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Abstract

This article discusses the Javanese Panji-story Kuda Narawangsa, which I first watched as a masked performance in a village south of Yogyakarta in 1977. The play featured Galuh Candra Kirana, spouse of Prince Panji of Jenggala, in the masculine form of “Kuda Narawangsa”. Historical information on this play in archival manuscript sources, found mainly in the collections of Leiden University Libraries, proves that it was well-known in Java during the nineteenth century. In this article, descriptions of performances in manuscripts or printed publications are combined with historical play-scripts (pakem) from Surakarta and Yogyakarta, which have not been investigated so far. Special attention is paid to the script of a masked performance of the Kuda Narawangsa story in a manuscript from the Mangkunegaran palace, investigating what this historical pakem can tell us about the meaning and context of a masked performance of this story in nineteenth century Java. A story which according to recent publications remains relevant in Indonesian society to this day.

References

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ManuscrIpts:

Or.6428 Leiden University Libraries Serat pakem gedhog

Or. 6467 Leiden University Libraries, “R.M.A. Tondhakusuma ing Mangkunagaran Surakarta“, article in Budi Utama 1851.

G 21 Mangkunegaran Library Reksa Pustaka, Buku Pakem Topeng. Solo 1802/1873. [Copied by Hatmosambojo in 1973.]

Type-scrIpt:

Data-data masalah Topeng di Ngebrak Semanu pada Bersih Desa tanggal 18/19 Juni 1977, Lakon Galuh Candra Kirana Murca.

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