Tjalie Robinson
Encyclopedia
Tjalie Robinson is the main alias of the Indo (Eurasian
) intellectual and writer Jan Boon (born Nijmegen, 10 January 1911; died The Hague
, 22 April 1974) also known as Vincent Mahieu. His father Cornelis Boon, a KNIL sergeant, was Dutch and his Indo-European mother Fela Robinson was part English and Javanese. By adopting his mother's family name he clearly pledged his allegiance to his Eurasian
identity.
He is considered to be the author of unique Indo literature. Tjalie Robinson became the most influential post war Indo activist of his generation and the most important promoter of Indo culture anywhere. In his essay "Sweet Java, about Tjalie Robinson." Rudy Kousbroek
, one of the Netherlands foremost essayists, simply called him "one of the greatest Dutch writers".
His aim as cultural guardian was to preserve Indo culture for the future or as he put it himself: "To create living monuments for an immortal past.".
In his most vivid description of the Eurasian nature of his Indo identity Tjalie Robinsion wrote:
Tjalie Robinson's book 'Tjies' was awarded a literary price by the municipality of Amsterdam in 1958.
Robinson is the best read Dutch author in Indonesia
.
. When he was a 3 month old baby his family returned to the Dutch East Indies. As a child he lived and went to primary school in Meester Cornelis (now Jatinegara
). He attended secondary schooling (MULO) in Batavia (now Jakarta
). Although an eager and astute student he was also an avid and allround athlete and boxer
, winning the Silver medal
at the high jump and the Gold medal
at the pentathlon
during the Athletics Championships of Java in 1933. After completing college and obligatory military service he got married and went on to become a teacher at the so called 'Wild (unsubsidised) Schools' on Java and Sumatra
. In 1936 he became a contributing editor for the 'Batavian Newspaper
' (Dutch: Bataviaasch Nieuwsblad), founded in 1885 by author P.A.Daum. It was one of the leading newspapers in the Dutch East Indies, that had also employed other important Indo writers like Karel Zaalberg
, Ernest Douwes Dekker
, Victor Ido
and the iconic E. du Perron
.
During World War II
(1942–1945) he was interned in various Japanese concentration camps such as Tjimahi and the infamous Changi Prison
. Imprisoned in Tjimahi Tjalie Robinson kept on writing. He was part of a small group of intellectuals (including Leo Vroman
and Rob Nieuwenhuys
) that engaged in cultural activity. For a while Tjalie Robinson was even able to print a camp periodical named 'Kampkroniek' (Camp Chronicles) and a pamphlet named 'Onschendbaar Domein' (Inviolable Domain). The gruesome war experience obviously influenced his life philosophy, nevertheless Tjalie Robinson never wrote much about his years as a POW. On occasion he tried to reflect with an uneasy mix of shame and fascination:
After the war he survived the bedlam of the Bersiap
period (1945–1946) and even worked as Editor in chief
for the magazine 'Wapenbroeders' (Brothers in Arms), where he was also the creator of the popular 'Taaie & Neut' cartoon series. In 1946 he was promoted to captain and served as war correspondent for the KNIL's Public Relations Office (Dutch: Leger voorlichtings dienst) in amongst others the volatile region of Kediri
, East Java
.
After Indonesia gained independence he remarried in 1950 and moved to Borneo
with his new wife, who was working for the Bruynzeel corporation in the timber industry. There he adopted the alias 'Vincent Mahieu' (named after Indo icon Auguste Mahieu (1865–1903), founder of the Komedie Stamboel Indo opera) and wrote much of his work for the books 'Tjies' & 'Tjoek'.
His wife Lillian Ducelle recalls:
Scholar, translator and poet E.M.Beekman describes the work as follows: "These stories show a refined talent, a powerful imagination, an inquisitive intellect and a whole lot of feeling."
From 1952 to 1954 he worked as journalist for the newspaper 'Nieuwsgier' where he was continuously reflecting on life in his ever changing homeland and wrote most of his often re-printed work 'Piekerans van een straatslijper.' 'Piekerans' (Musings) is the Petjo
k word Tjalie Robinson used to name his weekly essays in the newspaper, which in essence do not significantly differ from the work of his famous Dutch contemporary in the Netherlands Simon Carmiggelt
. Together their work grew into a separate genre in Dutch literature and found successors in among others Rudy Kousbroek
.
He also became contributing editor with the cultural and literary magazine 'Orientatie', which published many of his short stories. In his story writing he excelled as a literary interpreter of everyday life of Indos in the Dutch East Indies
.
and later in The Hague
, where he became a zealous activist for the preservation of Indo culture. Initially he wrote columns reflecting on repatriation in Dutch newspaper 'Het Parool
', where he became a direct colleague of Simon Carmiggelt
, and simultaneously kept catering for the Indos still in Indonesia by writing for Surabaya
based 'De Vrije Pers' (The Free Press). He originally attempted to find connection with the cultural and literary establishment of the Netherlands, but unwilling to assimilate he wanted to establish his own cultural network of Indo authors and artists. To groom the 62 year old Indo author Maria Dermoût
who successfully debuted in 1955 he wrote her: "I am Mrs Dermoût, a barefoot child of the free seas and free mountains. Even when death would be my prediction, I will keep fighting an injustice that does not threaten me personally, but our cultural conscience (if there is such a thing)."
He soon started a short-lived magazine called 'Gerilja' (Guerrilla), sub-titled 'Magazine for Self-preservation', after which he took over editoral responsibility of the monthly magazine 'De Brug' (The Bridge) in 1957, which he wanted to transform into a weekly Indo magazine. This became the predecessor of his magazine ‘Tong Tong’, sub-titled 'The only Indo magazine in the Netherlands', established one year later (1958) and that lives on to this day under the name ‘Moesson’. The magazine's main target audience was the Indo community in diaspora. At its peak in 1961 the magazine had 11,000 paying subscribers and reached an estimated 77,000 readers, one third of the Indo community in the Netherlands. Another living monument of his achievements is the annual Pasar Malam Besar
(renamed to 'Tong Tong Fair' in 2009) which he co-founded in 1959.
When in 1960 and 1961 he published his best known work, respectively the books 'Tjies' and 'Tjoek', Dutch literary critics immediately praised his style and narrative. However they found it hard to comprehend the Indies environment he was describing. Tjalie Robinson himself consequently decided to give all his focus to the advancement of the Indo community in diaspora and the social objectives he coupled to that, by solely publishing in his own magazine. In 1963 he wrote: "I couldnt care less about literary life, in reality that only means your a name in a bookcase. Writing should have a living social function. 90% of what we call literature is just phraseology, obsequious embellishment and blatherskite."
Tjalie Robinson developed a life philosophy that evolves around the nature of the Hunt, regularly writing about the practice of hunting as a parable for 'real' and 'truthful' living as he saw it. In his stories the Hunt often returns as a theme to intellectually explore 'dangerous' and 'couragous' life and particularly to depict the life and culture of Indos. In the Netherlands he emerged as a sharp critic of assimilation, putting the hunting lifestyle of the Indo opposite to mundane lifestyle in the West.
Tjalie Robinson has been attributed to having single handedly preserved the historic hybrid Indo culture of the Dutch East Indies in literature.
where he compared the Indo community with the racially mixed people of that continent. Already in the Dutch East Indies he had admired the status of the Creole language
Papiamento
and the cultural expressions of the Dutch Antilles. He also symphatised with the philosophical writings of the Spanish essayist Jose Ortega y Gasset
, an outspoken proponent of perspectivism
and in 1961 even initiated the creation of an Indo enclave in Spain
, named 'El Atabal'.
Later he moved to the USA (1963–1968) and lived in Whittier, California
, where he founded 'The American Tong Tong’. He felt there was less resistance in the USA to ethnic profiling of minorities and to create a cultural sanctuary for Indos he set up the Indo Community Center 'De Soos' in Victorville
, near Los Angeles
, which only allowed membership to people that were also subscribed to the 'American Tong Tong' magazine.
Already before his emigration to the USA he was full of admiration for multi-cultural New York
and wrote: "All these different ethnic minorities (in New York City) are allowed to be who they are (only in Holland we still believe in the folly of assimilation) and - strange as it may sound - they are all American. And now look at how richly they affect New York. All these people that can remain true to themselves, give their own flair and character to American life."
His literary work found comparisons with Flannery O'Connor
, writer of Mystery and Manners. Occasional Prose. (as well as other Southern United States
authors like Faulkner and Eudora Welty
), who appropriately wrote that "great talent can put a small local history into a universal light". In his analysis of Tjalie Robinson professor E.M.Beekman also pointed out that he quite often cited or referred to American authors like: Mark Twain
, Henry Miller
, Tennessee Williams
, T.S.Eliot and even Robert Frost
when he was still an unknown writer in Europe.
To save the Dutch 'Tong Tong' magazine that was suffering from a dwindling number of subscribers he returned to the Netherlands in 1968, where he spent the final years of his life. Tjalie Robinson died in 1974. The necrology of this "avant garde visionary" reads: "In The Hague at the age of 63 Indo journalist and author Tjalie Robinson passed away. After his return from Indonesia he had wholeheartedly given his all to preserve the unique identity of the Indo community in the Netherlands. [...] Many of his endeavours encountered resistance, but appreciation was paramount."
His ashes were scattered in the Java Sea
at Sunda Kelapa
in Jakarta
the same year. His son recalls: "Then - under the soft sounds of Kroncong
music - the urn was slowly emptied into the sea. Tjalie was home."
k, also known as petjo or pecuk, giving it a status that it never had in the Dutch East Indies and providing academic linguistic research a substantial database. His work varies between the melancholy reminiscence of the Indos in diaspora, caught in the term Tempo Doeloe, the positioning of post-colonial Indo identity and the study of a global Eurasian cultural domain.
His greatest achievement as described by Kousbroek may have been that he was: "...the only one that has restored their (Indo) self respect and granted us insight into their culture and has written about it with the hand of a master."
His work is still regularly re-issued by publisher Moesson, The Hague. and often cited in academic studies.
In 1992 on the facade of Tjalie Robinson's place of birth, Dominicanenstraat 117 in Nijmegen, a memorial was unveiled by the 'Literary Cafe Nijmegen', in collaboration with the Municipality of Nijmegen and the 'Cultural Council Gelderland'.
In 2008 it was announced that a square would be named after him in The Hague.
In 2008 Wim Willems published his biography: Tjalie Robinson, Indo writer and in 2009 his compiled letters Writing with your fists, Tjalie Robinsons letters for which the author received the literary award 'Witte Prijs' in 2010.
In 2009 commemorating Tjalie Robinson's death 35 years ago a modern multi-media theater play based on his stories was performed in Bandung and Jakarta, Indonesia. The play was also performed during the 2011 Tong Tong Fair in the The Hague, Netherlands.
The 'Tong Tong' magazine, renamed to 'Moesson' in 1978 lives on to this day with his widow Lillian Ducelle as director and chief editor up to 1993. Lillian Ducelle: "I can not replace my husband, but I can continue his work." 50 seasons of published editions of both the Dutch and American magazine are available online in the digital archive of the official website.
The 'American Tong Tong' magazine, renamed 'The Indo' lives on to this day with Rene Creutzburg as editor and publisher, who in 2007 was awarded a Royal ribbon in the 'Order of Orange-Nassau
' for his efforts over the past 44 years. This Dutch and English language magazine is still an official body of the Indo Community Center 'De Soos', established by Tjalie Robinson in 1963.
His Tong Tong Fair remains an annual event in the Hague and many Pasar Malam
events inspired by it are held throughout the Netherlands yearly.
Eurasian (mixed ancestry)
The word Eurasian refers to people of mixed Asian and European ancestry. It was originally coined in 19th-century British India to refer to Anglo-Indians of mixed British and Indian descent....
) intellectual and writer Jan Boon (born Nijmegen, 10 January 1911; died The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, 22 April 1974) also known as Vincent Mahieu. His father Cornelis Boon, a KNIL sergeant, was Dutch and his Indo-European mother Fela Robinson was part English and Javanese. By adopting his mother's family name he clearly pledged his allegiance to his Eurasian
Eurasian (mixed ancestry)
The word Eurasian refers to people of mixed Asian and European ancestry. It was originally coined in 19th-century British India to refer to Anglo-Indians of mixed British and Indian descent....
identity.
He is considered to be the author of unique Indo literature. Tjalie Robinson became the most influential post war Indo activist of his generation and the most important promoter of Indo culture anywhere. In his essay "Sweet Java, about Tjalie Robinson." Rudy Kousbroek
Rudy Kousbroek
Herman Rudolf Kousbroek was a Dutch poet, translator, writer and first of all essayist. He was a prominent figure in Dutch cultural life between 1950 and 2010 and one of the most outspoken atheists in the Netherlands. In 1975 he was awarded the P.C...
, one of the Netherlands foremost essayists, simply called him "one of the greatest Dutch writers".
His aim as cultural guardian was to preserve Indo culture for the future or as he put it himself: "To create living monuments for an immortal past.".
In his most vivid description of the Eurasian nature of his Indo identity Tjalie Robinsion wrote:
"I did not care that people wanted to call me ‘neither fish nor fowl,’ and wanted to label me (an Indo), either Indonesian or Dutch. For them I just had to choose between the two, right? Nevertheless, I stubbornly named the turtle as ‘neither fish nor fowl,’ and praised this animal as a unique, land-and-sea-lover who lives to very old ages, whose meat has an excellent taste, and who cuts through oceans from continent to continent. I said, "Just as I do not find the turtle inferior, although he is neither fish nor fowl, I do not think the Indo inferior."
Tjalie Robinson's book 'Tjies' was awarded a literary price by the municipality of Amsterdam in 1958.
Robinson is the best read Dutch author in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
.
Life in the Dutch East Indies
Born in Nijmegen the Netherlands he spent the first 44 years of his life in the Dutch East IndiesDutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
. When he was a 3 month old baby his family returned to the Dutch East Indies. As a child he lived and went to primary school in Meester Cornelis (now Jatinegara
Jatinegara
Jatinegara is a subdistrict of East Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia. The boundaries of Jatinegara are Bekasi Barat Raya - Bekasi Timur Raya - I...
). He attended secondary schooling (MULO) in Batavia (now 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...
). Although an eager and astute student he was also an avid and allround athlete and boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, winning the Silver medal
Silver medal
A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....
at the high jump and the Gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
at the pentathlon
Pentathlon
A pentathlon is a contest featuring five different events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words pente and -athlon . The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of the Ancient Olympic Games...
during the Athletics Championships of Java in 1933. After completing college and obligatory military service he got married and went on to become a teacher at the so called 'Wild (unsubsidised) Schools' on Java and Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
. In 1936 he became a contributing editor for the 'Batavian Newspaper
Bataviaasch Nieuwsblad
The Bataviaasch Nieuwsblad, was one of the leading and largest daily newspapers in the Dutch East Indies. Based in Batavia on Java, but read throughout the archipel...
' (Dutch: Bataviaasch Nieuwsblad), founded in 1885 by author P.A.Daum. It was one of the leading newspapers in the Dutch East Indies, that had also employed other important Indo writers like Karel Zaalberg
Karel Zaalberg
Karel Zaalberg was an Indo journalist and politician in the Dutch East Indies.He was born in Batavia, Java, Dutch East Indies, and also died there...
, Ernest Douwes Dekker
Ernest Douwes Dekker
Ernest François Eugène Douwes Dekker was an Indonesian freedom fighter and politician of Indo descent. He was related to the famous Dutch writer, Multatuli, whose real name was Eduard Douwes Dekker. In his youth, he took part in the Second Boer War in South Africa on the Boer side...
, Victor Ido
Victor Ido
Victor Ido is the main alias of the Indo Dutch language writer and journalist Hans van de Wall. Born in Surabaya, Dutch East Indies from a Dutch father and Indo mother...
and the iconic E. du Perron
Edgar du Perron
Charles Edgar du Perron, more commonly known as E. du Perron, was a famous and influential Dutch poet and author of Indo-European descent. Best known for his literary acclaimed master piece ‘Land van herkomst’ of 1935...
.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
(1942–1945) he was interned in various Japanese concentration camps such as Tjimahi and the infamous Changi Prison
Changi Prison
Changi Prison is a prison located in Changi in the eastern part of Singapore.-First prison and POW camp:...
. Imprisoned in Tjimahi Tjalie Robinson kept on writing. He was part of a small group of intellectuals (including Leo Vroman
Leo Vroman
Leo Vroman is a Dutch-American hematologist, a prolific poet mainly in Dutch and an illustrator. Vroman was born in Gouda and he studied biology in Utrecht. When the Nazis occupied the Netherlands on May 10, 1940, he fled to London. From there he traveled to the Dutch East Indies. He finished his...
and Rob Nieuwenhuys
Rob Nieuwenhuys
Rob Nieuwenhuys was a Dutch writer of Indo descent. The son of a 'Totok' Dutchman and an Indo-European mother, he and his younger brother Roelof, grew up in Batavia, where his father was the managing director of the renowned Hotel des Indes .His Indies childhood profoundly influenced his life...
) that engaged in cultural activity. For a while Tjalie Robinson was even able to print a camp periodical named 'Kampkroniek' (Camp Chronicles) and a pamphlet named 'Onschendbaar Domein' (Inviolable Domain). The gruesome war experience obviously influenced his life philosophy, nevertheless Tjalie Robinson never wrote much about his years as a POW. On occasion he tried to reflect with an uneasy mix of shame and fascination:
"Sometimes I reluctantly look back at that time I am supposed to hate. (60 years and 60 thousand emotions packed into 1 night.) Surrounded by life threatening situations and you know your alone against Fate. Fight, Johny Brown, fight. Ulcers, malaria, diphtheria, bullits and landmines. [...] Knowing physical exhaustion, the stench of swamps, the rattling of snakes, anachoic hunting grounds."
After the war he survived the bedlam of the Bersiap
Bersiap
Bersiap is the name given by the Dutch to a violent and chaotic phase of Indonesia's revolutionary period following the end of World War II. The Indonesian word bersiap means 'get ready' or 'be prepared'...
period (1945–1946) and even worked as Editor in chief
Editor in chief
An editor-in-chief is a publication's primary editor, having final responsibility for the operations and policies. Additionally, the editor-in-chief is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members as well as keeping up with the time it takes them to complete their task...
for the magazine 'Wapenbroeders' (Brothers in Arms), where he was also the creator of the popular 'Taaie & Neut' cartoon series. In 1946 he was promoted to captain and served as war correspondent for the KNIL's Public Relations Office (Dutch: Leger voorlichtings dienst) in amongst others the volatile region of Kediri
Kediri
Kediri or Kadiri was a Hindu Javanese Kingdom based in East Java from 1042 to around 1222. Despite the lack of archaeological remains, the age of Kediri saw much development in classical literature....
, East Java
East Java
East Java is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the eastern part of the island of Java and includes neighboring Madura and islands to its east and to its north East Java is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the eastern part of the island of Java and includes neighboring Madura and...
.
After Indonesia gained independence he remarried in 1950 and moved to Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
with his new wife, who was working for the Bruynzeel corporation in the timber industry. There he adopted the alias 'Vincent Mahieu' (named after Indo icon Auguste Mahieu (1865–1903), founder of the Komedie Stamboel Indo opera) and wrote much of his work for the books 'Tjies' & 'Tjoek'.
His wife Lillian Ducelle recalls:
...he was home writing. We lived outside of the city along a river. Rats as big as cats ran through our little house. Sometimes we had no water or electricity - but he had the time of his life. In our time there he wrote most of his 'Vincent Mahieu' oeuvre. Typewriter on a wooden case turned over, he just kept on typing. He said: "This is where I live."
Scholar, translator and poet E.M.Beekman describes the work as follows: "These stories show a refined talent, a powerful imagination, an inquisitive intellect and a whole lot of feeling."
From 1952 to 1954 he worked as journalist for the newspaper 'Nieuwsgier' where he was continuously reflecting on life in his ever changing homeland and wrote most of his often re-printed work 'Piekerans van een straatslijper.' 'Piekerans' (Musings) is the Petjo
Petjo
Petjo, also known as Petjoh, Petjok, Pecok, is a Dutch-based creole language that originated among the Indos, people of mixed Dutch and Indonesian ancestry in the former Dutch East Indies. The language has influences from Dutch, Javanese and Betawi. Its speakers presently live mostly in Indonesia...
k word Tjalie Robinson used to name his weekly essays in the newspaper, which in essence do not significantly differ from the work of his famous Dutch contemporary in the Netherlands Simon Carmiggelt
Simon Carmiggelt
Simon Carmiggelt was a Dutch writer who became a well known public figure in the Netherlands because of his daily newspaper columns and his television appearances.-Biography:...
. Together their work grew into a separate genre in Dutch literature and found successors in among others Rudy Kousbroek
Rudy Kousbroek
Herman Rudolf Kousbroek was a Dutch poet, translator, writer and first of all essayist. He was a prominent figure in Dutch cultural life between 1950 and 2010 and one of the most outspoken atheists in the Netherlands. In 1975 he was awarded the P.C...
.
He also became contributing editor with the cultural and literary magazine 'Orientatie', which published many of his short stories. In his story writing he excelled as a literary interpreter of everyday life of Indos in the Dutch East Indies
Indos in colonial history
Indos are a Eurasian people of mixed Indonesian and European descent. The pre-colonial evolution of this hybrid Eurasian community in the East Indies commenced during the arrival of Portuguese traders in the 16th century and continued with the arrival of Dutch traders in the 17th and 18th...
.
Life in the Netherlands
In 1955 he left for the Netherlands and first lived in AmsterdamAmsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
and later in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, where he became a zealous activist for the preservation of Indo culture. Initially he wrote columns reflecting on repatriation in Dutch newspaper 'Het Parool
Het Parool
Het Parool is an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper. It was founded as a resistance paper during World War II by Frans Van Heuven Goedhart and Jaap Nunes Vaz...
', where he became a direct colleague of Simon Carmiggelt
Simon Carmiggelt
Simon Carmiggelt was a Dutch writer who became a well known public figure in the Netherlands because of his daily newspaper columns and his television appearances.-Biography:...
, and simultaneously kept catering for the Indos still in Indonesia by writing for Surabaya
Surabaya
Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...
based 'De Vrije Pers' (The Free Press). He originally attempted to find connection with the cultural and literary establishment of the Netherlands, but unwilling to assimilate he wanted to establish his own cultural network of Indo authors and artists. To groom the 62 year old Indo author Maria Dermoût
Maria Dermoût
Maria Dermoût , was an Indo novelist, considered one of the greats of Dutch literature and as such an important proponent of Dutch Indies literature...
who successfully debuted in 1955 he wrote her: "I am Mrs Dermoût, a barefoot child of the free seas and free mountains. Even when death would be my prediction, I will keep fighting an injustice that does not threaten me personally, but our cultural conscience (if there is such a thing)."
He soon started a short-lived magazine called 'Gerilja' (Guerrilla), sub-titled 'Magazine for Self-preservation', after which he took over editoral responsibility of the monthly magazine 'De Brug' (The Bridge) in 1957, which he wanted to transform into a weekly Indo magazine. This became the predecessor of his magazine ‘Tong Tong’, sub-titled 'The only Indo magazine in the Netherlands', established one year later (1958) and that lives on to this day under the name ‘Moesson’. The magazine's main target audience was the Indo community in diaspora. At its peak in 1961 the magazine had 11,000 paying subscribers and reached an estimated 77,000 readers, one third of the Indo community in the Netherlands. Another living monument of his achievements is the annual Pasar Malam Besar
Pasar Malam Besar
The Tong Tong Fair is the largest festival in the world for Indo culture, held annually in The Netherlands. In 2009 it was renamed to 'Tong Tong Fair'. Established in 1959 it is one of the oldest festivals and the fourth largest grand fair in The Netherlands...
(renamed to 'Tong Tong Fair' in 2009) which he co-founded in 1959.
When in 1960 and 1961 he published his best known work, respectively the books 'Tjies' and 'Tjoek', Dutch literary critics immediately praised his style and narrative. However they found it hard to comprehend the Indies environment he was describing. Tjalie Robinson himself consequently decided to give all his focus to the advancement of the Indo community in diaspora and the social objectives he coupled to that, by solely publishing in his own magazine. In 1963 he wrote: "I couldnt care less about literary life, in reality that only means your a name in a bookcase. Writing should have a living social function. 90% of what we call literature is just phraseology, obsequious embellishment and blatherskite."
Tjalie Robinson developed a life philosophy that evolves around the nature of the Hunt, regularly writing about the practice of hunting as a parable for 'real' and 'truthful' living as he saw it. In his stories the Hunt often returns as a theme to intellectually explore 'dangerous' and 'couragous' life and particularly to depict the life and culture of Indos. In the Netherlands he emerged as a sharp critic of assimilation, putting the hunting lifestyle of the Indo opposite to mundane lifestyle in the West.
Tjalie Robinson has been attributed to having single handedly preserved the historic hybrid Indo culture of the Dutch East Indies in literature.
"...with the wisdom of hindsight we now know that Tjalie Robinson was one of the most original writers of post war Dutch literature, that in the nick of time he secured something that otherwise would have been lost to us: how people felt, thought and spoke in the now lost world of the Indo community on Java." Rudy Kousbroek, 1989.
Later years
In search of a global vision on Indo culture and in a continued effort to resist assimilation Tjalie Robinson traveled to Latin AmericaLatin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
where he compared the Indo community with the racially mixed people of that continent. Already in the Dutch East Indies he had admired the status of the Creole language
Creole language
A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from...
Papiamento
Papiamento
Papiamento is the most widely spoken language on the Caribbean ABC islands, having the official status on the islands of Aruba and Curaçao. The language is also recognized on Bonaire by the Dutch government....
and the cultural expressions of the Dutch Antilles. He also symphatised with the philosophical writings of the Spanish essayist Jose Ortega y Gasset
José Ortega y Gasset
José Ortega y Gasset was a Spanish liberal philosopher and essayist working during the first half of the 20th century while Spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism and dictatorship. He was, along with Nietzsche, a proponent of the idea of perspectivism.-Biography:José Ortega y Gasset was...
, an outspoken proponent of perspectivism
Perspectivism
Perspectivism is the philosophical view developed by Friedrich Nietzsche that all ideations take place from particular perspectives. This means that there are many possible conceptual schemes, or perspectives in which judgment of truth or value can be made...
and in 1961 even initiated the creation of an Indo enclave in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, named 'El Atabal'.
Later he moved to the USA (1963–1968) and lived in Whittier, California
Whittier, California
Whittier is a city in Los Angeles County, California about southeast of Los Angeles. The city had a population of 85,331 at the 2010 census, up from 83,680 as of the 2000 census, and encompasses 14.7 square miles . Like nearby Montebello, the city constitutes part of the Gateway Cities...
, where he founded 'The American Tong Tong’. He felt there was less resistance in the USA to ethnic profiling of minorities and to create a cultural sanctuary for Indos he set up the Indo Community Center 'De Soos' in Victorville
Victorville, California
Victorville is a city located in the Victor Valley of southwestern San Bernardino County, California. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2010 census, the city had a population of 115,903, up from 64,030 at the 2000 census.-Geography and climate:...
, near Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, which only allowed membership to people that were also subscribed to the 'American Tong Tong' magazine.
Already before his emigration to the USA he was full of admiration for multi-cultural New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and wrote: "All these different ethnic minorities (in New York City) are allowed to be who they are (only in Holland we still believe in the folly of assimilation) and - strange as it may sound - they are all American. And now look at how richly they affect New York. All these people that can remain true to themselves, give their own flair and character to American life."
His literary work found comparisons with Flannery O'Connor
Flannery O'Connor
Mary Flannery O'Connor was an American novelist, short-story writer and essayist. An important voice in American literature, O'Connor wrote two novels and 32 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries...
, writer of Mystery and Manners. Occasional Prose. (as well as other Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
authors like Faulkner and Eudora Welty
Eudora Welty
Eudora Alice Welty was an American author of short stories and novels about the American South. Her novel The Optimist's Daughter won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Welty was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among numerous awards. She was the first living author to have her works published...
), who appropriately wrote that "great talent can put a small local history into a universal light". In his analysis of Tjalie Robinson professor E.M.Beekman also pointed out that he quite often cited or referred to American authors like: Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
, Henry Miller
Henry Miller
Henry Valentine Miller was an American novelist and painter. He was known for breaking with existing literary forms and developing a new sort of 'novel' that is a mixture of novel, autobiography, social criticism, philosophical reflection, surrealist free association, and mysticism, one that is...
, Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
, T.S.Eliot and even Robert Frost
Robert Frost
Robert Lee Frost was an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and...
when he was still an unknown writer in Europe.
To save the Dutch 'Tong Tong' magazine that was suffering from a dwindling number of subscribers he returned to the Netherlands in 1968, where he spent the final years of his life. Tjalie Robinson died in 1974. The necrology of this "avant garde visionary" reads: "In The Hague at the age of 63 Indo journalist and author Tjalie Robinson passed away. After his return from Indonesia he had wholeheartedly given his all to preserve the unique identity of the Indo community in the Netherlands. [...] Many of his endeavours encountered resistance, but appreciation was paramount."
His ashes were scattered in the Java Sea
Java Sea
The Java Sea is a large shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf. It was formed as sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age. The Java Sea lies between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south; Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east...
at Sunda Kelapa
Sunda Kelapa
Sunda Kelapa is the old port of Jakarta located on the estuarine of Ciliwung River. "Sunda Kalapa" is the original name, and it was the main port of Sunda Kingdom of Pajajaran. The port is situated in Penjaringan sub-district, of North Jakarta, Indonesia...
in 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...
the same year. His son recalls: "Then - under the soft sounds of Kroncong
Kroncong
Kroncong is the name of a ukulele-type instrument and an Indonesian musical style that typically makes use of the kroncong , the band or combo or ensemble consist of a flute, a violin, a melody guitar, a cello in pizzicato style, string bass also in...
music - the urn was slowly emptied into the sea. Tjalie was home."
Legacy
Part of his literary legacy is the fact that he wrote much of his work in the Indo mix language called PetjoPetjo
Petjo, also known as Petjoh, Petjok, Pecok, is a Dutch-based creole language that originated among the Indos, people of mixed Dutch and Indonesian ancestry in the former Dutch East Indies. The language has influences from Dutch, Javanese and Betawi. Its speakers presently live mostly in Indonesia...
k, also known as petjo or pecuk, giving it a status that it never had in the Dutch East Indies and providing academic linguistic research a substantial database. His work varies between the melancholy reminiscence of the Indos in diaspora, caught in the term Tempo Doeloe, the positioning of post-colonial Indo identity and the study of a global Eurasian cultural domain.
”...an outstanding figure who helped shape and pass on the legacy of the Dutch colonial past from the East Indies, Tjalie Robinson. An author who not only was a prominent voice in the colonial period, but also throughout the years of decolonisation, and during the ensuing postcolonial era. In his life and work can be detected a reflection of twentieth-century processes of change in the relations between the Netherlands and its former colony in the East.”, Professor Dr. Wim Willems describing Tjali Robinson as a cultural mediator from the East.
His greatest achievement as described by Kousbroek may have been that he was: "...the only one that has restored their (Indo) self respect and granted us insight into their culture and has written about it with the hand of a master."
His work is still regularly re-issued by publisher Moesson, The Hague. and often cited in academic studies.
In 1992 on the facade of Tjalie Robinson's place of birth, Dominicanenstraat 117 in Nijmegen, a memorial was unveiled by the 'Literary Cafe Nijmegen', in collaboration with the Municipality of Nijmegen and the 'Cultural Council Gelderland'.
In 2008 it was announced that a square would be named after him in The Hague.
In 2008 Wim Willems published his biography: Tjalie Robinson, Indo writer and in 2009 his compiled letters Writing with your fists, Tjalie Robinsons letters for which the author received the literary award 'Witte Prijs' in 2010.
In 2009 commemorating Tjalie Robinson's death 35 years ago a modern multi-media theater play based on his stories was performed in Bandung and Jakarta, Indonesia. The play was also performed during the 2011 Tong Tong Fair in the The Hague, Netherlands.
The 'Tong Tong' magazine, renamed to 'Moesson' in 1978 lives on to this day with his widow Lillian Ducelle as director and chief editor up to 1993. Lillian Ducelle: "I can not replace my husband, but I can continue his work." 50 seasons of published editions of both the Dutch and American magazine are available online in the digital archive of the official website.
The 'American Tong Tong' magazine, renamed 'The Indo' lives on to this day with Rene Creutzburg as editor and publisher, who in 2007 was awarded a Royal ribbon in the 'Order of Orange-Nassau
Order of Orange-Nassau
The Order of Orange-Nassau is a military and civil order of the Netherlands which was created on 4 April 1892 by the Queen regent Emma of the Netherlands, acting on behalf of her under-age daughter Queen Wilhelmina. The Order is a chivalry order open to "everyone who have earned special merits for...
' for his efforts over the past 44 years. This Dutch and English language magazine is still an official body of the Indo Community Center 'De Soos', established by Tjalie Robinson in 1963.
His Tong Tong Fair remains an annual event in the Hague and many Pasar Malam
Pasar malam
Pasar malam is a Malay and Indonesian word that literally means "night market", "pasar" being related to "bazaar" in Persian. A pasar malam is a street market in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore that opens in the evening, usually in residential neighbourhoods.It brings together a collection of...
events inspired by it are held throughout the Netherlands yearly.
Family
He married Edith de Bruijn in 1934. After her death in 1938 he married Ivonne Benice Christine Niggebrugge in 1940. After their divorce in 1949 he married Lilly Mary Hermine van Zele, also known under alias Lillian Ducelle, in 1950. He has 1 son and 2 daughters from his first marriage, 1 son and 1 daughter from his second marriage and 1 son and 1 daughter from his third marriage. Many of his family (wife, children, grandchildren) were actively involved in running both his magazine and festival.Publications (selection)
- 1960 Tjies (Alias Vincent Mahieu) First edition 1955. Second edition 1958.
- 1961 Tjoek (Alias Vincent Mahieu)
- 1965 Piekerans van een straatslijper (Alias Tjalie Robinson) Compiled work from amongst others his Dutch East Indies 'Nieuwsgier' newspaper columns.
- 1974 Piekeren in Nederland (Alias Tjalie Robinson) Compiled work from amongst others his Dutch 'Het ParoolHet ParoolHet Parool is an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper. It was founded as a resistance paper during World War II by Frans Van Heuven Goedhart and Jaap Nunes Vaz...
' newspaper columns. - 1974 Piekerans bij een voorplaat (ed. L. Ducelle)
- 1984 Ik en Bentiet (Alias Tjalie Robinson) Humorous dialogues containing much Petjo language in the narrative context.
- 1989 Schuilen voor de regen (Alias Vincent Mahieu)
- 1990 Schat, schot, schat (Alias Vincent Mahieu)
- 1992 Verzameld werk (Alias Vincent Mahieu)
- 1992 Didi in Holland (Alias Didi) Essays written under alias Didi from his column in newspaper Het ParoolHet ParoolHet Parool is an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper. It was founded as a resistance paper during World War II by Frans Van Heuven Goedhart and Jaap Nunes Vaz...
. - 1993 The Hunt for the Heart: Selected Tales from the Dutch East Indies (Alias Vincent Mahieu) Work translated to English by Margaret M. Alibasah.
- 2009 Schrijven met je vuisten; brieven van Tjalie Robinson By Willems, Wim (Publisher: Prometheus, 2009) ISBN 9789044611977
Other Indo authors
- Louis CouperusLouis CouperusLouis Marie-Anne Couperus was a Dutch novelist and poet during the Belle Époque. There is a wide variety of genres in his oeuvre, which contains poetry, fairy tales, psychological novels, and historical novels...
(1863–1923) - Victor IdoVictor IdoVictor Ido is the main alias of the Indo Dutch language writer and journalist Hans van de Wall. Born in Surabaya, Dutch East Indies from a Dutch father and Indo mother...
(1869-1948) - Ernest Douwes DekkerErnest Douwes DekkerErnest François Eugène Douwes Dekker was an Indonesian freedom fighter and politician of Indo descent. He was related to the famous Dutch writer, Multatuli, whose real name was Eduard Douwes Dekker. In his youth, he took part in the Second Boer War in South Africa on the Boer side...
(1879–1950) - Maria DermoûtMaria DermoûtMaria Dermoût , was an Indo novelist, considered one of the greats of Dutch literature and as such an important proponent of Dutch Indies literature...
(1888–1962) - Edgar du PerronEdgar du PerronCharles Edgar du Perron, more commonly known as E. du Perron, was a famous and influential Dutch poet and author of Indo-European descent. Best known for his literary acclaimed master piece ‘Land van herkomst’ of 1935...
(1899–1940) - Beb VuykBeb VuykElizabeth Vuyk was a Dutch writer of Indo descent. Her Indo father was born in the Dutch East Indies and had a mother from Madura, but was ‘repatriated’ to the Netherlands on a very young age. He married into a typically Calvinist Dutch family and lived in the port city of Rotterdam...
(1905–1991) - Rob NieuwenhuysRob NieuwenhuysRob Nieuwenhuys was a Dutch writer of Indo descent. The son of a 'Totok' Dutchman and an Indo-European mother, he and his younger brother Roelof, grew up in Batavia, where his father was the managing director of the renowned Hotel des Indes .His Indies childhood profoundly influenced his life...
(1908–1999) - Ernst JanszErnst JanszErnst Gideon Jansz is one of the founding members and frontmen of Doe Maar. Doe Maar is a Dutch 1980s ska/reggae band, and is considered one of the most successful bands in Dutch pop history....
(1948- ) - Marion BloemMarion BloemMarion Bloem is a Dutch writer and film maker of Indo descent, best known as author of the literary acclaimed book Geen gewoon Indisch meisje and director of the 2008 feature film Ver van familie .Bloem is a second generation Indo immigrant born into a family of four...
(1952- )
Further reading
- Beekman E.M. Fugitive dreams: an anthology of Dutch colonial literature (Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, 1988) ISBN 0 087023 575 3 http://books.google.com/books/about/Fugitive_dreams.html?id=8MmLCXWy8SUC
External links
- Website of Tjalie Robinsons Dutch biographer (dead link) Interview with Tjalie Robinson at 07:30m. Dossier Karpaan (NCRV TV channel, 16-10-1961) Original video footage TV documentary about Spijtoptanten on Dutch History Website. Retrieved 09-10-2011 Comprehensive online selection of stories & poetry by Tjalie Robinson. Article on Tjalie Robinson's 'Pasar Malam Besar' aka 'Tong Tong Fair' by Jean van de Kok for RNW, 2005.
- Research programme Berkeley University
- Research programme Amsterdam University DBNL - Digital library of Dutch literature ING - Institute for Dutch history Fragments of Tjalie Robinson's writings. Retrieved 27 oct 2010