In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 153 (1997), no: 1, Leiden, 1-14

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1 S. Robson V. Clara van Groenendael In memoriam P.J. Zoetmulder SJ ( ) In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 153 (1997), no: 1, Leiden, 1-14 This PDF-file was downloaded from

2 -l S.O. ROBSON AND V.M. CLARA VAN GROENENDAEL In Memoriam P. J. Zoetmulder S J ( ) Petrus Josephus Zoetmulder, known as Piet to his contemporaries and as Romo to his other friends, was a member of the Society of Jesus and first and foremost a man of God. It is true that we remember him for his scholarship, but his life and his intellect were dedicated to the service of God and the Church. Born into a devout Roman Catholic family in Utrecht on 29 January 1906, he showed early promise and was prepared for the priesthood by attending the Jesuit school at Rolduc and entering the novitiate in Mariendaal at Grave on 7 September He was sent by his mentor, Pater J. Willekens, to continue his studies in Java, however, where he arrived in 1925, 'when the Jesuits still wore black', as he once said. For Oriental Studies he used to consult C.C. Berg, who was teaching at the AMS (Algemeene Middelbare School = General High School) in Solo at the time. He completed the study of philosophy at Ignatius College in Kota Baru, Yogyakarta, in 1931, and took his first vows as a Jesuit at Girisonta, Ungaran. At this point he was sent back to Holland for further study at the University of Leiden under professors C.C. Berg (Javanese), N.J. Krom (History), Ph.S. van Ronkel (Malay) and C. Snouck Hurgronje (Arabic). Because of his preparation in Java, he was able to complete the study of Oostersche Letteren in only two years. He took his MA, with honours, in 1933 and went straight on to write a dissertation, combining Javanese and philosophy, which was entitled Pantheisme en Monisme in de Javaansche Soeloek-Litteratuur. This he defended cum laude on 30 October 1935, with Professor C.C. Berg as promotor (supervisor). This dissertation was an original and important exploration of Javanese thinking as contained in the genre of mystica1 Islamic poems called suluk, some of which he translated. However, the work remained little known, and by the 1970s was very rare. Eventually an Indonesian translation was published by Dick Hartoko in 1990, and an English translation by his friend Merle Ricklefs in Apart from this, only a couple of short articles in Djawa on passages from the Serat Centhini and a Dutch translation of the Wédhatama bear witness to Zoetmulder's skills at interpreting this type of Javanese poetry. The last-mentioned translation is worth noting. In December 1936 the Java Institute announced that it was holding a competition (for the second time - the first had been unsatisfactory) to produce a translation of the

7 6 S. O. Robson and V.M. Clara van Groenendael works, with the emphasis on the kakawin literature. Only one chapter is devoted to 'minor kakawins of later times', and one to the 'Kidung literature', reflecting Zoetmulder's own predeliction for the major classics and his view that anything of later Balinese origin was almost inevitably a sad second-best. Much space is also devoted to a genera1 discussion of poetic technique, and this forms a development from the ideas originally presented in 'Kawi and Kekawin'. His favourite poem was the Sumanasäntaka [Death by a Flower], a masterpiece by Mpu Monaguna of Kadiri in the late 12th century, noted for its charming descriptions of the tragic young princess in the story, Indumati. Kalangwan is an essential companion to the dictionary, as it reflects Zoetmulder's insights, for example as regards the chronology of the works. These were later also reflected in the arrangement of examples in the dictionary, providing a historica1 dimension for the study. Apart from Chapter I, which provides an overview of what Old Javanese language and literature are, the most important parts of the book are Chapters 111, IV and V, which treat the subjects of metres, forms and materials, and 'the world of the poem' respectively. Here the figure of the poet appears again, and Zoetmulder expounds his views on the 'religio poetae', the religion of the poet. Old Javanese poetry in addition presents many pictures of Java as it must have looked in early times, including the scenes of nature which inspired the poets with such rapture; in fact, man and the many aspects of nature are intimately connected. In 1971 Professor A. Teeuw of Leiden University, who had been following the progress of the dictionary and recognized the need for assistance, especially with the English meanings, applied for and obtained funds from the Dutch government to employ S.O. Robson (who had some experience in translating Old and Middle Javanese texts) to provide whatever help was necessary. After spending six months in Bali in literary studies there, at the end of 1971 Robson took up his post in Yogya, where Romo Zoet had just returned from Europe. Robson worked at the Pasturan Kumetiran from 7.30 til daily, correcting and checking, for the whole of 1972 and By that time about half the opus had been typed out in alphabetical order in a first version and then checked. During this time Romo seemed to be becoming more and more withdrawn, probably because of the strain of trying to finish the dictionary. One has to remember that it took up al1 of his attention; being a priest, he had no wife or children to distract him. So he just worked, rarely going beyond the walls of the Pasturan. He declined an invitation to visit the village of his assistant Pak Kibat, for instance, observing that the lack of facilities there might make it 'awkward'. His life was one of strict discipline and regulation, as befitted his position. He would rise early to say Mass; after the abolition of Latin, he preferred the Javanese Mass, as he was not an admirer of the Indonesian language. A few devoted parishioners might attend. Morning tea was always taken at the Same time in the refectory at

RESENSI BUKU

RESENSI BUKU 187 Suratminto, Lilie. 2006. Komunitas Kristen masa VOC di Batavia dilihat dari batu nisannya; Sebuah kajian semiotik dan analisis teks. Disertasi, Fakultas Ilmu Pengetahuan Budaya, Universitas Indonesia,