Wacana: Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia
Vol. 26, No. 3

Literature across generations; The Old Javanese epic poem "Bhāratayuddha" translated into Modern Javanese

Kamiishi, Keiko (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
31 Oct 2025

Abstract

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a revival movement of classical Javanese (Kawi) literature arose in the royal courts of south Central Java. As part of this revival, Old Javanese literary works were rewritten in Modern Javanese, giving Javanese people at that time renewed access to their literary heritage. The paper deals with a specific manuscript, Add MS 12279 in the British Library, which contains Modern Javanese word-for-word and line-for-line “translations” inserted between lines of the Old Javanese epic poem Bhāratayuddha. The unique structure of the manuscript reveals the translation strategies used to address the challenges of balancing the transmission of meaning with the modernization of language. Exploring the interpretation of the Old Javanese work in modern Java sheds light on the entwinement of the different languages (Old Javanese and Modern Javanese), different religions (Hindu and Islam), and different times (ancient and modern).

Copyrights © 2025






Journal Info

Abbrev

publication:wacana

Publisher

Subject

Arts Humanities Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media Library & Information Science Social Sciences

Description

Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by the Faculty of Humanities, University of Indonesia. It invites original articles on various issues within humanities, which include but are not limited to philosophy, literature, archaeology, ...