The Fugitive

novel by Pramoedya

Also known as: “Perburuan”

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July 16, 2026

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The Fugitive is the first published novel by Indonesian author Pramoedya Ananta Toer, written during his two-year imprisonment by Dutch authorities from 1947 to 1949. The novel is set during the Japanese occupation of Java and tells the story of an anti-Japanese rebel returning to his home. It is considered a significant work in post-independence Indonesian literature.12

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Pramoedya Ananta Toer
…first published novel, Perburuan (1950; The Fugitive), during a two-year term in a Dutch prison camp (1947–49). That work describes the flight of an anti-Japanese rebel back to his home in Java.
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…first published novel, Perburuan (1950; The Fugitive), during a two-year term in a Dutch prison camp (1947–49). That work describes the flight of an anti-Japanese rebel back to his home in Java.
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Indonesian literatures
…first published novel, Perburuan (1950; The Fugitive), while imprisoned.
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…first published novel, Perburuan (1950; The Fugitive), while imprisoned.
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