Writing the Past, Inscribing the Future: History as Prophecy in Colonial Java. (book reviews)

Nancy Florida translates and provides a sustained exegesis of Babad Jaka Tingkir, the History of Jaka Tingkir. The original manuscript, handwritten in Javanese, is archived with a bundle of correspondence belonging to Pakubuwana VI, a Sultan of Surakarta (Solo) whom the Dutch exiled to Ambon in 1830 for his complicity in the rebellion led by Dipanagara.

The translation itself occupies the centre of the book, taking up 155 pages in the verse format that characterizes this genre, a form of sung poetry. Florida's exegesis frames the verse, with the first part of the book devoted to a ...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.