Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
nese literature has a very large historical component. In all sorts of texts, such as laudatory
poem
Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
s,
chronicle
A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...
s, and
travelogues, writers have interpreted the how and why of certain circumstances.
These texts are important for the knowledge of Javanese perspectives on the past. Scholars of Javanese history have paid much attention to theoretical questions, aiming at a balanced evaluation of Javanese
historiography
Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...
next to Western historiography. In doing so they focused on Old and Modern Javanese sources, drawing both on written sources and archaeological and epigraphic material. The debate continues up to the present.
Babads
''Babads'' as a genre belong to the traditional literature. A characteristic of this kind of literature is that it is written in metrical form and is governed by a set of strict conventions. In traditional Javanese society, prose (''gancaran'') was not considered to be ''belles letters'' but was considered to be merely sets of notes or ''aide-mémoires''.
This approach reflected the way in which literature was presented: text was not usually read in silence but, rather, was recited or sung to an audience. Every metre had its own particular melody or melodies to which it was sung, in harmony with the contents of the story.
The word ''babad'' means 'a story about past events', 'text on the clearing of (the land...)', i.e. 'story about the origin of this or that settlement'.
The ''Babad Basuki'' relates the clearing of the jungle and founding of a new settlement in Besuki (East Java), while the ''Babad Dipanegara'' relates the events connected with the insurrection of
Diponegoro.
Kakawin and kidung
Kakawin
Kakawin are long narrative poems composed in Old Javanese, also called "'' Kawi''", written in verse form with rhythms and meters derived from Sanskrit literature. Poets used a formalized literary language, rather than the vernacular. Poets ...
are long epic poems in a defined
metre
The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...
inherited from
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
poetic forms.
Kidung are epic poems in
Javanese metres.
See also
* ''
Bhinneka Tunggal Ika
''Bhinneka Tunggal Ika'' is the official national motto of Indonesia. It is inscribed in the national emblem of Indonesia, the Garuda Pancasila, written on the scroll gripped by the Garuda's claws. The phrase comes from Old Javanese, meanin ...
''
*
Hans Ras
*
Javanese poetry
*
Nagarakretagama
The ''Nagarakretagama'' or ''Nagarakṛtāgama'', also known in Bali as ''Desawarnana'' or ''Deśavarṇana'', is an Old Javanese eulogy to Hayam Wuruk, a Javanese king of the Majapahit Empire. It was written on lontar as a ''kakawin'' by ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Javanese Historical Texts
History of Java
Javanese culture
Indonesian literature