This Earth of Mankind

***This Earth of Mankind*** is the first book in Pramoedya Ananta Toer's _Buru Quartet_. Hasta Mitra first published it in 1980. The story happens at the end of the Dutch colonial rule in Indonesia. Pramoedya wrote the novel in prison on Buru island in eastern Indonesia. Pramoedya told the story aloud to other prisoners in 1973 because he was not allowed to write. The story spread through all the prisoners until 1975. Then Pramoedya was finally allowed to write the full story.

The main character and narrator of _This Earth of Mankind_ is a Javanese boy named Minke. He attends an elite Dutch school. Minke's life becomes  dangerous when he falls in love with Annelies, the beautiful Indo daughter of Nyai Ontosoroh. In _This Earth of Mankind_, Pramoedya showed the racism of the Dutch colony.

The Indonesian Attorney General banned _This Earth of Mankind_ in 1981. Many copies of the first editions survived. In 2005 the publisher Lentera Depantara started to publish it again in Indonesia. It had already been published worldwide in 33 languages.

## Plot summary

_This Earth of Mankind_ tells the story of Minke. He is a Javanese minor royal who studies at a Dutch _Hogere Burger School_. At that time, usually only Europeans could study there. Minke is a talented young writer. His writing is published in several Dutch-language journals. They are popular. But many of Minke's classmates hate him because he is _native_. His classmates are all at least partly European descent.

Minke meets an unusual Indonesian woman, Nyai Ontosoroh. She is the concubine of a Dutch man called Herman Mellema. Minke falls in love with their daughter, Annelies. They marry in an Islamic wedding. But by Dutch law, they are not marriedbecause it was _native_ and Annelies' Dutch guardians did not approve.

It was common for local women to become the concubines of Dutch men living in the East Indies. Their children were either illegitimate "natives" and lost legal rights. Or if their father accepted them as his children they were called "Indos". Then the mother lost all rights over their children. Nyai Ontosoro suffers because of her low status and lack of rights. But, she believes education is the way to show her basic humanity. She believes that learning is the way to oppose racism, stupidity, and poverty. However, deciding to make her children Herman Mellema's children causes terrible problems for them.

## Published by ex-political prisoners

After release from detention in April 1980 Pramoedya and Hasjim Rachman met with Joesoef Isak. Rachman had been editor of the _Eastern Star_. Isak used to be a journalist at the _Merdeka_  newspaper. He had been in Salemba prison. They agreed to publish works by ex-political prisoners that other publishers would not.

They chose _This Earth of Mankind_ (_Bumi Manusia_) as the first book. Pramoedya began working hard on the papers that he had brought from the Buru island. Prison officials had taken most of his writing. At the same time, Hasjim and Joesoef talked to government officials, including the Vice-President, Adam Malik. They were positive about the plans.

In July 1980, the manuscript of _This Earth of Mankind_ was sent to the Aga Press printers. 5,000 copies of _This Earth of Mankind_ sold in 12 days. Soon other publishers in Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and Australia asked the publishers, Hasta Mitra, for permission to make translations. The Wira Karya publishing house in Malaysia paid royalties of as much as 12% direct to Pramoedya.

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

## Banned

the Attorney General of Indonesia banned _This Earth of Mankind_ in 1981. He said it promoted Marxist-Leninist ideas and Communism. Neither are in the book.

First, the Ampat Lima printing house were told to not print any books published by Hasta Mitra. The editors of major media were told that they were not allowed to review or praise _This Earth of Mankind_ or any of Pramoedya's other writing.

In April 1981, some New Order youth groups criticized Pramoedya's writing. Mass media reported this as the people not liking Pramoedya's work. New Order media 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) had been planning an exhibition of books that year. They canceled Hasta Mitra's membership in the association. IKAPI had been enthusiastic about asking the publisher to become a member and be involved in its activities. Newspapers that used to support Pramoedya stopped publishing his writing. They also started rejecting writing by authors who supported 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)_. The regulation mentioned a letter from Suharto.

The Attorney General's office took all copies of _This Earth of Mankind_ and _Child of All Nations_ tried to take all copies of the books from all book shops. However, by August 1981, they only took 972 copies of the books although about 20,000 copies had been printed.

The translator of _This Earth of Mankind_ into English, Maxwell Lane, was a staff member of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. The Australian Government recalled him in September 1981. The Ampat Lima printing company closed because of pressure from the Attorney General's office and the Interior Ministry.

## Translations into 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)
- _MИP ЧEЛOBEЧECKИЙ_, Radooga Moskwa 1986 (Russian)
- _CBIT ЛЮДCbKЙ_, 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)
- ?, 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

## Adaptation

_This Earth of Mankind_ was made into an Indonesian language movie. Production started in 2006. Armantono wrote the script.
The moviewas shown in Indonesian movie theaters in August 2019.

## Infobox (book)

- **name**: This Earth of Mankind
- **title orig**: Bumi Manusia
- **translator**: Maxwell Lane (English)
- **author**: Pramoedya Ananta Toer
- **country**: Indonesia
- **language**: Indonesian language, Indonesian trans. to English
- **series**: Buru Quartet
- **genre**: Historical novel
- **publisher**: Hasta Mitra
- **release date**: 1980
- **followed by**: Child of All Nations