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P. A. Daum (1850–1898)

Autor de Goena-goena

22 Obras 214 Miembros 6 Reseñas 1 Preferidas

Sobre El Autor

Incluye los nombres: P.A. Daum, Paul Adriaan] [Daum

Obras de P. A. Daum

Goena-goena (1887) — Autor — 53 copias
Uit de suiker in de tabak (1884) 28 copias
Indische mensen in Holland (1888) 15 copias
'Nummer elf' ̈ (1889) 11 copias
Aboe Bakar (1980) 7 copias

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P.A. Daum was a Dutch writer who moved to the Dutch Indies for work as a journalist at the age of 29 and lived there for about 10 years. His experience is that of life and work in the colonial society, observing life as it was.

Nummer elf is a romantic and tragic story of true love. The novel describes the two sides of love and marriage in colonial society. On the one hand it must have been difficult for the white colonial staff to find a suitable marriage partner, as choice and available partners were limited. In as far as a partner was to be found exclusively among the Dutch colonials who resided in the colony, partners were sometimes chosen regardless of age, or love. This was also true of the homeland, but the lack of choice was perhaps more strongly felt in the colonies. On the other hand, there were illicit relationships, often merely sexual relationships that white colonial rulers held with local women. They also often had children with local women. In all these relationships the line of division was race.

As with some of the other novels by Daum, the meaning and significance of the title isn't revealed until the very last page, although contemporary readers who had knowledge of life in the colonies might have known. For the enjoyment of the novel it isn't important, although it does leave the reader with a stronger impression at the end.
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Denunciada
edwinbcn | Mar 4, 2023 |
The Dutch Indies -- now Indonesia -- were the most prized among the Dutch colonies, and while the Dutch West Indies are an ongoing influence on Dutch art and literature, the influence of writers who had a connection with the Far East is fading.

In the mind of Dutch people, Louis Couperus is the great novelist associated with the Dutch Indies. However, this impression is somewhat incongruous with the facts. Couperus wasn't born there and only lived there in his childhood for about six years. Besides, Couperus wrote only one book which is directly connected to the colonial period, namely The Hidden Force. Therefore, Couperus experience of the Dutch Indies is mainly based on intuitive experience and hearsay.

P.A. Daum, on the other hand, moved to the Dutch Indies for work as a journalist at the age of 29 or 30 and lived there for about 10 years. His experience is much more that of life and work in the colonial society, observing life as it was.

Goena-goena. Een geschiedenis van stille kracht is a novel about the life of a Dutch family in the colony. The novel, which is only about 200 pages, seems an uneventful story, portraying a typical lifestyle of Dutch people in colonial society and in line with customs and norms of the mid- to late Nineteenth century. However, at a deeper level, this novel is connected with Couperus's novel De stille kracht (The Hidden Force, as these words also appear in the secondary title of the novel.

That socalled "stille kracht" (hidden force) is deemed to be a form of power of resistance that the local people exerted over the colonizers in order to repel them or drive them away. In the novel by Louis Couperus, it takes the form of a ghost and inexplicable magic, spreading fear. In the novel by Daum it is more subtle, but a very clear albeit apparent manifestation.

The novels of P.A. Daum often simply describe colonial family life, lacking very dramatic plot events. However, the end of the novels often end with an unexpected chute, a sudden realisation that puts the whole story on a slightly different footing.
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edwinbcn | otra reseña | Mar 3, 2023 |
Old book, modern theme

First published as a newspaper feuilleton in 1893, Aboe Bakar chronicles how a young Indonesian man receives a Western education but ends as a Muslim radical when he cannot live up to modern standards. As such, Aboe Bakar experiences the same kind of alienation from Western modernity as can be found in many Western suburbs and among the middle classes in the Islamic world.

On the other hand, Aboe Bakar is also a book from the long gone world of colonialism. Adam Silver, as Aboe Bakar's real name is, is the stepson of a colonial planter. Adam is the son of the planter's concubine , who has cheated on him with an Arab trader in "preciosa". The mixed-race planter is depicted as a country bumpkin who only worries about money and that others perceive him as a Westerner.

After failing in his studies in Holland, Adam returns to the Indies when his stepfather is on his deathbed. The inheritance is much smaller than he expected and he has to give up on his Dutch girlfriend. Luckily there is soon a pretty native replacement. As his stepfather had not officially recognised him as his child, Adam gets the status of a "native". His mother adds that as a native he would better become a Muslim.

The Islamic preacher explains Adam you should not want too much from life, but share peace, kindness, quiet and calmness, instead of the ever busy life of the Westerners. His conversion increases his status among his native family. The clerics convince him that he should move into the house of in-laws and should dress as a Muslim, i.e. as a native. Towards his half brothers Adam claims to identify himself with the oppressed. After a painful circumcision he becomes Aboe Bakar, and he appreciates the increased respect after completing the haj.

As a successful cattle trader in Batavia, Aboe Bakar invests in real estate and takes a lighter-skinned second wife from a higher class family, further increasing his status. His new in-laws bring him into contact with more radical Islamic priests. They convince him to give up business and join them in in the countryside. It will ruin him in multiple ways.

The book is only partly fictitious: the author based his story upon numerous interviews with an existing person. This does not mean that the image Mr. Daum paints of Islam is always very correct. There is nothing new under the sun here either.

The book has the clarity of a film script, although the feuilleton format does not benefit the development of the novel. Every chapter is about six pages long and is a small story in itself, which hinders elaboration. Some parts seem clearly written to create an effect with a newspaper audience. On the other hand, it did not stop Mr. Daum from showing the Europeans among his readers the stupidity of their patronising attitude towards the natives and disdain towards Muslims.

There is a discussion of the book and a translation of one chapter here.
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mercure | Jun 6, 2012 |
eerste deel van een voortreffelijke serie van vier over machtswellust op middelniveau in het Nederlandsch-Indie van rond 1880.Voortreffelijke, nuchtere karakterisering van mensen en de omgeving waarin zij leven.nadrukkelijk: Hollandse mensen in een koloniaal Indië. De inheemse bevolking speelt geen enkele rol.Maar zo was het daar en toen ook.
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Denunciada
leowillemse | Nov 1, 2009 |

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Miembros
214
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