Ajip Rosidi
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Ajip Rosidi (31 January 1938 – 29 July 2020) was an Indonesian poet and short story writer. As of 1983 he had published 326 works in 22 different magazines.


Biography

Rosidi was born on 31 January 1938, in Jatiwangi,
Majalengka Majalengka ( su, ᮙᮏᮜᮦᮀᮊ) is a town and district in West Java, Indonesia. The district is the regency seat of Majalengka Regency. At the 2010 Census, the district had a population of 68,871, of which the town (comprising the communities ...
,
West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...
. He attended the School of the People, Jatiwangi, in 1950; District VIII Junior High School Jakarta in 1953; and ''Taman Madya High School, Taman.Siswa'' Jakarta in 1956. He began his literary career at the age of fourteen years. Since 1952, his works began to appear in magazines such as "Indonesia", "Indonesia Pulpit", "Arena/Ploy", "Confrontation" and "Zenith Platform". As a child, he read numerous translated works in both
Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...
and
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 (' ...
. He is also known as
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 (' ...
Poet. After reading a guide to writing, Rosidi began writing poems and short stories. His first short story was published in the children's section of ''
Indonesia Raya "" (; "Great Indonesia") is the national anthem of Indonesia. It has been the national anthem since the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence on 17 August 1945. The song was introduced by its composer, Wage Rudolf Supratman, on 28 October 19 ...
'' when he was 12. By the age of 15, his work was being published in local magazines. He was paid between Rp 25 and Rp 125 per piece, a considerable amount of money then. Two years later, he released his first collection of short stories, published under the title ''Tahun-tahun Kematian'' (Years of Death). He subsequently dropped out of high school to focus on writing. At age 17, he attended
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
author Richard Wright's lecture "Seniman dan Masaalahnja"
The Artist and His Problems
at the Balai Budaja in Jakarta. Rosidi's works have been translated into many foreign languages, published in anthologies or as a book, in Dutch, Chinese, English, Japanese. He has also translated many biographies. He served as editor of numerous magazines, including ''Suluh Pelajar'' (Student Torch) from 1953 to 1955, and ''Prosa'' in 1955. In 1962, together with writer Ramadhan KH, Harris Obon, and Tatang Suryaatmadja, he founded the Publisher Kiwari. From 1964 to 1970 he served as the director of the publishing house Tjupumanik, along with the publishers Duta Rakyat from 1965 to 1968 and Dunia Pustaka Jaya from 1971 to 1979. During the years 1965–67, he became the founder and chief editor of "Weekly Sundanese", later referred to as "Madjalah Sundanese", which was published in Bandung. In 1968 he proposed Ali Sadikin, the then governor of Jakarta, to form the Jakarta Arts Council (DKJ), in which he served as the chairman for three consecutive periods from 1972 to 1981. Meanwhile, during the years 1966 to 1975, he also served as the head of the Association of Sundanese Writers. In 1971, he led the National Library Publisher Jaya (Jaya Raya Foundation). In 1973, Congress IKAPI chose Rosidi as the chairman of the agency. For the period 1976–79, he was re-elected for the same. In 1981, Rosidi served as Guest Lecturer of Indonesian language and literature at the
Osaka University of Foreign Studies , abbreviated to OUFS or , , or was a national university in Osaka, Japan. It was dedicated to area studies and the study of foreign languages and their related cultures. History Osaka University of Foreign Studies (OUFS) was one of Japan's o ...
(Gaikokugo Daikagu Osaka) in
Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, Professor Extraordinary at the Tenri Daigaku,
Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...
from 1983 to 1994, and Kyoto Sangyo Daigaku,
Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...
from 1983 to 1996. While in Japan he also taught at the Asahi Cultural Center. In 2003, he retired and returned to Indonesia. In 2004, he became the general manager of Sundanese-language monthly magazine, Cupumanik. On 31 January 2008 Rosidi released his autobiography, ''Hidup Tanpa Ijasah'' (Living Without a Diploma). The launching ceremony was held at
Padjadjaran University Padjadjaran University id, Universitas Padjajaran, abbreviated as UNPAD) is a public university located in Sumedang Regency and Bandung, which is the provincial capital of West Java, Indonesia. It was established on September 11, 1957. UNPAD has ...
. On 31 January 2011, he was awarded a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the field of Cultural Studies, Faculty of Letters, University of Padjadjaran. As of 2008, Rosidi resided in Pabelan,
Magelang Magelang () is one of six cities in Central Java that are administratively independent of the regencies in which they lie geographically. Each of these cities is governed by a mayor rather than a ''bupati''. Magelang city covers an area of 18. ...
.


Activism

Rosidi worked to preserve
Sundanese culture The Sunda or Sundanese ( id, Orang Sunda; su, ᮅᮛᮀ ᮞᮥᮔ᮪ᮓ, Urang Sunda) are an indigenous ethnic group native to the western region of Java island in Indonesia, primarily West Java. They number approximately 42 million and form ...
as well as other cultures of Indonesia, promoted the continued use of local languages and awarded the
Rancage Literary Award The Rancage Literary Award is a prize given to people who are considered to have contributed to the development of language and literature. This award is given by Rancage Cultural Foundation, which was founded by humanists Ajip Rosidi, Erry Riyan ...
to works in Sundanese; he provided two other awards for works in Javanese and Balinese. He founded and led the research project and folklore Pantun Sundanese (PPP-FS), during the period 1970–1973. In 2000 he wrote ''Encyclopedia: Encyclopedia of Culture Sundanese''. He encouraged research on ancient Sundanese manuscripts. He asserted that from about 200 ancient Sundanese manuscripts found so far, only about 23 scripts can be read. Rosidi expressed reservations regarding what he viewed as the
commercialization Commercialization or commercialisation is the process of introducing a new product or production method into commerce—making it available on the market. The term often connotes especially entry into the mass market (as opposed to entry into ear ...
of culture, citing the existence of Indonesia's Ministry of Culture and Tourism as proof that culture is being sold.


Bibliography

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References


External links


Ajip Rosidi
on Kompas-Gramedia. *

at ''The Jakarta Post'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosidi, Ajip Indonesian writers 1938 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Indonesian poets Academic staff of Osaka University Sundanese people 21st-century Indonesian poets Indonesian male poets 20th-century male writers 21st-century male writers People from Majalengka Regency