Utuy Tatang Sontani (May 31, 1920 – September 17, 1979) was an Indonesian writer and university lecturer. He was born in

Cianjur Cianjur () is a town and district in the West Java province of Indonesia, and is the regency seat, seat of Cianjur Regency. The district of Cianjur is located along one of the main roads between Jakarta (120 km to the northwest) and Bandung ...

West Java West Java (, ) is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten and the country's capital region of Jakarta to t ...

. In 1938 he attended an adult school in

Bandung Bandung is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the List of Indonesian cities by population, fourth-most populous city and fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabay ...

, and then became a civil servant. After the independence of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

in 1945, he successively worked for National Broadcasting Station and Books Compilation & Translation Bureau. In 1959 he joined the People's Culture Association, and became a member of its central committee. He lived abroad after 1965, mainly in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, taught at Institute of Asian and African Countries at

Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...

, died and was buried in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Utuy initially wrote in Sundanese, but under the Japanese rule during

World War 2 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilisin ...

he started writing in the

Indonesian language Indonesian (; ) is the official language, official and national language of Indonesia. It is a standard language, standardized variety (linguistics), variety of Malay language, Malay, an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language that has ...

. He preferred to write plays and short stories, and the

protagonists A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

in his works were always poor people. His first play ''Suling'' (1948) describes the Indonesian fight for independence. The second play ''Bunga Rumah Makan'' (1948) tell a story of a hotel waitress yearning for freedom and not willing to tender mercies. His historical novel ''Tambera'' (1948) concerns with the anti-Dutch struggle in the late 16th century and early 17th century. After the transfer of sovereignty, Utuy was quite disappointed with the social reality. His short story collection ''Orang-orang Sial'' (1951) mainly expresses tragic fate of the little people and corruption of the officialdom. The play ''Awal dan Mira'' (1952) reflected his disillusionment won him the first prize. His other plays comprise ''Di Langit Ada Bintang'' (1955), ''Sang Kuriang: opera dua babak'' (1955), ''Si Kabajan: komedi dua babak'' (1959), ''Tak Pernah Mendjadi Tua'' (1963), ''Manusia Kota: empat buah drama'' (1961) etc.

References

Bibliography

* Harry Aveling&Utuy Tatang Sontani. Man and society in the works of the Indonesian playwright Utuy Tatang Sontani. Honolulu : Southeast Asian Studies Program, University of Hawaii, 1979. * Herman S. Sorotan atas drama "Awal dan Mira", karangan Utuy Tatang Sontani : paper. Bandung : Djurusan Bahasa dan Sastera Indonesia IKIP Bandung, 1964. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sontani, Utuy Tatang Indonesian male novelists Indonesian novelists Indonesian male short story writers Indonesian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indonesian writers 20th-century Indonesian male writers 20th-century Indonesian novelists Indonesian expatriates in the Soviet Union People granted political asylum in the Soviet Union Members of the Lembaga Kebudajaan Rakjat Academic staff of Moscow State University 1979 deaths 1920 births People from Cianjur Sundanese people Indonesian exiles