Totok is an Indonesian term of
Javanese origin, used in
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
to refer to recent migrants of
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
,
Chinese or European origins.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it was popularised among colonists in
Batavia, who initially coined the term to describe the foreign born and new immigrants of "pure blood" – as opposed to people of mixed indigenous and foreign descent, such as the ''
Peranakan
The Peranakans () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (), namely the British Colonial ruled ports in the Malay Peninsula, ...
'' Arabs, Chinese or Europeans (the latter being better known as the
Indo people
The Indo people ( nl, Indische Nederlanders, or Indos) are Eurasian people living in or connected with Indonesia. In its narrowest sense, the term refers to people in the former Dutch East Indies who held European legal status but were of ...
).
When more pure-blooded Arabs, Chinese and Dutchmen were born in the East Indies, the term gained significance in describing those of exclusive or almost exclusive foreign ancestry.
'Peranakan' is the
antonym
In lexical semantics, opposites are words lying in an inherently incompatible binary relationship. For example, something that is ''long'' entails that it is not ''short''. It is referred to as a 'binary' relationship because there are two members ...
of 'Totok', the former meaning simply 'descendants' (of mixed roots), and the latter meaning 'pure'.
[Tan, Mely G. (2008) (in English and Indonesian), Etnis Tionghoa di Indonesia: Kumpulan Tulisan thnic Chinese in Indonesia: Collected Writings(Jakarta: Yayasan Obor Indonesia, 2008) p. 1]
Notable Dutch Totoks and descendants
* (Semarang, Java, 1922), founder of the
North Sea Jazz
The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual festival held each second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it has been held in Rotterdam. This is because the Statenhal where the festival w ...
festival
*
Albert Alberts (1911–1995), award winning author, journalist
*
Beb Bakhuys (1909–1982), football player and manager
*
Ben Bot
Bernard Rudolf "Ben" Bot (; born 21 November 1937) is a retired Dutch politician and diplomat of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA).
He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 3 December 2003 until 22 February 2007 in the Cabinets Balke ...
(born in Batavia) (b. 1937), minister
*
Hans van den Broek
Henri "Hans" van den Broek (; born 11 December 1936) is a retired Netherlands, Dutch politician and diplomat of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) and later the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as List of Euro ...
(b. 1936), minister
*
Jeroen Brouwers (b. 1940), author
*
Conrad Busken Huet (1826–1886), newspaper editor on Java (1868–1876)
*
Louis Couperus
Louis Marie-Anne Couperus (10 June 1863 – 16 July 1923) was a Dutch novelist and poet. His oeuvre contains a wide variety of genres: lyric poetry, psychological and historical novels, novellas, short stories, fairy tales, feuilletons and s ...
(1863–1923), childhood in Batavia, Java (1871–1877), author of ''The Hidden Force'' (1900)
*
P. A. Daum (1850–1898), newspaperman, author
*
Johan Fabricius (1899–1981), author of ''De Scheepsjongens van Bontekoe'' (1923)
*
Anthony Fokker (Blitar, Java, 1890–1939), aviation pioneer
*
Hella Haasse
Hélène "Hella" Serafia Haasse (2 February 1918 – 29 September 2011) was a Dutch writer, often referred to as the "Grande Dame" of Dutch literature, and whose novel ''Oeroeg'' (1948) was a staple for generations of Dutch schoolchildren. Her ...
(Batavia, Java, 1918–2011), award winning author
*
Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema
Siebren Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema (3 April 1917 – 26 September 2007) was a Dutch writer who became a resistance fighter and RAF pilot during the Second World War. Near the end of the war he was adjudant (assistant) to Queen Wilhelmina. He was ...
(Surabaya, Java, 1917–2007), decorated World War II hero
*
W. R. van Hoëvell (1812–1879), church minister of Batavia, political activist (1838–1848)
*
Xaviera Hollander
Xaviera Hollander (born 15 June 1943) is a Dutch former call girl, madam, and author. She is best known for her best-selling memoir '' The Happy Hooker: My Own Story''.
Early life
Hollander was born Xaviera "Vera" de Vries in Surabaya, Japanes ...
(b. 1943), author
*
Rudy Kousbroek
Herman Rudolf "Rudy" Kousbroek (1 November 1929 – 4 April 2010) was a Dutch poet, translator, writer and first of all essayist. He was a prominent figure in Dutch cultural life between 1950 and 2010 and one of the most outspoken atheists in the ...
(1929–2010), author
*
Liesbeth List
Elisabeth Dorathea List, generally known as Liesbeth List (December 12, 1941 – March 25, 2020) was a Dutch singer, stage actress and television personality. She became popular during the 1960s and frequently collaborated with Ramses Shaffy. Sh ...
(b. 1941), singer
*
Multatuli
Eduard Douwes Dekker (2 March 182019 February 1887), better known by his pen name Multatuli (from Latin ''multa tulī'', "I have suffered much"), was a Dutch writer best known for his satirical novel '' Max Havelaar'' (1860), which denounced the ...
(1820–1887), resident on Ambon and Java (1838–1858), iconic author
* , artist, singer
*
Willem Oltmans (1925–2004), journalist, author
*
Helga Ruebsamen (1934–2016), author
*
F. Springer
F. Springer (15 January 1932 – 7 November 2011) was the pseudonym of Carel Jan Schneider, a Dutch foreign service diplomat and writer.
Schneider was born in Batavia, Dutch East Indies. He spent World War II in a Japanese internment camp, and su ...
(1932–2011), author
*
Bram van der Stok (Plaju, Sumatra, 1915–1993), decorated World War II hero
*
Madelon Szekely-Lulofs (Surabaya, 1899–1958) author of ''
Rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, an ...
''(1931) and ''Koelie'' (1931)
''Koelie'' by Madelon Szekely-Lulofs on DBNL website
* Peter Tazelaar (Bukittingi, Sumatra, 1922–1993), decorated World War II hero
* Edgar Vos (Makassar, 1931-2010), fashion designer
* Margaretha Geertruida Zelle (1876–1917), known as Mata Hari
Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod (née Zelle; 7 August 187615 October 1917), better known by the stage name Mata Hari (), was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I. She was executed ...
, exotic dancer, spy
See also
* Afrikaner
* Indo people
The Indo people ( nl, Indische Nederlanders, or Indos) are Eurasian people living in or connected with Indonesia. In its narrowest sense, the term refers to people in the former Dutch East Indies who held European legal status but were of ...
* Indos in colonial history
* Indos in pre-colonial history
References
Citations
Bibliography
* Bosman, Ulbe and Raben, Remco. ''De oude Indische wereld 1500–1920''. (Bert Bakker, Amsterdam 2003)
* Sastrowardoyo, Subagio ''Sastra Hindia Belanda dan kita'' (Publisher: PT Balai Pustaka
Balai Pustaka (; also spelled Balai Poestaka, both meaning "Bureau of Literature") is the state-owned publisher of Indonesia and publisher of major pieces of Indonesian literature such as ''Salah Asuhan'', ''Sitti Nurbaya'' and ''Layar Terkemb ...
, Jakarta, 1990
p. 21
* Taylor, Jean Gelman. ''The Social World of Batavia: European and Eurasian in Dutch Asia'' (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1983).
* Taylor, Jean Gelman. ''Indonesia: Peoples and Histories'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003).
External links
Retrieved 13 Mar 2012.
{{White people terms
Dutch diaspora in Asia
Dutch East Indies
Ethnic groups in Indonesia
Indonesian people of Dutch descent
Indonesian people of European descent