Novel
Tenggelamnya Kapal van der Wijck
Not translated into English
Hamka · 1938
Synopsis
Zainuddin, born in Makassar to a Minangkabau father banished from his village for a murder and a Bugis mother, grows up an orphan. As a young man he goes to Batipuh, his father's country, but in this society where kinship passes through the mothers he remains a stranger. He falls in love with Hayati, daughter of a noble family, who promises to be faithful to him, then has to move to Padang Panjang. Hayati's family prefers Aziz, of pure Minangkabau lineage and good house, and marries her to him. In despair, Zainuddin leaves for Java, where he becomes a well-known writer in Surabaya.
Context
The novel first appeared as a serial in 1938 in Pedoman Masjarakat, the Islamic magazine the author ran in Medan; at Kutaraja, readers waited at the station for the next instalment, while strict believers judged that a religious scholar should not write love stories. The book then came out with a private publisher, outside colonial censorship. Its title comes in part from the wreck of a real ship, in 1936. In September 1962, an article in Bintang Timur accused it of plagiarising Sous les tilleuls by Alphonse Karr, known through al-Manfaluti's Arabic translation; H. B. Jassin defended it.
Who it is for
In Indonesian, with no French or English translation; the story advances in part through the letters the lovers exchange.
Prizes and reception
Bakri Siregar considered it its author's best book; it is read in schools in Indonesia and Malaysia and was brought to the screen in 2013.