In this era, the development of internet using should not be an excuse to avoid studying Javanese culture and the manuscripts which have existed since hundreds of years ago. Those should co-exist when the manuscripts are uploaded to the internet in order to widen the scope. That was what Professor Bernard Arps, the expert of Javanese culture from Leiden University, said when attending the general lecture entitled, “The Comparison of Classic, Modern and Contemporary Manuscript” on Monday (9/1/2017).
Prof Ben Arps delivering the material in general lecture entitled “The Comparison of Classis, Modern, and Contemporary Manuscript
In the general lecture hosted by Cultural Science Faculty (FIB), Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, Professor Ben Arps started it by explaining the definition of the philology study based on the characteristic of the object. Artefactuality, which means that the manuscript is an artifact or something made by people; Interpretability, which shows that the artifact can be interpreted by people; Intertextuality, which shows the correlation among the manuscript and the other texts; Historicity, which means that the artifact has a correlation with the previous historical events; and Contextuality, which emphasizes the context in the manuscript. “Those five things can correspondingly represent the definition of Philology study,” he added. Those points are the references of his study of the three manuscripts he was describing – Serat Lokapala Kawi, Pratean Kawontenaning Serat-Serat Gadhanipun Raden Ngabehi Kartasupana, and the World Wide Web.
In the explanation of case study in the general lecture having a theme Javanese Philology from Tantular to Internet, Ben Arps showed some manuscript pictures stored in Leiden University library, the oldest library in Netherland. Some of them have flaws, for instance, lost pages and water stain on some parts. “Manuscripts of Old Javanese or Jawa Kawi are stored in Bali. However, some of them are stored in Java. In Yogyakarta and Surakarta palace, Old Javanese manuscripts are still being learnt,” he told. Furthermore, related to the correlation with the internet development, Javanese language should be conserved through giving a Javanese language option in the website as applied in some websites in Malaysia.
Prof Ben Arps and Supardjo, the Vice Dean of Students and Alumni Affair of FIB UNS
This lecture was closed with the conclusion delivered by Supardjo, the Vice Dean of Students and Alumni Affair of FIB UNS, “Manuscripts treatment depends on how we see those Javanese manuscripts. It should be studied carefully through descriptive approach to understand the written form and the writer’s purpose,” he stated. [refita.red.uns.ac.id]