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Research Group: New Directions in the Study of Javanese Literature | Israel Institute for Advanced Studies

Research Group: New Directions in the Study of Javanese Literature

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[RG # 155] New Directions in the Study of Javanese Literature

September 1, 2018 - June 30, 2019

Organizer:

Ronit Ricci (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

Javanese literature is among the world’s richest and most unusual literary traditions yet it is currently little known outside of Java, Indonesia. The vast majority of Javanese texts, in manuscript and print form, remain untouched by scholars.

The Javanese are the largest Muslim ethno-linguistic group in the world and the largest ethnic group in Indonesia, with their language spoken today by approximately 100 million people. Beginning in the ninth century and into the present they have produced a complex, diverse and intricate literary corpus that is a gateway to understanding Javanese writing practices, approaches to language, poetics, and translation strategies. Through its narrative histories, theological and legal treatises and interlinear translations from Arabic to Javanese, this literature also offers insights on Java’s remarkable transition to Islam, half a world away - geographically, culturally and linguistically - from Islam’s birthplace in the Middle East.

The study of Javanese in western universities has declined dramatically and it is currently on the verge of disappearance. The research group aims to revitalize this important humanistic field by:

  1. creating a rare opportunity for scholars to read, study and discuss Javanese texts collaboratively

  2. examining and analyzing yet unstudied Javanese works, thus broadening the basis of Javanese texts on which to generalize and theorize

  3. exploring anew previously studied texts, employing innovative methodological and theoretical perspectives from Comparative Literature, Islamic Studies, Cultural Studies and Performance Studies, and

  4. in light of the above, reconceptualizing and remapping major dimensions of the field of Javanese literature including periodization, contextualization, literary categorizations, and interpretive methods.

Mindful of the newness of Indonesian and Javanese Studies within Israeli academia, group members also aim to contribute (individually and collectively) to the expansion and strengthening of these fields in Israel. 

 

Members

Willem van der Molen

Willem van der Molen

FELLOW
Universitas Indonesia
Willem van der Molen is a senior researcher at KITLV and professor of philology and Old Javanese at Universitas Indonesia in Depok, Indonesia.
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Within the field of his interest, the languages and literatures of Indonesia, his focus is on the history of Javanese literature. He participates in the Tokyo-based project ‘Transformation of religions as reflected in Javanese texts'. 


2018-2019 Fellow: New Directions in the Study of Javanese Literature

Read more about Professor Molen here.

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George Quinn

George Quinn

FELLOW
Australian National University

George Quinn is a professor at the School of Culture, History & Language at the Australian National University.

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His research focuses on the literature and popular culture of contemporary Java; patterns and sites of pilgrimmage in Java and Madura; and the Catholic Church in East Timor.

2018-2019 Fellow: New Directions in the Study of Javanese Literature

Read more about Professor Quinn here

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