Biography of Indonesian author

Pramoedya Anata Toer

Indonesian novelist, short-story writer, essayist, and critic. The Japanese occupation (1942-1944) and Indonesia's struggle for independence has provided the basic material for Pramoedya's writing. His best-known work is the Buru Quartet (1980-88), banned by the Suharto regime. The story is set at the turn of the 19th century and depicts the emergence of anticolonial Indonesian nationalism. Pramoedya's books have been translated into at least 28 languages.

"That eternally harassing, tantalizing future. Mystery! We will all eventually arrive there - willing or unwilling, with all our soul and body. And too often it proves to be a great despot. And so, in the end, I arrived too. Whether the future is a kind or a cruel god is, of course, its own affair. Humanity too often claps with just one hand." (from This Earth of Mankind, vol. 1 of Buru Quartet, 1980)

Pramoedya Anata Toer was born in the village of Blora, in East Java. His father was an activist and headmaster of the nationalist school, a figure of some social prominence, but who ruined the family by obsessive gambling. Pramoedya completed elementary school course in 1939. He moved to Surabaya and graduated from the Radiovakschool (Radio Vocational School) at the end of 1941. During the Japanese Occupation, he worked as a stenographer and settled in Jakarta, where he continued his studies and worked for the Japanese news agency "Domei." In 1945 he attended lectures at the Islamic University. Later in Perburuan (1950, The Fugitive) Pramoedya returned to the last days of the Japanese occupation.

When the revolution broke out, Pramoedya joined the Indonesian armed forces in East Jakarta. He then moved back to Jakarta, where he edited the journal Sadar. As a novelist Pramoedya made his debut with Kranji-Bekasi Jatuh in 1947.
Between the years 1947 and 1949 Pramoedya was imprisoned by the Dutch in various places for being ''anti-colonial.'' In the prison he read among others John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men and William Saroyan's The Human Comedy. From these and other books Pramoedya drew strength to survive and write his first book, Perburuan (1950, The Fugitive). Later he wrote cathartic stories and novels that transcend even while they record tragic events. In the early 1950s he was an editor in the Modern Indonesian Literature department of the Balai Pustaka publishing house. He held the post of editor of the magazine Indonesia and of the children's magazine Kunang-kunang.
In the 1950s Pramoedya published several novels, novellas, and short stories. Perburuan, about a rebel against the Japanese and its betrayal, was smuggled out of a Dutch prison. Keluarga Gerilya (1950) was directed against the Dutch and Allied forces. It depicted the destruction of a Javanese family during the national revolution. Perburuan won the Balai Putaska literary prize and after gaining some financial security with his writings Pramoedya was able to marry.
"It is really surprising sometimes how a prohibition seems to exist solely in order to be violated. And when I disobeyed I felt that what I did was pleasurable. For children such as I at that time - oh, how many prohibitions and restrictions were heaped on our heads! Yes, it was as though the whole world was watching us, bent forbidding whatever we did and what ever we wanted. Inevitably we children felt that this world was really intended only for adults." (from 'Inem')

Pramoedya synthesized a wide variety of literary traditions, from the pioneers of the literature of Indonesian revolution (Chairil Anwar) to the Javanese storytelling, and from historical chronicles to various European and American writers. His works Pramoedya wrote in Bahasa Indonesia, a language developed form the old lingua franca Malaya and adopted by the nationalist movement in 1928.

* Selected works:
Krandji-Bekasi Djatuh, 1947
Perburuan, 1950 - The Fugitive (trans. by Willem Samuels)
Keluarga Gerilya, 1950
Subuh: Tjerita-Tjerita Pendek Revolusi, 1950
Percikan Revolusi, 1950
Mereka Jang Dilumpuhkan, 1951
Bukan Pasar malam, 1951 - translated in A Heap of Ashes
Di Tepi Kali Bekasi, 1951
Dia Yang Menyerah, 1951
Cerita dari Blora, 1952
Gulat di Djakarta, 1953
Midah - Si Manis Bergigi Emas, 1954
Korupsi, 1954
Cerita dari Djakarta, 1957
Cerita Tjalon Arang, 1957
Suatu Peristiwa di Banten Selatan, 1958
Sekali Peristawa di Bengen Selatan, 1958
Hoa Kiau di Indonesia, 1960
Panggil Aku Kartini Saja I & II, 1962
Realisme Sosialis & Sastra Indonesia, 1963
Tjerita Dari Djakarta, 1957
Bumi Manusia, 1980 - This Earth of Mankind (Buru Quartet , vol. 1)
Anak Semua Bangsa, 1980 - Child of All Nations (Buru Quartet , vol. 2)
Sikap dan Peran Kaum Intelektual di Dunia Ketiga, 1982
Tempo Doeloe, (ed.) 1982
Gadis Pantai, 1982 - The Girl from the Coast (trans. by Willem Samuels)
Jejak Langkah, 1985 - Footsteps (Buru Quartet , vol. 3)
Sang Pemula dan karya-karya non-fiksi (jurnalistik)-fiksi (cerpen/novel) R.M. Tirto Adhi Soerjo, 1985
Rumah Kaca, 1988 - House of Glass (Buru Quartet , vol. 4)
Hikayat Siti Mariah, (ed.), 1987
Memoar Oei Tjoe Tat, (ed.), 1995
Nyanyi Sunyi Seorang Bisu I, 1995
Arus Balik, 1995
Nyanyi Sunyi Seorang Bisu II, 1997
Tales from Djakarta: Caricatures of Circumstances and their Human Beings, 1999 (introduction by Benedict R. O'G. Anderson Toer)
The Mute's Soliloquy: A Memoir, 2000 (trans. by Willem Samuels)