Kartini's Popularity Exceeds Cut Nyak Dhien

Cut Nyak Dhien while exiled in Sumedang (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

JAKARTA - Raden Ajeng Kartini and Cut Nyak Dhien are Indonesian female fighters. Both of them carry a message of equality and demonstrate the reliability of women in all fields. The difference between the two is only in terms of publicity. Kartini, there is no denying that she has a more classy popularity. What is the basis for this?

One of the most basic things is why Kartini is superior to the Queen of War in Aceh, Cut Nyak Dhien. By the Dutch, Kartini was given space. Meanwhile, Cut Nyak Dhien was "silenced". On many occasions Kartini's status as a 'pioneer' of gender equality has been questioned. Not infrequently, Kartini is compared with a number of other Indonesian female figures.

Common names include Malahayati (1550-1615), Dewi Sartika (1884-1947), to Cut Nyak Dhien (1848-1908). The last name is the one most closely compared to Kartini. We will not lead you to a conservative comparison of the two fundamentally different features of the struggle: one takes up arms, the other takes a pen. We dive deeper.

Based on history, Cut Nyak Dhien is a figure who is no less agile in the map of women's struggles. Cut Nyak Dien is a Muslim, mother and fighter. He even took up arms against the Dutch colonial government. Cut Nyak Dhien is described as an Indonesian hero who is both brave and not easily submissive. His prowess on the battlefield was told by the Dutch military from generation to generation.

Cut Nyak Dhien when exiled to Sumedang (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

More special. A novel by Madelon Szekely Lulofs entitled Tjoet Nya Din, de Geschiedenis van Atjehse Vorstin (1948) - or its Indonesian version, produced by the Bamboo Community publisher, Cut Nyak Din: The Story of the Queen of the Aceh War (2010) - echoes its popularity. Press figure and historian Rosihan Anwar agrees with this.

"On the Aceh side, it was mentioned that the husband and wife pair Teuku Umar and Cut Nyak Dhien. Jelte rep (journalist) named them: een national heldenpaar (national hero pair). The story of Cut Nyak Dhien became even more famous because it was written as a novel by a Dutch woman author Madelon Szekely-Lulofs. The novel was then made into a film by director Eros Djarot (1985), starring Christine Hakim as Cut Nyak Dhien and Slamet Rahardjo as Teuku Umar, "said Rosihan Anwar in the book History Kecil" Petite Histoire "Indonesia Volume 1 (2004).

Acehnese cultural observer, Tungang Iskandar, also mentioned Cut Nyak Dhien as a figure who had a huge influence in Indonesian history. The woman with the father of a warlord named Nanta Setia is said to be a figure who is very closely related to the issue of equality. The woman born in Lampadang, Aceh Besar, 1848 succeeded in proving the equality of the roles of men and women in the struggle.

“His loyalty to religion is not only a man's thing. Because men and women have the same role in the struggle, ”said Tungang when contacted by VOI some time ago.

Turning to Kartini. Kartini is like an activist as well as a thinker who has gone far beyond her time. It may be that Kartini did not give speeches or take advantage of the pulpit to attract the masses. But her thoughts - through letters to her friends - moved many people, especially native women.

Kartini while educating (Source: Schutz & Co in 1901)

The letters were later recorded under the title Door Duisternis Tot Licht (Out of Darkness, Sunrise of Light). In the letter, Kartini noted many things, including gender equality, feudalism, her sympathy for ethnic Chinese, and relations between nations.

The writer Goenawan Mohamad said that what made Kartini's story important was not because of her heroism, but because of her failure. The narrative was revealed because Kartini was a woman who tried to ride the waves - typical of the younger generation's voice - but was caught in the treasures compiled by the older generation. In which case, tradition dictates almost everything. Kartini rejected polygamy - but became a victim of that tradition, for example.

“The view that 'old is good' continues even today. In the national chant that adores her, Kartini is called 'Our mother', not 'the pioneer'. Its image is no longer part of a progressive movement, but as a protector of a conservative structure. It is not surprising that Kartini Day is a day when women wear traditional clothes, not pilots or weightlifting athletes, ”wrote Goenawan Mohamad in his writing in Tempo Magazine entitled Monginsidi, Chairil, Kartini (2006).

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The reason why Kartini was (more) popular

Kartini (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

To find out why Kartini was more popular than Cut Nyak Dhien, we contacted historian Christopher Reinhart. Reinhart revealed that both of them were endorsed by the Dutch in perpetuating legitimacy as a strong woman. But still, the endorsement towards Kartini is on a much different level than Cut Nyak Dhien. Kartini's publications were more widespread.

“The agents who spread Kartini's vision and views were people from government circles such as Rosa Abendanon and her husband: Jacques Henrij (ministerial level). And, the fact about Kartini was also used as a weapon for ethics groups (Dutch intellectuals) to speak in the Dutch parliament. So, Kartini's publicity in the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies was definitely top. Meanwhile, for Dhien, there are two groups who feel amazed or finally 'endorse', namely the military and writers (this is only Lulofs), "said Reinhart when contacted by VOI, April 21.

In the meantime, news or writings related to Cut Nyak Dhien only revolve around military archives or diaries which have not even been published to this day. Reinhart added that even though there are people like Lulofs who are good at composing narratives because of his work as a novelist, Cut Nyak Dhien's publications are not as good as those of Kartini.

Meanwhile, the Kartini figure in Abendanon's hands tends to be "politicized" as a model for Javanese people who are hungry for education. As a result, Kartini's characterization has been established for a long time. Moreover, when Kartini was made an icon by ethics. Unlike Reinhart, historian Jean Gelman Taylor has a different opinion regarding the status of Cut Nyak Dhien who is less popular than Kartini.

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The reason is because research on the figure of Cut Nyak Dhien has not been done much. There is even the impression that the research was silenced because during the life of the Queen of War in Aceh, she did not leave a personal written record. As a result, Kartini, who has written records, through her letters, has gained more popularity.

"However, serious research on her has been silenced because, unlike Kartini, she has not left any written notes of her own. Historians must reflect, how did Cut Nyak Dhien equalize the roles of men and women in the Aceh War? Does his elite status allow Cut Nyak Dhien to solve the differences between men and women in the lives of ordinary Acehnese women? Even more worried, the published footprint of Cut Nyak Dhien is only one photo which shows him being tortured in disarray after being captured by colonial forces in 1905, "concluded Jean Gelman Taylor in the book Appropriating Kartini (2020).

* Read other information about HISTORY or read other interesting writings from Detha Arya Tifada.

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