Rustam Effendi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1903-05-13)13 May 1903 |
| Died | 24 May 1979(1979-05-24) (aged 76) Jakarta, Indonesia |
| Occupation | Author |
| Language | Indonesian Dutch |
| Citizenship | Indonesian |
| Period | 1920s |
Roestam Effendi (Perfected Spelling:Rustam Effendi; 13 May 1903 – 24 May 1979) was an Indonesian writer and member of theHouse of Representatives of the Netherlands. He is known for experimenting with theMalay language in the writing of his dramaBebasari and his poetry collection poetry anthologyPertjikan Permenoengan.
Effendi was born inPadang,West Sumatra,Dutch East Indies, on 13 May 1903. After elementary school, he studied at schools for teachers inBukittinggi andBandung,West Java. In 1924 he returned to Padang to be a teacher.[1][2]
Effendi published his first stage drama,Bebasari, in the mid-1920s;[a] it was a critique ofDutch colonialism based on theRamayana.[4] The work is considered the first stage drama in modernIndonesian literature.[1] However, its distribution was hampered by the Dutch, who cited Effendi's communist leanings.[4] He also released the poetry anthologyPertjikan Permenoengan (Stains of Self-Reflection),[1] Among these poems were works that were indirectly anti-colonial, such as the poem "Tanah Air" ("Homeland").[4] However, after afailed Communist revolt that year, Effendi's works could no longer be published because of the tighter censorship.[5] As such, he felt forced to leave the country.[2]
From 1928 to 1947 Effendi lived in the Netherlands. From 1933 to 1946 he was a member of theCommunist Party of the Netherlands and served in theHouse of Representatives of the Netherlands,[1][3] promotingnative rights for the Dutch East Indies.[6] He also wrote a work in Dutch, entitledVan Moskow naar Tiflis.[1] While in Jakarta in 1951, he was arrested as part ofan anti-communist crackdown, though he wasn't charged.
Effendi died in Jakarta on 24 May 1979. He was the older brother ofBachtiar Effendi, an Indonesian film actor and director.[1]
Effendi dealt with several themes in his works. Among the most prominent, especially inBebasari, wasanti-colonialism, with veiled criticism of the Dutch East Indies government.[4] Other themes include love, bothromantic andfamilial, as in the poems "Kenangan Lama" ("Old Memories") and "Kuburan Bunda" ("Mother's Grave"), and the beauty of nature, as in "Lautan" ("Sea") and "Bulan" ("Moon").[7]
Effendi's language, although it reflected the patterns ofOld Malay, was experimental. The writer borrowed from foreign languages, especiallySanskrit andArabic.[8] He occasionally changed words, including adding and subtracting letters, to suit his intended rhythm and tempo, such as by using "menung" instead of "menunggu" to say "wait".[9] Compared to contemporary poetMuhammad Yamin, Effendi had strongerimagery.[7]
The socialist literary scholarBakri Siregar wrote that Effendi drew the anti-colonial struggle well, with evocative imagery, inBebasari.[2] The Dutch scholar of Indonesian literatureA. Teeuw wrote that Effendi, as a poet, was "amazing, especially because of his language which had no equal"[b] and efforts to break away from the traditionalsyair.[3] However, Teeuw opined that Effendi did not play a large role in the further development of Indonesian literature; he foundSanusi Pane as the most influential poet of the time.[3]
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