The Literary Expert Lecture was held on Monday, May 13, 2024 in the Auditorium Room of Soegondo Building 7th Floor and Zoom Meeting at 13.00-16.00 WIB. The three speakers that afternoon were Leila S. Chudori, T.A. Prapancha Hary, Dr. Sudibyo, M.Hum. Leila S. Chudori is a retired Tempo journalist and Indonesian writer who has written numerous short stories, novels, and television drama screenplays. Her books that have been published by KPG Publishers are Malam Terakhir, Pulang, Nadira, Laut Bercerita in softcover and hardcover versions, and most recently, Namaku Alam. Dr. Sudibyo, M.Hum. is an extraordinary lecturer at the History Study Program, Javanese Literature and Culture Study Program, as well as S2 and S3 Literature Study Programs at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada. T.A. Prapancha Hary or familiarly called Mas Tatung, is a clinical psychologist and lecturer at a private university in Yogyakarta, as well as Abdi Dalem Kraton Yogyakarta. He was born and raised in Yogyakarta, pursuing his undergraduate and postgraduate education at the Faculty of Psychology, Gadjah Mada University.

Leila S. Chudori, as the first speaker, explained about her journey in writing the novel “Namaku Alam”. Since the beginning of writing Namaku Alam, Leila planned a storyline that contained a search, identity, and the process of finding answers. This begins with the characterization of the protagonist, the research process for novel writing, the initial design of the basic framework of the story to be written, the formation of the main character and important characters, the finalization of the basic framework of the story, and the concoction of several themes raised in the novel. Leila tries to show that in dark situations there is always hope. For example, Leila tries to show how people who are repressed in the past can still tell their stories through various ways and mediums.

Through the presentation of Dr. Sudibyo, M.Hum., he explained that in the novel “Namaku Alam” there are issues such as the entanglement of photographic memory, dystopia, and traumatic memory. The images of utopian successes in the novel, such as freedom from bullying, lead to failure, which in this case becomes dystopia. In “Namaku Alam”, traumatic memories are attempted to be negotiated, however, in this first volume, the negotiation is still unsuccessful, the nightmares experienced in the novel can be read as evidence of this failure. Alam’s strong photographic memory, in this case, makes her unable to escape her past traumatic experiences.

T.A. Prapancha Hary, seeks to answer whether Alam’s trauma can disappear or linger? In “Namaku Alam”, the first volume of the novel, according to Prapancha, the character Alam still retains his trauma. There is always a conflict between Alam and himself. Alam, in this situation, has an oedipus complex. Alam’s behavior, which always tries to protect the people around him, shows how Alam tries to be a “father” figure as a protector described in the oedipus complex phenomenon. Expressive expressions in the form of cursing by Alam in this novel actually show how his disappointment cannot be defeated which is then collected in the form of cursing. The hopes that are still kept by Alam in a difficult situation prove that this character has the talent of good emotional processing.

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The Department of Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture at Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) has once again achieved a prestigious achievement. This time, the Wignyasta UGM group successfully won first place in the Javanese Literature Reporting Competition organized by Universitas Negeri Surabaya (UNESA). The competition took place from November 7, 2023, until the announcement on December 3, 2023, online.

The Javanese literature reporting produced by Wignyasta UGM is titled “Sapa sing Temen, Bakal Tinemu.” In this report, the Wignyasta UGM team interviewed Nini Klenyem, a Javanese literature writer from the past to the present. Nini Klenyem tells the story of her ups and downs in publishing her work. Even though she did not continue her formal education like most people, her strong determination to create brought her works to become more diverse and published until today.

The Wignyasta UGM group consists of four students of Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture from the 2023 class, namely Alma Syahwalani, Bernadetta Rahayuning Tyas, Rachel Aulia, and Dian Nitami.

Etymologically, Wignyasta comes from the word “wignyan,” which means “3 sandhangan panyigeg,” and “asta” which comes from the Javanese word for “hand.” The word “wignyan” is interpreted as having a value of 3, while “asta” is interpreted as having a value of 2, resulting in the number 32. By following the sengkalan system, the numbers are reversed to become 23. “We made it our team name to lift the 2023 Batch,” Alma revealed in an interview on Thursday (December 21, 2023).

The process of creating the report was not without challenges. Alma explained, “In the creation of the report text, we faced the obstacle of having to know and use the appropriate Javanese language level, especially when interviewing Nini Klenyem. We also faced other obstacles such as limited storage on our devices, while we had to revise the work.”

“However, Alhamdulillah, we managed to overcome all of that so that the reportation work was ready to be competed. The creation of this Javanese literature report was also not without the guidance of Ibu Wiwien (Dra. Wiwien Widyawati Rahayu, M.A), our lecturer of the “Introduction to Javanese Literature” course. She also helped in the selection of the interviewee, because we did not have much information about Javanese literature writers,” Alma continued.

With the achievement achieved by Wignyasta UGM, it is hoped that students of the Department of Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture of UGM can continue to improve their skills and knowledge related to Javanese culture, language, and literature. It is expected that students will continue to be enthusiastic in creating, as well as be able to use their time to achieve achievements. This achievement is also in line with point four of the Sustainable Development Goals, Quality Education, which is to provide and develop the quality of education.

Research collaboration is encouraged by the Faculty of Cultural Sciences Universitas Gadjah Mada recently. One such research collaboration is a research project between the Department of Anthropology UGM and the Department of Cultural Anthropology Udayana, which took the topic of “Balinese Local Genius: Key to Stunting Reduction in Pedawa, Bali.”. This research was funded by the Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM and is part of an implementation of SDG Goal 2: Zero Hunger.

The research was conducted by four researchers: Atik Triratnawati and Novitasari Ardianti from UGM, and Aliffiati and Azzahra Alivya Prasetio from Udayana University. The research was conducted in Pedawa Village, Buleleng, a Bali Aga village that maintains traditional lifestyles and parenting practices. The research was conducted in June, August, and September 2023.

The research findings showed that Balinese local genius, which is still strongly held by the Pedawa community, positively impacts the health of mothers and babies. This is evident in the community’s adherence to adat or the culture, such as following a series of birth ceremonies, using local ingredients as the main food source for toddlers, and the emergence of gender equality in the family. The success of stunting reduction in this village is also supported by modern medical services, including midwifery agencies, the success of the Family Planning program (Keluarga Berencana Program), and the strong empowerment of cadres. 

The current threat of a food crisis is being responded to by various parties. The development of alternative food such as the processing of konjac is being attempted by the Community Service Team of the Department of Anthropology. The team consists of Dr. Atik Triratnawati, M.A., Prof. Dr. Bambang Hudayana, M.A., Muhammad Zamzam Fauzanafi, M.A., along with two students named Eka Yuniati and Ferdy Azmal Fakhrani. This community service program is a continuation of the previous year’s program with the same theme, “Development of Konjac-based Culinary in Karangpatihan Village, Ponorogo Regency, East Java.” The continuation of the program took place in August 2023 in four hamlets: Krajan, Selodono, Dungus, and Jurugan.

Konjac, or in Indonesia is called porang, was chosen as an alternative food because it is a local Indonesian commodity which has great potential in the international market. For example, what has been done in Madiun, one kilogram of konjac can cost up to Rp. 14,000. One hectare of fertile land can produce around 80 tons of tubers for one harvest within two years. One of the most popular products made by konjac is shirataki rice, which has a high selling price. Konjac grows a lot in Ponorogo and there is one of the programs initiated by the Ponorogo Regional Government which aims to provide stimulants in the form of seeds and supporting the existence of a konjac farmer association. Other than that, Perhutani, which is a State-Owned Enterprise in the Form of Public Company which focuses on the task and authority to manage state forest resources, also provides access to farmers to plant konjac around perennial crops. Based on this fact, the community service team conducted training assistance in processing konjac-based food. In addition, a cooking competition was also held to motivate the locals to be more enthusiastic in creating innovations related to this food recipe. Then the activity was closed with a focus group discussion (FGD) to listen to the aspirations of women who joined the family welfare movement (PKK)  in the four hamlets, Karangpatihan Village, Pulung District, Ponorogo Regency. This program needs to be done because, until now, the society perceives that konjac can cause an itchy feeling. By implementing this community service program, the community will develop a new perspective that konjac has many benefits. Apart from that, we really hope that the dissemination of knowledge and skills can make konjac-based food into an alternative food in Ponorogo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image 1.1: Dawet porang: one of the konjac-based culinary that has been taught to the members of PKK in Karangpatihan Village, Pulung, Ponorogo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image 1.2: Various kinds of konjac-based culinary made by one of the groups who participated in the competition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image 1.3: The winners of the development of a konjac-based culinary competition.