Marco Kartodikromo

Kartodikromo, Marco 

(pseudonym, Mas Marco Sumantri). Born 1878, in Tjepu, eastern Java; died 1928 or 1932, in Boven-Digul, West Irian. Indonesian writer and journalist; one of the founders of modern Indonesian literature. Became a member of the first popular nationalist organization, Sarekat Islam, in 1913 and of the Communist Party of Indonesia in 1920.

In 1919, Kartodikromo headed the progressive Union of Indonesian Journalists and published journals in Indonesian and Javanese. He was repeatedly persecuted; after the defeat of the popular uprising in 1926–27 he was exiled to West Irian. His works were written in “Low Malay,” a language readily understood by the people. His naturalistic novel The Violent One (1914) portrays the morals of the aristocratic, “golden” youth who have come under the corrupting influence of Western civilization. The novel The Student Hidjo (1919) is imbued with the desire to awaken a sense of national worth in the Indonesian people. In his novel A Feeling of Freedom (1924) and his many short stories, Kartodikromo defended the interests of the Indonesian proletariat and peasantry who had been ravaged by capitalists.

REFERENCES

Sikorskii, V. V. Indoneziiskaia literatura. Moscow, 1965. Pages 59–73.
Sikorskii, V. V. “Vliianie marksistskikh idei na tvorchestvo indoneziiskikh pisatelei 10–20-x godov XX veka.” Narody Aziii Afriki, 1970, no. 5.
Bakri Siregar. Sedjarah sastera Indonesia modern, part 1. Djakarta, 1964.
Soe Hok Jie. “Pahlawan jang dilupakan Mas Marco Kartodikromo.” Indonesia, 1965, no. 2.

V. V. SIKORSKII