Novel
The Dancer
Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk
Ahmad Tohari · 1982
Synopsis
Dukuh Paruk, a poor and isolated hamlet in Java that venerates its ancestor Ki Secamenggala, has lost its ronggeng, the village's dancer and singer, in a mass poisoning caused by the tempeh sold by little Srintil's parents. A trance designates the child as the new ronggeng; adored, she must go through the initiation rites, including the bukak klambu, in which rich men compete for her virginity. Rasus, her childhood friend, who loves her, eventually leaves the village to become a soldier.
Context
The novel first appeared as a serial in the daily Kompas, from July to August 1981, then as a book from Gramedia in 1982. It opens a trilogy continued by Lintang Kemukus Dini Hari (1985) and Jentera Bianglala (1986), in which the village is caught up in the violence of 1965. The three volumes, brought together in 2003 in a version that restores censored passages, have been translated into Japanese, German, Dutch and English, as The Dancer, by René T. A. Lysloff; no French translation has appeared.
Who it is for
To enter a Javanese village, its beliefs and its rites, through the destiny of a dancer.
Prizes and reception
The book has been filmed twice, in 1983 as Darah dan Mahkota Ronggeng, then in 2011 as Sang Penari, which won four Citra awards.