Sanusi Pane (14 November 1905 – 2 January 1968) was an Indonesian writer, journalist, and historian. He was highly active in literary media, sitting on the editorial boards of several publications. He has also been described as the most important dramatist from before the
Indonesian National Revolution
The Indonesian National Revolution (), also known as the Indonesian War of Independence (, ), was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during A ...
.
Biography
Pane was born in
Muara Sipongi,
Tapanuli,
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
, on 14 November 1905 to a Muslim family. He began his education in two primary schools in
Sibolga
Sibolga (formerly sometimes Siboga) is a city and a port located in the natural harbour of Sibolga Bay on the west coast of North Sumatra province, in Indonesia.
The city is located on the western side of North Sumatra facing the Indian Ocean, ...
, before continuing to middle school, first in
Padang
Padang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of West Sumatra. It had a population of 833,562 at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 909,040 at the 2020 Census;Bad ...
, then in
Batavia (modern day Jakarta). While in Jakarta, Pane published his first poem, "Tanah Air" ("Homeland"), in the magazine ''Jong Soematra''. After graduating in 1922, he attended the Gunung Sari Teachers' College until 1925; upon graduation, he taught at the college for several years and took a year to study law.
In 1929, Pane moved to India, where he spent a year studying the
culture of India
Indian culture is the cultural heritage, heritage of social norms and history of science and technology on the Indian subcontinent, technologies that originated in or are associated with the ethno-linguistically diverse nation of India, pert ...
. After his return to the Indies in 1930, Pane became a member of the editorial staff of ''Timboel'' magazine as well as a teacher. In 1933, his younger brother
Armijn called on him to work on the new literary magazine, ''
Poedjangga Baroe''; Pane accepted. In 1934 he was fired as a teacher due to his membership in the
Indonesian National Party
The Indonesian National Party (, PNI) was the name used by several nationalist political parties in Indonesia from 1927 until 1973. The first PNI was established by future President Sukarno. After independence, the new PNI supplied a number of pri ...
.
Pane continued to be active in literary circles, joining the editorial board of ''Panorama'' in the early 1930s, together with
Liem Koen Hian,
Amir Sjarifuddin
Amir Sjarifuddin Harahap ( EVO: Amir Sjarifoeddin Harahap; 27 April 1907 – 19 December 1948) was an Indonesian politician and journalist who served as the second prime minister of Indonesia from 1947 until 1948. A major leader of the lef ...
and
Mohammad Yamin
Muhammad Yamin (24 August 1903 – 17 October 1962) was an Indonesian poet, politician, historian and national hero who played a key role in the writing of the draft preamble to the 1945 constitution.
Early life and education
Yamin was born ...
.
''Panorama'' was a newspaper belonging to Siang Po Press, a publishing house owned by the Dutch-educated jurist and politician
Phoa Liong Gie.
In mid-1936, together with his colleagues Liem, Sjarifuddin and Yamin, Pane started another newspaper, ''Kebangoenan'' (1936–1941), which was also published by Phoa's Siang Po Printing Press.
Together with Armijn,
Adam Malik
Adam Malik Batubara (22 July 1917 – 5 September 1984) was an Indonesians, Indonesian politician, diplomat, and journalist, who served as the third vice president of Indonesia from 1978 until 1983, under President Suharto. Previously, he serv ...
, and
Soemanang Soerjowinoto, on 13 December 1937 Pane founded the news agency
Antara; after independence, Antara became Indonesia's official news agency. From 1941 to 1942, Pane edited the magazine ''Indonesia'', published by the state-owned publisher
Balai Pustaka. While working with Balai Pustaka, Pane would refuse
employee benefit
Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...
s such as free rice and a shuttle service, instead choosing to walk to work and buy his own rice.
After the
Japanese invaded the Indies, Pane became the head of the Central Cultural Office.
Pane died in Jakarta on 2 January 1968. Before he died, he requested that his body be treated in a Hindu manner; however, his family did not grant the request as they felt it would be against Islamic teachings.
Style
Pane's poems used everyday language, including foreign
loanword
A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...
s. He limited his use of the local languages of Indonesia, including his native language
Batak
Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian peoples, Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo people ( ...
. Structurally, his poems resembled the old Malay form ''
pantun
''Pantun'' ( Jawi: ) is a Malayic oral poetic form used to express intricate ideas and emotions. It generally consists of an even number of lines and is based on ABAB rhyming schemes. The shortest consists of two lines, known as the in Mal ...
'', although he also wrote several sonnets. Many of his poems dealt with philosophical issues. Indonesian writer and literary critic
Muhammad Balfas calls Pane the "first
ndonesian poetwho used his poetry to reveal his inner self".
Views
Pane viewed Western cultures as being too
materialistic, focusing on the physical aspects of life; Eastern cultures, on the other hand, he viewed as being more
spiritualistic. He saw this as influencing the way in which humans interacted with nature, with Westerners seeking to conquer it and Easterners preferring to adapt to it. In one polemic in response to fellow ''Poedjangga Baroe'' editor
Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana, who was decidedly pro-Western, Pane compared the West to
Faust
Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...
, who sold his soul to the devil for worldly pleasure and knowledge, and the East to
Arjuna
Arjuna (, , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, �ɾd͡ʒun̪ə is one of the central characters of the ancient Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He is the third of the five Pandava brothers, and is widely regarded as the most important and renowned among them. ...
, who searched for a spiritual truth. Pane did, however, admit that Western technology could bring a positive change.
Personal life
Pane was elder brother to writer Armijn Pane and
Lafran Pane, the latter of whom founded the Indonesian
Muslim Students' Association. With his wife, Pane had six children. Pane's religious views have been described as being a "composite of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sufism, and Javanese philosophy".
Pane was reportedly very modest, telling J. U. Nasution – who at the time was in the midst of writing a biography on Pane – that he was nothing and should not be interviewed. On another occasion, he refused a Satya Lencana Kebudayaan award from President
Sukarno
Sukarno (6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967.
Sukarno was the leader of the Indonesian struggle for independenc ...
, stating that Indonesia had given him everything but he had done nothing for it.
Legacy
Balfas called Pane the most important Indonesian dramatist from before the
national revolution.
Works
Plays
*"Airlangga" (1928)
*"Eenzame Garoedavlucht" ("The Lonely Flight of the Garuda"; 1929)
*"Kertadjaja" (1932)
*"Sandhyakala ning Madjapahit" (1933)
*"Manoesia Baroe" ("New Person"; 1940)
Poetry anthologies
*''Puspa Mega'' (''Flowers and Clouds''; 1927)
*''Madah Kelana'' (''Hymn of the Wanderer''; 1931)
References
;Footnotes
;Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pane, Sanusi
1905 births
1968 deaths
20th-century Indonesian historians
20th-century Indonesian poets
20th-century Indonesian journalists
20th-century Indonesian male writers
Indonesian collaborators with Imperial Japan
Indonesian male poets
Indonesian newspaper editors
Newspaper editors from the Dutch East Indies
People from Sumatra
People of Batak descent