Indonesian literature, is a term grouping various genres of South-East Asian literature.

The
term "Indonesian" has overlapping meanings reflecting the complex geographic and political
history of the region. Indonesian Literature can refer to literature produced in the Indonesian
archipelago. It is also used to refer more broadly to literature produced in areas with
common language roots based on the Malay language (of which Indonesian is one scion).
This would extend the reach to the Maritime Southeast Asia (including Indonesia, but also
other nations with a common language such as Malaysia and Brunei, as well as population
within other nations such as the Malay people living in Singapore.

There are also works written in and about Indonesia in unrelated languages. There are
several languages and several distinct but related literary traditions within the geographical
boundaries of the modern nation of Indonesia. For example the island of Java has its own
Javanese pre-national cultural and literary history. There are also Sundanese, Balinese, and
Batak or Madurese traditions. Indonesia also has a colonial history of Dutch, British and
Japanese occupation, as well as a history of Islamic influence that brought its own texts,
linguistic and literary influences. There is also an oral literature tradition in the area.

The phrase Indonesian literature is used in this article to refer to Indonesian as written in the
nation of Indonesia.

Blurred distinctions

The languages spoken (and part of them written) in the Indonesian Archipelago number
over a thousand, and for that reason alone it is impracticable to survey their entire literary
production in one article. Since the thought of a national Indonesian language only struck
root as recently as the 1920s, this means that emphasis in the present article is put on the
twentieth century.

At the same time, such a choice leaves a number of distinctions open. Major factors which
make for a blurring of distinctions are:
The difficulty of distinguishing between Malay and Indonesian

Even in the 1930s, Malay was the lingua franca of the Archipelago, but was also used widely
outside it, while a national Indonesian language was still in a state of development. Thus, it
is often difficult to ascertain where Malay leaves off and Indonesian begins. Nor is it possible
to understand the development of Indonesian literature without study of the older Malay
which it reacted against, and whose tradition it continued.

Mutual influence between regional languages and their literatures.

A work which appears in one Indonesian language may be found in a variant form in one or
more others, especially when such literature has been part of the tradition for a long time.

The problem of distinguishing between oral and written literature

Oral literature is, of course, assessed by other means than written manifestations, and field-
work is one of these means. However, in the written literature, too, poetry may have been
recorded which had originated as oral literature.

Overview

During its early history, Indonesia was the centre of trade among sailors and traders from
China, India, Europe and the Middle East. Indonesia was then a colony of the Netherlands
(ca. 1600—1942) and Japan (1942–45). Its literary tradition was influenced by these
cultures, mainly those of India, Persia, China and, more recently, Western Europe. However,
unique Indonesian characteristics cause it to be considered as a separate path and tradition.

Chronologically Indonesian literature may be divided into several periods:

* Pujangga Lama: the "Literates of Olden Times" (traditional literature)

* Sastra Melayu Lama: "Older Malay Literature"
* Angkatan Balai Pustaka: the "Generation of the [Colonial] Office for Popular Literature"
(from 1908)
* Angkatan Pujangga Baru: the "New Literates" (from 1933)
* Angkatan 1945: the "Generation of 1945"
* Angkatan 1950 - 1960-an: the "Generation of the 1950s"
* Angkatan 1966 - 1970-an: the "Generation of 1966 into the 1970s"
* Angkatan 1980-an: the "Decade of the 1980s"
* Angkatan Reformasi: the post-Suharto "Reformation Period"
* Angkatan 2000-an: the "Generation of 2000s"

There is considerable overlapping between these periods, and the usual designation
according to "generations" (angkatan) should not allow us to lose sight of the fact that these
are movements rather than chronological periods. For instance, older Malay literature was
being written until well into the twentieth century. Likewise, the Pujangga Baru Generation
was active even after the Generation of 1950 had entered the literary scene.
Traditional literature: Pujangga Lama

Early Indonesian literature originates in Malay literature, and the influence of these roots was
felt until well into the twentieth century. The literature produced by the Pujangga lama
(literally "the old poets") was mainly written before the 20th century, but after the coming of
Islam. Before that time, however, there must have existed a lively oral tradition.

Genres

In written poetry and prose, a number of traditional forms dominate, mainly:—

* syair (traditional narrative poetry)

* pantun (quatrains made up of two seemingly disconnected couplets)
* gurindam (brief aphorisms)
* hikayat (stories, fairy-tales, animal fables, chronicles)
* babad (histories or chronicles).

Works

Some of these works are:

* syair
Syair Bidasari, Syair Ken Tambuhan, Syair Raja Mambang Jauhari, Syair Raja Siak
* pantun
scattered items found all over the Indonesian Archipelago, and also incorporated in other
works (e.g., Sejarah Melayu)
* hikayat
Hikayat Abdullah, Hikayat Andaken Penurat, Hikayat Bayan Budiman, Hikayat Djahidin,
Hikayat Hang Tuah, Hikayat Kadirun, Hikayat Kalila dan Damina, Hikayat Masydulhak,
Hikayat Pelanduk Jinaka, Hikayat Pandja Tanderan, Hikayat Putri Djohar Manikam, Hikayat
Tjendera Hasan, Tsahibul Hikayat.
* historiography
Sejarah Melayu.

1870—1942: Sastra Melayu Lama