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In Indonesia, French poet Rimbaud's voyage still a mystery
Today in Central Java's Salatiga city, where coffee trees and bougainvilleas bloom, only a plaque at the entrance of the mayor's residence recognises the fleeting passage of a man who inspired writers from James Joyce to Jim Morrison.
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In this picture taken on September 25, 2024, historian Eddy Supangkat (left) and Sri Sarwanti, head of Salatiga's library and archives office, pose near a plaque bearing the name of French poet Arthur Rimbaud at the mayor's residence in Salatiga, Central Java. In the summer of 1876, rebel French poet Arthur Rimbaud arrived in Java, enlisting in the colonial Dutch army before deserting after just two weeks, an escape still shrouded in mystery nearly 150 years later. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
I
n the summer of 1876, rebel French poet Arthur Rimbaud arrived in Java, enlisting in the colonial Dutch army before deserting after just two weeks, an escape still shrouded in mystery nearly 150 years later.
Today in Central Java's Salatiga city, where coffee trees and bougainvilleas bloom, only a plaque at the entrance of the mayor's residence recognises the fleeting passage of a man who inspired writers from James Joyce to Jim Morrison.
Such has been the influence of the poet, regarded as one of France's best, that the education and culture ministry is considering paying tribute to his Javan journey with a memorial trail.
"I believe nearly every Indonesian poet who sees poetry as an expression of the subconscious and a manifestation of surrealism has read Arthur Rimbaud at least once in their life," said Salatiga-born writer Triyanto Triwikromo.
In the poem "Bad Blood" from an 1873 collection, Rimbaud wrote: "My daytime is done; I am leaving Europe. The air of the sea will burn my lungs; lost climates will turn my skin to leather."
The poet -- whose French hometown will celebrate his 170th birthday on October 20 -- had imagined in another collection leaving for "peppery, soggy countries" and "archipelagos of stars".
He arrived in Batavia, a noisy port that served as the Dutch East Indies capital now known as Jakarta, on July 23, 1876 after signing up for six years in the colonial Dutch army, according to biographers.
