Marah Roesli (; full name: Marah Rusli bin Abu Bakar) was an Indonesian writer.
Biography
Marah Roesli was born in Padang, West Sumatra on August 7, 1889, and died in
Bandung
Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...
, West Java on January 17, 1968. He was one of the most well-known Indonesian authors from the Balai Pustaka period. He is famous for his novel '' Sitti Nurbaya'', which tells the story of a teenage girl who was forced to marry a man much older than herself to recompense his father's debt. Like other Minangkabau authors, such as Hamka, Ali Akbar Navis, and Abdul Muis, his novels centre on the theme of the increasingly bankrupt Minangkabau culture.
Marah Roesli's father, Sultan Abu Bakar, was a nobleman with the rank Sultan Pangeran. Against his family's wishes, Marah Roesli married a
Sundanese
Sundanese may refer to:
* Sundanese people
* Sundanese language
* Sundanese script
Standard Sundanese script (''Aksara Sunda Baku'', ) is a writing system which is used by the Sundanese people. It is built based on Old Sundanese script (' ...
woman born in
Bogor
Bogor ( su, , nl, Buitenzorg) is a city in the West Java province, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.veterinarian by profession. Unlike Taufik Ismail and Asrul Sani, who both completely left their practices as veterinarians to become authors, Marah Roesli kept working in that profession until he retired in 1952 with the title of Head Veterinary. He loved literature from a young age, and always loved listening to stories from the itinerant story tellers in Western Sumatra, and reading literature.
Recognition
In the history of
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 ...
, Marah Roesli is noted as the first author of a novel, and was designated by
Jassin
Jassini is a village on the northeastern border of Tanzania. As of 1999, the village was not accessible by motorized vehicles. In the mid-1990s, the village had a population of less than 300 composed of 30 households.
Pre-Colonial and Colonial ...
as the "Father of the Modern Indonesian Novel". Before the first novels were written in Indonesia, the prose literature was more similar to folk stories.
Marah Roesli had higher education, and was able to access many books from the Western tradition, especially the Modernism literature prevalent at the time. His works convey the need to move away from the strong traditional values, especially of the Minangkabau people's and embrace the development of the period, and. In light of this, his best known novel ''Sitti Nurbaya'' can be read as an attempt to free the people from the traditions that held them back and stopped young people from following their dreams. The story creates a strong impression on the reader, which is true to this day. After more than 80 years, this book is still being constantly discussed and read.
In addition to ''Sitti Nurbaya'', Marah Roesli also wrote several other novels. However, ''Sitti Nurbaya'' is the best known one. The novel received the annual price in literature from the Government of Indonesia in 1969, and has been translated to Russian.