Pangeran Kecil — in Indonesian language.
Indonesian language (Bahasa Indonesia) is the official language of Indonesia. It’s a standardised form of Malay, a language that has been used as a lingua franca in the South-East Asia archipelago for centuries. Indonesian plays a crucial role in uniting the diverse ethnic groups of Indonesia, a country with over 17,000 islands and more than 600 ethnic groups, each with its own local languages and dialects.
The choice of Malay as the basis for the national language was strategic due to its widespread use as a lingua franca among the diverse populations across the archipelago. This decision was formalised in 1928, a pivotal moment in the Indonesian nationalist movement. After winning independence in 1945, Indonesia further promoted Bahasa Indonesia to foster national unity and identity.
First Editions
The first Le Petit Prince translation in Indonesian language is Pangeran Kecil, published by Pustaka Jaya in 1979. The translation process started when an Indonesian poet, Wing Karjo Wangsaatmadja, asked his students at Padjadjaran University to make a project to translate Le Petit Prince into Indonesian language.
The blue box on the cover mentioned that this book “Belongs to the Ministry of Education and Culture. Not for Sale. Presidential Order No 6/1980.” It was quite difficult to find this book, even in Indonesia. I found this one in a flea book market of Palasari, in Bandung city. I consider this book too valuable, so I read it only once. Then I read Le Petit Prince more in English and French editions.
Standard Editions
Jendela 2003
This book was published by Jendela publisher in Yogyakarta, 2003. But after getting an information that Gramedia (a quite bigger publisher) had a plan to republish another LPP translation, this little publisher chose to stop the printing and distribution. Or at least that was what I read somewhere a couple years ago.
Gramedia 2003
Two translations by Gramedia: one from English edition (The Little Prince / Pangeran Kecil), and another from French edition (Le Petit Prince / Pangeran Cilik). Like many Gramedia translation book, the book titles are kept in their original language, subtitled by the Indonesian translation of the title. These translations were considered a great success in sales & distribution. Unfortunately, after 2011 they stopped the distribution — until after a movie successfully boost public interest to LPP.
Gramedia 2007
Kakatua 2021
This book is published by Kakatua in Yogyakarta. It is a part of the publisher’s classical literature series. The translators are Andreas Nova and Nurul Hanafi.
Special Collector Editions
Koen’s Edition
Si Pangeran Kecil, 2013. Experiencing the difficulty to find an Indonesian translation for fellows LPP enthusiasts overseas, I started to translate the book myself. This translation was written to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the publication of Le Petit Prince. I wrote this translation while travelling to some Indonesian cities, including Makassar, Semarang, Palembang, Denpasar, Bandung, and Jakarta. The source of the translation was a text in french, found in Australian Gutenberg project website.
I found a local publisher willing to publish this book. But the progress was awfully slow. Then I decided to self-published it via Lulu, so any LPP lovers can buy it directly from Lulu with virtually no constraints.
80th Anniversary Edition
In 2018, this book was republished with standardised illustration throughout the book (drawing position etc).
Softcover edition: [LINK]
Hardcover edition: [LINK]
Graphics Novel Edition
Wow: The Little Prince / Pangeran Kecil is a bilingual graphics novel translated from the Korean edition, illustrated by Lee Chan-wong.
