You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reasons:

This IP address has been blocked from editing Wikipedia.
This does not affect your ability to read Wikipedia pages.
Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong. Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and can sometimes affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. Review the information below for assistance if you do not believe that you have done anything wrong.

The IP address or range 34.227.0.0/16 has been blocked by ‪Blablubbs‬ for the following reason(s):

The IP address that you are currently using has been blocked because it is believed to be a web host provider or colocation provider. To prevent abuse, web hosts and colocation providers may be blocked from editing Wikipedia.
You will not be able to edit Wikipedia using a web host or colocation provider because it hides your IP address, much like a proxy or VPN.
We recommend that you attempt to use another connection to edit. For example, if you use a proxy or VPN to connect to the internet, turn it off when editing Wikipedia. If you edit using a mobile connection, try using a Wi-Fi connection, and vice versa. If you are using a corporate internet connection, switch to a different Wi-Fi network. If you have a Wikipedia account, please log in.
If you do not have any other way to edit Wikipedia, you will need to request an IP block exemption.

How to appeal if you are confident that your connection does not use a colocation provider's IP address:
If you are confident that you are not using a web host, you may appeal this block by adding the following text on your talk page: ((unblock|reason=Caught by a colocation web host block but this host or IP is not a web host. My IP address is _______. Place any further information here. ~~~~)). You must fill in the blank with your IP address for this block to be investigated. Your IP address can be determined here. Alternatively, if you wish to keep your IP address private you can use the unblock ticket request system. There are several reasons you might be editing using the IP address of a web host or colocation provider (such as if you are using VPN software or a business network); please use this method of appeal only if you think your IP address is in fact not a web host or colocation provider.

Administrators: The IP block exemption user right should only be applied to allow users to edit using web host in exceptional circumstances, and requests should usually be directed to the functionaries team via email. If you intend to give the IPBE user right, a CheckUser needs to take a look at the account. This can be requested most easily at SPI Quick Checkuser Requests. Unblocking an IP or IP range with this template is highly discouraged without at least contacting the blocking administrator.

This block will expire on 11:46, 23 November 2025. Your current IP address is 34.227.114.28.

Even when blocked, you will usually still be able to edit your user talk page, as well as email administrators and other editors.

For information on how to proceed, please read the FAQ for blocked users and the guideline on block appeals. The guide to appealing blocks may also be helpful.

Other useful links: Blocking policy · Help:I have been blocked
This IP address range has been globally blocked.
This does not affect your ability to read Wikipedia pages.
Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong. Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and can sometimes affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. Review the information below for assistance if you do not believe that you have done anything wrong.

This block affects editing on all Wikimedia wikis.
The IP address or range 34.227.0.0/16 has been globally blocked by ‪Jon Kolbert‬ for the following reason(s):

Open proxy/Webhost: See the help page if you are affected

This block will expire on 05:38, 21 February 2029. Your current IP address is 34.227.114.28.

Even while globally blocked, you will usually still be able to edit pages on Meta-Wiki.

If you believe you were blocked by mistake, you can find additional information and instructions in the No open proxies global policy. Otherwise, to discuss the block please post a request for review on Meta-Wiki. You could also send an email to the stewards VRT queue at stewards@wikimedia.org including all above details.

Other useful links: Global blocks · Help:I have been blocked

You can view and copy the source of this page:

((Short description|Novel by Pramoedya Ananta Toer))
((about||the 2019 film adaptation|This Earth of Mankind (film)))
((Use dmy dates|date=December 2013))
((multiple issues|
((original research|date=June 2011))
((refimprove|date=June 2011))
))

((Infobox book | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] -->
| name          = This Earth of Mankind
| title_orig    = Bumi Manusia
| translator    = [[Maxwell Ronald Lane]] (English)
| image         = This Earth of Mankind bookcover.jpg
| caption       = Book cover
| author        = [[Pramoedya Ananta Toer]]
| illustrator   = 
| cover_artist  = 
| country       = [[Indonesia]]
| language      = [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]] trans. to English
| series        = Buru Quartet
| genre         = [[Historical novel]]
| publisher     = [[Hasta Mitra]]
| release_date  = 1980
| english_release_date =
| media_type    = 
| pages         = 
| isbn          = 
| preceded_by   = 
| followed_by   = [[Child of All Nations]]
))
'''''This Earth of Mankind''''' is the first book in [[Pramoedya Ananta Toer]]'s epic quartet called ''[[Buru Quartet]]'', first published by Hasta Mitra in 1980. The story is set at the end of the [[Dutch East Indies|Dutch colonial rule]] and was written while Pramoedya was imprisoned on the political island prison of [[Buru]] in eastern [[Indonesia]]. The story was first narrated verbally to Pramoedya's fellow prisoners in 1973 because he did not get permission to write.<ref name="penguin">((cite web| title=Author Interview| work=Penguin Reading Guides on This Earth of Mankind| url=http://us.penguingroup.com/static/rguides/us/this_earth_of_mankind.html| publisher=Penguin Group| accessdate=2007-05-08))</ref> The story spread through all the inmates until 1975 when Pramoedya was finally granted permission to write the detailed story.

The central character and the narrator of ''This Earth of Mankind'' is a [[Javanese people|Javanese]] boy, Minke, who is fortunate to attend an elite Dutch school because he is a descendant of Javanese royalty (the character is based on [[Tirto Adhi Soerjo]]). Minke faces a complex and dangerous world when he meets Nyai Ontosoroh, a ''[[njai]]'' or  [[concubine]] of a [[Dutch people|Dutch]] man. Minke's life becomes more dangerous when he falls in love with Annelies, the beautiful [[Indo people|Indo]] daughter of Nyai Ontosoroh. In ''This Earth of Mankind'', Pramoedya portrayed the unjust life of the Indonesian people during the Dutch colonization period when social status was governed by the amount of European blood running through their veins. Pramoedya characterized Minke as an outspoken person, who refuses this hierarchical society by becoming a writer instead of a speech-maker, which bears a resemblance to Pramoedya's life who was jailed for two years after carrying anti-Dutch documents and then became a writer.<ref name="penguin"/>

The Indonesian Attorney General banned ''This Earth of Mankind'' in 1981.<ref name="Indonesian Institute of Social History">((cite web | url=https://sites.google.com/site/sejarahsosial/pelaranganbuku/pelarangan-buku-dari-jaman-ke-jaman/dilarang-membaca-buku-buku-ini | title=Banned book | publisher=Indonesian Institute of Social History | date=27 March 2010 | accessdate=17 April 2014 | author=Alit Ambara))</ref> Many copies of the first editions survived and circulated, along with editions published in Malaysia.   It was returned to print in Indonesia in 2005 by the publisher Lentera Depantara, after it had already appeared worldwide in 33 languages.

==Plot summary==
The book tells the story of Minke, a [[Javanese people|Javanese]] minor royal who studies at a ''Hogere Burger School'' (HBS) in an era when only the descendants of the European colonizers can expect to attain this level of education. Minke is a talented young writer whose works are published in several Dutch-language journals and are widely admired.  But as a "native", Minke is disliked by many of his fellow-students, who all claim some European descent.  He is portrayed as being bold in opposing the injustices imposed upon his fellow Javanese as well as challenging aspects of his own culture.

Minke is introduced to an extremely unusual Indonesian woman, [[Nyai]] Ontosoroh, who is the concubine of a Dutch man called Herman Mellema. Though she is a concubine, Nyai Ontosoroh is the actual head of family and company as Herman Mellema lost his sanity in the past. Minke falls in love with their daughter, Annelies, whom he eventually marries in an Islamic wedding in accordance with "native" customs, but which, according to Dutch law, has no legal validity because it was conducted without the consent of the under-aged Annelies' legal, Dutch, guardians.

In that period, it was common for women to become the concubines of Dutch men living in the East Indies. They were considered to have low morals because of their status as concubines, even if, as in Nyai Ontosoro's case, they had no choice in the matter.  Their children had uncertain legal status - either considered illegitimate "natives" with a corresponding lack of legal rights, unless legally acknowledged by their father, in which case they were considered "Indos", and their mother lost all rights over them in favor of the father. As a concubine, Nyai Ontosoro suffers because of her low status and lack of rights, but, significantly, is aware of the injustice of her suffering and believes education is the route by which her basic humanity can be acknowledged. She believes that learning is the key to opposing indignity, stupidity, and poverty.  However, the decision to have the children of their relationship legally acknowledged as Herman Mellema's children has catastrophic consequences by the end of the book.

For Pramoedya, education is the key to changing one's fate. For instance, Nyai Ontosoro, who had no formal schooling and who was educated by her experiences, from books, and from her daily life, was a far more inspiring educator than Minke's high school teachers. However, the book also powerfully portrays the reality of Dutch colonial government in Indonesia through the lives of the characters, where Minke's education and Nyai Ontosoro's success in business count for little when ranged against the unyielding 
Dutch colonial law.

==Published by ex-political prisoners==
After release from detention in April 1980, [[Hasjim Rachman]], the former editor of the ''Eastern Star'' and Pramoedya met with [[Joesoef Isak]], a former journalist of the ''Merdeka''  newspaper who had been detained in Salemba prison. After various discussion, an agreement was reached to publish works by ex-political prisoners that had not previously been welcomed by other publishers.

The manuscript chosen as the first work to be published was ''This Earth of Mankind'' (''Bumi Manusia''). Pramoedya began working hard to sort through the papers that he had managed to retrieve from the island of [[Buru]]. Nearly all the original manuscript had been detained by the prison officials and had not been returned. For three months he re-composed and sorted through the stained and weather-worn pages to create the manuscript for the book. In the meantime, Hasjim and Joesoef made the rounds of key government officials, including the Vice-President, [[Adam Malik]], who were positively disposed towards the enterprise.

In July 1980, the manuscript of ''This Earth of Mankind'' was sent to the Aga Press printers with the hope that it would be published before the celebrations for the [[Indonesian Declaration of Independence]] on 17 August, although in the end it was published on 25 August, having been delayed by the celebrations. This first edition was very simple, with no illustrations. For Pramoedya, the publishing of ''This Earth of Mankind'' signified his "determination, sincerity, and resolution to invest in the development of democracy in Indonesia - and not a democracy built upon colonialism, but a democracy that is the result of our own efforts".

5,000 copies of ''This Earth of Mankind'' sold in the space of 12 days ((Citation needed|date=February 2007)). Within a few months of being published, several publishers in [[Hong Kong]], [[Malaysia]], the [[Netherlands]], and Australia approached the publishers, Hasta Mitra, for permission to prepare translations. Pramoedya as the author would receive royalties on these translations, while the role of Hasta Mitra was only to act as agents. The Wira Karya publishing house in Malaysia paid royalties of as much as 12% directly to Pramoedya.

By November, Hasta Mitra had published its third edition, and had sold as many as 10,000 copies. The book was well-received critically, acclaimed as "the best work of literature of our times", while the Armed Forces daily newspaper, published by the headquarters of the Indonesian Armed Forces called it "a new contribution to the treasury of Indonesian literature".

==Banned==
''This Earth of Mankind'' was banned by the Attorney General of Indonesia in 1981 on the grounds that it promoted [[Marxist-Leninist]] doctrines and [[Communism]], even though neither doctrine is mentioned in the book.<ref name="Indonesian Institute of Social History"/>

Initially, the Ampat Lima printing house, which actually printed ''This Earth of Mankind'', were asked not to produce any more works published by Hasta Mitra. The editors of major media organizations were contacted, to the effect that they were not allowed to review or praise ''This Earth of Mankind'' or any other of Pramoedya's works.

In April 1981, various [[New Order (Indonesia)|New Order]] youth groups held discussion sessions which criticized the work of Pramoedya. These discussions were trumpeted by the mass media as evidence of the disapproval of 'the people'. Subsequently, these discussions provided an important justification for the eventual banning of the work by the Attorney General. New Order mouthpieces such as ''[[Suara Karya]]'', ''Pelita'' and ''Karya Dharma'' began publishing criticisms of ''This Earth of Mankind'' and its author.

The Association of Indonesian Publishers (IKAPI), which were organizing an exhibition of the books of that year, suddenly sent a letter to the address of Hasta Mitra, revoking Hasta Mitra's membership in the association, despite the fact that the committee had been enthusiastic about inviting the publisher to become a member and be involved in its activities. Newspapers which had previously been sympathetic became increasingly reluctant to give space to the author, and there were even several pieces of writing, ready to be published, which were suddenly rejected just because their authors had praised the work of Pramoedya.

Finally, on 29 May 1981, the Attorney General published regulation SK-052/JA/5/1981 about the banning of ''This Earth of Mankind'' and its sequel ''Child of All Nations (Anak Semua Bangsa)''. In the regulation, among other things, were mentioned a letter from Suharto which had been written a week previously, and a meeting with the Minister of the Interior on 18 May 1981. The banning of the book was entirely political and had nothing to do with  the books' literary qualities, scholarly arguments nor the official reason that the books were pro-communist.

All bookshops and agents were visited by people from the Attorney General's office and all copies of ''This Earth of Mankind'' and ''Child of All Nations'' were confiscated. In fact, several of them took the initiative and voluntarily surrendered copies of the books. However, by August 1981, only 972 copies of the books had been confiscated from the close to 20,000 copies in circulation.

In September 1981, the translator of ''This Earth of Mankind'' into English, [[Maxwell Ronald Lane]], a staff member of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, was recalled home by the Australian Government. The Ampat Lima company, which had originally printed the two novels also ceased trading because of pressure from the Attorney General's office and the Interior Ministry.

==Publication in other languages==
* ''Bumi Manusia'', Hasta Mitra, 1980 (Jakarta, Indonesian)
* ''Aarde Der Mensen'', Manus Amici, 1981 (Amsterdam, Dutch)
* ''Ren Shi Jian'', Beijing Da Xue, 1982 (Beijing, Chinese)
* ''Ren Shi Jian'', Dou Shi Chu Ban Selangor, 1983 (Malaysia, Chinese)
* ''Bumi Manusia'', Wira Karya, 1983, (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian)
* ''This Earth of Mankind'', Penguin Book, 1983 (Australia, English)
* ''Garten der Menschheit'', Express Editio, 1984 (Berlin, German)
* ''Im Garten der Menschheit'', Albert Klutsch-Verlags-Vertrag, 1984 (German)
* ''Människans Jord'', Förlaget Hjulet, 1986 (Stockholm, Swedish)
* ''Ningen No Daichi'', Shinkuwara Mekong Published, 1986 (Japanese)
* ((lang|ru|Мир человеческий)), Radooga Moskwa 1986 (Russian)
* ((lang|uk|Світ людський)), In Ukrainian, 1986 (Ukrainian)
* ''Garten der Menschheit'', Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, 1987 (German)
* ''Aarde der mensen'', Unieboek, 1987 (Amsterdam, Dutch)
* ''Ang Daigdig ng Tao'', Solidaridad Publishing House, 1989 (Manila, Filipino)
* ''Questa Terra Dell'Uomo'', Il Saggiatore, 1990 (Milan, Italy)
* ''Minke'', O Neul Publishing, 1990 (Korean)
* ''This Earth of Mankind'', Penguin Book, 1990 (New York, English)
* ''This Earth of Mankind'', William Morrow & Co., Inc, 1991 (New York, English)
* ''Människans Jord'', Norstedts Förlag AB, 1992 (Stockholm, Swedish)
* ''Tierra Humana'', Txalaparta, 1995 (Navarre, Spanish)
* ''Erbe Einer Versunkenen Welt'', Verlag Volt und Welt, 1996 (German)
* ''Aarde der mensen'', Uitgeverij De Geus, 1999 (Breda)
* ''This Earth of Mankind'', Penguin Book, 2000 (Italy)
* ''Le Monde des Hommes'', Payot & Rivages, 2001 (Paris, French)
* ''Menneskenes Jord'', Pax Forlag A/S, 2001 (Oslo, Norwegian)
* ''Tiera Humana'', Edisiones Destino, S.A., 2001 (Barcelona, Spanish)
* ''This Earth of Mankind'', Bertrand Editorial, 2002 (Portuguese)
* ''This Earth of Mankind'', Leopard Förlag, 2002 (Swedish)
* ''Bumi Manusia'', Radio 68H, 2002 (Radio Broadcast, Indonesian)
* ''Esta estranha terra'', Livros Quetzal, 2003 (Portuguese)
* ''Människornas Jord'', Leopard Förlag, 2003 (Stockholm, Swedish)
* ''Matica života'', Alfa-Narodna Knjiga, 2003 (Serbian)
* ''แผ่นดินของชีวิต'', Kobfai Publishing, 2003 (Thai)
* ''Bumi Manusia'', Lentera Dipantara, 2005 (Indonesian)
* ''دھرتی کا دکھ'', Mas'ud Ash'ar, 2009 (Lahore, Urdu)
* 'Manushya Bhoomi' tr.by S.A.Qudsi,(Malayalam-Indian)- Chintha Pub-2011

==Media depiction==
''This Earth of Mankind'' has also been made into an Indonesian language film. On 3 September 2004, Hatoek Soebroto, an Indonesian film producer, along with the Elang Perkasa Corporation signed a contract for the production of the film with the Pramoedya's family's agents. The Elang Perkasa Corporation worked together with Citra Sinema to produce the film.

The search for locations began at the end of 2005. At the beginning of 2006, production began with Armantono as scriptwriter.
The adaptation film of this novel, the film ''[[This Earth of Mankind (film)|This Earth of Mankind]]'' was screened in Indonesian cinemas in August 2019.<ref>((Cite web|url=https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2019/08/22/pramoedyas-reputation-piques-cinemagoers-interest-in-movie-adaptations.html|title=Pramoedya's reputation piques cinemagoers' interest in movie adaptations|last=Lukman|first=Josa|website=The Jakarta Post|language=en|access-date=2019-08-22))</ref>

==References==
((reflist))

[[Category:1980 novels]]
[[Category:Novels by Pramoedya Ananta Toer]]
[[Category:Censored books]]
[[Category:Novels set in Indonesia]]
[[Category:Postcolonial novels]]

Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page (help):

This Earth of Mankind (edit)
Template:About (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Ambox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Both (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Template:Citation needed (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite web (view source) (protected)
Template:DMCA (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Dated maintenance category (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Dated maintenance category (articles) (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Delink (view source) (protected)
Template:FULLROOTPAGENAME (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Fix (view source) (protected)
Template:Fix/category (view source) (protected)
Template:If empty (view source) (protected)
Template:Infobox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Infobox book (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Lang (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Longitem (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Main other (view source) (protected)
Template:More citations needed (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Multiple issues (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Multiple issues/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Ns has subpages (view source) (protected)
Template:Original research (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Template:Refimprove (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Reflist (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description/lowercasecheck (view source) (protected)
Template:Template other (view source) (protected)
Template:Use dmy dates (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Wikidata image (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:About (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Arguments (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/blacklist (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/shared (view source) (protected)
Module:Check for unknown parameters (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1 (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/COinS (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Date validation (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Whitelist (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Delink (view source) (protected)
Module:Disambiguation/templates (view source) (protected)
Module:Exponential search (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/config (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/links (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/templates/Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Format link (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote list (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:If empty (view source) (protected)
Module:Infobox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Infobox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:InfoboxImage (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Italic title (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Lang (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Lang/ISO 639 synonyms (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Lang/data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Language/data/iana languages (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Language/data/iana regions (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Language/data/iana scripts (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Language/data/iana suppressed scripts (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Language/data/iana variants (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Message box (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/ambox.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Ns has subpages (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/disambiguation (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/rfd (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Pagetype/setindex (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/softredirect (view source) (protected)
Module:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Module:String (view source) (protected)
Module:TableTools (view source) (protected)
Module:Unicode data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Unicode data/scripts (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Unsubst (view source) (protected)
Module:Wikidata (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Wikitext Parsing (view source) (protected)
Module:Yesno (view source) (protected)

Return to This Earth of Mankind.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Earth_of_Mankind"