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Javanese literature has a very large historical component. In all sorts of texts, such as laudatory poems, chronicles, and travelogues, writers have interpreted the how and why of certain circumstances. [1]
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 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 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 are long epic poems in a defined metre inherited from Sanskrit poetic forms. Kidung are epic poems in Javanese metres.
An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants.
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Johannes Jacobus (Hans) Ras was emeritus professor of Javanese language and literature at Leiden University, the Netherlands. In 1961 he was lecturer at the University of Malaya, and in 1969 first representative in Jakarta of the KITLV. Until his retirement he was several times a member of the board of the KITLV. From 1985 to 1992, he was professor of Javanese language and literature at the University of Leiden.
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Icelandic folk music includes a number of styles that are together a prominent part of the music of Iceland. When speaking of traditional Icelandic vocal music, there are two prominent vocal performance styles, one using the term kveða and the other syngja. The first is a performance practice referred to as kveðskapur or kvæðaskapur. Kveðskapur is also the generic Icelandic term for poetry. The term syngja translates as to sing. Kveðskapur was very connected to sagnadansar, or traditional dancing. Vikivaki is the best known of the sagnadansar, and its origin can be traced to the 11th century. Vikivaki saw a decline at the beginning of the 20th century, although efforts are being made to keep it alive.
The Pararaton, also known as the Katuturanira Ken Angrok, is a 16th-century Javanese historical chronicle written in Kawi. The comparatively short text of 32 folio-size pages contains the history of the kings of Singhasari and Majapahit in eastern Java.
Recorded history or written history describes the historical events that have been recorded in a written form or other documented communication which are subsequently evaluated by historians using the historical method. For broader world history, recorded history begins with the accounts of the ancient world around the 4th millennium BC, and it coincides with the invention of writing.
Poetry as an oral art form likely predates written text. The earliest poetry is believed to have been recited or sung, employed as a way of remembering oral history, genealogy, and law. Poetry is often closely related to musical traditions, and the earliest poetry exists in the form of hymns, and other types of song such as chants. As such, poetry is often a verbal art. Many of the poems surviving from the ancient world are recorded prayers, or stories about religious subject matter, but they also include historical accounts, instructions for everyday activities, love songs, and fiction.
The bedhaya is a sacred, ritualised Javanese dance of Java, Indonesia, associated with the royal palaces of Yogyakarta and Surakarta. Along with the srimpi, the bedhaya epitomized the elegant character of the royal court and became an important symbol of the ruler's power.
Javanese poetry is traditionally recited in song form. The standard forms are divided into three types, sekar ageng, sekar madya, and sekar macapat, also common with the ngoko terms: tembang gedhé, tembang tengahan, and tembang macapat. All three types follow strict rules of poetic construction. These forms are highly influential in Javanese gamelan.
Javanese literature is, generally speaking, literature from Java and, more specifically, from areas where Javanese is spoken. However, similar with other literary traditions, Javanese language works were and not necessarily produced only in Java, but also in Sunda, Madura, Bali, Lombok, Southern Sumatra and Suriname. This article only deals with Javanese written literature and not with oral literature and Javanese theatre such as wayang.
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Babad Dalem is a historical account from Bali, Indonesia, which exists in a large number of versions of varying length. The title may be translated as "Chronicle of Kings", although the Balinese babad genre does not quite accord to Western-style chronicles. There are dated manuscripts from the early 19th century onwards, and the original version was very likely written in the course of the 18th century. The author was probably a Brahmin tied to the Klungkung Palace, the most prestigious of the nine pre-colonial royal seats of Bali.
Dewa Cawu was a prince on the Island of Bali, who possibly reigned as king for a short while in the 1650s. He belonged to a dynasty that claimed descent from the Hindu-Javanese Majapahit Empire, and kept its palace (puri) in Gelgel near Bali's south coast.