Bakri Siregar
Bakri Siregar | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 19 June 1994 Jakarta, Indonesia | (aged 71)
Nationality | Indonesia |
Known for | criticism of Indonesian literature, short story and playwright |
Scientific career | |
Fields | literary criticism |
Institutions | University of Warsaw, University of North Sumatra, Peking University |
Bakri Siregar (14 December 1922 – 19 June 1994) was an Indonesian socialist literary critic and writer.
Biography
Siregar was born in
After
By 1951 Siregar had reached
From 1956 until 1957, Siregar taught Indonesian language at the University of Warsaw in Poland. Afterwards, he returned to Indonesia and taught Indonesian at the University of North Sumatra in Medan until 1959. His final teaching position was as a lecturer on the history of Indonesian literature at Peking University in China, a position which he held until 1962. While he was in Peking, he also sat on Lekra's board of directors; after returning to Indonesia in 1962, he continued in this capacity and in 1965 became the institute's director. In 1964 he published Sedjarah Sastera Indonesia Modern I (History of Modern Indonesian Literature I).[7] Sedjarah focused on the Balai Pustaka and Poedjangga Baroe eras and applied a strong Marxist view. The work was the first history of Indonesian literature, as well as the last published work to apply Marxist theory to Indonesian literature up until 2000.[8]
After the
Siregar died in Jakarta on 19 June 1994.[1]
Views
Siregar defined Indonesian literature as works written in Indonesian which reflected the nation's struggle for continued independence.[10] Although he recognised earlier literary works in local languages and Malay, he believed that modern Indonesian literature began with the Indonesian National Awakening in the 1920s.[11] He viewed the early institutions of Indonesian literature poorly, describing Balai Pustaka as using "language politics, ... used to divide the Indonesian people on ethnic lines"[a][12] while Poedjangga Baroe was described as a bourgeois work which was unable to objectively understand the needs of the people and therefore unfit to truly reflect the struggle for independence.[13]
Siregar divided Indonesian literature into four periods, as follows:[14]
- Early 20th century until 1942, beginning with the works of Marco Kartodikromo and continuing through the founding of Balai Pustaka and publication of Poedjangga Baroe
- 1942 until 1945, during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies; literature was published by the Cultural Centre (Keiman Bunka Sidosho)
- 1943 until 1949, during the Indonesian National Revolution; represented by Chairil Anwar's Gelanggang group
- After 1950, a period which he describes as "half colonial and half feudalist";[b] he describes the period as being full of conflict between socialists and nationalists
Legacy
After the 30 September Movement failed, the Indonesian Communist Party, its followers, and other leftists were written out of history
Notes
References
- Footnotes
- ^ a b Eneste 2001, p. 43.
- ^ Mahayana 2007, pp. 209–215.
- ^ KS 2010, pp. 129–130.
- ^ Bodden 2010, p. 57.
- ^ a b c Bodden 2010, p. 56.
- ^ KS 2010, p. 332.
- ^ a b c d Eneste 2001, p. 44.
- ^ Kratz 2000, p. 160.
- ^ Rampan 2000, p. 83.
- ^ Siregar 1964, p. 5.
- ^ Siregar 1964, p. 10.
- ^ Siregar 1964, pp. 38–39.
- ^ Siregar 1964, p. 83.
- ^ Siregar 1964, pp. 14–16.
- ^ KS 2010, p. 36.
- ^ KS 2010, p. 54.
- Bibliography
- Bodden, Michael (2010). "Modern Drama, Politics, and the Postcolonial Aesthetics of Left-Nationalism in Sumatra: The Forgotten Theater of Indonesia's Lekra, 1955–1965". In Day, Tony (ed.). Cultures at War: The Cold War and Cultural Expression in Southeast Asia. Studies on Southeast Asia. Ithaca, New York: Southeast Asia Program Publications. pp. 45–80. ISBN 978-0-8108-4935-8.
- Eneste, Pamusuk (2001). Buku Pintar Sastra Indonesia [Handbook of Indonesian Literature] (in Indonesian) (3rd ed.). Jakarta: Kompas. ISBN 9789799251787.
- Kratz, E. Ulrich (2000). "The Literary Canon of Indonesia". In Smyth, David (ed.). The Literary Canon of Southeast Asia. Vol. 1. Richmond: Curzon. pp. 147–171. ISBN 978-90-04-04331-2.
- KS, Yudiono (2010). Pengantar Sejarah Sastra Indonesia [Introduction to the History of Indonesian Literature] (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Grasindo. ISBN 978-979-759-849-5.
- Mahayana, Maman S. (2007). Ekstrinsikalitas Sastra Indonesia [Extrinsic Events in Indonesian Literature] (in Indonesian). Jakarta: RajaGrafindo Persada. ISBN 978-979-769-115-8.
- ISBN 978-979-666-358-3.
- Siregar, Bakri (1964). Sedjarah Sastera Indonesia [History of Indonesian Literature] (in Indonesian). Vol. 1. Jakarta: Akademi Sastera dan Bahasa "Multatuli". OCLC 63841626.