HB Jassin
Encyclopedia
Hans Bague Jassin better known as HB Jassin, was an Indonesian literary critic, documentarian, and professor. Born in Gorontalo
to a bibliophilic petroleum company employee, Jassin began reading while still in elementary school, later writing published reviews before finishing high school. After a while working in the Gorontalo regent's office, he moved to Jakarta
where he worked at the state publisher Balai Pustaka
. After leaving the publisher, he attended the University of Indonesia
and later Yale
. Returning to Indonesia to be a teacher, he also headed Sastra magazine. Horison, a literary magazine, was started in July 1966 by Jassin and Mochtar Lubis
as a successor to Sastra, and was edited by Taufiq Ismail, Ds. Muljanto, Zaini, Su Hok Djin, and Goenawan Mohamad
. In 1971, Jassin was given a one-year prison sentence and a two-year probation period because as the editor of Sastra, he refused to reveal the identity of an anonymous writer who wrote a story which was considered by the court as blasphemous.
After his release, he founded HB Jassin Literary Documentation Center, using it to document Indonesian literature. After suffering six strokes towards the end of his life, Jassin died on 11 March 2000 and was buried in the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery
. During his life Jassin was highly recognized for his work, acquiring the nickname "The Pope of Indonesian Literature" and receiving numerous awards.
, Gorontalo
on 31 July 1917 to a Bague Mantu Jassin, a Muslim bibliophilic Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij employee, and his wife Habibah Jau. He had five brothers and sisters. He attended at a hollandsch-inlandsche school, a Dutch-language school for native Indonesians, in Gorontalo, where he began to read extensively. His family later moved to Medan
, North Sumatra
, where he attended a hogere burger school, or five-year secondary education program for native Indonesians. During this period, he began to write literary reviews, which were published in local magazines. He also read numerous works of Western literature.
After finishing his studies in Medan, Jassin returned to Gorontalo, where he worked at the local resident
's office without pay. In 1940, he was offered a position at Balai Pustaka
, the Dutch-owned state publishing house, by then-executive director Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana
. He started in short story and poetry writing, but was later moved to reviews and documentation.
In 1953, Jassin enroled in the literature program of the University of Indonesia
(UI), doubling as a lecturer for courses related to modern Indonesian literature
. After graduating in 1957, he spent two years at Yale
in the United States studying comparative literature
. Upon returning to Jakarta, Jassin continued to work as a lecturer at the UI.
Jassin was fired from his position at UI in 1964, after he was one of the main signatories of the 1963 Manifesto Kebudayaan (Cultural Manifesto), a response to the continued leftist pressures in literature from the Lembaga Kebudajaan Rakjat
. The manifesto was banned on 8 May 1964, resulting in action against all of its signatories.
In 1971, Jassin was put on trial for blasphemy for refusing to divulge the true name of the author of the short story "Langit Makin Mendung
" ("The Sky is Increasingly Cloudy"), which was published in Sastra, which he edited. The story, written under the pen name Ki Pandji Kusmin, depicted Allah
as being similar to a human. Jassin was sentenced to a year's suspended sentence; he spent two years arguing against the verdict.
After his probation, Jassin returned to the UI as a permanent lecturer. Two years later, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree. In 1976, he founded the HB Jassin Literary Documentation Center (HBJLDC), located in Taman Ismail Marzuki
, with books from his own collection, which was begun in 1940.
In 1978, Jassin produced a translation of the Quran, titled Al Qur'an Bacaan Mulia (The Quran, The Noble Book), which was in verse rather than the traditional prose. It was controversial due to public perception that Jassin lacked an understanding of Islam and knowledge of Arabic
. Jassin later made another translation, Al-Qur'an Berwajah Puisi (The Quran in Poetry), which also proved to be controversial.
Jassin started using a wheelchair in 1996 due to a stroke. As a result of the stroke, his associates took over work on the four translations he had been working on. Jassin himself attempted to continue his work with the assistance of his niece, but was unable to keep his previous pace.
Jassin died at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Jakarta after suffering a stroke (his sixth) on the morning of 11 March 2000. Approximately 200 people attended a prayer service for him at the HBJLDC, including noted writers Taufiq Ismail, Ajip Rosidi
, and Goenawan Mohamad
. He was then buried in a state funeral at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery
in South Jakarta.
considered Jassin a "literary giant", stating that he had been raised with Jassin's writings. Poet Sapardi Djoko Damono
called Jassin unequalled in his dedication and meticulousness, stating that Jassing "would keep not only the works of authors, but even their laundry bills."
Jassin was given numerous awards by the government, including the Satyalencana Kebudayaan in 1969 and Anugerah Seni in 1983. He also received numerous civilian awards, including the Martinus Nijhoff Prize in 1973 and the Ramon Magsaysay award
in 1987.
Gorontalo (city)
Gorontalo is a city and the capital of the Gorontalo province, Indonesia. It has an area of 79.59 km² and population of about 153,036.- Geography :...
to a bibliophilic petroleum company employee, Jassin began reading while still in elementary school, later writing published reviews before finishing high school. After a while working in the Gorontalo regent's office, he moved to Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
where he worked at the state publisher Balai Pustaka
Balai Pustaka
Balai Pustaka is the state-owned publisher of Indonesia and publisher of major pieces of Indonesian literature such as Salah Asuhan, Sitti Nurbaya and Layar Terkembang. Its head office is in Jakarta....
. After leaving the publisher, he attended the University of Indonesia
University of Indonesia
The Universitas Indonesia, is a state, comprehensive world class university located in Depok, West Java and Salemba, Jakarta, Indonesia. Universitas Indonesia is the oldest tertiary-level educational institution in Indonesia...
and later Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
. Returning to Indonesia to be a teacher, he also headed Sastra magazine. Horison, a literary magazine, was started in July 1966 by Jassin and Mochtar Lubis
Mochtar Lubis
Mochtar Lubis was an Indonesian Batak journalist and novelist who co-founded Indonesia Raya. His novel Senja di Jakarta was the first Indonesian novel to be translated into English. He was a critic of Sukarno and was imprisoned by him...
as a successor to Sastra, and was edited by Taufiq Ismail, Ds. Muljanto, Zaini, Su Hok Djin, and Goenawan Mohamad
Goenawan Mohamad
Goenawan Mohamad is a renowned Indonesian poet and man of letters.Goenawan Mohamad was born in Batang, Central Java. His early writings include Potret Seorang Penyair Muda Sebagai Si Malin Kundang and Seks, Sastra, Kita ,'"Kesusastraan dan Kekuasaan' Goenawan Mohamad (born 29 July 1941) is a...
. In 1971, Jassin was given a one-year prison sentence and a two-year probation period because as the editor of Sastra, he refused to reveal the identity of an anonymous writer who wrote a story which was considered by the court as blasphemous.
After his release, he founded HB Jassin Literary Documentation Center, using it to document Indonesian literature. After suffering six strokes towards the end of his life, Jassin died on 11 March 2000 and was buried in the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery
Kalibata Heroes Cemetery
Kalibata Heroes Cemetery , in Kalibata, South Jakarta is a military cemetery in Indonesia. More than 7000 people who are military casualties and veterans from Indonesian War of Independence were buried...
. During his life Jassin was highly recognized for his work, acquiring the nickname "The Pope of Indonesian Literature" and receiving numerous awards.
Biography
Jassin was born in GorontaloGorontalo (city)
Gorontalo is a city and the capital of the Gorontalo province, Indonesia. It has an area of 79.59 km² and population of about 153,036.- Geography :...
, Gorontalo
Gorontalo (province)
Gorontalo is a province of Indonesia on the northern part of Sulawesi. The province was established in December 2000 after being split from North Sulawesi province...
on 31 July 1917 to a Bague Mantu Jassin, a Muslim bibliophilic Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij employee, and his wife Habibah Jau. He had five brothers and sisters. He attended at a hollandsch-inlandsche school, a Dutch-language school for native Indonesians, in Gorontalo, where he began to read extensively. His family later moved to Medan
Medan
- Demography :The city is Indonesia's fourth most populous after Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bandung, and Indonesia's largest city outside of Java island. Much of the population lies outside its city limits, especially in Deli Serdang....
, North Sumatra
North Sumatra
North Sumatra is a province of Indonesia on the Sumatra island. Its capital is Medan. It is the most populous Indonesian province outside of Java. It is slightly larger than Sri Lanka in area.- Geography and population :...
, where he attended a hogere burger school, or five-year secondary education program for native Indonesians. During this period, he began to write literary reviews, which were published in local magazines. He also read numerous works of Western literature.
After finishing his studies in Medan, Jassin returned to Gorontalo, where he worked at the local resident
Resident (title)
A Resident, or in full Resident Minister, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of indirect rule....
's office without pay. In 1940, he was offered a position at Balai Pustaka
Balai Pustaka
Balai Pustaka is the state-owned publisher of Indonesia and publisher of major pieces of Indonesian literature such as Salah Asuhan, Sitti Nurbaya and Layar Terkembang. Its head office is in Jakarta....
, the Dutch-owned state publishing house, by then-executive director Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana
Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana
Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana , was born in Natal, North Sumatra. His family came from Minangkabau who migration in 19th century. He was a founder and editor of Pujangga Baru. He became one of Indonesian literature's guiding lights in its formative years, particularly in the time around independence...
. He started in short story and poetry writing, but was later moved to reviews and documentation.
In 1953, Jassin enroled in the literature program of the University of Indonesia
University of Indonesia
The Universitas Indonesia, is a state, comprehensive world class university located in Depok, West Java and Salemba, Jakarta, Indonesia. Universitas Indonesia is the oldest tertiary-level educational institution in Indonesia...
(UI), doubling as a lecturer for courses related to modern Indonesian literature
Indonesian literature
Indonesian literature, is a term grouping various genres of South-East Asian literature.Indonesian Literature can refer to literature produced in the Indonesian archipelago. It is also used to refer more broadly to literature produced in areas with common language roots based on the Malay language...
. After graduating in 1957, he spent two years at Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
in the United States studying comparative literature
Comparative literature
Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the literature of two or more different linguistic, cultural or national groups...
. Upon returning to Jakarta, Jassin continued to work as a lecturer at the UI.
Jassin was fired from his position at UI in 1964, after he was one of the main signatories of the 1963 Manifesto Kebudayaan (Cultural Manifesto), a response to the continued leftist pressures in literature from the Lembaga Kebudajaan Rakjat
Lembaga Kebudajaan Rakjat
The Lembaga Kebudajaan Rakjat was a literary and social movement associated with the Indonesian Communist Party. Founded in 1950, Lekra pushed for artists and writers to follow the doctrine of socialist realism...
. The manifesto was banned on 8 May 1964, resulting in action against all of its signatories.
In 1971, Jassin was put on trial for blasphemy for refusing to divulge the true name of the author of the short story "Langit Makin Mendung
Langit Makin Mendung
"Langit Makin Mendung" is a controversial Indonesian short story. Published in Sastra magazine under the pen name Kipandjikusmin in August 1968, it tells the story of Muhammad descending to Earth with the angel Gabriel to investigate the decreasing number of Muslims entering heaven, only to find...
" ("The Sky is Increasingly Cloudy"), which was published in Sastra, which he edited. The story, written under the pen name Ki Pandji Kusmin, depicted Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
as being similar to a human. Jassin was sentenced to a year's suspended sentence; he spent two years arguing against the verdict.
After his probation, Jassin returned to the UI as a permanent lecturer. Two years later, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree. In 1976, he founded the HB Jassin Literary Documentation Center (HBJLDC), located in Taman Ismail Marzuki
Taman Ismail Marzuki
Pusat Kesenian Jakarta Taman Ismail Marzuki or popularly known as Taman Ismail Marzuki is an art and cultural center located in jalan Cikini Raya 73, Central Jakarta, Indonesia. Also within this complex stood Jakarta Art Institute and Jakarta Planetarium...
, with books from his own collection, which was begun in 1940.
In 1978, Jassin produced a translation of the Quran, titled Al Qur'an Bacaan Mulia (The Quran, The Noble Book), which was in verse rather than the traditional prose. It was controversial due to public perception that Jassin lacked an understanding of Islam and knowledge of Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
. Jassin later made another translation, Al-Qur'an Berwajah Puisi (The Quran in Poetry), which also proved to be controversial.
Jassin started using a wheelchair in 1996 due to a stroke. As a result of the stroke, his associates took over work on the four translations he had been working on. Jassin himself attempted to continue his work with the assistance of his niece, but was unable to keep his previous pace.
Jassin died at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Jakarta after suffering a stroke (his sixth) on the morning of 11 March 2000. Approximately 200 people attended a prayer service for him at the HBJLDC, including noted writers Taufiq Ismail, Ajip Rosidi
Ajip Rosidi
Ajip Rosidi, born on 31 January 1938, in Jatiwangi, Majalengka, West Java, is an Indonesian poet and short story writer. As of 1983 he has published 326 works in 22 different magazines.-Biography:...
, and Goenawan Mohamad
Goenawan Mohamad
Goenawan Mohamad is a renowned Indonesian poet and man of letters.Goenawan Mohamad was born in Batang, Central Java. His early writings include Potret Seorang Penyair Muda Sebagai Si Malin Kundang and Seks, Sastra, Kita ,'"Kesusastraan dan Kekuasaan' Goenawan Mohamad (born 29 July 1941) is a...
. He was then buried in a state funeral at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery
Kalibata Heroes Cemetery
Kalibata Heroes Cemetery , in Kalibata, South Jakarta is a military cemetery in Indonesia. More than 7000 people who are military casualties and veterans from Indonesian War of Independence were buried...
in South Jakarta.
Personal life
Jassin was married three times. His first marriage was to Tientje van Buren, an Indo widow; they later divorced. Jassin then married Arsiti, with whom he had two children; it was Arsiti's death that drove him to translate the Quran, after repeating the Surah Ya Sin while in mourning. Ten months after Arsiti died in 1962, he married Yuliko Willem, with whom he had two children.Legacy
Indonesian poet Gajus Siagian gave Jassin the nickname "Paus Sastra Indonesia" ("The Pope of Indonesian Literature") due to the perception that Indonesians could not truly become writers until their writings were accepted by him. Ex-President of Indonesia Abdurrahman WahidAbdurrahman Wahid
Abdurrahman Wahid, born Abdurrahman Addakhil , colloquially known as , was an Indonesian Muslim religious and political leader who served as the President of Indonesia from 1999 to 2001...
considered Jassin a "literary giant", stating that he had been raised with Jassin's writings. Poet Sapardi Djoko Damono
Sapardi Djoko Damono
Sapardi Djoko Damono is an Indonesian poet known for lyrical poems, and who is widely regarded as the pioneer of lyrical poetry in Indonesia.Sapardi began writing poetry while still in high school in Surakarta...
called Jassin unequalled in his dedication and meticulousness, stating that Jassing "would keep not only the works of authors, but even their laundry bills."
Jassin was given numerous awards by the government, including the Satyalencana Kebudayaan in 1969 and Anugerah Seni in 1983. He also received numerous civilian awards, including the Martinus Nijhoff Prize in 1973 and the Ramon Magsaysay award
Ramon Magsaysay Award
The Ramon Magsaysay Award is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in government, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society. The Ramon Magsaysay Award is often considered Asia's Nobel...
in 1987.