Talk:Balinese literature

A fact from Balinese literature appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 9 March 2012 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that a common theme in modern Balinese literature is dealing with tourists?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2012/March. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Balinese literature.

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Suggestions[edit]

Ok, I know nothing about Bali other than that it has a cockfight.

Re this article as it stands, I have some general and specific queries/observations.

"Balinese literature refers to the oral and written Balinese language literature of the people of Bali, an island in Indonesia. It is generally divided into two periods: purwa, or traditional; and anyar, or modern." (1) is there non-Balinese language writing by the people of Bali? (2) is there some ?watershed? between the two periods (colonization?) and is this significant enough to be mentioned in the lede? (3) maybe some v.brief explanation (on historic/cultural/linguistic grounds) of why this can be a distinct type of literature - for example you wouldn't have an article on the Literature of Idaho or Scouse literature (and that's certainly another tongue).

According to the article, Scouse is a dialect, not a unique language; as noted in History of Bali, Bali used to have several individual kingdoms and whatnot, and ethnoculturally it is quite different than the rest of Indonesia. As noted in the article, right now anyar and purwa literature coexist, which leads me to think there is no watershed. As for Balinese contributions to Indonesian literature (i.e. Indonesian language literature), I didn't consider it pertinent to the subject matter as defined. Since on second thought it seems like a good idea to have at least a paragraph about

"namely vedas, other religious texts, wariga, itihasas, babads, and tantris" - provide brief glosses?

None in sources. If I remember correctly, vedas and babads are linked.

Do I take it from the section on Dutch schools that there was no official suppression then, and has been none since, of the language, as happened in many other places? (Cf the story of French schools in Algeria: "Our ancestors, the Gauls")

It doesn't say in the sources I used, but I remember reading that the Dutch promoted local languages for native Indonesians because they felt that a national language would lead to unrest and possible rebellion.

"Modern poems began in 1968" - sounds a bit like Virginia Woolf's "On or about December 1910 human character changed". First published then? For these, as for short stories, was there much unpublished writing that has subsequently come to light? Or in other tongues?

Changed.

Structure - could genres be expanded upon so it's less of a "History of Balinese literature" article and likewise "themes"? Would be great to know what is distinctively Balinese about this literature. Physical medium as a separate section?

Can we have some quotes, from a legend or poem or whatever to get some flavour?

Didn't have any in my sources

If there's oral literature, more on transmission and performance; is there musical accompaniment? More on drama?

Didn't have any in my sources

More on relationship with other Indonesian/Javan literature. What about writings by others about Bali?

I'd rather not touch on every single book which deals with Bali. Putting Eat Pray Love here would be silly.

Otherwise is it possible to incorporate Western sources on this stuff? Would be good to have some further reading suggestions for those who cannot read Indonesian/Balinese.

JSTOR:

I'll see if I can access JSTOR elsewhere. My modem blocks it as possibly pornographic or inciting people to gamble. Crisco 1492 (talk) 23:19, 4 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Amazon:

[http://www.amazon.com/Bhima-Swarga-Balinese-Journey-Soul/dp/0821218964/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1330828543&sr=8-3 Bhima Swarga: The Balinese Journey of the Soul]
[http://www.amazon.com/The-invisible-mirror-siwaratrikalpa-performance/dp/B0067LMYRI/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1330828543&sr=8-4 The invisible mirror : siwaratrikalpa : Balinese literature in performance]
[http://www.amazon.com/Journeys-Desire-Verhandelingen-Koninklijk-Volkenkunde/dp/9067181374/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1330828543&sr=8-11 Journeys of Desire: A Study of the Balinese Text Malat]
[http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Order-Recognizing-Complexity-Princeton/dp/0691027277/ref=sr_1_20?ie=UTF8&qid=1330828776&sr=8-20 Perfect Order: Recognizing Complexity in Bali] (p.3 mentions philosophical literature and how Balinese literature is full of stories about other cultures)
[http://www.amazon.com/The-Folk-Art-Bali-Collection/dp/983560052X/ref=sr_1_24?ie=UTF8&qid=1330828776&sr=8-24 The Folk Art of Bali: The Narrative Tradition] (says ordinary people can no longer understand the old literature)
[http://www.amazon.com/Illuminations-The-Writing-Traditions-Indonesia/dp/0834803496/ref=sr_1_34?ie=UTF8&qid=1330829339&sr=8-34 Illuminations: The Writing Traditions of Indonesia] (pp.129-155 on 'Leaves of Palm: Balinese Lontar')

Presumably general studies of Indonesian Literature, like the last, discuss that of Bali and might be cited?

Importance rating seems highly surprising and disappointing; if this is compelling maybe it could be reassessed, Maculosae tegmine lyncis (talk) 03:03, 4 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I ranked it "low" because it has less of an impact than Javanese literature or Malay literature. Javanese is ranked "mid", so this had to be lower. Crisco 1492 (talk) 23:17, 4 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

P.S. Influence of purwa on anyar? Are people still ?writing? purwa/purwa-style stuff? Maculosae tegmine lyncis (talk) 03:23, 4 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

P.P.S. What's the difference between purwa and anyar? Is it a question only of date or also of form/content/something else? Maculosae tegmine lyncis (talk) 09:44, 4 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Forms and styles (note that they all have different forms). Purwa uses traditional forms, while anyar uses Western forms. Crisco 1492 (talk) 05:53, 9 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

P.P.P.S. What's the school curriculum like? Is there 'Balinese literature' as a subject/exam like we have English literature? What about at university in Bali/Indonesia? Maculosae tegmine lyncis (talk) 09:49, 4 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Sadly I was only in Bali for several days (enough to give a paper on the use of mIRC in free sex culture, go shopping, and go to Uluwatu), but generally the local languages are studied as an individual subject in elementary school. Here in Yogyakarta, it's Javanese. The students hate it. Crisco 1492 (talk) 05:53, 9 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]