Bakri Siregar (14 December 1922 – 19 June 1994) was an Indonesian
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
literary critic and writer.
Biography
Siregar was born in
Langsa en, Realization of a Safe Community, Peace, Dignity, Progress, Prosperity with islamic values
, image_map = Lokasi Aceh Kota Langsa.svg
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Location within Aceh
, pushpin_map ...
,
Aceh
Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a s ...
,
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
, on 14 December 1922. He was active writing by the
Japanese occupation in the early 1940s, as evidenced by one of his short stories, "Tanda Bahagia" ("Sign of Happiness"), being published in ''
Asia Raja
''Asia Raya'' (also spelled ''Asia-Raja''; 'Grand Asia') was a newspaper published in the Dutch East Indies (modern day Indonesia) during the Japanese occupation.
Background
When the Japanese Empire occupied the Dutch East Indies in 1942, the ...
'' on 1 September 1944.
After
Indonesia's independence, Siregar went to the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
to further study socialism. He considered their system efficient and beneficial to the populace, which reaffirmed his ideology. He also praised Soviet writers who rejected
cosmopolitanism
Cosmopolitanism is the idea that all human beings are members of a single community. Its adherents are known as cosmopolitan or cosmopolite. Cosmopolitanism is both prescriptive and aspirational, believing humans can and should be " world citizens ...
and
abstractionism
Abstractionism is the theory that the mind obtains some or all of its concepts by abstracting them from concepts it already has, or from experience.Geach, Peter (1957) Mental Acts - Their Contents and Their Objects. Routledge Kegan Paul. One may, ...
. He published several dramas after returning to Indonesia, including the original ''Tugu Putih'' (''White Monument''; 1950), ''Dosa dan Hukuman'' (''Sin and Punishment'', based on ''
Crime and Punishment
''Crime and Punishment'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Преступление и наказание, Prestupléniye i nakazániye, prʲɪstʊˈplʲenʲɪje ɪ nəkɐˈzanʲɪje) is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. ...
'' by
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...
), and ''Gadis Teratai'' (''Lotus Blossom Maiden'', based on a
Korean folktale).
By 1951 Siregar had reached
Medan
Medan (; English: ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, as well as a regional hub and financial centre of Sumatra. According to the National Development Planning Agency, Medan is one of the four main ...
, the capital of
North Sumatra
North Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Utara) is a province of Indonesia located on the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan. North Sumatra is Indonesia's fourth most populous province after West Java, East Java and ...
. While there, he took up a position as a high school teacher and, in 1952, joined the leftist oriented
Institute of People's Culture (, or Lekra). Siregar published his first analysis of Indonesian literature, ''Ceramah Sastra'' (''Lectures on Literature''), in 1952. In 1953 he published a collection of short stories, entitled ''Jejak Langkah'' (''Footsteps''); that same year, he became the head of the North Sumatran branch of Lekra. The following year he released the stageplay ''Saijah dan Adinda'', based on a story in Dutch author
Multatuli
Eduard Douwes Dekker (2 March 182019 February 1887), better known by his pen name Multatuli (from Latin ''multa tulī'', "I have suffered much"), was a Dutch writer best known for his satirical novel ''Max Havelaar'' (1860), which denounced the a ...
's novel ''
Max Havelaar
''Max Havelaar; or, The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company'' ( nl, Max Havelaar; of, De koffi-veilingen der Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappy) is an 1860 novel by Multatuli (the pen name of Eduard Douwes Dekker), which played a key role ...
''. While a high school teacher, Siregar used his position to spot upcoming actors and direct them to Lekra's stage production company Dinamo.
From 1956 until 1957, Siregar taught Indonesian language at the
University of Warsaw
The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...
in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. Afterwards, he returned to Indonesia and taught Indonesian at the
University of North Sumatra
The University of Sumatera Utara ( id, Universitas Sumatera Utara) or USU is a public university located in the city of Medan in North Sumatra, Indonesia.
It is situated in Padang Bulan, in the Medan Baru subdistrict of Medan, close to the City ...
in
Medan
Medan (; English: ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, as well as a regional hub and financial centre of Sumatra. According to the National Development Planning Agency, Medan is one of the four main ...
until 1959. His final teaching position was as a lecturer on the history of Indonesian literature at
Peking University
Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education.
Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...
in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, a position which he held until 1962. While he was in
Peking
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, 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''). ''Sedjarah'' focused on the
Balai Pustaka
Balai Pustaka (; also spelled Balai Poestaka, both meaning "Bureau of Literature") is the state-owned publisher of Indonesia and publisher of major pieces of Indonesian literature such as ''Salah Asuhan'', ''Sitti Nurbaya'' and '' Layar Terkem ...
and ''
Poedjangga Baroe
''Poedjangga Baroe'' (pronounced ; Perfected spelling: ''Pujangga Baru'', also known by the intermediate spelling ''Pudjangga Baru'') was an Indonesian ''avant-garde'' literary magazine published from July 1933 to February 1942. It was founded b ...
'' eras and applied a strong
Marxist
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
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.
After the
failed ''coup d'état'' – described by the government as having been led by the
Indonesian Communist Party
The Communist Party of Indonesia (Indonesian: ''Partai Komunis Indonesia'', PKI) was a communist party in Indonesia during the mid-20th century. It was the largest non-ruling communist party in the world before its violent disbandment in 1965. ...
– on 30 September 1965, leftists were hunted by the military and the general public, while such institutions were closed. Siregar himself was arrested and spent twelve years in prison. His manuscript from the period, ''Angkatan-Angkatan dalam Sastra Indonesia'' (''Periods in Indonesian Literature''), remains unpublished.
Siregar died in
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
on 19 June 1994.
Views
Siregar defined
Indonesian literature
Indonesian literature is a term grouping various genres of South-East Asian literature.
Indonesian literature can refer to literature produced in the Indonesian archipelago. It is also used to refer more broadly to literature produced in areas ...
as works written in Indonesian which reflected the nation's struggle for continued independence. Although he recognised earlier literary works in local languages and
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
, he believed that modern Indonesian literature began with the
Indonesian National Awakening
The Indonesian National Awakening ( id, Kebangkitan Nasional Indonesia) is a term for the period in the first half of the 20th century, during which people from many parts of the archipelago of Indonesia first began to develop a national conscio ...
in the 1920s. He viewed the early institutions of Indonesian literature poorly, describing Balai Pustaka as using "
language politics
Language politics is the way language and linguistic differences between peoples are dealt with in the political arena. This could manifest as government recognition, as well as how language is treated in official capacities.
The topic is a mult ...
, ... used to divide the Indonesian people on ethnic lines" 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.
Siregar divided Indonesian literature into four periods, as follows:
#Early 20th century until 1942, beginning with the works of
Marco Kartodikromo
Marco Kartodikromo (1890 – 18 March 1932), also known by his pen name Mas Marco, was an Indonesian journalist and writer.
Born to a low-ranking ''priyayi'' (noble) family in Blora, Dutch East Indies, Kartodikromo's first employment was ...
and continuing through the founding of Balai Pustaka and publication of ''Poedjangga Baroe''
#1942 until 1945, during the
Japanese Occupation of the Indies; literature was published by the Cultural Centre ()
#1943 until 1949, during the
Indonesian National Revolution
The Indonesian National Revolution, or the Indonesian War of Independence, was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during Aftermath of WWII, postw ...
; represented 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 ...
's Gelanggang group
#After 1950, a period which he describes as "half colonial and half feudalist"; 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
Soeharto
Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto ...
's
New Order government. Siregar's writings, although influential in their time, were also buried. His ''Sedjarah'' was banned, and was still difficult to obtain.
Notes
References
;Footnotes
;Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Siregar, Bakri
1922 births
1994 deaths
Indonesian male writers
Indonesian dramatists and playwrights
Indonesian literary critics
Peking University faculty
University of North Sumatra faculty
Members of the Lembaga Kebudajaan Rakjat
Academic staff of the University of Warsaw
Indonesian political prisoners
People of Batak descent
People from Langsa