Tall tree, nest of the wind : the Javanese shadow-play Dewa Ruci performed by Ki Anom Soeroto : a study in performance philology / Bernard Arps.

Format:

Book

Government document

Author/Creator:

Arps, Ben, author.

Language:

English

Javanese

Subjects (All):

Wayang.

Wayang plays--History and criticism.

Wayang plays.

Javanese philology.

Suroto, Anom, Ki, 1948-2025. Dewa Ruci.

Suroto, Anom.

Shadow shows.

Indonesia--Java.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

x, 634 pages ; 24 cm

Other Title:

Javanese shadow-play Dewa ruci performed by Ki Anom Soeroto

Study in performance philology

Place of Publication:

Singapore : NUS Press, [2015]

Language Note:

In English, with text of shadow-play script in original Javanese and in English translation.

Summary:

Javanese shadow puppetry is a sophisticated dramatic form, often felt to be at the heart of Javanese culture, drawing on classic texts but with important contemporary resonance in fields like religion and politics. How to make sense of the shadow-play as a form of world-making? In Tall Tree, Nest of the Wind, Bernard Arps explores this question by considering an all-night performance of Dewa Ruci, a key play in the repertoire. Thrilling and profound, Dewa Ruci describes the mighty Bratasena's quest for the ultimate mystical insight. The book presents Dewa Ruci as rendered by the distinguished master puppeteer Ki Anom Soeroto in Amsterdam in 1987. The book's unusual design presents the performance texts together with descriptions of the sounds and images that would remain obscure in conventional formats of presentation. Copious annotations probe beneath the surface and provide an understanding of the performance's cultural complexity. These annotations explain the meanings of puppet action, music, and shifts in language; how the puppeteer wove together into the drama the circumstances of the performance in Amsterdam, Islamic and other religious ideas, and references to contemporary Indonesian political ideology. Also revealed is the performance's historical multilayering and the picture it paints of the Javanese past. Tall Tree, Nest of the Wind not only presents an unrivalled insight into the artistic depth of wayang kulit, it exemplifies a new field of study, the philology of performance. Book jacket.

Contents:

Ki Anom Soeroto Performs Dewa Ruci

List of symbols and typographic conventions 108

Overture 110

First part Pathet nem

Audience in Astina 113

Inside the palace 155

The chancellor gives instructions 174

The giants on Mount Candramuka 203

In Astina 242

Second part Pathet sanga

In the hermitage of Sapta Arga 257

Permadi meets the demons 297

Third part Pathet manyura

Audience in Amarta 341

The serpent 380

The meeting with Dewa Ruci 385

Duma goes after Bratasena 412

Annotations

List of abbreviations used in the annotations and Appendix II 440

Annotations to Ki Anom Soeroto performs Dewa Ruci 441

Appendices

I The streaming audio, the CD set, and this book 581

II Dramatis personae and toponyms 585.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 607-625) and index.

Contains:

Suroto, Anom, Ki, 1948-2025. Dewa Ruci.

Suroto, Anom, Ki, 1948-2025. Dewa Ruci. English

ISBN:

9789814722155

9814722154

OCLC:

940607760

Online:

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description