Chairil Anwar: The Poet and His Language

189 Pages·2003·10.02 MB·English

by  Boen Sri Oemarjati

VERHANDELINGEN
VAN HET KONINKLIJK INSTITUUT
VOOR TAAL-, LAND- EN VOLKENKUNDE
63
CHAIRIL ANWAR:
THE POET AND HlS LANGUAGE
BOBN S. OBMARJATI
THB HAGUB - MARTINUS NIJHOFF 1972

CHAIRIL ANWAR
So here I am, in the middle way, having had twenty years -
Twenty years largely wasted, the years of l'entTe deux guerres -
Trying to leam to use words, and every attempt
Is a wholly new start, and a different kind of failure
Because one has only learnt to get the better of words
For the thing one no longer has to say, or the way in which
One is no longer disposed to say it. And so each venture
Is a new beginning, a raid on the inarticulate
With shabby equipment always deteriorating
In the genera! mess of imprecision of feeling,
Undisciplined squads of emotion ............................. .
(T. S. Eliot, East CokeT V)
To my parents as a partial instalment
in return for their devotion
To 'MB' with love and in gratitude
for sharing serenity and true friendship with me
VERHANDELINGEN
VAN HET KONINKLIJK INSTITUUT
VOOR T AAL-, LAND- EN VOLKENKUNDE
63
CHAIRIL ANWAR:
THE POET AND HlS LANGUAGE
BOEN S. OEMARJATI
THE HAGUE - MARTINUS NIJHOFF 1972
I.S.B.N.90.247.1508.3
T ABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS VII
PREF ACE IX
INTRODUCTION . . . XIII
1. The Japanese Occupation: The Break with the Past XIII
2. The Situation respecting the Indonesian Language . XIV
3. The Situ at ion in respect of Indonesian Literature XVI
4. Biographical Data . . . . . . . . . XX
LIST OF ABBREVIA TIONS AND SYMBOLS . XXVII
CHAPTER I: LANGUAGE AND POE TRY
1. Prologue
A. Aspects of Presentation
1. The TitIe. 1
2. The Dedication. 2
3. The Date. . . 2
4. The Punctuation 2
5. The Use of Capitals . 3
R~~~As~. 4
1. Final Rhyme 4
2. Stanza. . . . 5
3. Verse Structure . 6
4. Phonaesthetical Aspects 7
5. Other Aesthetical Aspects 8
C. Linguistic Analysis. . . 8
1. Preliminary Remarks . . 8
2. The Analysis. . . . . 10
2. The Poems Selected for Analysis 17
3. Preliminary Remarks on Indonesian Syntax and Morphology 19
3.1. Main Sentence Structures in BI. . . . . . . .. 19
1. Sentenee Constructions Consisting of Three Elements 20
A. The Agent-Directed Construction . 20
R The Patient-Directed Construction 21
VI CHAIRIL ANWAR
11. Sentence Constructions Consisting of Two Elements 23
A. The Equational Sentence Construction . 23
B. Other Types of Sentence Construction 23
3.2. Transitive and Intransitive Verbs with me- . 23
A. Transitive Verbs . 24
B. Intransitive Verbs 25
CHAPTER 11: ANALYSIS OF THE POEMS. 27
1. Diponegoro. . . . . . 27
2. Kupu Malam dan Biniku . 39
3. Kenangan 44
4. Hampa. 53
5. Dimesdjid 59
6. 1943. 63
7. Isa 68
8. Kepada Pelukis Affandi 75
9. Sendja di Pelabuhan Ketjil . 81
10. Puntj ak . . . . . . . . 88
11. Alm Berkisar Antara Mereka 94
12. Jang Terampas dan Jang Putus 103
13. Derai-Derai Tjemara . . . . 107
CHAPTER 111: CHAIRIL ANWAR'S LANGUAGE 111
1. Preliminary Remarks . . . . . . . . . . 111
2. Morphological Multivalence. . . . . . . . 119
2.1. Ke-an Forms derived from Adjectives and the Nominal
Use of Adjectives. . . . . . . 119
2.2. Me- Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
3. Poetic Licence as a Souree of Ambiguity. . . . 127
3.1. The Use of the Demonstratives ini and itu . 127
3.2. The Omission of jang 129
4. Colloquialism. 130
5. Epilogue 132
NOTES . . 139
APPENDIX. 149
BIBLIOGRAPHY . 155
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It was during a two weeks' visit to the University of Leiden in
August/September 1969 on a grant from the Netherlands Ministry of
Education and Sciences that the idea of writing the present hook was
first put forward. A short period of intensive research at the Wason
Collection section of the Cornell University Library in Ithaca, New Vork,
in September 1969, which was made possible by a grant from the South
east Asia Program of Cornell University, provided me with valuable
material for pursuing this work. All this would not have been possible,
however, had I not been granted a two years' scholarship by the German
Academic Exchange Service (October 1968-0ctober 1970) to study
modern German literature at the Eberhard-Karl University in Tübingen.
It was with their generous permission that 1 was able to resume and
complete my studies at the University of Leiden with the writing of this
hook, for which the Ministry of Education and Sciences of the Nether
lands kindly made a scholarship available.
1 cannot hope to express sufficiently my heartfelt gratitude to all those
who have made it possible for me to write this book. But 1 do want to
extend my sincere thanks to Dr. Hans-Georg Kemper (Tübingen), who
encouraged me to carry through the idea despite numerous obstacles;
to Prof. John M. Echois, whose modest suggestions and kind words of
advice guided me in my research while at Cornell U niversity; to the
Dean of the Faculty of Letters of the University of Indonesia for
granting me leave of absence; to Drs. H. B. Jassin for sharing so much
of his indispensabie knowledge with me; and last but not least to the
Netherlands Ministry of Education and Sciences whose generosity made
possible the completion of my study in Leiden and the publication of
the present hook. 1 am indebted to all those who assisted and encouraged
me in the writing of this book in various ways, by providing me with
material and other information, by discussing the subject matter with
me, and by listening to and not being bored by the problerns involved
in this study. But most especially 1 would like to express my sincere
gratitude to those members of the Faculty of Letters of the University
of Leiden - whose names must remain anonymous in accordance with
VIII CHAIRIL ANWAR
the traditions of this university - who freely gave their time, encourage
ment and inspiration, and invaluabIe advice and information throughout
this lengthy and oft en laborious undertaking.
I am grateful to various members of the staff of the Koninklijk
Instituut voor T aal-, Land- en Volkenkunde for their most generous
assistance in the completion of the hook, especially to Miss M. J. L. van
Yperen E.A., who patiently and willingly went through the entire
manuscript, smoothing out a great numher of errors and inconsistencies,
and to the management and staff of Drukkerij en Uitgeverij Smits,
The Hague, for the patience and efficiency with which they carried
out the task of presenting this hook in its final form.
As a final acknowledgement, we hope that this book will he accepted
by Hapsah as a contribution toward the understanding of the poetry
of her late poet-husband.
University of Leyden, November 1972 Boen S. Oemarjati