Kubah
Cover (first edition)
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| Author | Ahmad Tohari |
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| Country | Indonesia |
| Language | Indonesian |
| Genre | Novel |
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Publication date
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1980 |
| Media type | Print (paperback) |
| Pages | 184 |
| OCLC | 7561241 |
Kubah (literally Cupola or Dome) is an Indonesian novel written by Ahmad Tohari. It follows a poor man named Karman who becomes a member of the Indonesian Communist Party, only to find himself a victim of the ongoing political struggles in 1950s Indonesia. After the Party's destruction he spends twelve years as a prisoner at Buru before returning to his hometown and becoming a devout Muslim.
Tohari's second novel, Kubah was written in two months and based on the events surrounding the Communist Party and the 30 September Movement coup in 1965. Published in 1980 by Pustaka Jaya, Kubah came at a time when literary works with similar themes – the victimisation of Communist Party members – were scarce. The novel has also been characterised as dawah (Islamic preaching). Reception of Kubah was mostly mixed; critics praised the novel for its subject matter and criticised it for its predictability. It received a literary award in 1981, and in 1986 it was translated into Japanese.
After twelve years imprisoned at Buru Island, the former Communist Party of Indonesia (Partai Komunis Indonesia, or PKI) member Karman returns to Central Java. During his time at Buru, his wife Marni has remarried and the area has modernised considerably, rendering him uncertain where to go. He decides to stay at his cousin's home for a while. Meanwhile, Marni has heard of Karman's release and realises that she still loves him, and would thus feel uncomfortable if he returned to their hometown of Pegaten. However, their grown daughter Tini wishes to meet her father.
In a series of flashbacks, Karman's life is told. He lost his pro-Dutch father during the Indonesian National Revolution and was raised in poverty before going to work for the rich merchant Haji Bakir as a child, babysitting his daughter Rifah. In the two years Karman lived with them, the family raised him to be a devout Muslim; Karman, for his part, was a diligent worker and cared deeply for Rifah. When his uncle returned from the front, Karman was brought back home and educated until junior high school, dropping out for a lack of funds. When he was in his twenties Karman found a job at the local village chief's office with the help of a civil employee named Triman and a teacher named Margo.
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