Snapshot on the role of women in an era of armed struggle<\/p>\n
Larasati; Pramoedya Ananta Toer; Hasta Mitra, Jakarta, 2000 ;
\nviii + 176 pp; Rp 23,000<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): What was the role of women in defending
\nIndonesia's independence during the revolutionary era?<\/p>\n
At that time, most of the women involved in the independence
\nstruggle worked as nurses at Red Cross centers, were active at
\npublic kitchens or provided logistics for independence fighters.
\nVery few were involved in militias, such as the Laswi (Indonesian
\nWomen's Militia), or in politics.<\/p>\n
What were female film stars doing at that time? Very few film
\nstars were involved in the historical struggle.<\/p>\n
Pramoedya Ananta Toer, through his realism in this
\nrevolutionary tale, has taken a snapshot of the life of a popular
\nfemale movie star named Larasati, nicknamed Ara, during the armed
\nstruggle between 1945 and 1950.<\/p>\n
After spending one year with independence fighters as an
\nunpaid stage star in Yogyakarta, Indonesia's capital at the time,
\nAra returns to Jakarta, under occupation by the Allied and Dutch
\ntroops, to meet her mother and resume her career as a film star.<\/p>\n
During her journey on the train, Ara meets many young people
\nand artists who have relinquished their lives in the big cities
\nto join guerrilla forces, particularly in the West Java towns of
\nCikampek, Karawang, Bekasi and East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
In the demarcation area of Bekasi, Ara meets an indigenous
\ncolonel of the Netherlands Indie Civil Administration (NICA),
\nSuryo Sentono, as well as Marjohan, a former announcer during the
\nJapanese occupied era who became an opportunist. Marjohan offers
\nAra the star role in a NICA propaganda film.<\/p>\n
Because she sympathizes with the independence fighters, Ara
\nrefuses the offer and is jailed by the indigenous colonel, angry
\nat her stubborn behavior. However, ultimately she is freed by a
\nDutch colonel, Drest.<\/p>\n
Ara manages to enter Jakarta thanks to the assistance of a
\nNICA sergeant from Papua, who has deserted the armed forces. He
\nleaves Ara at one of the city's kampongs.<\/p>\n
In the kampong, she lives with an old woman who was her
\nmother's neighbor. Her mother, Lasmidjah, works as a domestic
\nservant for an Arab family, who turn out to be Dutch spies.<\/p>\n
At their home, Ara meets a yellow-eyed Arab youth named
\nJusman, who asks her to join his gambus (Arabian music) group as
\na singer. She refuses the offer.<\/p>\n
Ara becomes involved in the smuggling of ORI, new banknotes
\nissued by the republic's government to replace the Japanese
\ncurrency. The money belongs to the state.<\/p>\n
She joins the youths fighting as city guerrillas, led by a
\nbrave young man named Martabat.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, her mother is arrested by the NICA troops. A year
\nlater, Jusman persuades Ara to meet her mother, who has returned
\nto his home. But, at Jusman's home Ara becomes a sex slave.
\nJusman, whom Ara knew while he spied on local fighters and
\nresidents, falls in love with her.<\/p>\n
Jusman claims that he had nothing to do with the battle
\nbetween local fighters and NICA troops, but, eventually, he is
\ncaptured and tortured by local fighters for his espionage
\nactivities, leaving him in hospital for several weeks.<\/p>\n
Ara does not visit him and she is treated in hospital for
\nseveral months as a result of Jusman's sexual assaults. Jusman
\ndoes not marry Ara because of the changing political situation.
\nAfter the Round Table Conference is finalized and President
\nSukarno returns to Jakarta, Jusman flees to Singapore.<\/p>\n
Eventually, Ara meets Captain Oding, who provides her with
\ntravel documents and an assignment to collect a suitcase of money
\nfrom Yogyakarta. Oding invites her and her mother to live at a
\nDutch house in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
In this romance, Pramoedya tells the role of people of Arab
\ndescent in Jakarta, who sided with the Dutch colonialists. The
\nArabs are described as doing nothing but playing gambus.<\/p>\n
Through Ara, Pramoedya says \"the Arabs know absolutely nothing
\nabout politics. What they look after is money and they only came
\nto Indonesia for money\".<\/p>\n
It is, of course, an over-generalization to say that Arabs
\ncouldn't care less about politics and do not care about anything
\nbut money.<\/p>\n
As recorded in history, many people of Arab descent in the
\ncountry were involved in various fields, such as journalism,
\npolitics, social welfare, education and religious propagation,
\nincluding the establishment of modern organizations like Jamiat
\nKheir, Al Irsyad and the Indonesian Arab Party.<\/p>\n
As noted poet Taufiq Ismail once said, Pramoedya used to
\nportray all of his figures who performed prayers and had a haj
\ntitle as a bad guy.<\/p>\n
In his early years as an author, in the late-1940s, Pramoedya
\nwas well-known for his genre of \"long short stories\", such as
\nPerburuan (The Hunt), Keluarga Gerilya (Guerilla Family) and
\nKerandji Bekasi, which was republished as Di Tepi Kali Bekasi (By
\nBekasi River).<\/p>\n
The long short story Larasati was published for the first time
\nin Bintang Timur newspaper's cultural supplement, Lentera,
\nbetween April 2 and May 17, 1960.<\/p>\n
Later, it was published in the form of book, together with
\nGadis Pantai (The Girl from the Coast) and Panggil Aku Kartini
\nSaja (Just Call Me Kartini), where a woman become the main
\nprotagonists out of respect for Kartini Day, which falls on April
\n21.<\/p>\n
The publication of this story was made possible due to the
\nwork of two Indonesian students, Alfred D. Ticoalu and Ben Abel,
\nwho handled the Lentera\/Bintang Timur documentary project at
\nCornell University, Ithaca.<\/p>\n
--Darul Aqsha<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/snapshot-on-the-role-of-women-in-an-era-of-armed-struggle-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }