Chairil Anwar

Chairil Anwar (26 July 1922 – 28 April 1949) was an Indonesian poet belonging to the "1945 Generation" of writers. He produced around 96 works, 70 of which were individual poems.

Born and raised in Medan, North Sumatra, Anwar moved to Batavia with his mother in 1940 and became involved in local literary circles. He published his first poem in 1942 and continued writing, though Japanese occupiers sometimes censored his work. He lived a rebellious life, frequently writing about death, and died in Jakarta from an unknown illness.

His poetry explored themes such as death, individualism, and existentialism, and was often open to multiple interpretations. Influenced by foreign poets, he used everyday language and innovative syntax, which helped develop the Indonesian language. His poems were irregularly structured but followed individual patterns.

Anwar was born in Medan on 26 July 1922. As a child, he was stubborn and competitive, traits inherited from his parents, and was also spoiled. He attended local native schools until dropping out by age 18. He later claimed he knew he wanted to be an artist from age 15, having already written poetry in the prevailing style.

After his parents divorced, his father continued to support him and his mother financially. They moved to Batavia, where Anwar intended to continue schooling but dropped out again. In Batavia, he mixed with wealthy Indo children and the local literary scene. Despite not finishing school, he was fluent in English, Dutch, and German.

Anwar gained recognition after his poem "Nisan" ("Grave"), inspired by his grandmother’s death, was written in 1942. However, some poems were rejected; in 1943, most of his submissions to *Pandji Pustaka* were turned down for being too individualistic and not aligning with the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Poems like "Diponegoro" passed the censors. He continued associating with other writers, exchanging ideas, and eventually became a leader among them. He founded the magazine *Gema Gelanggang*. His last poem, "Cemara Menderai Sampai Jauh" ("Fir Trees Are Sown Off Into the Distance"), was written in 1949. In January 1949, his father was among hundreds of civilians killed by the Dutch in the Rengat massacre.

Anwar died at CBZ Hospital (now R.S. Ciptomangunkusomo) in Jakarta on 28 April 1949 and was buried the next day at Karet Bivak Cemetery. His cause of death is uncertain; possibilities include typhus, syphilis, or a combination of these with tuberculosis. Dutch scholar A. Teeuw suggests Anwar knew he would die young, pointing to "Jang Terampas dan Jang Putus" ("The Seized and the Broken"), which deals with surrender and predicts his burial in Karet.

During his lifetime, Anwar wrote about 94 works, including 71 poems. He considered only 13 truly good. His most famous poem is "Aku" ("Me"). Most of his poems were unpublished at his death but later collected in posthumous anthologies. The first was *Deru Tjampur Debu* (Roar Mixed with Dust), followed by *Kerikil Tadjam dan Jang Terampas dan Terputus* (Sharp Pebbles and the Seized and The Broken). Some poems in these collections share titles but differ slightly.

Teeuw notes it is difficult to identify a single theme unifying Anwar’s work, as his poems reflect his changing state of mind. The only common feature is an intensity and joie de vivre reflecting his radicalism. Individual poems often show excitement but also fear of death or depression, making it impossible to pinpoint "the true Chairil." His works are multi-interpretable: Japanese overlords read "Diponegoro" as a challenge to white colonialists, Indonesian Christians read "Doa" ("Prayer") and "Isa" ("Jesus") as positive views of Christianity, and Indonesian Muslims read "Dimesjid" ("At the Mosque") as a meeting with Allah.

Teeuw notes that early works show influence from Hendrik Marsman, while others echo Rainer Maria Rilke, J. Slauerhoff, and Xu Zhimo. Muhammad Balfas describes Anwar as an "intellectual poet" whose works are "detached."

Anwar used everyday language in unusual ways, exploiting Indonesian morphology with prefixes and suffixes to create dynamism and stronger impressions. His language, shifting from classic Malay influence and incorporating Dutch and English loanwords, influenced the development of Indonesian and revealed its weaknesses. According to Tinuk Yampolsky of the Lontar Foundation, his Western influence typifies the 1945 Generation, which dealt with Western-influenced individualism and existentialism, unlike the previous generation focused on traditional verse and nationalism.