Tjerita Si Tjonat

Last updated
Tjerita Si Tjonat
Tjerita Si Tjonat cover.jpg
Cover, first edition
Author F.D.J. Pangemanann
Country Dutch East Indies
Language Vernacular Malay
GenreBandit
PublisherTjoe Toei Yang
Pages126
OCLC 35197577

Tjěrita Si Tjonat, Sato Kěpala Pěnjamoen di Djaman Dahoeloe Kala [lower-alpha 1] (also known as Tjěrita Si Tjonat; Perfected Spelling Cerita Si Tjonat) is a 1900 novel written by the journalist F. D. J. Pangemanann. One of numerous bandit stories from the contemporary Indies, it follows the rise and fall of Tjonat, from his first murder at the age of thirteen until his execution some twenty-five years later. The novel's style, according to Malaysian scholar Abdul Wahab Ali, is indicative of a transitional period between orality and written literature. Tjerita Si Tjonat has been adapted to the stage multiple times, and in 1929 a film version was made.

Contents

Plot

Thirteen-year-old Tjonat, the spoiled son of a village chief, is chased out of his hometown after he is caught stealing his father's expensive batik shirt. Having no money and only a single torn pair of pants, Tjonat kills an 8-year-old boy to steal his buffalo. With the help of his elder mentor, Gondit, Tjonat sells the buffalo at a distant market. However, Gondit is unwilling to give Tjonat his share of the money until they reach Batavia (now Jakarta). Suspicious, Tjonat prepares a sharpened bamboo tip. When Gondit tries to kill him, Tjonat stabs him in the stomach with the bamboo and steals all of his money. He then goes to Batavia on his own.

Ten years have passed, and Tjonat has worked a variety of jobs under various names. However, he was often fired for stealing. Now he serves as a manservant for a rich Dutchman named Opmeijer. Using his charms, Tjonat woos Opmeijer's njai (concubine), Saipa, and convinces her to elope with him and take their master's possessions. The two make their way to Saipa's hometown and marry. However, theirs is an unhappy relationship and, after several years, Tjonat stops supporting his wife and returning home, instead choosing to spend his time as a robber. After asking for a divorce, Saipa prepares to marry a fellow villager. However, in a fit of rage Tjonat returns to their home and kills Saipa.

Tjonat, by now the leader of a gang of bandits, turns his attention to Lie Gouw Nio, the daughter of a peranakan Chinese farmer. However, Gouw Nio is already betrothed to Tio Sing Sang. After an attempt to furtively kidnap her fails, Tjonat and his gang launch an assault on the Lies' farmstead. The family is able to escape, and Lie Gouw Nio is sent to Batavia to stay with her future in-laws. In an attempt to eliminate the competition, several weeks later Tjonat and his gang invade Tio Sing Sang's home, killing his grandfather Keng Bo and injuring the youth.

After recovering, Sing Sang begins training in the use of weapons and prepares to fight Tjonat. Meanwhile, Tjonat has become aware of Gouw Nio's presence in Batavia. When Gouw Nio and Sing Sang's parents leave the city to attend Keng Bo's funeral, Tjonat ensures that his men are hired as bodyguards. Outside of Tangerang Tjonat makes his move, kidnapping Gouw Nio and allowing the Tios to escape.

Upon hearing of his fiancée's peril, Sing Sang follows Tjonat and finds him in a cave. Although capable of ambushing the bandit, he refuses to kill in cold blood. Instead, Sing Sang attacks an armed Tjonat with his bare hands and wins, using Tjonat's own knife to cut the bandit's ears off and mark his forehead with a "T" before ordering him to return Gouw Nio. Tjonat, however, does not obey, instead stabbing Gouw Nio in the chest and throwing her in a nearby river. At that moment Tjonat is arrested by arriving police and villagers, while Sing Sang rescues Gouw Nio from the current.

After a long recovery, Gouw Nio and Sing Sang are married. Tjonat and his men are executed.

Writing

Tjerita Si Tjonat was written by F.D.J. Pangemanann, a journalist. [1] It was his first novel. A second, Tjerita Rossina (Story of Rossina), likewise centred on the adventures of a bandit, followed in 1903 after being serialised. [2]

Tjonat was part of Batavia's oral tradition at the time, and was believed to have been historical. [3] Stories of bandits such as Tjonat were common at the time. Others included Si Pitung, Si Ronda and Si Jampang. [4]

Themes and style

James T. Siegel notes that the arrival of the police at the novel's climax is, like in G. Francis' Njai Dasima, a "natural culmination" to the events, with the police protecting the innocent and punishing the guilty. He contrasts this with a discussion written by Tirto Adhi Soerjo regarding the cultural roles in the Indies, in which individuals had to wear clothing in accordance to their ethnic identity, for which failure to abide meant punishment at the hands of police. [5] C. W. Watson notes that, as common for romantic adventure stories, "the bandit never succeeds in his attempted rape, but is prevented in the nick of time by the prompt intervention of the hero". [6]

The book's plot is not presented chronologically, instead using flashbacks covering the events between one key plot point and another to build suspense. The story elements all focus on different events in Tjonat's life, sometimes with heavy repetition. Abdul Wahab Ali considers the plot forced in places, and notes that the individual episodes in Tjonat's life are self-contained, with a clear beginning and end. [7] The plot spans over twenty-five years, from Tjonat's exile from his village in 1830 to his execution on 5 April 1855. [8] Wahab Ali writes that the novel's characterisation is flat, with characters introduced in quick succession and not developed further. Tjonat, he opines, is likewise one-dimensional: evil from the beginning, without a single redeeming feature. [8] However, since Indonesia's national revolution he has been portrayed more as a heroic rebel and people's champion. [4]

The novel is written in vernacular Malay, a creole used throughout the Indies for trade. Pangemanann writes fluently, but not in a literary manner. [9] Wahab Ali suggests that terminology in the novel, including various appeals to the reader and author, indicate a transition from orality to written literature. [9] He notes several techniques, including the aforementioned flashbacks, which are new to the contemporary written Indies literature. [9]

Release and reception

Tjerita Si Tjonat was published in 1900 by the Batavia-based Tjoe Toei Yang. It was advertised as a true story, something which has been debated. [10] The story proved popular with ethnic Chinese readers. [11] In 1982 Tjerita Si Tjonat was one of seven novels (also including Tjerita Rossina) anthologised in Tempo Doeloe by the novelist Pramoedya Ananta Toer. [2]

Soon after publication the story was adapted for lenong (a traditional Betawi form of theatre), and remained popular until after Indonesia's independence in 1945. [2] It was also performed in other traditional theatrical forms. [10] In 1929 Nelson Wong and Jo Eng Sek adapted the story for film. Initially intended as a serial, this version – entitled Si Tjonat  – starred Ku Fung May as Gouw Nio and Herman Sim as Sing Sang. [12]

Notes

  1. ↑ Malay for The Story of Si Tjonat, a Bandit Leader from Olden Times; Perfected spelling: Cerita Si Conat, Satu Kepala Penyamun di Jaman Dahulu Kala; another subtitle is Satoe Kapala Pěnjamoen di Djaman Dahoeloe Tempo Tahon 1840. Jang Bětoel Soeda Kědjadian di Batavia, meaning A Bandit Leader in the Olden Days of 1840. True Events which Happened in Batavia.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Toer 1982, p. 26.
  2. 1 2 3 Toer 1982, pp. 28–9.
  3. ↑ Jedamski 1995, p. 177.
  4. 1 2 Gouda 1999, p. 169.
  5. ↑ Siegel 1997, p. 88.
  6. ↑ Watson 1971, p. 421.
  7. ↑ Wahab Ali 2012, p. 315.
  8. 1 2 Wahab Ali 2012, p. 316.
  9. 1 2 3 Wahab Ali 2012, p. 317.
  10. 1 2 JCG, Si Tjonat.
  11. ↑ Biran 2009, p. 93.
  12. ↑ Said 1982, p. 19.

Related Research Articles

Pramoedya Ananta Toer Indonesian writer

Pramoedya Ananta Toer was an Indonesian author of novels, short stories, essays, polemics and histories of his homeland and its people. His works span the colonial period under Dutch rule, Indonesia's struggle for independence, its occupation by Japan during the Second World War, as well as the post-colonial authoritarian regimes of Sukarno and Suharto, and are infused with personal and national history.

Indonesian literature Literature of Indonesia

Indonesian literature is a term grouping various genres of South-East Asian literature.

Wong brothers

The Wong brothers were three ethnic Chinese film directors and cameramen active in the cinema of the Dutch East Indies. The sons of an Adventist preacher, the brothers – Nelson (1895–1945), Joshua (1906–1981), and Othniel (1908–1986) – received much of their education in the United States before going to Shanghai and establishing The Great Wall Productions.

<i>Sair Tjerita Siti Akbari</i> 1884 syair (poem) by Lie Kim Hok

Sair Tjerita Siti Akbari is an 1884 Malay-language syair (poem) by Lie Kim Hok. Adapted indirectly from the Sjair Abdoel Moeloek, it tells of a woman who passes as a man to free her husband from the Sultan of Hindustan, who had captured him in an assault on their kingdom.

Lie Kim Hok Chinese-Indonesian writer and teacher (1853–1912)

Lie Kim Hok was a peranakan Chinese teacher, writer, and social worker active in the Dutch East Indies and styled the "father of Chinese Malay literature". Born in Buitenzorg, West Java, Lie received his formal education in missionary schools and by the 1870s was fluent in Sundanese, vernacular Malay, and Dutch, though he was unable to understand Chinese. In the mid-1870s he married and began working as the editor of two periodicals published by his teacher and mentor D. J. van der Linden. Lie left the position in 1880. His wife died the following year. Lie published his first books, including the critically acclaimed syair (poem) Sair Tjerita Siti Akbari and grammar book Malajoe Batawi, in 1884. When van der Linden died the following year, Lie purchased the printing press and opened his own company.

<i>Boenga Roos dari Tjikembang</i> (novel) Malay-language novel by Kwee Tek Hoay

Boenga Roos dari Tjikembang is a 1927 vernacular Malay-language novel written by Kwee Tek Hoay. The seventeen-chapter book follows a plantation manager, Aij Tjeng, who must leave his beloved njai (concubine) Marsiti so that he can be married. Eighteen years later, after Aij Tjeng's daughter Lily dies, her fiancé Bian Koen discovers that Marsiti had a daughter with Aij Tjeng, Roosminah, who greatly resembles Lily. In the end Bian Koen and Roosminah are married.

Tio Ie Soei Peranakan Chinese writer and journalist

Tio Ie Soei was a peranakan Chinese writer and journalist active in the Dutch East Indies and Indonesia. Born in the capital at Batavia, Tio entered journalism while still a teenager. By 1911 he had begun writing fiction, publishing Sie Po Giok – his first novel – that year. Over the next 50 years Tio wrote extensively in several newspapers and magazines, serving as an editor for some. He also wrote several novels and biographies, including ones on Tan Sie Tat and Lie Kim Hok.

Tirto Adhi Soerjo Indonesian journalist

Tirto Adhi Soerjo was an Indonesian journalist known for his sharp criticism of the Dutch colonial government. Born to a noble Javanese family in Blora, Central Java, Tirto first studied to become a doctor but later focused on journalism. A freelancer since 1894, in 1902 he was made an editor of the Batavia based Pembrita Betawi. Tirto established his first newspaper in 1903 and, four years later, created Medan Prijaji as a medium for educated native Indonesians. This proved his longest-lived publication, lasting over five years before Tirto was exiled in 1912 to Bacan for his staunch anti-colonial criticism.

<i>Syair Abdul Muluk</i> 1847 poem written by Raja Ali Haji

Sjair Abdoel Moeloek is an 1847 syair (poem) credited variously to Raja Ali Haji or his sister Saleha. It tells of a woman who passes as a man to free her husband from the Sultan of Hindustan, who had captured him in an assault on their kingdom. The book, with its theme of gender disguise common to contemporary Javanese and Malay literature, has been read as repositioning the hierarchy of men and women as well as the nobility and servants.

Si Tjonat is a likely lost 1929 bandit film from the Dutch East Indies directed by Nelson Wong and produced by Wong and Jo Eng Sek. Based on the novel by F.D.J. Pangemanann, the silent film followed an indigenous man who, having killed his fellow villager, flees to Batavia and becomes a bandit. After kidnapping an ethnic Chinese woman, he is defeated and brought to justice.

Tjerita Sie Po Giok, atawa Peroentoengannja Satoe Anak Piatoe is a 1911 children's novel from the Dutch East Indies written by Tio Ie Soei in vernacular Malay. It tells the story of Sie Po Giok, a young orphan who faces several challenges while living with his uncle in Batavia. The story, which has been called the only work of children's literature produced by Chinese Malay writers, has been read as promoting traditional gender roles and questioning Chinese identity.

Frederick D. J. Pangemanann was an Indonesian journalist and novelist.

<i>Allah jang Palsoe</i> Play written by Kwee Tek Hoay

Allah jang Palsoe is a 1919 stage drama from the Dutch East Indies that was written by the ethnic Chinese author Kwee Tek Hoay based on E. Phillips Oppenheim's short story "The False Gods". Over six acts, the Malay-language play follows two brothers, one a devout son who holds firmly to his morals and personal honour, while the other worships money and prioritises personal gain. Over more than a decade, the two learn that money is not the path to happiness.

Tjerita "Oeij-se": Jaitoe Satoe Tjerita jang Amat Endah dan Loetjoe, jang Betoel Soedah Kedjadian di Djawa Tengah is a 1903 Malay-language novel by the ethnic Chinese writer Thio Tjin Boen. It details the rise of a Chinese businessman who becomes rich after finding a kite made of paper money in a village, who then uses dishonesty to advance his personal wealth before disowning his daughter after she converts to Islam and marries a Javanese man.

<i>Tjhit Liap Seng</i>

Tjhit Liap Seng, also known as Bintang Toedjoeh in Malay, is an 1886 novel by Lie Kim Hok. It is considered the first Chinese Malay novel.

<i>Lenong</i>

Lenong is a traditional theatrical form of the Betawi people in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Tan Boen Soan was an ethnic Chinese Malay-language writer and journalist from Sukabumi, Java. He was the author of works such as Koetoekannja Boenga Srigading (1933), Bergerak (1935), Digdaja (1935) and Tjoban (1936). He later wrote for the Sunday Courier of Jakarta.

<i>Setangan Berloemoer Darah</i>

Setangan Berloemoer Darah is a 1927 Chinese Malay novel by Tjoe Hong Bok published in Semarang, Dutch East Indies. It tells of a young man who goes to seek revenge for his father's murder, before ultimately forgiving the killer. A film version was produced in 1928 by Tan Boen Soan.

<i>Footsteps</i> (novel) Novel by Pramoedya Ananta Toer

Footsteps is the third novel in the Buru Quartet tetralogy by the Indonesian author Pramoedya Ananta Toer. The tetralogy fictionalizes the life of Tirto Adhi Soerjo, an Indonesian nobleman and pioneering journalist. This installment covers the life of Minke – the first-person narrator and protagonist, based on Tirto Adhi Soerjo – after his move from Surabaya to Batavia, the capital of Dutch East Indies. The original Indonesian edition was published in 1985 and an English translation by Max Lane was published in 1990.

The Dutch-Indonesian foundation Stichting Opbouw-Pembangoenan was established on 24 March 1947 by the Dutch weekly Vrij Nederland. The foundation had a mixed Dutch-Indonesian board and ran bookstores and a publishing house.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.