Le roman Max Havelaar de Multatuli, un pusaka

Résumé 0

The novel Max Havelaar, written by Multatuli (the penname of Edward Douwes Dekker) in 1860, has always been perceived as, above all, denouncing the oppression suffered by the people of the Dutch East Indies. Because of this perception, the second objective, explicitly mentioned by the author, namely creating a literary pusaka or heirloom, has been largely neglected by literary criticism. The present article will attempt to remedy this situation by analysing Max Havelaar firstly as a written family heirloom that closely connects the suffering of « the Javanese » with the suffering of the author and his loved ones and, secondly, as a weapon that has the power to protect and avenge a community. Max Havelaar has a double orientation : towards the past, in that the book was conceived to preserve memories of shared suffering ; and towards the future, in that the novel constitutes an appeal to act upon that suffering. The structure of Max Havelaar is at least partly determined by its role as an heirloom. Hence the literary devices employed by Multatuli deserve comparison with the interlacing and alloying which characterise the work of weavers and goldsmiths who create artistic pusakas. The penname, Multatuli, contains a pun on this masterly type of mixing.