Max Havelaar, or the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Com... by Multatuli

What emerges from this research is that careful translation is the most important means of dissemination for a work. The critics' opinions turned out to be rather positive the novel is considered innovative for its time, determining the formation of a new vision of colonialism by the Dutch, and the professional translation of Bernardini Marzolla was appreciated. The novel was only translated once, in 1965 by Piero Bernardini Marzolla. The last stop on this literary journey is Italy. In France, the critics greatly appreciated the content and the plot, which in their opinion saved the poor literary quality of the work, and the novel was repeatedly translated. With regard to the Eastern European area, I investigated Russia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia: 'Max Havelaar' was a great success in these countries. Here the critics about the novel were positive, both from the point of view of the content (the story itself) and of the literary quality of the translation.

My research starts from Germany and the United Kingdom. In this article I try to draw a 'map' of the reception and the criticisms received in Europe by the novel 'Max Havelaar, or the Coffee Auction of the Dutch Trade Company', undisputed masterpiece of Dutch literature. There are some findings of the analysis: 1) Javanese tradition, along with its formality, restricted Kartini’s intention to get liberty and instead put her as the threat to the harmony in the royal family 2) The role of Kartini’s family in colonial administration enabled her to read Dutch books and to share as well as to strengthen her progressive feminist ideas to European pen friends and 3) Islamic tradition, although was not largely explained in her letter, impeded women to be active outside home and prioritised domestic duties. The historical analysis is done by corroborating and contextualizing Kartini’s letters, Letters of A Javanese Princess, translated into English by Hildred Greetz (a primary resource) and other pieces of literature about gender and politics of Kartini’s voices, Javanese culture, and the history of Dutch colonialism in Indonesia (the secondary resources). This paper will specifically focus on how those three aspects contributing to Kartini’s rebellion. As a noble person or priyai, she had privileges to be educated while the Javanese tradition, feudalism and colonialism, and uncomprehensive Islamic teaching became issues for her to pursue education. Raden Adjeng Kartini (1879 – 1904) was a Javanese princess as well as an Indonesian heroine, who fought for the women’s rights to get a better education.

Max Havelaar, or the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Com... by Multatuli