Footsteps (novel)

The novel, like the tetralogy, is based on the life of Indonesian journalist Tirto Adhi Soerjo (1880–1918).[1][2] This novel – the third installment of the tetralogy – covers the period 1901 to 1912 and is set on the island of Java, Dutch East Indies (today Indonesia).[2] The protagonist, also the narrator, is Minke (a fictionalization of Tirto). Minke leaves Surabaya, where he studied in a prestigious high school, to go Betawi (or Batavia), the capital of Dutch East Indies, to continue his education.[1] There he attends the STOVIA, a school for native doctors, the only avenue for higher education available to the natives in the Dutch East Indies.[3] He continues to encounter racist colonial policies; for example, he is not allowed to wear European dress, but instead must wear indigenous dress.[4] While studying there he meets Mei, a Chinese activist who is working on forming an organization for the Chinese in the Indies.[4] They marry but she soon dies of malaria.[4]

After Mei's death, Minke continues to be drawn to politics and forms a grassroots political organization for the Indies natives.[2][4] The organization is called Sarekat Dagang Islam (Islamic Traders' Union), which later becomes Sarekat Islam (Islamic Union); in real life this organization is credited as the first native grassroots organization in the Indies.[5] Minke's writings, which are critical of the Dutch authorities, and his poor grades lead to his expulsion from the medical school.[4][1] He then realizes that his passion does not lie in medicine, and becomes a journalist. He founds first a magazine and then the first newspaper to be owned and operated by natives.[4] As writer and editor, he tries to instill political and social knowledge to his fellow Indies subjects.[1] He also meets and marries an exiled princess, whom he loves and finds happiness with.[1] Later he also met an Indo man named Jacques Pangemanann who asked Minke to publish his script titled 'Njai Dasima'.

After his young colleagues at the newspaper publish a highly critical editorial against the Governor-General, the newspaper is banned and Minke is arrested for accusation of tax evasion.[6] The novel ends as he is led into exile outside Java and is forced to leave his wife.[7] The storyline will continue in the fourth installment of the tetralogy, House of Glass.[6]

Like the previous books of the Buru Quartet, Pramoedya began Footsteps as oral narration to other prisoners, while he was a political prisoner in Buru.[8] He was imprisoned without trial by the Suharto administration for fourteen years, accused of sympathizing with communists and of being involved in the 1965 coup attempt.[1] Given the lack of materials, he based the details of the Dutch Indies at the turn of 20th century on the memory of his historical research during the 1960s.[8] Later he was allowed to write, and composed the tetralogy in writing.[8][9] Prior to the release of the book he also published a non-fiction account of Tirto Adhi Soerjo, on which the protagonist Minke was based.[10]

The book was published in Indonesian as Jejak Langkah in 1985[11] and was translated into English by Max Lane in 1990.[1][12]

The protagonist Minke is based on Tirto Adhi Soerjo (1880–1918), a figure of the Indonesian National Awakening and one of the country's first journalists.[8] According to Carlo Coppola of the Oakland University, reviewing the book in World Literature Today, the book demonstrates a "strong commitment to broad humanistic ideals".[13] The book contrasts Minke's attraction towards modern technology and notions of freedom brought by the Europeans with the alienation they brought to the subjugated Indies subjects.[1] A review by Publishers Weekly noted the book's contrast of Minke's "dream of a united, multiethnic", independent Indonesia against the "harsh realities of colonial occupation".[2] The book also highlights the oppression and "brutal subjugation" of the Indies' native subjects by the Dutch authorities and their native collaborators.[2] It also shows Minke's maturation through two marriages.[2]

Coppola praised Pramoedya's storytelling abilities and how the story makes the reader eagerly wait for the next installment.[13] He also noted the book's "tenor of political tract" because it discusses the author's ideals "too lengthily" throughout.[13] Kirkus Reviews criticised the book for its "clumsy mix" of "political reportage and [...] personal details", and "obtrusive" political agenda.[4] Publishers Weekly said that the book was a "vibrant portrait" of Indonesia's development of nationhood, "rich in human drama and history", and praised the English translator Lane's introduction as being helpful for new readers on the topic.[2]

For some time, the tetralogy was banned in Indonesia by the Suharto administration, as it was accused of spreading "Marxist-Leninist teaching".[10]