Drama dari Krakatau

Drama dari Krakatau
Cover, first printing (1929)
Author	Kwee Tek Hoay
Country	Dutch East Indies
Language	Vernacular Malay
Published	1929
Publisher	Hoa Siang In Kiok
Pages	125
OCLC	64687346

Drama dari Krakatau (vernacular Malay for Drama of Krakatoa) is a 1929 vernacular Malay novel written by Kwee Tek Hoay. Inspired by Edward Bulwer-Lytton's 1834 novel The Last Days of Pompeii and the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, the sixteen-chapter book centres around two families in 1920s Batam which are unknowingly tied together by siblings who were separated in 1883. The brother becomes a political figure, whereas the sister marries a Baduy priest-king. Ultimately these families are reunited by the wedding of their children, after which the priest sacrifices himself to calm a stirring Krakatoa.

First published as a serial in Kwee's magazine Panorama between 7 April and 22 December 1928, Drama dari Krakatau was written over a period of two months after the author was asked to prepare a "sensational" story for a film. Before the final instalment had been published, the novel had already been performed on stage. Although Kwee was known as a realist and researched the volcano before writing, Drama dari Krakatau is replete with mysticism. Thematic analyses have focused on the depiction of indigenous cultures by Kwee (himself ethnic Chinese), as well as geography and nationalism. The book is not considered part of the Indonesian literary canon.

Plot

It is 1883, and Krakatoa is stirring for the first time in 200 years. In the nearby village of Waringin, Sadidjah confides to her husband, village head Tjakra Amidjaja, that she has had a bad dream about the volcano; she fears that it will be the death of them. Tjaka Amidjaja consoles her, and tells her that they will leave the village in two days. In the meantime, the volcano grows increasingly violent, and Tjakra Amidjaja and Sadidjah stay behind to manage the evacuation. They send their children, Hasan and Soerijati, to stay with family in Rangkas Gombong.^{[lower-alpha 1]} Krakatoa erupts several hours later. The village is wiped out in the resulting tsunami, and Soerijati is lost after she falls out of the carriage; Hasan, however, arrives safely in Rangkas Gombong.

Forty-four years pass. Moelia, son of the Regent of Rangkas Gombang and Assistant Wedana of Sindanglaut,^{[lower-alpha 2]} hears of a Baduy priest known as Noesa Brama, who has established himself and his family on Mount Ciwalirang and begun curing the sick and injured. Interviewing the priest in the latter's home, Moelia finds him an intelligent and well-spoken man. During lunch with the priest, Moelia falls in love with his daughter, Retna Sari, and learns that she must marry a man of equal standing to Noesa Brama, who is "no less than the Sultan of Yogyakarta or the Sunan of Solo".^{[lower-alpha 3][1]} Upon returning home, Moelia realises that Noesa Brama must be the last male descendent of the Hindu kings of Pajajaran, and that both Retna Sari and her mother bear a striking resemblance to his own grandmother. Several days later, he returns to the mountain and overhears a group of men from Palembang planning to kidnap Retna Sari. He chases them away, then has a short visit with Noesa Brama before returning home. Though he attempts to forget Retna Sari, he is unable to do so.

The following week, the men from Palembang lie to the police, leading to Noesa Brama's arrest for planning a rebellion, then convince Retna Sari and her mother to follow them before departing for Sumatra. Learning of this, Moelia convinces the police to release Noesa Brama, who returns home to find that his wife and daughter have gone – seemingly willingly – with the men from Palembang. Moelia, meanwhile, takes a steamboat and chases the kidnappers. Before they can stop the men from Palembang, Krakatoa erupts again, overturning the fleeing ship. Moelia barely has enough time to rescue the women before the mountain erupts, killing the fugitives.

Moelia informs his father, revealed to be Hasan, of the eruptions, and the regent comes over to the former's home. There he meets Retna Sari and her mother. They discover that Retna Sari's mother is, in fact, Soerijati, explaining the familial resemblance. She reveals that she had been found and raised by Noesa Brama's father; she also tells of a statue of Vishnu in a cave atop Mount Ciwalirang with the inscription "At the time when I am damaged, the land and all your descendants will be destroyed, cursed by Rakata's anger",^{[lower-alpha 4]} damage to which the priests believe caused the Krakatoa eruption. Unknown to them, Noesa Brama – enraged at the thought of his daughter marrying a commoner – has deliberately destroyed this statue by throwing it down a well, causing the eruption which stopped the fugitives.

Moelia and his family depart for Ciwalirang the following morning, hoping that Noesa Brama will accept Moelia to be Retna Sari's husband; the priest had privately acknowledged him as a suitable suitor. Noesa Brama accepts the proposal, but, after he discovers that Retna Sari and Soerijati had not willingly gone with the men from Palembang, he expresses regret over the destruction of the statue. He weds Moelia and Retna Sari, and has them promise that their first son will be raised a Hindu and become king of the Baduy, before surrendering all his power to his daughter. Later, Later, hoping that his spirit and those of his ancestors can control the volcano, Noesa Brama secretly commits suicide by jumping into the well. Several weeks later, activity at the volcano drops, although it remains active.

Writing

Kwee was inspired by the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa.

Drama dari Krakatau was written by journalist Kwee Tek Hoay. Born to an ethnic Chinese textile merchant and his native wife,^[2] Kwee had been raised in Chinese culture and educated at schools that focused on preparing students for life in a modern world, as opposed to promoting tradition for its own sake. By the time he wrote the novel, Kwee was an active proponent of Buddhist teachings. He also wrote extensively on themes relating to the archipelago's indigenous population.^[3] and was a keen social observer.^[4] Kwee read extensively in Dutch, English, and Malay; he drew on these influences after becoming a writer.^[5] His first novel, Djadi Korbannja "Perempoean Hina" (The Victim of a "Contemptible Woman"), was published in 1924.^[6]

In 1928, Kwee was asked by a friend, who was hoping to establish a film company, to write a "sensational" story which could be used as the basis for a movie.^{[lower-alpha 5]} Ongoing activity at Krakatoa was foremost in the author's mind and, after reading Edward Bulwer-Lytton's 1834 novel The Last Days of Pompeii, Kwee asked himself "is it impossible for one to write a drama about Krakatoa?"^{[lower-alpha 6][7]} Owing to the lengthy chronological period separating the 1883 and 1928 eruptions, Kwee decided to begin his story with the separation of two young siblings. Further elements of the story were inspired by the mountain-dwelling Baduy, a group which tended to avoid outsiders and claimed to be descended from the Hindu kings of Pajajaran.^[8]

Kwee was known as a realist, considering it "better to say things as they are, than to create events out of nothing, which although perhaps more entertaining and satisfying to viewers or readers, are false and lies, going against what is true."^{[lower-alpha 7][9]} He was highly critical of contemporary writers who relied more on their fantasies than logic and reality.^[10] Hoping to keep his story grounded in reality, Kwee researched the history of the Baduy, the geological formation of Krakatoa, and the events of 1883 and 1928; in total he consulted 15 books, all in English or Dutch.^[8] Writing began on 19 March 1928^[11] and was completed on 28 May of that year.^[12] Drama dari Krakatau consists of sixteen chapters,^[13] which were spread over 125 pages in the first printing.^[14]

Themes

Although Kwee was a staunch supporter of realism in literature, Drama dari Krakatau includes a degree of mysticism, as evidenced by the apparent connection between the statue in the cave and the eruption of Krakatoa. Indeed, in many of his writings (both fiction and non-fiction), Kwee exhibited an interest in the occult; this includes writing detailed depictions of Therese Neumann, a fasting girl from Germany; and Omar Khayyám, a Persian Sufi mystic and philosopher. The Indonesian literary critic Jakob Sumardjo finds the mystical elements (and the fact that no Hindu-era statues with inscriptions have been found) detracting to the overall value of the novel.^[15]

Kwee's work is the earliest of three Chinese Malay novels which were inspired by volcanic eruptions. The second, Liem Khing Hoo's Meledaknja Goenoeng Keloet (The Eruption of Mount Kelud), was inspired by Kelud in East Java and published in the monthly magazine Tjerita Roman in 1929. The third, Kwee's Drama dari Merapie (Drama of Merapi), was inspired by Central Java's Mount Merapi and published as a serial in Moestika Romans from March to September 1931.^[16] Volcanic eruptions also featured in contemporary Chinese Malay poetry. Claudine Salmon records one syair, Ong Tjong Sian's Sair Petjanja Goenoeng Krakatau (Syair on the Eruption of Mount Krakatoa; 1929), as dealing with the community's fears after Krakatoa resumed activity.^[17]

Unlike many contemporary works by ethnic Chinese authors, Drama dari Krakatau features no Chinese characters in major roles; the only such characters are mentioned in passing, shopowners who provide emergency food supplies to the regent.^[18] Historically, Malay-language works by ethnic Chinese authors centred around Chinese characters, to the point that terms such as tanah-air (homeland) were often understood to mean mainland China, rather than the Malay Archipelago or Dutch East Indies. Chinese Malay works which featured exclusively indigenous characters had only developed in the 1920s.^[19] Uncommonly for works from the period, Kwee attempts to "impersonate" these other cultures and present said cultures from their own point of view.^[20]

As with many stories with predominantly indigenous casts, Drama dari Krakatau is set in a rural area, far from the cities where the ethnic Chinese populace were concentrated.^[21] Geography plays a major role. The novel starts on a macro scale, depicting the origins of the archipelago from rising sea levels caused by the sinking of Poseidonis, then progresses increasingly towards the micro scale, passing through views of Java, Sumatra, and Krakatoa, before focusing on the home of Tjakra Amidjaja and the beginning of the plot. A later passage details the view from Mount Ciwalirang, showing Java, Krakatoa and Sumatra.^[20]

The Indonesian literary scholar Melani Budianta argues that this "geographic panorama", combined with the sympathetic depiction of other cultures and religions, shows elements of nationalism in the novel; such a theme has also been found in Kwee's Drama dari Boeven Digoel (Drama of Boeven Digoel; 1938).^[22] She writes that the panoramic views of the archipelago "help the readers to imagine the geography of a nation yet to be united",^[20] whereas the "impersonation" presents a "region of theosophy where religious difference is unified in the belief of goodness."^[23]

Publication history and reception

Drama dari Krakatau was first published as a serial in Kwee's magazine Panorama, from 7 April until 22 December 1928. This serial was then published as a novel by Hoa Siang In Kiok in 1929.^[14] A new printing, adapting the 1972 spelling reform, was included in the second volume of Kesastraan Melayu Tionghoa dan Kebangsaan Indonesia, an anthology of Chinese Malay literature. This volume also included Kwee's novella Roema Sekola jang Saja Impiken (The Schoolhouse of My Dreams; 1925) and the novel Boenga Roos dari Tjikembang (The Rose of Cikembang; 1927).^[24]

The novel was performed on stage before Kwee had completed writing it; the same thing had happened to Kwee's earlier work Boenga Roos dari Tjikembang. On 28 March 1928 the Moon Opera performed Drama dari Krakatau at Pasar Senen in Weltevreden, Batavia (now Senen, Jakarta). The troupe performed the story again on 31 March and 5 April, the latter at Mangga Besar, Batavia. The story for the performances was prepared by Kwee, and was adapted specifically for the stage; Kwee writes that it had to be abbreviated and made simpler.^[11] One of the main difficulties, he wrote, was presenting Krakatoa on stage: it was a technical challenge, yet could not abandoned as "performing this play without showing the eruption of Krakatoa would be like performing Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark."^{[lower-alpha 8][25]}

As with all works written in vernacular Malay, the novel has not been considered part of the Indonesian literary canon.^[26] In his doctoral thesis, J. Francisco B. Benitez posits a socio-political cause for this. The Dutch colonial government used Court Malay as a "language of administration", a language for everyday dealings, while the Indonesian nationalists appropriated the language to help build a national culture. Chinese Malay literature, written in "low" Malay, was steadily marginalised.^[27] Sumardjo, however, sees a question of classification: though vernacular Malay was the lingua franca of the time, it was not Indonesian, and as such, he asks whether works in vernacular Malay should be classified as local literature, Indonesian literature, or simply Chinese Malay literature.^[26]

Explanatory notes

References

Works cited