Development of the Novel; Abdul Muis’ Salah Asuhan and other Highlights

Abstract

As the examples show, it is hardly feasible to distinguish chronological periods in pre-war Indonesian novel writing. Armijn Pané has argued that around 1935 a new period in the history of the Indonesian novel began, when the clearly tendentious novel tended to disappear and the subjects dealt with in the novels became more variegated.⁹³ But the relevance of this distinction is doubtful. There is hardly a more tendentious book than Takdir’s Lajar Terkembang of 1936, and one can mention a number of novels published before 1935 which deal with very different subjects. What we can say is that when we view the books which have been generally considered the highlights of pre-war literature, a certain development is visible in both themes and subjects. After Sitti Nurbaja, the first outstanding novel which dealt with the typically Minangkabau aspect of the problem of the generations, the next undisputed “highlight”, was Abdul Muis’ Salah Asuhan (A Wrong Upbringing) of 1928. This book is remarkable because of the theme and the way the author deals with this theme. Abdul Muis belonged to the first generation of Indonesian nationalists, he was the son of a leading Minangkabau and his Javanese wife (!).⁹⁴ He was born in Bukittinggi (West Sumatra) in 1890 and received a Western education, but did not complete his medical studies; he became a journalist and leader of the Sarekat Islam; he was active in the movement for greater autonomy for the Indies during the first World War, and as a member of a delegation of the “Comité Indië Weerbaar” (Committee for the Defence of the Indies) he visited the Netherlands. He was appointed a member of the Volksraad (People’s Council) in 1920. In 1923 because of a conflict within Sarekat Islam he returned to Western Sumatra, where he continued his political activities. But after the events of 1926–27 he came under suspicion and his freedom of movement was severely restricted. As a writer, translator and journalist he led an unobtrusive life in Western Java until his death in 1959.