"Aku" (meaning "Me") is a 1943 Indonesian-language poem by

Chairil Anwar Chairil Anwar (26 July 1922 – 28 April 1949) was an Indonesian poet and member of the " 1945 Generation" of writers. He is estimated to have written 96 works, including 70 individual poems. Anwar was born and raised in Medan, North Sumatr ...

. It reflects his individualistic nature and vitality.

Poem

Release

Anwar first read "Aku" at the Jakarta Cultural Centre in July 1943. It was then printed in ''

Pemandangan ''Pemandangan'' was a daily Indonesian language newspaper published in the Dutch East Indies (or later Indonesia) between 1933 and 1958. It was one of the few local newspapers which was initially allowed to operate during the Japanese occupation o ...

'' under the title "Semangat" ("Spirit"); according to Indonesian literary documentarian HB Jassin, this was to avoid censorship and to better promote the nascent independence movement. "Aku" has gone on to become Anwar's most celebrated poem. Indonesian writer

Muhammad Balfas Muhammad Salim Balfas (25 December 1922 – 5 June 1975), better known as M. Balfas, was an Indonesian writer and literary critic. Biography Balfas was born in Krukut, Batavia (now Jakarta), Dutch East Indies, on 25 December 1922. He came ...

notes that one of Anwar's contemporaries, Bung Usman, wrote "Hendak Jadi Orang Besar???" ("So You Want to Be a Big Person???") in response to "Aku". Balfas suggests that Usman was greatly irritated by the "vitality and new way of life" that Anwar showed in the poem.

Analysis

According to Timorese scholar of Indonesian literature A. G. Hadzarmawit Netti, the title "Aku" emphasizes Anwar's individualistic nature, while the temporary title "Semangat" reflects his vitality. Netti analyzes the poem itself as reflecting Anwar's need to control his environment and not be shaped by outside forces, emphasizing the first two

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian language, Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or Indentation (typesetting), indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme scheme, rhyme and ...

s. According to Netti, through controlling his environment, Anwar is able to better protect his freedom and individualistic nature. Netti sees the final line as reflecting Anwar's pride in his individualistic nature, finally surmising that Anwar would have agreed with

Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum;, . Most sources transliterate her given name as either ''Alisa'' or ''Alissa''. , 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and p ...

's philosophy of

Objectivism Objectivism is a philosophical system developed by Russian Americans, Russian-American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand. She described it as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with prod ...

. Indonesian literary scholar

Arief Budiman Arief Budiman (born Soe Hok Djin; January 3, 1941 – April 23, 2020) () was a Chinese Indonesian sociologist, cultural critic and social activist. Biography Budiman was born Soe Hok Djin on 3 January, 1941. His father Soe Lie Piet was a wri ...

notes that "Aku" reflects Anwar's worldview, that others should not care for him as he does not care for others. Budiman also notes that the third and fourth stanzas reflect

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

's view that suffering makes one stronger.

References

;Footnotes ;Bibliography * * * * * {{refend Indonesian poems 1943 poems Indonesian language Indonesian literature

Poem

Release

Analysis

See also

References