NYAI ONTOSOROH; A CONCUBINE PHENOMENON A LA

PRAMOEDYA ANANTA TOER

THESIS

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

SarjanaPendidikan

A.AdityaSatriaS.

112010102

ENGLISH TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM

FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

SALATIGA

2014

i

NYAI ONTOSOROH; A CONCUBINE PHENOMENON A LA

PRAMOEDYA ANANTA TOER

THESIS

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

SarjanaPendidikan

A.AdityaSatria S.

112010102

ENGLISH TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM

FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

SALATIGA

2014

ii

NyaiOntosoroh; A Concubine Phenomenon A la

PramoedyaAnantaToer

THESIS

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

SarjanaPendidikan

A. AdityaSatria S.

112010029

Approved by:

Supervisor Examiner

LanyKristono, M. Hum Deta Maria Sri Darta, M. Hum

iii

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

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university. To the best of my knowledge and my belief, this contains no material

previously published or written by any other person except where due reference is

made in the text.

Copyright@ 2014. A. AdityaSatria S. and LanyKristono, M.Hum.

All rights reserved. No part of this thesis may be reproduced by any means

without the permission of at least one of the copyright owners or the English

Department, Faculty of Language and Literature, SatyaWacana University,

Salatiga.

A. AdityaSatria S:(signature)

iv

PUBLICATION AGREEMENT DECLARATION

As a member of the (SWCU) SatyaWacana Christian University academic community, I

verify that:

Name : A. AdityaSatria S.

Student ID Number : 112010029

Study Program : PendidikanBahasaInggris

Faculty : FakultasBahasadanSastra

Kind of Work : Undergraduate Thesis

In developing my knowledge, I agree to provide SWCU with a non-exclusive

royalty free right for my intellectual property and the contents therein entitled:

NyaiOntosoroh; A Concubine Phenomenon A la PramoedyaAnantaToer

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This declaration is made according to the best of my knowledge.

Made in: Salatiga

Date : August, 2014

Verified by signee,

A.AdityaSatria S.

Approved by

Thesis Supervisor Thesis Examiner

LanyKristono, M. Hum. Deta Maria Sri Darta, M. Hum.

v

Table of Content

Approval Page ……………………………………………………………ii

Copyright statement …………………………………………………………... iii

Table of Content …………………………………………………………… v

Abstract …………………………………………………………… 1

Introduction …………………………………………………………… 1

NyaiOntosorohOutside the Box …………………………………………… 7

The Politic of Identity of NyaiOntosoroh ………………………………… 26

Conclusion ………………………………………………………… 31

Acknowledgment ………………………………………………………… 34

References ………………………………………………………… 35

NyaiOntosoroh; A Concubine Phenomenon A la

PramoedyaAnantaToer

A.AdityaSatria S.

Abstract

Concubines are often stigmatized as seductive, immoral, and uneducated

women. However that negative perspective does not fit to Nyai Ontosoroh. Even,

she is able to turn over the mainstream point of view in Bumi Manusia by getting

honor from some educated people around her. This research is aimed at the

finding out how Nyai Ontosoroh is able to turn over the mainstream point of view

and whether the novel confirms or rejects the post colonial theory. This research

used post-colonial theory, especially one which is coined by Bhabha who stated

that the colonized tend to imitate the colonizer to keep their existence in the

colony which called as mimicry phenomenon. As the result of imitating the

colonizer, they will face identity problem and trapped in liminal space or third

space which will lead them into a new identity, not the colonizer or colonized but

the ‘black-western’. This research found that Nyai Ontosoroh is able to turn over

the mainstream point of view about concubine by getting knowledge from the

west but the novel does not confirm Bhabha’s post-colonial theory.

Keywords: Concubine, Mimicry, Liminal/third space, Identity.

NyaiOntosoroh; A Concubine Phenomenon A la

PramoedyaAnantaToer

A.AdityaSatria S.

Introduction

Generally written by Chinese authors who live in the Netherland East

Indies or by Dutch authors, concubine is one of the popular theme of literature

during the Dutch colonization (Susanto 4). There are lots of popular famous

concubine stories such as Nyai Dasima by a Dutchman, G. Francis or Nyai Alimah

by Soei Tiong Oei. Basically, stories of concubine tell about love or often lust

between a Dutch master and an indigenous woman as concubine. Because of this,

some concubine stories such as Tjerita Medan Penoe Dengan Impian, were

written for adults because they contain vulgar words to describe a sexual

intercourse and such stories were not censored (Susanto 6).

Concubine is a product of Dutch colonization in the Netherland East

Indies. They usually work as a housekeeper or a butler at house but they also have

to satisfy their master’s sexual desire (Gouda 197). However, concubines also

have a role as a cultural agent who introduces their language and culture to their

master for the latest business interest (Susanto 66;Baay 46).

For Netherland East Indies people, the term concubine is connoted

negatively. Besides, it creates a negative stereotype in the Netherland. The

colonized or indigenous people, perceive concubines as non-pure women because

they live with the infidel white men who like to eat pork (Gouda 197). The

Javanese nobles also judge concubines as immoral women who sell their selves

for money and lust (Gouda 202). Even the Dutch colonizer also considers

concubines as immoral women who do not have the concept about the purity of

women (Gouda 199).

To some people, to be a concubine is a luck because a concubine will have

a good life. However, living as a concubine is very risky since they will face

many unjust matters. They will usually be thrown out of the house when their

masters have already got white European ladies as their wives (Gouda 205).

Worse, they may be thrown out of house without any compensation (Gouda 205;

Baay 54). The expulsion is the most terrible thing for concubine because it means

they return to poverty. In the era of colonization most women depended their life

to men (to their husband or master) because they did not sufficient skill or

knowledge to work and survive (Soeroto 57-58). This happened because women

did not have any chance to go to school or have higher education. As Gouda

quoted, Kartini expressed the low education of women by stating illiteracy was a

crime toward women because there was no opportunity for women to study (154).

Besides being thrown out of the house, ex-concubines are sometimes

separated from their children and cannot propose any objection. Baay also notes

that a concubine cannot prosecute the children custody if the master passes away

(60). Susanto adds that concubine is not allowed to run and take care of her

master’s company (154). Susanto explains those injustice come from the

colonozer’s perspective who believe that white is the rightness (68). It implies that

Dutch as the colonizer considers the colonized as the other who are always

marginalized every time. Supporting Susanto, Gouda also found that concubines

are often considered as the other (256).

Considering the existing perspective of concubines, the portrayal of Nyai

Ontosoroh in Bumi Manusia swerves quite far and blurs the phenomena and

history of concubine since she’s portrayed as intelligent and independent woman.

Therefore it arises 2 questions that will be discussed in this research. First, how

Nyai Ontosoroh turns over the mainstream point of view during the Dutch

colonization. Second, the novel confirms or reject Bhabha’s post-colonialism

theory about mimicry and identity through the portrayal of Nyai Ontosoroh

because it is also interesting to find out whether Pram portrays Ontosoroh as the

east as the other in west’s perspective, or the author blurred the boundaries of the

concubine phenomenon and declares that Ontosoroh (represent the colonized) is

against Bhabha’s post-colonial theory.

According to Baay concubines are stigmatized as stupid, uneducated, and

seductive women (63). Gouda also found that concubines are considered as

immoral women (202). Therefore, this research is aimed at the finding out how

Nyai Ontosoroh turns over the mainstream point of view and at investigating

whether the novel confirms or rejects Bhabha’s post colonial theory.

The findings in this research are expected to make the readers know about

some parts of a concubine phenomenon as a hidden story of Indonesia. Readers

also may know how a concubine, who is marginalized, is able to empower herself

and stands against the injustice toward women. Besides, the findings are also

expected to deepen the readers’ understanding of Bhabha’s ideas and

postcolonialism.

In my search for previous studies on Bumi Manusia, I found the work of

Bonevasia Herlina which examined why people do not appreciate Nyai Ontosoroh

from the perspective of literature psychology. On the other hand, this study uses

post-colonial theory to investigate how Nyai Ontosoroh turns over the mainstream

point of view and whether the novel confirms or rejects the post-colonial theory.

Therefore, this study is different from Bonavasia’s and has never been conducted

before.

To find the answer to the research questions, this research will borrow

post-colonial theory, especially that of Homi Bhabha. According to Homi Bhabha

(qtd. in Faruk 10),the east or the colonized adopted or studied the knowledge and

the culture of the west and later they use it to allude or fight back against the

colonizer.

Post-colonialism is one of literary theory firstly proposed by Edward Said

through his book Orientalism. Post-colonialism consists of 2 words, Post means

after and Colonialism means a country which controls another country.

When we talk about colonization and taking control of an independence

land, the colonizers or the west look at the colonized as an object to be learnt

because colonized or the east is a new thing for them. As Said states, Orientalism

is the assessment of the attitude and perception of Western scholars to legitimize

colonization by marginalizing and dominating eastern people (2).

Based on Said’s notion, for the west, the east is the other who is unique,

exciting and therefore should be learnt. They (west) constructed a definition about

the east based on their perspective. The point is the west only see the East as the

other, not more, and marginalize them. West constructed that East were not

civilized so they assumed that the East were left behind the West. The

construction of the East as the other, reflects a mindset that West is the superior

and East is the inferior. In this perspective, as stated by Khan and Khan there is a

binary opposition that compares the west as the colonizer and east as the

colonized (4).

The value of east disappeared and they can only be silent in a long period.

For a long time colonization, the east as the colonized and as the other for the

west, imitate and learn the knowledge of the colonizer. Bhabha calls this

phenomenon as mimicry. The idea of mimicry originates in Lacan’s idea that talks

about an animal when it camouflages to protect it self from its predator, such as a

chameleon that changes its color into green when a cat is around. Bhabha states

that the colonized also do the same thing (mimicry) like a chameleon by imitating

the colonizer to survive and save their life (75).

Supporting Bhabha’s concept about mimicry, Susanto notes that the

colonized imitate the colonizer so that their existence are accepted and recognized

by the colonizer since for the colonized, the colonizer is the good example. (56-

57). Similarly, Bhabha says that mimicry is the effort to imitate the other

individual to be the new but it’s not quite same. (86). Malcom-X adds that the

great probability for the colonized to imitate or to be influenced by the colonizer

comes from the colonized who is close to or live with the white/colonizer such as

maid. (qtd.in Epafras 7).

However, the process of mimicry or imitation causes a problem of identity

for the colonized (Bhabha 86). In this problem of identity, the colonized are

trapped in the third space, i.e. the grey area, in which they are not white or black.

Bhaba calls the third area as the liminal space since there are two cultures, the

colonized and the colonizer’s, that have different values. Ani Hanifah in her study

finds that in liminal space/ third space, the colonized does not look at something

based on the certain point of culture, but they are beyond the space and create the

new position, not the west nor the east (4). It can be concluded that the problem of

identity comes when they think that their culture, as the colonized, is not good if it

is compared with the colonizer’s and gradually it starts to change their identity.

Hall’s (qtd. in Hanifah8 ) strengthens Bhabha’s idea about identity by stating that

identity always changed.

Actually when the colonized decide to imitate and use the colonizer’s

culture as their camouflage or mimicry to be accepted by the colonizer’s

neighborhood, there is a flaming in their selves as the colonized. They imitate the

colonizer’s culture because they think that the culture is better than theirs but in

the other part of their selves, they hate it. This phenomenon is called ambivalence

(Murwarni 4).

Furthermore, Bhabha in his seminal work expresses that ambivalence

comes since the colonized tries to identify their identity as the colonizer. When

they adopt or adapt the colonizer’s knowledge and culture, there is tendency to

mock the colonizer (115). Implicitly the idea of mockery which triggers the

ambivalence comes from the colonized’s feeling. They, the colonized, need the

colonizer’s knowledge and culture as a camouflage to survive and resist their self,

but on the other hand, they hated the colonizer and want to fight against the

colonizer by using the knowledge they have got from the colonizer.

To summarize, mimicry causes an identity problem and leads to an

ambivalence. As Faruk explains, the imitation of the colonized doesn’t always

mean an obedience (6).

The ideas of post-colonialism, particularly mimicry and ambivalence, is

chosen as the foundation of this research because some characters in Bumi

Manusia shows mimicry, identity problem and ambivalence phenomena so that

the story vividly shows the feeling and hatred toward Dutch colonization. Hence, I

decided to apply the theory to find out the answers to the research question since

the novel is a good example of post-colonial literary work.

A. NyaiOntosoroh Outside the box

Bumi Manusia reflects the nuisance of mainstream’s perspective of

concubine. It describes clearly that Netherland East Indies people consider

concubines immoral women who only care about sexual matters which is

represented by Minke, the Javanese noble and educated colonized, as the narrator

of the story when he first met Nyai Ontosoroh as her guest.

As Toer writes:

Terdengar peringatan pada kuping batinku; awas jangan samakan dia

dengan Bunda. Dia hanyalah seorang nyai-nyai, tidak mengenal

perkawinan syah, melahirkan anak-anak tidak syah, sejenis manusia

dengan kadar kesusilaan rendah, menjual kehormatan untuk kehidupan

senang dan kemewahan. (Toer 22)

[My inner whispers, warns me; be careful and do not ever compare her

with your mother. She’s only concubine, does not marriage and has

illegitimate children. She’s kind of human who only sells herself for

money and luxury.]

Minke, who is an educated indigenous; thus, the colonized, spontaneously thinks

negatively about Nyai Ontosoroh as a concubine. Although Nyai Ontosoroh is a

mother, she is incomparable to Minke’s mother because she has born illegitimate

children. Therefore, legal marriage is very important for a woman since it decides

whether a woman is respectable or immoral. Minke’s negative perspective about

Nyai Ontosoroh as concubine represents the perspective of the nobles who think

that a concubine is the same as a prostitute because she sells herself for honor and

luxury (Gouda, 202). Therefore, as a Javanese noble, it is normal that Minke has

this perspective but it is in contrast with himself as an educated person because as

an educated person he should think critically and clearly (Ismail: “Ciri-

ciricendekiawan”).

However, later Minke justifies his personal opinion about concubines;

even, he claims that anyone knows it. Then Minke justifies that the colonized and

the colonizer’s personal opinion about concubine in the following quotation, since

they consider concubine immoral.

Bukan hanya mevrouw Telinga atau aku, rasanya siapa pun tahu, begitulah

tingkat susila keluarga nyai-nyai; rendah, jorok, tanpa kebudayaan.

Perhatiannya hanyalah pada soal-soalnya birahi. Mereka hanyalah pelacur,

manusia tanpa pribadi…. (Toer 50).

[Not only me or Mrs. Telinga, but I believe all people will think that

concubines are from impolite family. They are immoral and have no

culture. What they think about is only sexual desire. They are only whores,

human without identity.]

Minke, who is educated, also expresses a similar opinion as what people believe

about concubines. This means, the negative perspective/stereotype of concubine is

dominant in Netherland East Indies. In effect, people will judge concubines and so

that the word ‘concubine’ always has negative meaning in society. That quotation

also implicates that the stereotype or negative perspective about concubine is

difficult to be erased since the idea of concubine has been constructed as an

immoral individual. Even in Kamus Bahasa Indonesia the word ‘nyai’ means

“gundik orang asing (terutama orang Eropa)” while gundik means mistress or

perempuan piaraan and the word mistress or perempuan piaraan means a secret

wife without tie marriage. By thinking so, Minke is not different from the

westerners who think low of the easterners.

However, when Minke has got to know Nyai Ontosoroh more, he does not

generalize concubines anymore. Even, Minke expresses his admiration and

wonders as reflected in the following quotation:

Aku masih saja terpesona melihat seorang wanita pribumi bukan saja

pandai berbicara bahasa belanda begitu baik, lebih baik karena tidak

mempunyai suatu kompleks terhadap tamu pria. Di mana lagi bisa

ditemukan wanita semacam dia? Apa sekolahnya dulu? Dan mengapa

hanya seorang nyai, seorang gundik? Siapa pula yang telah mendidiknya

jadi begitu bebas seperti wanita eropa? Keangkeran istana kayu ini

berubah menjadi mahligai teka teki bagiku. (Toer 20).

[ She [NyaiOntosoroh] is really amazing because she can speak Dutch

fluently, brilliant, and does not have any complexity to male guest like me.

Plus, she is only an indigenous. Where can I find woman like her? Where

does she study? But why she only makes herself as a concubine, a mistress

of the white master? Who teach her to be a free woman like European

women? This strange wooden palace is a riddle, a maze for me. ]

The quotation describes how Minke is amazed by Nyai Ontosoroh because of

Nyai Ontosoroh’s ability to speak Dutch well and her sociability and confidence

in greeting and dealing with male guests especially since Javanese culture does

not allow women to look up. However, Minke’s amazement and questioning

toward Nyai Ontosoroh’s ability to speak Dutch and sociability in greeting and

dealing with male guests implies that he still considers a concubine cannot be

intelligent and confident and that quotation also indicates that Minke thinks there

is someone who controls her to behave like that. There are two reasons why it

happens to Minke. First, lots of concubines come from lower class (Baay 51) and

it means that they cannot have chance to study at school, even to speak Dutch.

Second, many masters prohibit their concubines to greet guests except to serve

drink to the guests (Baay 55) because they will feel ashamed if their guests know

they have concubines, so that it will cause concubines uneasy to greet and deal

with guests. But those things cannot be found in Nyai Ontosoroh. Those things

also give urge in Minke’s mind to know more about Nyai Ontosoroh because for

Minke Nyai Ontosoroh is an educated person and individual with good

personality who does not deserve to live as a concubine.

Minke’a amazement to Nyai Ontosoroh actually is the first process of de-

stereotyping because Minke found that the portrayal of concubine in the society,

which is shaped by the society and rooted in his mind, is very different with Nyai

Ontosoroh. Hence she cannot be associated with the concubine as society

believes. The process of de-stereotyping is strengthened by Minke’s inner conflict

since Nyai Ontosoroh’s attitude contravenes with the society’s judgment. As Toer

write:

Nyai Ontosoroh yang pandai menawan hati dan menggenggam hati orang,

sehingga aku pun kehilangan pertimbangan, bahwa dia hanyalah seorang

gundik (Toer 24).

[Nyai Ontosoroh, she’s really captivating and can take someone’s heart, so

that I lost my common sense, that she’s only concubine]

The words ‘captivating’ and ‘can take someone’s heart’ do not refer to seducing

and perverting like the concubines in people’s perspective but it refers to Nyai

Ontosoroh’s personality who is polite, educated, and elegant. The politeness and

attitude of Nyai Ontosoroh are reflected in her ability to speak Dutch well and she

did not look at social status to mingle with people (Toer 18-19). Her appearance is

also simple but still shows her personality. By Pramoedya she is described as a

down-to- earth woman wearing kebaya (Javanese traditional cloth for woman)

with a simple make-up (Toer 18). It shows that Nyai Ontosoroh has a courteous

approach because she gets dressed in a very simple way and polite also she walks

naturally.

She also does not seduce Minke but she acts like a mother who concern to

her son (Toer 218). Hence people believe about concubine who like seducing and

perverting cannot be put on her. The reality he found in Nyai Ontosoroh

absolutely leads Minke to a shock because he was still much affected by what he

initially thought about Nyai Ontosoroh. As a result, if he did not want to compare

Nyai Ontosoroh to her mother (Toer 22) but after meeting Nyai Ontosoroh, he

decided to consider her as a mother.

There is one thing should be noticed why Nyai Ontosoroh is able to

deconstruct the well-constructed perspective of mainstream easily in Bumi

Manusia, it is her biography before and after being Mellema’s concubine. Before

being Mellema’s concubine, she was an uneducated girl and never went to school

(Toer, 377) because as a Javanese girl her life is very restricted and is limited to

only around the house. It is caused by Javanese culture which believes women

have three main jobs; manak (literally means give birth) ,masak (literary means

cooking), and macak (literally means dress up) (Budiati 1). The first role is

macak, which means a woman must be able to dress up, make up well, and satisfy

her husband in sexual intercouse. The second role is masak, which means a

woman must be able to cook for his husband. And then the last role is manak

which means a woman has a job to bear and raise the children. Responding to

these believes, Budiati stated that women will be manipulated and used by men

since the belief of Javanese culture has only marginalized their role (1). Referring

to this phenomenon, Kartini, as quoted in Dutch Culture Overseas by Frances

Gouda, expressed her regret about the crime toward traditional Javanese women

because there are a lot of women are illiteracy since there is no opportunity for

women to study. (154). Implicitly, those quotations also show that education, in

Javanese culture, is not important for women because their life’s ended to serve

their husband and that is why many women were left behind men in the era of

colonization

Then after she lives as Mellema’s concubine, Nyai Ontosoroh is a very

well educated woman because she got a chance to study and it is totally different

from her previous life. She was taught Malay and Dutch by Mellema and Mellema

also taught the details of office work, company, agriculture and so on, as Toer

describes Nyai Ontosoroh’s conversation with Annelies.

Bukan saja pandai, juga baik hati. Dia [Mellema] yang mengajari aku

segala tentang pertanian, perusahaan, pemeliharaan hewan, pekerjaan kantor.

Mula-mula diajari aku bahasa Melayu, kemudian membaca dan menulis, setelah

itu juga bahasa Belanda. Papamu bukan hanya mengajar, dengan sabar juga

memuji semua yang telah diajarkannya. Ia haruskan aku berbahasa Belanda

dengannya. Kemudian diajarkannya aku berurusan dengan bank, ahli-ahli hukum,

aturan dagang, semua yang sekarang mulai kuajarkan juga padamu [Annelies]

(Toer 78).

[He is not only smart, but also a very kind and gentle man. He taught me

every detail about agriculture, company, farm, office work. Firstly he taught me

Malay, reading, writing, and then Dutch. He did not only teach me with his

passion, but also praise me for everything I have learnt. And also I must speak

Dutch with him. Then, he taught me how to have business with the bank,

advocate, the trading rule, and everything I’ve been teaching you.]

From that quotation, there are two important information. First, Mellema

taught Nyai Ontosoroh Malay and Dutch. Second, Mellema taught her the details

of business and company. That information is interesting since there’s no any

detail information which describes his motivation to teach Nyai Ontosoroh.

However, related to the first case, beside being maid, concubines also have role as

the agent of the culture which introduce their culture (language) to their master for

the sake of their masters’ business (Baay 94 &Susanto 66). It can be concluded

that the reason why Mellema taught Nyai Ontosoroh Dutch and Malay is to

prepare her to introduce Javanese language because he is a new comer in Java

island and it is important to master Javanese to expand his business and career.

Beside preparing Nyai Ontosoroh to introduce her culture to him, he also may

prepare Nyai Ontosoroh to be his assistant to take care the company since she was

taught the details of the business and company. He even trusted Nyai Ontosoroh

to do the intern job of his company (Toer 94).

Mellema’s decision to give chance to Nyai Ontosoroh to learn proves that

the culture of western/European does not limit women only to do housework or

have activity surround the house but give freedom to study more. It is same with

Gouda’s finding that in the era of colonialism, there are a lot of Netherland female

teachers who taught in state school or be private teachers in Netherland East

Indies (Gouda 138.)

Besides getting chance to study, Nyai Ontosoroh also has chance to read

books, magazines, and newspapers and she always gets books, newspaper, and

magazines from Netherland every month (Toer 95). Since Nyai Ontosoroh always

gets books, newspapers, and magazines from the Netherlands, all her readings are

in Dutch. Through reading her thought is slowly induced by the way of thinking

of western people and try to imitate and receive the western knowledge and

culture. Reading also shapes her mind so that her thought is different from her

nations and that is why she is one step ahead most of her nation. Hence this

phenomenon can be called as mimicry (Bhabha 75).

The process of mimicry in Nyai Ontorosoh looks to occur so easily.

Malcom-X, as quoted in Epafras, stated that it is very easy for a colonized who

stays close to the colonizer (as the master) to get influenced or imitate the

colonizer (Epafras, 7). The process to imitate or learn the colonizer’s knowledge

is practiced by Nyai Ontosoroh without no reason. She learnt the west knowledge

to save her life, as stated by Bhabha that Mimicry is an imitation of the colonized

toward the colonizer to save their life or to be accepted by the colonizer (75). As

Toer writes:

Nampaknya dia suka pada kelakuanku yang suka belajar…Bila tuan

besar sudah pergi aku sudah tidak harus kembali ke rumah Sasrotomo

(Toer92).

[I [Nyai ontosoroh] feel he [Mellema] likes myself who like studying …

if Master’s back to Netherlands, at least I don’t have to return to

Sastrotomo’s house Sastrotomo, my father.]

Briefly that dialogue implies that her motivation to learn the colonizer’s

knowledge is to prepare herself if later her master leaves her back to his land. It is

because a master often leaves his concubine suddenly and sometimes does not

give any compensation (Gouda 205). It seems to make Nyai Ontosoroh

worried.So by learning from his master knowledge, she prepared herself to

survive and be independent if she is not Mellema’s concubine anymore.

The effect of adopting the western thinking way (mimicry) to Nyai

Ontosoroh through Mellema’s influence makes her becomes an intelligent,

independent, and articulate individual so that the perspective about concubine

which is believed by the colonial people does not deserved to be put to herself.

Her personality becomes a power of attraction which slowly starts to amaze

people and turn over the existing perspective which marginalizes her as immoral

and seductive woman.

It is reflected in Minke’s perspective after he met and knew Nyai

Ontosoroh further. He aditted that Nyai Ontosoroh is an educated woman and she

is like his teacher (Toer 251).The same thing is also reflected in Magda Peters’

opinion after she has met Nyai Ontosoroh. Before she met Nyai Ontosoroh, she

thougt negatively about Nyai Ontosoroh as concubine.Toer writes:

“…Eh Minke, apa benar dongengan entah darimana asalnya, kau hidup

dengan seorang nyai-nyai… coba beri aku keterangan bagaimana seorang

nyai bias menjadi otodidak…” (Toer 251-252)

[“…MInke, is that true that you live with a concubine? … now convince

me how a concubine can be a self-learner?” ]

Magda Peters’s opinion and beliefs show that she underestimates Nyai

Ontosoroh because of her status as a concubine. It is stated in her words ‘live

with a concubine’ and ‘can be a self-learner’. Those words reflect that Magda

Peters’ disbelief that a concubine is polite, honor, and not seductive and also she

does not believe that a concubine can be an intelligent woman caused by the

society believe about concubines which has rooted in her belief. Then after she

met Nyai Ontosoroh, she amazed with her personality and has different opinion

from previous, as Toer writes:

“…assosiasi itu Minke, dia runtuh berantakan tanpa harga karena satu

wanita pribumi, Mama-mu itu. Kalau ada barang seribu wanita pribumi

seperti dia, boleh jadi Hindia- Belanda ini gulung tikar….. dia masih bias

lebih maju lagi. Sayang orang seperti dia tidak mungkin dapat hidup di

tengah bangsanya sendiri. Dia seperti batu meteor melesit sendirian,

melintasi keluasan tanpa batas,….karena dia pribumi, wanita, dan

mengagumkan.” (Toer 260)

[“…that association Minke, it collapses without its precious….just

because of indigenous woman, your mother [Nyai Ontosoroh]. If there are

thousand women like your mother [Nyai Ontosoroh], perhaps Netherland

East Indies will meet its end… she can be more brilliant. She is like a

falling meteor, fall from the sky rapidly pass the sky with no border,… she

is adorable because she’s an indigenous.” ]

Quotation above shows how Magda Peters respects Nyai Ontosoroh when she

knows that Ontosoroh’s personality contravenes with the perspective about

concubine in society. The quotation above implies that the colonizer represented

by Magda Peter- believes indigenous is less educated or stupid as reflected in her

statement that “…she is adorable because she is indigenous.” at the same time it

also collapses the perspective of orientalist who always put indigenous or eastern

in negative dichotomy.

Related to this case, Gouda stated that women, which are from upper

(noble) and lower class, are busy with their business about marriage, secluding,

marriage, and even financial (155). Hence, many women do not have same

thought or chance like Nyai Ontosoroh.

However, there is one interesting phenomenon from Minke and Magda

Peters after meeting Nyai Ontosoroh, it is their status which shows the process of

destereotyping of concubine. They finally respect Nyai Ontosoroh when they

know her personality who is intelligent and articulated. Implicitly, Nyai

Ontosoroh can get power and turn over the existing perspective by getting

knowledge or adopting the western thinking style. Bacon states that knowledge is

a power (qtd. in Garcia 3). Garcia adds that the power of getting knowledge will

be more powerful enough if he/she is from lower class and can expertise it better

than they who come from the upper class (3). So it can be concluded that, in Nyai

Ontosoroh life, knowledge has a great effect to get respectability and turn herself

into a respectful and independent being (Soeroto, 73).

B. The Politics of Identity of NyaiOntosoroh

Because Nyai Ontosoroh was raised in Javanese culture, her origin identity

is Javanese. However, as Mellema’s concubine she learnt and adopted Dutch

culture which is totally different from the previous culture she was in. At this

point, there should be an intersection between Javanese culture which limits her as

a woman in some ways and Dutch culture which frees her from some of the

limitations.

In the beginning of her life as Mellema’s concubine, she got a chance to

learn the colonizer’s knowledge which is a kind of impossible for the colonized to

learn at that time. As a result, the knowledge and European idea and culture have

changed Nyai Ontosoroh from being a tied, uneducated and unarticulated woman

into a strong, independent, and brilliant one.

Her character changes finally and brings her an identity problem about her

existence as a Javanese. As Toer writes:

Setelah lama mengikuti majalah- majalah wanita itu dan menjalankan

banyak dari petunjuknya, pada suatu kali kuulangi pertanyaanku pada

tuan: “Sudahkah aku seperti wanita belanda? (Toer 97)

[“I’ve been reading those women magazines and doing all things I have

learned from those magazines, so one day I re-asked my master; “do you

think I have looked like a Dutch woman?” ]

Nyai Ontorosh’s question implies that reading the Dutch magazines has induced

her mind and started to eliminate her origin culture. It may also imply that being a

Dutchman’s concubine has driven her to want to look like a Dutch woman. As

Nyai Ontosoroh was raised in Javanese culture, she should believe that a wife

should obey her husband (Dianingtyas 15). Therefore, Nyai Ontosoroh may think

that Mellema gave her Duch magazines because he wants her to be like a Dutch.

Her willingness to do what European do invites an identity dynamic which puts

herself in the third space, a grey area between black and white which may lead

someone into a new identity, not white but also not black (Murwarni 4).

Therefore, she has contrasting attitudes and personality traits to most of her

nation’s.

However the concept of third space, which sends one into a new identity,

may not occur to Nyai Ontosoroh because it stops in the middle of the process.

She does not change her identity and keep herself as indigenous instead of

“Black-Dutch” as new identity. Her decision is exposed in her dialogue with her

son, Robert by stating that she is an indigenous (Toer 174). Her decision is in

contrast with Bhabha’s seminal work which states that the colonized who imitate

the colonizer gradually will have identity problem and create a new identity in the

third space.

Her decision to be an indigenous does not weaken herself as an indigenous

concubine but it strengthens her existence. This thing can be seen from the

sympathy from some well-educated people -such as; Kommer, Magda Peters, and

some Malay newspapers as a response to her plea to fight the court which

stigmatized and discriminated her as a concubine (Toer 324) . The other proof that

being indigenous give here benefit is Nyai Ontosoroh seems to be a star in

Netherland East Indies and it gave some profit to her company (Toer 353). Once

again, it is in contrast with Bhabha’s theory which states implicitly that the

indigenous is in weakest position since the colonized want to be same as the

colonizer to keep her position in the colony.

Her identity as an indigenous is also strengthened by Annelies’ statement

who said in the front of her mother that her mother is indigenous and Nyai

Ontosoroh did not object it (109). Her identity as an indigenous can also be sensed

from her appearance. She wears kebaya (Javanese traditional female dress),

instead of gown, which characterizes Dutch woman, when she greeted Minke, her

guest (Toer, 18) her clothing style is different from Minke, an educated colonized,

who always wears European cloth. Even though Nyai Ontosoroh has been induced

by western ideas and used to want to be like a Dutch woman, she still keeps her

culture as a Javanese by wearing kebaya and it is different from Minke who does

not keep his culture. Hence it also proves that Bhabha’s theory does not work on

her.

Although Nyai Ontosoroh declares herself an indigenous instead of a

“Black-Dutch”.A further examination reveals an implicit identity change. Nyai

Ontosoroh’s chosen indigenous identity is not an indigenous identity in a narrow

meaning such as Javanese or Sumatran, but it is an identity in broad meaning

which represents all the colonized in Netherland East Indies. This case is

indicated in two things. First, her urge for Minke to write in Malay, not Dutch

(Toer 378).Second, her plea in the court in the form of revealing the crimes and

injustices that have been done toward the colonized. (Toer 321-322).

Her urge to Minke to write in Malay, not in Javanese nor Dutch, indicates

her nationalism as the colonized since Malay was a lingua franca in the then

Netherland East Indies. Her plea reflects her ability to put and view the

indigenous and Dutch relationship in a wider perspective. This means, she does

not consider herself an indigenous Javanese, but one of the colonized. Therefore,

her identity was not Javanese but a new identity which covers and represents all

parties oppressed by the Dutch because she does not only reveal the crime and

injustice toward herself, but also to all the colonized.

Simply, her new identity as an indigenous is quite unique because it comes

from outside the intersection of the cultures inside the third space because her new

identity is not shaped between Javanese culture –as her origin culture- and Dutch

culture, but it shaped from outside the third space. The interesting thing is Nyai

Ontosoroh as a concubine who is always stigmatized by the colonial society and

the colonized has a courage and nationalism awareness to fight against the

colonizer. More interestingly, this is something Minke, who represents the

educated colonized, never thinks about since he only wrote a fiction story using

Dutch.

Conclusion

Nyai Ontosoroh, the protagonist of Bumi Manusia, is initially considered

as seductive, immoral, and uneducated indigenous concubine. However, she is

able to turn over the mainstream perspective toward herself as a concubine

because of the knowledge she got from reading. Reading has made her adopt

western thinking style which is done unconsciously as a mimicry process.

Reading and adopting western idea have shaped her mind set to be different from

and led her one step ahead of most of her nation. She gets the honor because of

the knowledge she has and as if through her knowledge she got she could clutch

people around her and turn over the negative perspective toward herself as

concubine.

Nyai Ontosoroh, as the imitator finally faced an identity problem which

puts herself into the third space, which will lead her into a new identity. However,

she chose to be an indigenous instead of being “Black-Dutch” as the new identity

in the third space. The indigenous identity she chose is not indigenous as

Javanese, but an indigenous identity which represents all colonized in Netherland

East Indies who was born outside the third space. Her decision to be indigenous

will weaken her position in colonial society if it is looked from Bhabha’s seminal

work. Amazingly, by being an indigenous she gets the power to keep her

existence. Therefore, the portrayal of Nyai Ontosoroh actually does not confirm

Bhabaha’s post-colonial theory since it totally blurs Bhabha’s theory because she

was considered in line with Bhabha’s theory but then she twisted the theory by

declaring herself as an indigenous.

Acknowledgment

First of all, I want to thank to My Lord who has given me chance and

guided me to write and finish this thesis entitled Nyai Ontosoroh; A Concubine

Phenomenon A la PramoedyaAnataToer. I also thank to my thesis supervisor,

Mrs. Lany Kristono, M.hum for guiding and giving me advice to write this thesis

and this thesis will be incomplete without her guidance. I also thank to Mrs. Deta

Maria Sri Darta, M.Hum as my thesis examiner for her suggestion for revising

this thesis.

I dedicate this thesis for my family who has supported me to finish this

thesis when I was down. Finally, I hope my thesis will be useful for people who

read.

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