Bangi: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 2001. 280 h.

(c) 2002

NORIAH MOHAMED. JAWA DI BALIK TABIR. Bangi: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 2001. 280 h. ^*

"Unknown Java"... The title of the book may be misleading. It would seem that there is nothing new to tell about the culture of Java, which, since the time of S. T. Raffles, ¹ has been constantly in the center of attention of both Indonesian and foreign researchers. ² However, after reading the book, you realize that it is mainly aimed at the Malaysian reader and includes materials related not only to the analysis of cultural processes in Java itself, but also to the life of the natives of the island - Javanese in Malaysia. Therefore, Noriah Mohamed herself, a Javanese native living in Malaysia, is more suited to this task than anyone else: she knows the Javanese language and has the opportunity to conduct field research both in Malaysia and in the homeland of her ancestors - Java in Indonesia. ³

The book is divided into six large chapters: "Basic information about Javanese society", "Language and Literature", "Prominent figures and writers of Java", "Modern Javanese literature", "The relationship of Javanese literature with Malay literature", "Traditional Culture". In terms of presentation and conciseness of information, the publication resembles a reference book or encyclopedia, but the author does not limit himself to a simple statement of what was known before it, but seeks either to give his own interpretation of facts and events, or to highlight the least studied aspects of the problem, thereby complementing or developing the achievements of his predecessors.

In particular, talking about the Javanese alphabet, the appearance of which is associated with the personality of the cultural hero of Java - Aji Saka ⁴ , Noriah4 focuses on the philosophical understanding of the arrangement of letters in the alphabet, which, when consistently pronounced, create a phrase that incorporates the concepts of the Universe, God, man and their interrelation. Moreover, each of the letters, according to the author, can be associated with a certain part of the human body (ha - with the tongue, pa-with the eyes, sa-with the hands, ga - with the eyeball, ka-with the armpit, etc.), and then the alphabet becomes an inseparable part of the traditional Javanese belief system-Kebatinan ⁵ , playing an important role in the spells of folk healers, divination, predictions, etc. The connection of the alphabet with Kebatinan is also manifested in the fact that the alphabet is subject to the five-term classification of the Javanese universe (the entire alphabet is divided into four groups, each of which has five letters) ⁶ .

When analyzing Javanese classical literature, the author draws the reader's attention to such a phenomenon as "literary magic", which is understood as the ability of a literary work to evoke passionate attraction and love in listeners during melodic recitation, as well as to have a calming and healing effect on them. According to the author, many examples of ancient Javanese literature, which told about the "glorious times" when the great ancestors of the sovereigns ruled, were of a sacred nature. It was believed that the exaltation of ancestors according to the laws of sympathetic magic contributes to the eternal repetition of victorious deeds by their descendants, especially if the full identification of epic heroes with contemporary sovereigns and their entourage was achieved ^.7

The author's research on erotic elements in a number of works of Javanese literature (for example, in the heroic tale "Damar Wulan", known from verse and prose versions of the XVIII-XIX centuries) will be a discovery for many. Noriach sees in the love scenes described in Damar Wulan a direct influence of the famous Indian composition Kama Sutra. Analyzing another Javanese love-adventure epic-a cycle about the adventures of Prince Panji, who is looking for his bride Chandra Kirana, with whom he was separated by fate on the eve of the wedding, the author comes to the conclusion that this work

^{Noriyah Mohamed.} * Unknown Java. Bangui: Ed. National University of Malaysia, 2001. 280 p. (in Malay).

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reflects the psychology of Javanese people and that is why it remains the basis for the plays of the popular Java shadow theater (wayang kulit) and masks (wayang topeng). Moreover, the image of Panji is present in all Javanese-influenced literatures (Balinese, Sundanese, Madur, Sasak, Malay), and has even penetrated the Khmer, Thai ,and Burmese peoples. ⁸

The section on prominent Javanese figures draws attention to the interpretation of the creative heritage of the writer Raden Ngabehi Ronggovarsito (1802-1873), the last and most prominent representative of the "Javanese Renaissance" (XVIII-XIX centuries). The author, in particular, notes the inconsistency of his work: on the one hand, Ronggovarsito worked in the mainstream of traditional Javanese court poetics, on the other hand, he paid great attention to prose, which was then considered almost an extra - literary genre. Having carefully studied the works of the writer, the author expresses the opinion that they laid the foundations of the modern literary Javanese language. At the same time, insufficient attention is paid to the philosophical side of the Javanese writer's work, and Ronggovarsito is revered in Java as a seer and prophet who closes the tradition, like the last prophet of Islam, Muhammad. Turning to an assessment of the current state of Javanese literature based on the novels "Chanting" by Arswendo Atmoviloto (1986), "Priyayi" by Umar Kayam (1992) and" Red Circle " by Ahmad Tohari (1993), Noriahh states that Javanese writers raise the problems of Javanese society in their works, but they write in Indonesian and "give a sense of meaning". the text has a national flavor, saturating it with Javanese words" (p. 154).

The most interesting pages of the work are devoted to a comparative study of the monuments of Javanese and Malay literature. In particular, the author traces analogies in the characteristics of the epic heroes of two peoples who have become role models for many generations: the Javanese Arjuna and the Malay Hang Tuah. According to Noriyah, the poem Arju-Navivaha ⁹ and Hikayat Hang Tuah ¹⁰ can be traced to certain elements of competition between Javanese and Malays. For example, in "Hikayat Hang Tuah" Javanese people are endowed with unsightly features, although the magic chris ¹¹ in the hands of Hang Tuah is of Javanese origin, and in one of the Malay pantuns ¹² it says that "if the city of Malacca falls, then I will build a house in Java". By the way, Noriah shares the opinion of P. O. Winstedt that that some episodes of" The Tale of Hang Tuah " are borrowed from the Javanese tales of Panji ¹³ .

The book's undoubted advantages also include sections related to Noriahs field research conducted in localities in Malaysia with a predominantly Javanese population (mainly in the state of Selangor). These studies have revealed a curious pattern: although Javanese people have been living in a Malay environment for three to four generations and are exposed to massive exposure from the local media, they manage to preserve the main elements of their national culture, and in some areas, the language they continue to use at the everyday level. In Batu Satu Sepintas, for example, 93% of respondents said they could speak Ngoko (an unofficial language) and 46% could speak Cromo (an official language). The same data shows a high level of adaptation of Javanese: all of them can speak Malay, although at the age of 55 and older - with a strong Javanese accent. Javanese people are very active in the political and social life of Malaysia. For example, members of Parliament from districts such as Sungai Besar, Sabak Burnam, and Kuala Selangor are of Javanese descent.

Noriyah is inclined to attribute the high adaptability of Javanese people while preserving elements of their own culture to their adherence to the code of the Javanese philosophy of life (toto cromo), which includes nine basic elements: introspection and peace of mind; ability to understand others; restraint; uncomplaining acceptance of events and phenomena; tolerance and tolerance; duty of memory; caution; simplicity and sincerity; reverence the older ones. The implementation of these provisions gives Javanese people confidence in life, increases the sense of self-preservation, and teaches them to calmly and tolerantly overcome difficulties.

In conclusion, I would like to point out that Noriahhamed's book is a prominent phenomenon in the modern literature on Javanese issues, and if it were translated into Russian, it would be of interest not only for students and persons engaged in the study of the East, but also for a wide range of readers.

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notes

¹ Raffls ' two-volume History of Java ( Raffls S. T. History of Java. L., 1817), which provides data on the geography, demography, economy and history of the Javanese principalities since ancient times, as well as on the culture, religion and everyday life of the Javanese, is considered the pinnacle of his scientific and popularizing activities. The app provides demographic statistics of Java, an overview of its state and administrative structure and Muslim legislation, descriptions of the islands of Sulawesi and Bali, comparative dictionaries and alphabets of a number of languages, facsimiles and translations of Javanese inscriptions. Great value is attached to the work by the use of medieval chronicles-babads.

² It is enough to point out such works as: Kullanda S. V. Istoriya Drevnoi Yavy [History of Ancient Java], Moscow: Izd. firm "Vostochnaya litra", 1992; Abbuilah Ciptoprawiro. Filsafah Jawa. Jakarta: Balai Pustaka, 1986; De Yong S. Salah Satu Sikap Orang Jawa. Jogyakarta: Yayasan Kanisius, 1976; Clifford Gertz. The Religion of Jawa. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1969; Zoetmulder P.J. Kalangwan. Sastera Jawa Kuno Selayang Pandang. Jakarta: Penerbit Djambatan, 1985.

³ For more information about Norih Mohamed, see an interview with her: V. Pogadaev. Even the Sultan has one wife / / Sudarushka, Moscow, 2001, No. 3. She is one of the initiators of the creation of the Center for Malay-Indonesian Studies at the ISAA at Moscow State University (1998), regularly comes to Moscow and St. Petersburg to give lectures, and studies Malay manuscripts stored in central Russian libraries.

⁴ Aji Saka (Javanese: king of the Sakas), also known as Sangka Adi or Abungamberovo, a cultural hero in Javanese mythology, the first Javanese king.

^Kebatinan 5 (from Arabic. "inner, hidden") is a syncretic Javanese mysticism that combines Hindu-Buddhist and Muslim elements. The main goal is a metaphysical search for harmony in oneself, with nature. The universe, God. There are hundreds of Kebatinan schools and religious groups in Java.

⁶ The five-term classification includes spatial (the four cardinal directions and the center) and temporal orientation (the five-day week), as well as elements such as colors, metals, animals, plants, birds, character traits, mythological and epic characters (for example, the five propagators of Islam-the sons of the founder of Islam in Java, Sunan Ampel), etc. For more information, see: Kuznetsova S. S. U istokov ekonomicheskoy kul'tury [At the origins of Indonesian culture]. east. lit-ry, 1989.

⁷ It is interesting that this concept was developed in the Russian literature of the "silver age". The idea of the independent existence of the word, its magical power passes through the works of K. Balmont, A. Bely, A. Blok, A. Akhmatova.

⁸ For the Thai version of "Panji", see: Afanassieva E. N. Inao (Panji) in Thailand / / Indonesian and Malay world in the Second millennium: main milestones of development. Reports of participants of the XI European Colloquium on Indonesian and Malay Studies, Moscow, June 29-July 1, 1999, Moscow, 2000, pp. 24-26.

⁹ Heroic-romantic poem "The Wedding of Arjuna" - a monument of ancient Javanese literature. Created between 1028 and 1035. The author is the East Javanese poet Mpu Kanva, who lived at the court of the ruler of Aira-langga. Certain motifs of the poem have parallels with the epics "Mahabharata" and "Kiratarjuniya" by the Indian poet Bharavi (VI century).

¹⁰ Written heroic-historical epic of the Malays, created in Johor, probably in the 80s-90s of the XVII century. In it, the biography of the Malacca naval commander (Laxamana)is artistically translated XV century. Hang Tu-aha. Rus. per. See: The Tale of Hang Tuah / Translated by B. B. Parnikel. east. lit-ry, 1984.

¹¹ Javanese dagger with a double-edged blade extending from 30 to 100 cm long at the handle, often wavy in shape. It acts as a carrier of sacred energy, which provides its owner with success in any endeavor, protects them from disasters, etc.

¹² In Malay literature, a miniature poetic form, a cross-rhyming quatrain that breaks up into two couplets (samgshran and yen), which usually do not have a direct logical connection and are connected by the principle of sound and / or figurative - symbolic parallelism. Traditional and modern Malay poetry / Comp., author of the preface. B. B. Parnikel', Moscow: Krasnaya Gora Publ., 1996.

^{Windstedt R.} 13 Journey through half a million pages. Istoriya malayskoi klassicheskoi literatury [History of Malay Classical Literature]. east. litry, 1966, pp. 83-91.

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