Literary Representations of War and Warfare in Old Javanese Kakawin Poetry

LITERARY REPRESENTATIONS OF WAR AND WARFARE IN OLD JAVANESE KAKAWIN POETRY Jiri Jakl MA A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2014 School of Languages and Comparative Cultural Studies Abstract This thesis studies literary representations of war in kakawin. The battle, a central event of kakawin warfare, is conceptualised as a sacrifice on the battlefield. Blood-spilling and unlimited martial violence are depicted as the two most important aspects of the battle and kakawin warfare pays scant attention to strategic aims and tactical considerations. The main argument of this thesis is that virtually all aspects of warfare, even the most mundane, have been constructed to represent martial violence in terms of sacrifice. Furthermore, the thesis demonstrates that literary representations of warfare in kakawin are highly selective. Those aspects that were of high symbolic value for premodern court society, for example, the decapitation of the enemies on the battlefield, are given prominence, while aspects of low symbolic value, such as the logistics of war campaigns, were of little or no concern to the authors. Javanese poets preferred to think about martial violence in terms of metaphor. They employed the same set of words and concepts for battle as for animal sacrifice and the hunt, two other activities in which life is destroyed. I argue that in numerous metaphors Javanese poets express the idea that blood spilled on the battlefield is an enriching substance that increases the fertility of the earth and its potential to grow crops and sustain people. Correspondences are drawn between gushing blood and rivers bringing precious water to peasants, and between the spilled blood of fallen warriors and the flow of volcanic mud (guntur) bringing enriching minerals to the fields. I argue that the earth is envisaged as the ultimate recipient of oblations consisting of the flesh and blood of dead soldiers. I argue further that the literary motif of corpses of warriors slain in battle, left lying on the battlefield, is structurally similar to the phenomenon of blood offerings (tawur) to chthonian spirits. I demonstrate that a similar sacrificial symbolism is known from the Old Javanese inscriptional record such as the establishment of religious free-hold territories (s!ma). The thesis also presents the first sustained discussion of the rich imagery of cooking, eating and food symbolism that pervades the depiction of battles in kakawin. This thesis presents new evidence that poets did more than merely conform to poetical requirements in including the war scenes typical of kakawin. Earlier scholars have presumed that literary representations of war and warfare in kakawin are highly stereotypical and among the least ‘localized’ themes in Old Javanese poetry (Zoetmulder 1974: 188). Nevertheless, their findings have been based primarily on the analysis of a single text, the Bh"ratayuddha, the twelfth-century Old Javanese version of Sanskrit Mah"bh"rata. To develop a more balanced view of the topic, I have collected and analysed the available evidence pertaining to war and warfare in all kakawin belonging to the Javanese textual tradition. In addition, I analyse in detail the structure of the kakawin army and propose a number of refined understandings of Old Javanese military i terminology. These findings demonstrate that, in spite of the fictional character of kakawin warfare, the warriors are engaged in martial practices that do reflect the martial culture familiar in the premodern Javanese court milieu. As was previously argued by Creese (2004: 42) for the topic of sexuality and marriage patterns in the kakawin world, it was essential that kakawin embodied the social reality of their time or they would lose force. The motif of battle-sacrifice is not only a powerful literary formula. The symbolism of the metaphor of battle as a sacrifice pervades virtually all of the martial scenes. This thesis attributes the prominence of formulaic passages in descriptions of battles to the function of the author, the kawi, as the practitioner of ‘literary magic’, or the ‘language priest’ in the service of his royal patron (Teeuw and Robson 2005: 1). Poets ‘infused’ the text with the formulas that served to tap into the protective power of (terrific aspect of) the divinity. Finally, I develop the concept of the ‘landscape of warfare’. Javanese poets constructed a mytho- poetical zone of war—the ‘landscape of war’—in which all elements of battle and war embody the martial: not only warriors, but also animals, plants, and even inanimate objects, all contribute to the creation of an all-encompassing physical and sensory world. Virtually all the passages in which the ‘landscape of warfare’ is found make use of Javanese rather than Sanskrit words and thus this landscape reflects Old Javanese aesthetic and poetics. ii Declaration by author This thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to co-authored works that I have included in my thesis. I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial advice, and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my research higher degree candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I have clearly stated which parts of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for another award. I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the General Award Rules of The University of Queensland, immediately made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968. I acknowledge that copyright of all material contained in my thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of that material. Where appropriate I have obtained copyright permission from the copyright holder to reproduce material in this thesis. iii Publications during candidature Jiri Jakl, 2012, ‘Swarming ants and their kin in Old Javanese kakawin literature’, Pandanus 12, pp. 47-63. Jiri Jakl, 2013, ‘Warriors killed, sliced as cucumber: food symbolism in the martial scenes of the Old Javanese kakawin’, in: Nalanda-Sriwijaya Working Paper 13, pp. 1-29. Jiri Jakl, 2014, ‘The Whale in the Old Javanese kakawin literature: timi#gila, ‘elephant fish’ and l$mbwara revisited’, Pandanus 14 (2), pp. 103-18. Publications included in the thesis No publications included. Contributions by others to the thesis No contributions by others. Statement of parts of the thesis submitted to qualify for the award of another degree None. iv Acknowledgements This study would never have been completed without the generous assistance of supervisors, professional colleagues and friends. It was a privilege to work alongside highly qualified, amiable scholars involved who supervised me, read and commented on the thesis and offered many suggestions for improvement. In the first place, I would like to thank my main supervisor, Associate Professor Dr Helen Creese, for giving me the opportunity to pursue this amazing project, for her unbroken enthusiasm and for her inspiring guidance. My gratitude also goes to my second supervisor, Dr Adam Bowles, for his deep understanding of my topic and for many stimulating occasions on which I could benefit from it. I am also thankful to Dr Michael Charney, who spent neither time nor trouble in providing helpful comments on chapters four and five. My special thanks go to Dr Andrea Acri for his expert insights into the subject of Javanese pre-Islamic religion and for providing me with a number of articles of otherwise difficult access. This work has also greatly benefitted from the conversations and correspondence I have had with Alexander Adelaar, Mahidas Bhattacharya, Peter Boomgaard, Daud Ali, Ian Glover, Tom Hoogerworst, Sun Laichen, Victor Lieberman, Waruno Mahdi, Pierre-Yves Manguin, Pauline Lunsingh Scheurleer, Jaroslav Vacek. Needless to say, final responsibility for all the views expressed and any errors and shortcomings rests entirely with me. It is a privilege to carry out research in another country: I am indebted to the University of Queensland that provided me with the generous scholarship and financial support. I am also grateful to the many people who made my research easier, especially the expert and extremely helpful staff of the Library of the University of Queensland. I express my gratitude to my family for their love, encouragement and support. v Keywords war, warfare, literary representations, Old Javanese, kakawin, sacrificial symbolism. Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classifications (ANZSRC) ANZSRC code: 200516: Indonesian Literature, 100% Fields of Research (FoR) Classification FoR code: 2005: Literary Studies, 100% vi Table of Contents Table of Contents !"#$%&'$())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))(*( +,'-&%&$*./("0(&1$2.%()))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))(***(

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