Toer, Pramoedya Ananta 1925–2006

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Toer, Pramoedya Ananta 1925–2006

PERSONAL:

Born February 6, 1925, in Blora, East Java, Indonesia; died April 30, 2006, in Jakarta, Indonesia, from complications of diabetes and heart disease; son of M. Toer (headmaster of a private school); married twice; children: nine. Education: Attended radio vocational school, 1940-41; largely self-educated.

CAREER:

Indonesian journalist, editor, teacher, short-story writer, and novelist. Tobacco and cigarette salesman, typist, and clerk for Japanese News agency Domei, 1942; editor of journal for Free Indonesia movement; imprisoned by the Dutch for political crimes, 1947-49; arrested and detained for months by Indonesian military, 1960; editor of cultural supplement of daily Bintang Timur, 1962-65; imprisoned, 1965, and exiled to prison camp on island of Buru, East Indonesia, 1969-79; under city arrest in Jakarta, Indonesia until 2000. Cofounder, Multituli Literature Academy, Jakarta, Indonesia. Instructor at various educational institutions, including Res Publika University, Jakarta, Indonesia, and the Rivai Academy for Journalism, Jakarta, Indonesia.

MEMBER:

Lekra (Marxist literary group), People's Democratic Party.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Balai Putaska literary prize for Perburuan; PEN Freedom-to-Write Award, 1988; Magsaysay Award, 1996; UNESCO Madanjet Singh Prize, 1996; Fukuoka Grand Prize, 2000; nominated for Nobel Prize.

WRITINGS:

Perburuan, Balai Pustaka, 1950, translation by Harry Aveling published as The Fugitive, Heinemann Educational (Asia), 1975, translation by Willem Samuels published as The Fugitive, Morrow (New York, NY), 1990.

Subuh: Tjerita-tjerita pendek revolusi, Pembangunan, 1950.

Pertjikan revolusi (stories), Usaha Penerbitan Gapura, 1950.

Mereka yang dilumpuhkan (title means "The Paralyzed"), Balai, 1951.

Tjerita dari Djakarta: Sekumpulan karikatur keadaan dan manusianja, Penerbit Grafica, 1957.

Tjerita Tjalon Arang, Dinas Penerbitan Balai Pustaka, 1957.

Hoa Kiau di Indonesia, Bintang Press, 1960.

Kerdja sama kebudajaan untuk perkokoh perdamaian dunia, (Jakarta, Indonesia) 1960.

Midah: Simanis bergigi emas, Nusantara (Asia), 1960.

Ditepi kali Bekasi, Jajasan Kebudajaan Sadar, 1962, Lentera Dipantara (Jakarta, Indonesia), 2003.

Keluarga gerilja: Kisah keluarga manusia dalam tiga hari tiga malam (title means "A Guerrilla Family"), Nusantara (Asia), 1962.

Panggil aku Kartini sadja, Djepara, 25 Mei 1899 (title means "Just Call Me Kartini"), Nusantara (Asia), 1962.

Tjerita dari Blora (title means "Stories from Blora"), Balai, 1963.

Sekali peristiwa di Banten Selatan, Nusantara (Asia), 1963, Diterbitkan dan diluaskan oleh Lentera Dipantara (Jakarta, Indonesia), 2004.

Bukan pasar malam (title means "No Night Fair"), Jajasan Kebudajaan Sadar, 1964, Bara Budaya (Yogyakarta, Indonesia), 1999.

Korupsi (stories; title means "Corruption"), Nusantara (Asia), 1964.

Sedjarah modern Indonesia: Babak perintis, [Jakarta], 1964.

(In English) A Heap of Ashes (stories; contains "Lonely Paradise," "The Birth," "The Vanquished," "No Night Fair," and "The Silent Centre of Life's Day"), edited and translated by Harry Aveling, University of Queensland Press (St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia), 1975.

Bumi manusia (first novel in tetralogy), Hasta Mitra (Jakarta, Indonesia), 1980, translated with introduction by Max Lane as This Earth of Mankind, Penguin Books (New York, NY), 1982.

Anak semua bangsa (second novel in tetralogy), Hasta Mitra (Jakarta, Indonesia), 1980, translated with introduction by Max Lane as Child of All Nations, Penguin Books (New York, NY), 1982.

(Editor) Tempo doeloe: Antologi sastra pra-Indonesia (anthology of nineteenth-century proto-Indonesian Malayan literature), Hasta Mitra (Jakarta, Indonesia), 1982.

Sang pemula dan karya-karya non-fiksi (jurnalistik), fiksi (cerpen/novel) R.M. Tirto Adhi Soerjo (biography of Tirto Adisoerjo), Hasta Mitra (Jakarta, Indonesia), 1985.

Jejak Langkah (third novel in tetralogy; title means "Footsteps"), Hasta Mitra (Jakarta, Indonesia), 1985.

Crossing the Border: Five Indonesian Short Stories, Centre of Southeast Asian Studies (Clayton, Australia), 1986.

Gandis Pantai, Hasta Mitra (Jakarta, Indonesia), 1987, translated by Harry Aveling as The Girl from the Coast, Select Books (Singapore), 1991, translated by Willem Samuels, Hyperion, 2002.

(Editor) Hikayat siti Mariah, Hasta Mitra (Jakarta, Indonesia), 1987.

Rumah Kaca: Sebuah Roman Sejarah, Hasta Mitra (Jakarta, Indonesia), 1988, translation published as House of Glass: A Novel, Penguin Books (New York, NY), 1992, W. Morrow and Co. (New York, NY), 1996.

Cerita Dari Blora: Kumpulan Cerita Pendek, Wira Karya (Kuala Lumpur), 1989.

Keluarga Gerilya, Fajar Bakti (Petaling Jaya), 1989.

This Earth of Mankind, Morrow (New York, N.), 1991.

Child of All Nations, W. Morrow (New York, NY), 1993.

Footsteps, W. Morrow (New York, NY), 1994.

Arrus balik (title means "Turning Tide"), Hasta Mitra (Jakarta, Indonesia), 1995.

(Editor) Memoir oei tjoe tat, Hasta Mitra (Jakarta, Indonesia), 1995.

Nyanyi sunyi seorang bisu (memoirs), two volumes, 1995, 1997, translated by Willem Samuels as The Mute's Soliloquy, Hyperion Press (New York, NY), 1999.

Keluarga Gerilya: Kisah Keluarga Manusia Dalam Tiga Hari-tiga Malam, Hasta Mitra (Jakarta, Indonesia), 1995.

Mereka Yang Dilumpuhkan, Hasta Mitra (Jakarta, Indonesia), 1995.

Di Tepi Kali Bekasi, Hasta Mitra (Jarkarta, Indonesia), 1996.

Panggil Aku Kartini Saja: Jepara, 25 Mei 1899: Sebuah Pengantar Pada Kartini, Hasta Mitra (Jakarta, Indonesia), 1997.

Bukan Pasar Malam, Bara Budaya (Yogyakarta, Indonesia), 1999.

Arok dan dedes, Hasta Mitra (Jakarta, Indonesia), 1999.

Dongeng Calon Arang, Yayasan Bentang Budaya (Yogyakarta, Indonesia), 1999.

Tales from Djakarta: Caricatures of Circumstances and Their Human Beings, Southeast Asia Program Publications (Ithaca, NY), 1999.

Larasati, Hasta Mitra (Jakarta, Indonesia), 2000.

Mangir, Gramedia, 2000.

It's Not an All Night Fair, Equinox Pub. (Jakarta, Indonesia), 2001, Penguin Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Percikan Revolusi; Subuh: Kumpulan Cerita Pendek Revolusi, Hasta Mitra (Jakarta), 2001.

Pramoedya Ananta Toer: Perahu Yang Setia Dalam Badai, Bukulaela (Yogyakarta), 2001.

Cerita Dari Jakarta: Sekumpulan Karikatur Keadaan Dan Manusianya, Hasta Mitra (Jakarta, Indonesia), 2002.

The King, the Witch, and the Priest: A Twelfth Century Javanese Tale, Equinox Pub. (Jakarta, Indonesia), 2002.

Korupsi, Hasta Mitra (Jakarta, Indonesia), 2002.

Perburuan: Sebuah Novel, Hasta Mitra (Jakarta, Indonesia), 2002.

Tempo Doeloe: Antologi Sastra Pra-Indonesia, Lentera Dipantara (Jakarta, Indonesia), 2003.

Cerita Calon Arang, Diterbitkan dan diluaskan oleh Lentera Dipantara (Jakarta, Indonesia), 2003.

Di Tepi Kali Bekasi, Lentera Dipantara (Jakarta), 2003.

Midah, Simanis [i.e. Si Manis] Bergigi Emas, Diterbitkan dan diluaskan oleh Lentera Dipantara (Jakarta, Indonesia), 2003.

Realisme-sosialis Dan Sastra Indonesia, Lentera Dipantara (Jakarta, Indonesia), 2003.

Sang Pemula Disertai Karya-karya Non-fiksi (jurnalistik) Dan Fiksi (cerpen/novel) R.M. Tirto Adhi Soerjo, Lentera Dipantara (Jakarta, Indonesia), 2003.

All That Is Gone, Hyperion East (New York, NY), 2004.

Menggelinding, Diterbitkan dan diluaskan oleh Lentera Dipantara (Jakarta, Indonesia), 2004.

Sekali Peristiwa Di Banten Selatan, Diterbitkan dan diluaskan oleh Lentera Dipantara (Jakarta, Indonesia), 2004.

Exile: Pramoedya Ananta Toer in Conversation with Andre Vltchek and Rossie Indira, Haymarket Books (Chicago, IL), 2006.

Jalan Raya Pos, Jalan Daendels, Diterbitkan dan diluaskan oleh Lentera Dipantara (Jakarta, Indonesia), 2006.

Also author of numerous other short stories, articles, and essays. In addition, Toer has translated the works of Russian writers Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy, Aleksey Maximovich Peshkov and Boris Nikolayevich Kampov, and American novelist John Steinbeck.

SIDELIGHTS:

Pramoedya Ananta Toer is one of Indonesia's most respected and influential novelists. He wrote much of his work while imprisoned for his political views; it reveals the turmoil and oppression with which he lived. He was incarcerated by the Dutch colonial powers and later by Indonesia's post-colonial government.

Although initially born into an affluent family, Toer's upbringing was amid poverty, reflecting the economic decline of the time as well as his father's gambling addiction. Toer was unsuccessful in academics and left the school at which his father was headmaster at age fourteen to attend a radio vocation school in Surabaya. When the Japanese invaded his homeland, he returned home to his ailing mother who could not take care of his eight siblings. After his mother's death in 1942, he took on various jobs in Jakarta but, after leaving Jakarta for home shortly before the end of the war, he rushed back to join revolutionary forces on hearing the proclamation of Indonesian independence, serving as a junior officer in the Indonesian army.

Toer's political views led to a string of imprisonments beginning in 1947. He wrote his first novel, Perburuan, while in prison, as well as Keluarga Gerilya. These novels allowed Toer to write about his country's desperate need for liberation from Dutch rule. He wrote from personal experience and detailed his people's intense suffering. The themes of these novels, especially Perburuan, are, as Benedict R. Anderson described in World Literature Today, "perfectly contemporary." Anderson added that "the novel's strange power comes from [Toer's] deliberate but unstated superimposition of this ‘modernity’ onto the narrative structure, iconography, and moral sense of wayang, the ancient … Japanese shadowplay."

Indonesia gained independence in 1949, but the country was still sharply divided. Toer's political views again landed him in prison without a trial in 1965, along with hundreds of thousands of his fellow citizens. He was later exiled to East Indonesia where he remained in prison camp from 1969 to 1979. Toer composed four historical novels over the course of his incarceration, first narrating them to his fellow prisoners, and later, when given access to a typewriter, putting them down on paper by memory. Bumi Manusia (published in English as This Earth Mankind) is set in Toer's homeland in 1898 when the Indonesian people were beginning to rebel against Dutch rule. Edward Hower, writing for the Washington Post Book World noted that "the book's romantic and political themes are skillfully interwoven throughout; the novel is both a powerful love story and a tale of a young man's growing maturity in a land corrupted by political repression."

Anak Semua Bangsa the second of the four-part series sometimes referred to as Buru after the island on which they were eventually written, became a quick best seller in Indonesia, and was translated as Child of All Nations. Toer continues the story he began in Mankind, that of a young journalist and his "critical acceptance of Europe and colonialism," as Jim Crace said in the Times Literary Supplement. Crace described this novel as "[Toer's exploration of] the caste community—the natives and the pures, the indos and the indisch—the port of Surabaya in the early 1900s." The Indonesian authorities banned Anak Semua Bangsa in 1981, as they did its predecessor. Max Lane wrote that "the government accused the books of … spreading ‘Marxism-Leninism’" but Crace argued that "that view is not supported by the novel itself, unless liberalism and debate are to be counted as the Trojan horses of revolution."

Jejak Langkah, or Footsteps, continues with the story, leading the main character, Minke, through life's twists and turns. After countless events, both joyous and devastating, Minke attempts to raise political consciousness. Carlo Coppola, writing for World Literature Today, praised Toer, noting that he "demonstrates a strong commitment to broad humanistic ideals … [and his] skillful characterization and abilities as a storyteller more than compensate for such possible minor flaws…. The story ends leaving the reader eager to move on to the next installment."

Rumah Kaca: Sebuah Roman Sejarah, translated into English as House of Glass: A Novel, is the final work in Toer's quartet of novels. The narrator is a police commissioner who must oppose Minke and his ideals, even though he greatly admires him. A reviewer in Publishers Weekly lauded the work: "[Toer] spikes his epic saga with slyly modernist irony, creating a work that is as subversive today as when it was written." In a review for World Literature Today, Carlo Coppola remarked: "What has caused the current Indonesian regime to ban the tetralogy and all of Pramoedya's writings is the powerful metaphorical presentation of the political realities in the East Indies at the start of this century and those of modern-day Indonesia as well."

Some reviewers have noted that Toer's works suffer from his having to tell stories instead of writing them down. While Toer's plots and language may seem inconsistent and old-fashioned at times, some critics maintain that readers should attempt to adjust to his writing style. Hower concluded, Toer's "artistry and integrity always shine through in his ability to create engaging, memorable characters … [and] make for exciting reading."

By 1979, Toer was out of prison, but remained under strict government supervision until the regime fell in 1997. He continued to be esteemed as one of Indonesia's most important and respected writers, producing more novels as well as works of a political nature.

Gandis Pantai, which was translated as The Girl from the Coast, is a quiet, emotional look at the cultural norms that often arise in a strict class society, based heavily on the life and experiences of Toer's grandmother. The story is told from the first person point of view of a young woman whose name the reader never learns. The girl comes from a poor family of fishermen, and has the good fortune to be married to a wealthy Indonesian man from a much higher class. However, the marriage is not a traditional one, but of the type considered "practical," or unofficial in the eyes of the upper class's Islamic belief system. The girl's husband has married several times before in this way, but his family is encouraging him to find an acceptable wife from his own social strata and to discard his temporary partner. The girl, whose own social class considers her marriage to be binding, finds herself pregnant and alone, her misery paid homage to in song by the local villagers. In a review for Kliatt, Courtney Lewis opined: "This is a well-written book that moves slowly and methodically while weaving a tale featuring an exotic setting and cast of characters." Faye A. Chadwell, reviewing for Library Journal, remarked that the "strong sociopolitical commentary explains why the Indonesian government has banned many of Toer's books." World Literature Today contributor Jubal Tiner dubbed the book "a story that leaves the reader edified, touched, and moved."

All That Is Gone, one of the last books Toer wrote prior to his death, addresses the passage of time and change, as well as the ways in which the past still manages to remain present despite change and effort. Toer looks back at his childhood, but his memories are very much colored by his adult experiences, particularly his political dissonance and his incarceration for so many years at the hands of the Suharto regime. These memories are shared through a series of short stories, each reflecting the lives of different Indonesians with whom Toer had contact during his youth, be they family, friends, or tradesmen. In a review for World Literature Today, Jonathan Stalling remarked on the collection's title, stating that "each of its stories reveals how the past can, and perhaps must, be made present through acts of witnessing and telling."

Toer looks back at his life in The Mute's Soliloquy: A Memoir. He starts with his childhood as the eldest of nine children, and the strong impression he got from his father at a young age that it was important to resist tyranny and oppression as it was wielded by the men running his home of Indonesia. The book recounts his own political activism and his insistence on writing what he perceived to be the truth, though it led to his being imprisoned for more than a decade and monitored by the government even following his release. Many of his works have been banned in his home country, yet his voice continued to ring out, even in this volume reflecting on his experiences. Toer formatted the book as letters addressed to his children in an attempt to pass on his knowledge and memories. Ronny Noor, writing for World Literature Today, opined: "Vivid depictions of tragic events in the penal colony are interspersed with profound wisdom."

Pramoedya Ananta Toer died on April 30, 2006, from a combination of complications due to diabetes and heart disease. His books remain banned in Indonesia, but are otherwise available around the world, translated into a number of languages.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Toer, Pramoedya Ananta, The Mute's Soliloquy: A Memoir, Hyperion Press (New York, NY), 1999.

PERIODICALS

Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly, October 18, 1993, Margot Cohen, review of Child of All Nations, p. 17.

Asiaweek, April 24, 1998, Yenni Kwok, "Fighting Words."

Booklist, October 15, 1993, David Cline, review of Child of All Nations, p. 419; April 15, 1999, Brian McCombie, review of The Mute's Soliloquy, p. 1508; August 1, 2002, Donna Seaman, review of The Girl from the Coast, p. 1926; February 1, 2004, Ray Olson, review of All That Is Gone, p. 952.

Bulletin with Newsweek, October 19, 1999, "Out of the Silence," p. 113.

Economist, July 18, 1998, "Angry Old Man: Dissident Writing in Indonesia," p. 76.

Explorations, spring, 1998, John M. Brownlee, "Colonial Knowledge and Indigenous Power in the Dutch East Indies."

Far Eastern Economic Review, August 9, 1990, "Waging War with Words," p. 26; September 12, 1991, Margaret Scott, review of The Girl from the Coast, p. 36; October 10, 1996, reviews of Child of All Nations and House of Glass: A Novel, p. 55; June 11, 1998, "A Nation's Conscience," p. 46.

Globe and Mail, May 28, 1999, Val Ross, "Indonesian Writer Speaks about Rights."

Humanities, March-April, 1998, David Paul Ragan, "Meeting a Dissident Writer."

Index on Censorship, March 1, 1997, "‘I Can Only Oppose with Words,’" p. 66.

Kirkus Reviews, July 1, 2002, review of The Girl from the Coast, p. 918; November 15, 2003, review of All That Is Gone: Stories, p. 1339.

Kliatt, January 1, 2004, Courtney Lewis, review of The Girl from the Coast, p. 20.

Library Journal, March 1, 1990, Christine Stenstrom, review of The Fugitive, p. 118; October 15, 1993, Brian Geary, review of Child of All Nations, p. 90; May 1, 1996, Paul E. Hutchison, review of House of Glass, p. 135; June 15, 2002, Faye A. Chadwell, review of The Girl from the Coast, p. 97; March 1, 2004, Faye A. Chadwell, review of All That Is Gone, p. 110.

Los Angeles Times, June 6, 1999, Steve Proffitt, "Escaping Indonesia's Iron Fist in Fiction, But Not in Life"; August 4, 2002, review of The Girl from the Coast, p. 10; December 8, 2002, review of The Girl from the Coast, p. 8.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 16, 1999, Geeta Sharma-Jensen, "Prison Years Haven't Slowed Writer."

Nation, June 14, 1999, "Archipelago Gulag," p. 58.

New Republic, April 22, 1996, Clifford Geertz, review of House of Glass, p. 31.

New Statesman, May 15, 2006, "Indonesia: Power of the Pen," p. 19.

New Straits Times, August 21, 1996, Sumit Mandal, "Pramoedya and Independence."

New York Times, November 1, 1996, "Indonesian Writer Vents His Fury"; April 26, 1999, Barbara Crossette, "Unbowed and Only Slightly Bitter."

New York Times Book Review, January 30, 1994, Suzanne Charle, review of Child of All Nations, p. 24; August 11, 2002, Nell Freudenberger, review of The Girl from the Coast: Pramoedya Ananta Toer's Novel Deals with Life in Colonial Java, p. 15.

New York Times Magazine, April 18, 1999, "The Book That Killed Colonialism."

New Yorker, May 27, 1996, "The Indonesiad," p. 40; June 14, 1999, review of The Mute's Soliloquy, p. 82.

Nieman Reports, fall 1998, "Novelists Outdo Journalists."

Progressive, October 1, 1999, "Pramoedya Ananta Toer," p. 31.

Prospect, June, 1999, Robert Templar, "Pramoedya."

Publishers Weekly, February 9, 1990, "Morrow Gives Voice to Banned Indonesian Novelist," p. 27; August 23, 1993, review of Child of All Nations, p. 59; April 1, 1996, review of House of Glass, pp. 56-57; March 22, 1999, review of The Mute's Soliloquy, p. 78; January 26, 2004, review of All That Is Gone, p. 231.

Roving Insight, September-October, 1999, Loreen Neville and James Blackburn, "A Litmus Test of ‘Reformasi.’"

San Francisco Examiner, May 16, 1999, Beth Hughes, "Child of All Nations."

Time, July 22, 1996, John Skow, review of House of Glass, p. 96; April 20, 1998, Terry McCarthy, "Novel Cause"; May 24, 1999, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, "Dictator from Day One"; August 23, 1999, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, "Sukarno."

Time International, April 20, 1998, "Novel Cause," p. 44.

Times Higher Education Supplement, May 18, 2001, "Beaten, Banged up but Still Unbowed," p. 20.

Times Literary Supplement, December 12, 2003, "The Idea of Innocence," p. 22; February 25, 2005, "Through the Eyes of a Child," p. 23.

Tribune Books, November 2, 2003, review of The Girl from the Coast, p. 2.

Vancouver Sun, May 22, 1999, Stan Persky, "A Prisoner's Paean."

Vox, September 24, 2000, Sumit Mandal, "Asian Individualist."

Wall Street Journal, April 30, 1999, Elizabeth Bukowksi, "A ‘Mute’ Talks Back," April 30, 1999, review of The Mute's Soliloquy, p. 9.

Washington Post, April 24, 1988, "Writing for His Life; Indonesia's Pramoedya—40 Years of Jail, Book Bans and Honor," p. 5; June 7, 1998, "A Plea for Indonesia's ‘Silent Millions,’" p. 2; April 14, 1999, "The Stories No Prison Could Hold," p. 1.

Wisconsin State Journal, May 6, 1999, William R. Wineke, "Fresh Perspectives."

World Literature Today, spring 1991, "The Fugitive," p. 367; January 1, 1995, Stephen P. Breslow, review of Child of All Nations, p. 226; summer, 1997, Carlo Coppola, review of House of Glass, p. 652; summer, 2000, Ronny Noor, review of The Mute's Soliloquy, p. 586; October-December, 2003, Jubal Timer, review of The Girl from the Coast, p. 77; September-October, 2006, Jonathan Stalling, review of All That Is Gone, p. 60.

Yale Journal of Criticism, Volume 9, number 1, 1996, Chris GoGwilt, "Pramoedya's Fiction and History: An Interview with Indonesian Novelist Pramoedya Ananta Toer."