UNS — The alumni of Student Activity Unit (UKM) Teater Sastra (Tesa) Faculty of Cultural Studies (FIB) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta held a Literature Talk (Bincang Sastra). This event has been conducted five times, with its fifth series held on Sunday (28/3/2021). On this occasion, alumni Tesa invites Asep Yudha Wirajaya and Theresia Alit as speakers. In each episode, Literature Talk always brings a different theme to improve the participants’ knowledge.
In his presentation, Asep Yudha Wirajaya explains the usage of an ancient manuscript in theatrical performance. According to him, the existence of ancient manuscripts is underestimated by various parties in Indonesia.
“Thus, no wonder if the government policy has not been so partial to the existence and salvation of ancient manuscripts. Meanwhile, illegal market activities are done massively by irresponsible parties. Those ancient manuscripts ownership are finally transferred to other countries of foreign collector,” he explains.
Meanwhile, many benefits can be obtained from the manuscripts both as an information source, knowledge, or entertainment. Asep states that in theatrical performances, those manuscripts can be the source of inspiration in performing new and spectacular arts.
“Such as I La Galigo that taken from an ancient manuscript from the 13-14 century AD in the Bugis–Makasar. Now, it is performed as a world-captivating theatrical performance, performed in more than 12 cities and 9 (nine) countries. In fact, I La Galigo is determined by the United Nations of Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as MoW (Memory of The World) above the Ramayana, Mahabarata, and Homerus,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Theresia Alit delivers material on the ambiguity of “cublak-cublak suweng” (t/n: a name of traditional children game) in the ‘Serat Suluk Bango Buthak’ manuscript. Cublak-cublak suweng is a traditional collective game played by 3-5 players.
“The game is started with the gathering of the players and starts a selection with ‘hompimpa’ (t/n: something like paper rock scissors but conducted in a group) by chanting ‘hompimpa alahiom gambreng.’ This stage is repeated until there is only one person left and is chosen as the ‘dadi’ (t/n: guessing player), while the other players are the ‘mentas’ (t/n: active players). The ‘mentas’ will gather to decide the ‘mbok’ (t/n: keeper) using another ‘hompimpa.’ The ‘mbok’ is responsible hold/hide/keep the ‘uwȇr,’ which is a pebble or stone that will be knocked to each ‘mentas’ hand while singing the ‘cublak-cublak suweng’ song until the song ended and the ‘uwȇr’ is kept by the mbok,” she explained.
She added that through the adaptation and appropriation process, the ‘cublak-cublak suweng’ is transformed into a reminder in the ‘Serat Suluk Bango Buthak’ manuscript.
“Cublak-cublak suweng is appropriated in the ‘Serat Suluk Bango Buthak’ manuscript to express the concern in religious attitudes that pay too much attention to external/physical forms. One of the messages from the ‘Serat Suluk Bango Buthak’ manuscript stating that ‘shahadat’ is not only an expression of faith but a long process in internalizing the faith,” she explains. Humas UNS
Reporter: Bayu Aji Prasetya
Editor: Dwi Hastuti