainy Ali, 1999.
Pramoedya Ananta Toer is generally considered Indonesia’s most important modern prose writer. His writings display a deep commitment to his nation’s struggle for independence. As a consequence,however, he has served extensive periods as a political prisoner of conscience under the Dutch, briefly under Sukarno and extensively under the regime of President Suharto.
Pramoedya began writing in 1946, while Indonesia was still struggling for its Independence from Dutch colonialism. His early works dealt with the Indonesian Revolution (1945-49), sometimes with his own rural background, and sometimes with both. A good example of his early work is ”Dia yang Menyerah” (”She Who Surrendered”), first published in 1950. The story is set in Pramoedya’s own village, Blora, and deals with the fortunes of a family similar to his own during the 1940s. The family is divided in its political allegiances: between the nationalism of the new Republic of Indonesia, the radical politics of the Communist Party, and a self-defensive indifference determined only to survive the horrors of war. Each change of regime (from the Japanese Occupation, to the announcement of the Republic, and challenges to the Republic) brings widespread suffering, more intense poverty, and savage loss of life.
Pramoedya describes these changes with a relentless, brutal realism. His descriptions are further tempered by a dark pessimism about the willingness of Indonesian society to commit itself to any ultimately positive national vision. At the end of the novelette, high offices in the government are taken by cynical, ambitious individuals, who ”live proudly in a castle in the sky somewhere above our small unimportant town.” This same sense of despair pervades ”No Night Market,” published a year later. This novelette marks the death of Pramoedya’s father, who had been a strong nationalist. ”Politics killed him … , ”an anonymous figure states, ”He fell sick with despair at how things were. He couldn’t stand to see so much confusion. And its consequences. Those who had led the people fought among themselves for power and glory, like clowns, the pirates of fate.”
In his quest for a more positive orientation, Pramoedya became increasingly associated with Lekra, the mass literary movement of the Indonesian Communist Party, after the mid-1950s. Gadis Pantai (The Girl from the Coast), published originally as a serial between 1962-64, is the story of a young girl of fourteen, who is married to a religious aristocrat in a small coastal town in North Java. Pramoedya uses the story to contrast the earthy honesty of her oppressed fishing village with the luxurious hypocrisy of the city elite. The book is set at the beginning of the 20th century and its major theme is struggle. ”Serve the land,” the Girl is told by her guardian. ”The land gives you food and drink. The kings, the lords and the regents have sold this sacred land to the Dutch. The fight against the kings, the lords and the regents has only just begun. It will take more than one generation . . . Until you defeat the aristocracy, you will never be able to defeat the Dutch. It may take many generations. But we must start now.”
Pramoedya was arrested for his leftist tendencies after the army came to power following the ”abortive communist coup” of 30 September 1965. He was held in various camps and not allowed to write until the early 1970s. Gradually he began to set down the stories he had been telling his fellow prisoners. The Buru Quartet, as these four novels are sometimes called (after the island of Buru where he was held), are also historical. Like The Girl from the Coast, they explore the rise of the early nationalist movement at the beginning of the 20th century. The most famous is, perhaps, the first: Bumi Manusia (This Earth of Mankind). The novel is based on the life an early nationalist and journalist, Tirto Adhi Soerjo. Although the story is in some ways melodramatic, it traces the growing awareness of a young Indonesian that the colonial government under which he lives in ruthlessly exploitative and greedy, despite its claims of an ”ethical mission” to bring Indonesians ”from darkness to the light.” Like She Who Surrendered and The Girl from the Coast, the struggle of the main protagonist of This Earth of Mankind also seems to fail, but it is intended as a constant source of encouragement for those who come after. With the final removal of Suharto from power in 1998 after 32 years of rule, Pramoedya has been increasingly recognised, both within Indonesia and abroad, as one of his nation’s greatest spokesmen for full political independence in the face of tyranny.
