INDONESIAN LITERATURE

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​Students are expected to:

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​Be familiar with the highlights of Indonesian Literature and its History;

​Analyze an Indonesian poem entitled Prayer of the Hungry.

​Southeast Asian country

​Over 17,000 islands

​Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, parts of Borneo and New Guinea

​JAKARTA

​273.5 M (2020)

​Indonesian rupiah

​Indonesian

​​Islam

Protestantism

Catholicism

Buddhism

Hinduism

Confucianism

• ​The Dutch

• ​The Japanese

• ​Indonesia's declaration of independence

• ​"Java Man"

• ​Austronesian People

• ​First Century CE

• Trade links with both Indian kingdoms and China​

• ​Seventh Century CE - powerful Srivijaya

• ​Between eight and 10th centuries CE - Sailendra, Mataram

• ​"Golden Age"

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• ​oral literature

• ​myths, animal stories, and beast fables, fairy tales, legends, puzzles and riddles, anecdotes and adventure stories

• ​Languages used in their literature are from Sumatra, Java, Bali and Lombok, and in the more languages of South Celebes.

• ​Two great Hindu epics?

• ​Sanskrit

• ​Muslim influence

​The Mahabharata is an ancient Indian epic where the main story revolves around two branches of a family - the Pandavas and Kauravas - who, in the Kurukshetra War, battle for the throne of Hastinapura. Interwoven into this narrative are several smaller stories about people dead or living, and philosophical discourses.

The Ramayana is a love story that also explores human values and the concept of dharma. It is attributed to the sage Valmiki, who is believed to have written the poem in Sanskrit between the 5th-4th centuries BCE.

• ​The Dutch Colonial Domination

• ​20th century

• ​Bahasa Indonesia - official language

• ​Modes of Romantic, Parnassian, and Symbolist verse from Europe

• ​First Indonesian Novels in 1920s and 30s

• ​The New Writer

• ​Japanese Occupation in 1942

• ​Indonesian Nationalist Revolution in 1945

• ​Chairil Anwar

• ​Pramoedya Ananta Toer

• ​Limited Literary Activity

W. Rendra​

• ​Indonesian dramatist, poet, activist, performer, actor and director.

• ​He was a controversial figure, and opinions differed about some of his political and personal choices.

• ​Gadjah Mada University

• ​American Academy of Dramatic Art

• ​play writing and theatre production

• ​Rendra's poetry

• ​Poetry reading at the Taman Ismail Marzuki Arts Centre in Jakarta

• ​imprisonment

• ​seven years banned

• ​Bengkel Theatre

HUNGER is a smooth black crow.

Millions of crows

like a black cloud.

O God!

How terrifying crows are.

And hunger is a black crow.

Continually terrifying.​

Hunger is rebellion.

Is the mysterious force

moving the murderer’s knife

in the hand of the poor.

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Hunger is coral rocks

beneath the sleeping face of the sea.

Is tears of deceit.

Is the betrayal of honour.

a strong young man crying

To see his own hands

lay honour down

because of hunger.​

Hunger is a devil

Hunger is a devil offering dictatorship.

 O God!​

Hunger is black hands

putting handfuls of alum

into the stomach of the poor.

O God!

We kneel.

Our eyes are Your eyes.

This is Your mouth.

This is Your heart.

And this is Your stomach.

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​Your stomach hungers, O God.

Your stomach hews alum

 and broken glass.

O God!

How nice a plate of rice,

a bowl of soup and a cup of coffee would be.

O God!

Hunger is a crow.

millions of black crows

like a black cloud

blotting out my view

of Your heaven.

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• ​The use of metaphor

• ​Apostrophe

• ​Simile

• ​Anaphora

• ​Repetition of Symbolical Words for emphasis

• ​Visual Imagery

• ​Tactile imagery (the use of 2nd person point of view)

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• Crow

• ​rebellion

• ​murderer’s knife

• ​coral rock

• ​a strong young man crying To see his own hands lay honour down because of hunger.

• ​dictatorship

• ​alum and broken glasses

• ​Black Cloud

• The ​crow is the symbol of hunger.

• ​The crow also symbolizes humans who are starving.

• ​The main message of the poem is to show to the reader that there are people out there who needs our help. It explains that many people out there are starving and lack of hope.

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