The Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture Program demonstrated its role in the preservation and development of the archipelago's manuscript heritage through its participation in a series of activities organized by the Nusantara Manuscript Society (Manassa) 2025. This prestigious event included the 20th Nusantara Manuscript International Symposium, the 2025 National Collective Memory Manuscript Award (IKON), and the 8th National Conference of the Nusantara Manuscript Society, which will take place on October 15-17, 2025, at the Auditorium of the National Library of the Republic of Indonesia and the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Building in Jakarta. This event, attended by researchers, academics, and manuscript enthusiasts from various regions in Indonesia, is an important forum for strengthening collaboration in the preservation, research, and utilization of ancient Nusantara manuscripts as the nation's cultural heritage.
On this occasion, Dr. Arsanti Wulandari, M.Hum., a lecturer in the Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture Study Program, together with Nanda Nursa Alya, S.S., an alumnus from the same study program, actively participated not only as participants but also as speakers at the XX International Symposium on Nusantara Manuscripts.
The symposium, held on Thursday, October 16, 2025, at the BRIN Widya Graha Building, began with participant registration at 8:15 a.m. Western Indonesian Time, followed by the opening and panel sessions divided into 11 major themes. In each panel, researchers presented their research results and discussed various aspects of manuscript writing in a scientific manner.
During the session, Dr. Arsanti Wulandari, M.Hum., together with Nanda Nursa Alya, S.S., presented a paper entitled Hybridity of Snacks in Manuscript NB 499: A Linguistic and Cultural Review. The research addressed the theme of “Traditional Knowledge and Technology” by examining a manuscript from the National Library of Indonesia collection labeled R. Aj. Kramahudjana and stamped with the Internationale Crediet en Handelsvereeniging Rotterdam (1931) book stamp.
This study highlights the phenomenon of cultural hybridity—a blend of Javanese and European (Dutch and French) elements—as reflected in the culinary diversity described in the manuscript. One interesting example is the Purpercĕs Pohung snack, which etymologically is a vernacularization of the Dutch word poffertjes (a type of small cake) and the Javanese word pohung (cassava). The phoneme poffertjes was adapted to purpercĕs, demonstrating the dynamics of language and cultural interaction at that time.
The appearance of the Prastila (top right), Bludĕr Pohung (top left), Purpercĕs Pohung (bottom). Documentation by Dr. Arsanti Wulandari, M.Hum.
The participation of the Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture Study Program in the Manassa 2025 event is a tangible manifestation of academics' commitment to preserving Nusantara manuscripts as a relevant source of knowledge for modern life. Through such studies, knowledge from the past is revived to benefit the wider community, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those related to quality education, sustainable cities and communities, and partnerships to achieve goals.
The Department of Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University (UGM), welcomed students from Osaka University, Japan, from September 10 to 20, 2025. For ten days, they studied Indonesian language and explored Javanese culture in Yogyakarta, accompanied by lecturer Prof. Dr. Yumi Sugahara.
Activities included visits to Pakualaman Palace, Wotawati Village, the Jogja Archive Diorama, the Yogyakarta Palace, the Sonobudoyo Museum, Prambanan Temple, and Borobudur Temple. In addition, the Osaka students received guidance from UGM students who acted as tutors and conversation partners on the customs of Indonesian society.
The closing ceremony was held on September 19, 2025, with a presentation of the observation results at FIB UGM. That evening, the Osaka University student group performed at the Gugur Gunung XIV event at the Poerbatjaraka Auditorium, singing two songs, Tsubasa wo kudasai and Doraemon no Uta, in Indonesian. The visit concluded on September 20, 2025, with the students' return to Japan.
This program is a form of strengthening academic cooperation between Gadjah Mada University and Osaka University. It is hoped that this cultural visit will not only be a forum for academic cooperation, but also a place for learning and understanding between cultures. In addition, this activity contributes to the introduction and preservation of cultural values that form the identity of both nations. Thus, this program is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly in the aspects of quality education (point 4) and partnerships for the achievement of common goals (point 17).
The National Library and École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO) collaborated and held an international intensive course in Old Javanese on July 01-10, 2024. This activity took place at The Cangkringan Jogja Villas & Spa, Umbulharjo, Cangkringan, Sleman, Yogyakarta, and was attended by 25 participants from various backgrounds. Experts in the field of Old Javanese were present to train the participants to understand the intricacies of the Old Javanese language.
The Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture Study Program, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada (FIB UGM), participated in this activity. Two lecturers of the Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture Study Program, namely Nurmalia Habibah, S.S., M.A., and Zakariya Pamuji Aminullah, S.S., M.A., attended as lecturers. In addition, Haryo Untoro, a student from the same study program, became one of the participants in the intensive course.
Nurmalia Habibah, S.S., M.A., guided the participants in studying the text of Adiparwa
Learning the Kakawin Ramayana text with Zakariya Pamuji Aminullah, S.S., M.A.
For 10 days, the participants practiced the Old Javanese language. In the first five days, the first thing to understand was the morphosyntax of the Old Javanese language. The next five days, the participants began to explore works that use the Old Javanese language, such as Adiparwa, Kakawin Ramayana, Pararaton, Landa Inscription, and others. In addition, participants also participated in an excursion program to several ancient sites of the Hindu-Buddhist period, namely Sewu Temple, Plaosan Temple, and Ratu Boko Temple.
The intensive course in Old Javanese aims to train philologists in the field of Old Javanese and encourage international collaboration in this rare field. The field of Old Javanese plays an important role in revealing various treasures of the past, both in culture, knowledge, history, and other matters. Exploring these treasures is an effort to reveal the identity of the nation and improve the quality of education. To achieve these goals, cooperation from various parties is needed to realize the sustainability of the Old Javanese field and be relevant to the times.
The International Literacy Seminar on Disaster History was organized at the initiation of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), in collaboration with the National Library, the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia (ANRI), U-INSPIRE Indonesia, and support from the Volcanology Center for Geological Disaster Mitigation (PVMBG) Geological Agency, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Syiah Kuala University, University of Indonesia, Bandung Institute of Technology, Higher Education Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction, IABI, Nusantara Manuscript Society (MANASSA), CARI, and Amcolabora Research Institute. This international seminar aims to strengthen the disaster literacy mission so that it becomes a learning, reminder, and reinforcement for people with good quality literacy and builds a new Indonesian civilization that is more resilient in facing disasters.
Through the seminar entitled: “Disaster History Literacy as a Legacy of Resilience of the Past, Present, and Later”, the gluing and rearrangement of various cross-disciplinary learning, expertise, and skills related to disaster history was carried out. This activity was carried out in Ambon City on Wednesday - Thursday, October 13-14 2021.
Picture: Announcement of the winners of the digital scientific poster competition on the official BNPB website
In order to raise public awareness, especially to increase the awareness of the younger generation regarding literacy in disaster history, media that is suitable and liked, and easy to understand is needed. In the digital era like today, the dissemination of digital-based information has become a medium that is easily understood and accepted by the general public. Creativity-based digital media is a product that can be easily disseminated through portals that are available free of charge. BNPB also organizes several side event activities in the form of competitions related to Disaster History Literacy.
This activity is expected to increase public awareness of the importance of studying or knowing the history of disasters and encourage community creativity in translating this information into works. The categories of competitions that were held were as follows (1) Literacy Article Writing Contest for the Elementary School level accompanied by a history teacher at the school; (2) Literacy Literacy Article Writing Contest for the general public; (3) Disaster History Literacy Digital Scientific Poster Competition for students; (4) History of Disaster Literacy Story Map Contest.
Among the many students who took part in the competition, Sahmu Hidayat was one of the 2017 UGM Javanese Literature students who took part in the competition. He won 1st place in the category of Digital Literacy Scientific Poster Competition for Disaster History.
Picture: Digital scientific poster entitled “Citraleka Bancana: Exploring Collective Memory of Disaster in Javanese Script”
The title of the scientific poster he carried was "Citraléka Bancana: Exploring Collective Memory of Disaster in Javanese Script”. The reason behind the idea is because of the many natural disasters that often hit Java. Past events in the form of disasters become a historical record recorded in a traditional Javanese collective memory. This memory is preserved by the Javanese people in several traditional records in the form of manuscripts.
In his opinion, the manuscript contains a citraleka bankana or some kind of hint of a disaster in the past. Generally, these ancient texts explain the types, causes, how to avoid, and what to do when a natural disaster occurs.
One example that is Serat Primbon Palintangan Palindhon Pakedutan which contains a record of knowledge about the occurrence of earthquakes at certain times is considered to indicate events that are bad, good, neutral, or mixed, and have an impact on humans, other living things, and nature. Through the scientific posters he made, he hopes that more and more young people will become aware of the importance of traditional knowledge to deal with the problems that occur amid modernization.
For two days from October 8-9, 2014, IKADBUDI (Ikatan Dosen Budaya Daerah Indonesia) in collaboration with the Universitas Jember which was supported by the Faculty of Literature, Universitas Jember held the International Conference on Regional Culture with the theme "the challenger of culture revitalization in the 2015 ASEAN economic community era". This activity is a series of annual activities from IKADBUDI which held the 4th national meeting and coincided with the implementation of the Tegal Boto Festival in the context of 50 years of the Universitas Jember. In the meeting, Drs. Suharto Mangkusudarmo, M.Hum., as a representative from the Java Study Program, Department of Archipelago Literature, FIB UGM.
The event began with remarks by the Chairman of the International Conference Committee, Dr. R. Novi Anoegrajekti, M. Hum. In his remarks, R. Novi Anoegrajekti stated that the era of the 2015 ASEAN Community was a forum for cooperation, not a forum for competition that cornered each other. Cooperation between allied countries must be mutually beneficial. Therefore, it is deemed necessary to revitalize culture to explore, grow, and develop community wisdom as the basis for the development of a people's economy that is prosperous and self-sufficient. Meanwhile, Prof. Dr. Sutrisno Wibowo, M.Pd. as Chair of IKADBUDI delivered a speech entitled "Care for Language, Literature and Regional Culture" with the emphasis that revitalizing culture in the 2015 ASEAN community era, we must look at the existence of Indonesian language, literature and regional culture which are rich in local wisdom and then must try to revitalize it. Local wisdom which is the hallmark of the Indonesian language, literature, and regional culture must be made a subject to develop in the future.
Present as keynote speakers Prof. Dr. Koh Young Hun (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul, South Korea), Dr. Stefan Danerek (University of Sweden), Prof. Dr. Pudentia, MPSS (Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta), Prof. Dr. Heddy Shri Ahimsa Putra (Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta), Prof. Dr. P.M. Laksono, M.A. (Universitas Gadjah Mada), Prof. Dr. I Nengah Duija, M.Hum. (State Institute of Hindu Dharma, Bali), and Prof. Dr. Ayu Sutarto (Universitas Jember). Present as participants were 300 people with accompanying speakers as many as 127 people.
The international conference on the first day was held at the Soetardjo Building, Universitas Jember. On this occasion, Prof. Dr. P.M. Laksono, M.A. presented his paper entitled "Indonesian Culture: Inter-Text Reflection for Common Prosperity". The UGM professor stated that as an effect of the acculturation crisis that occurred, Indonesian culture would become more successful when accessed through productive inter-text reflection. As an example of his research, he uses the text of Bimosoetji which he finds shows the productivity of creative processes to produce history.
The second day of the international conference was held at the Faculty of Literature, Universitas Jember. The keynote speaker present was Prof. Dr. I Nengah Duija, M.Hum. (STHDN Denpasar Bali) who presented a paper entitled "Cultural Excellence in the Context of Regional Integration and Shared Prosperity (Analysis of the Texts of Tantu Panggelaran and Usana Bali)". I Nengah Duija stated that old texts, both written and spoken, are a cultural heritage (material) capable of providing added value to the hustle and bustle of today's modern human life.
The program was continued with presentations in parallel trial sessions 2 to 5 for the full day until the afternoon. In closing the event, the IKADBUDI IV National Conference Results Report was read which re-elected Prof. Dr. Sutrisno Wibowo, M.Pd. as Chair of IKADBUDI and holding the IKADBUDI V National Conference will be held in Bandung. At the closing ceremony of the international conference, the report of the IKADBUDI IV conference drafting team was also presented by Prof. Dr. Bambang Wibisono, M.Pd. The implementation of the international conference was closed by the Dean of the Faculty of Letters, University of Jember, Dr. Hairus Salikin, M.Ed. as well as representing the Chancellor of the Universitas Jember. In the evening, the international conference participants left for Bromo (BAK).
