A Critical Inventory of Ramayana Studies in The World: Volume II (Foreign Languages)

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About the Book:

The appeal of the Ramayana, one of the national epics of India, is universal, because it is an expression of man's eternal quest for abiding human values. It is the repository of an ancient heritage which has travelled across the boundaries of India to several other Asian countries. It has also profoundly enriched our literature and other performing and visual arts, covering a wide spectrum of the socio-cultural life of the people.

This is the Second volume of A Critical Inventory of Ramayana Studies in the World in 28 foreign languages in addition to Urdu and Nepali. The volume also contains a number of learned articles on Ramayana variations by eminent scholars.

This volume, a joint project of Sahitya Akademi and the Union Academique Internationale, Bruxelles, is edited by Professor K. Krishnamoorthy, a renowned academician and scholar.

Publishers' Note:

Sahitya Akademi is pleased to bring out the 2nd volume of A Critical Inventory of Ramayana Studies in the World. The first volume of the inventory published in 1991, listed the Ramayana Studies in Indian languages and English. The 2nd volume of the Inventory lists Ramayana Studies in foreign languages. For the collection of material for this volume, the Akademi had to fully depend on the help of foreign as well as Indian scholars. Information furnished in this volume is entirely based on the material supplied by these scholar-consultants especially from Indonesia, Cambodia, France and other countries.

The editorial staff of the Akademi had a tough time consolidating and classifying the material thus received. The volume also includes entries from Arabic, Persian and Urdu studies. It also includes entries from Nepali other than the Nepali entries included in the first volume. We have also included the entries from the microfilm and microfiches from the U. S. Library of Congress holdings.

The classification of data received from different sources for this second volume has been all the more difficult because of the multiplicity of languages and overlapping source of origin in scattered geographical regions. The entries are generally arranged in alphabetical order under languages. Under certain languages entries, besides text, include material for studies, arts, architecture etc.

The inventory of Ramayana Studies in Indonesia was supplied by Dr. Soewito Santoso whose note on Ramayana Studies in Indonesia is as follows:

1.As commonly known, the Rama study in Indonesia consists of three main redactions, based on the languages it is written in e.g. the Old Javanese (OJ), the Modern Javanese (MJ) and the Classical Malay (CM) languages, These three main redactions then find their expression in other field of arts, such as literature of earlier dates in Bahasa Indonesia, Balinese, Javanese, Sundanese etc, dramatic arts, e.g. wayang (Shadowplay) dance-drama etc. All these kinds of activities in relation with the Ramayana are included in the term study

The term Indonesia is also used in a broad sense. Works done by Indonesians, whether in or outside Indonesia are included, so for instance:

2.Dr. S. Soebardi, A reader at the Australian National University, Canberra, writes an article on Josodipoero I, the court poet o Kartasura, who happened to be te writer of the Serat Rama, a Modern Javanese version of the Ramayana. It is published in the magazine Indonesia, Cornell Modern Indonesian Project, No 8 (October), 1969. As there is no mention of the Rama-story in the title of the article, a compiler of an inventory of the Ramayana study in Australia might overlook it. Products of non-Indonesian writers, known to the present writer as a study relating to the story of Rama in Indonesia, though published outside Indonesia are also listed, e.g. S. O. Robson "The Kawi Classics in Bali" in BKI 128(1972). It happens, that the writer states, that the articles is a product of his study in Bali.

3.Unpublished lectures, papers etc. by people mentioned in point 2. are also included, because they are sometimes deposited in certain libraries.

4.The annotation is kept as brief as possible, but hopefully informative enough.

The Cambodian entries have been collected by Mr. Saveros Pou. Regarding the arrangement of the Cambodian Ramayana Studies, the following note by Mr. Pou may serve as a guide for the users of the inventory.

This first attempt at an inventory of studies in the Khmer (or Cambodian) Ramayana does not claim to be complete on account of the circumstances. The political situation precludes all contacts with the native land, and the short notice prevents deeper research, in particular into private collections, however small they may be. Regarding the arrangement, the readers would perhaps expect to see the times categorized according to the subject-matter. I actual fact, such a categorization proves difficult, at least presently, owing to the intermingling of subjects dealt with. For instance, one author would examine stone bas-reliefs o monuments in the light of literature: another would endeavour to highlight the magical content of traditional dance, and so on, and so forth. In other words, we are dealing with comparative studies in most cases, not to mention brief accounts of Khmer Ramayana in general studies, or studies in the Ramayana of other countries, mainly Malaysia and Thailand. It is obvious that the multifarious subjects could be sorted out only by means of numerous cross-references, which we cannot produce in such a short time (of Supra).

Consequently, we deem it more realistic to confine ourselves to two main sections for this catalogue (a) materials for studies (texts, hide cut-outs, etc.) (b) miscellaneous studies which, incidentally, can be easily identified, as most of the titles speak for themselves.

We are conscious of the fact that to make a comprehensive inventory of the Ramayana studies of the world requires committed field work by a number of scholars devoted to the subject. With the limited resources at the disposal of the Sahitya Akademi, and the lack of proper international infra-structure it was not possible to take up a more comprehensive project. However, it is hoped that this attempt for an international inventory will serve as a basic guideline and a tool of reference for Ramayana scholars in India and abroad. This inventory, we hope will pave the way for more comprehensive work in the field national epic of India has turned over as a repository of an ancient Indian heritage which had travelled across the boundaries of India, to several foreign countries including Asian ones.

Sahitya Akademi is grateful to the scholars of the International Editorial Committee and scholars associated with this 2nd volume of the Inventory for their co-operation in the completion of the project. Sahitya Akademi thanks the authorities of U.A.I. for their co-operation in this unique project. Akademi also thanks the general editor Sri K. Krishnamoorthy for his able guidance and handling of the project.