Modern repackaging needed to save Javanese literature from extinction: expert

Modern repackaging through stage performances are one of the ways to save Javanese literature from gradual extinction and recapture public attentition amidst tight competition against western culture, a literary expert has said.

Expert Beni Satya said on Wednesday that people who were in charge of the literature should upgrade their ways to lure more people loving the ancestors' heritage otherwise it would be left behind.

“Teatrical performances and movies are easier modes to introduce the literature to wider group of people. We can no longer rely on books or handwritten cultural products to be exist,” Beni said.

Beni made such statements during a forum on Javanese literature at Cakul village, Trenggalek Regency on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Another expert Bunari Nabobenar expressed his concerns over the literature's gradual unpopularity among residents.

“Fewer people buy Javanese magazine, while Javanese songs are rarely heard unless in special occassions. Even the literature is considered odd,” Bunari said.