Chairil Anwar
| Chairil Anwar | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
26 July 1922 Medan, Dutch East Indies |
| Died | 28 April 1949 (aged 26) Djakarta, Indonesia |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Language | Indonesian |
| Nationality | Indonesian |
| Period | 1943–1949 |
Chairil Anwar (26 July 1922 – 28 April 1949) was an Indonesian poet and member of the "1945 Generation" of writers. He is estimated to have written 96 works, including 70 individual poems.
Anwar was born and raised in Medan, North Sumatra, before moving to Batavia with his mother in 1940, where he began to enter the local literary circles. After publishing his first poem in 1942, Anwar continued to write. However, his poems were at times censored by the Japanese, then occupying Indonesia. Living rebelliously, Anwar wrote extensively, often about death. He died in Jakarta of an unknown illness.
His work dealt with various themes, including death, individualism, and existentialism, and were often multi-interpretable. Drawing influence from foreign poets, Anwar used everyday language and new syntax to write his poetry, which has been noted as aiding the development of the Indonesian language. His poems were often constructed irregularly, but with individual patterns.
Anwar was born in Medan, North Sumatra on 26 July 1922. As a child, he was hard-headed and unwilling to lose at anything; this was reflective of his parents' personalities. He was also spoiled by his parents. He attended local schools for native Indonesians, until dropping out at the age of 18 or earlier. Anwar later said that he had known he wanted to be an artist since the age of 15, having already written poetry in the then-dominant style.
After his parents' divorce, his father continued to financially support him and his mother, who moved to Batavia (Jakarta after Indonesia's independence). Although originally intending to continue his schooling, he eventually dropped out again. In Batavia he mixed with many rich Indo children, as well as the local literary scene. Despite him not finishing his schooling, he was capable of actively using English, Dutch, and German.
After Anwar's poem "Nisan" ("Grave"; reputedly his first), inspired by his grandmother's death, was written in 1942, Anwar gained recognition. However, his poems were at times still rejected. For example, in 1943, when he first approached the magazine Pandji Pustaka to submit his poems, most were rejected for being too individualistic and not keeping with the spirit of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. However, some, including the poem "Diponegoro", were able to pass the censors. During this period he continued associating with other writers, trading ideas and later becoming a leader amongst them. He later established the magazine Gema Gelanggang. He wrote his last poem, "Cemara Menderai Sampai Jauh" ("Fir Trees Are Sown Off Into the Distance"), in 1949.
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