Beyond the page: Unearthing Sundanese wisdom in Wawacan Bermana Sakti

Abstract

This article examines the layered meanings of a traditional Sundanese folktale, Wawacan Bermana Sakti. Written in Pegon script between the 18th and 19th centuries in the form of verses to be performed as songs, Wawacan Bermana Sakti narrates the journey of Prince Bermana Sakti, an exiled prince who becomes a true king. Guided by Dundes’ folkloristics and Eco’s semiotics, this study explores how narrative motifs and symbolic codes articulate nature as an ecological, ethical, and spiritual concern within the Sundanese society. The analysis positions nature, in relation to the characters in the text, as a partner, the sacred, and power. This positioning is constructed through the recurring narrative structures examined in Dundes’ categories, while Eco’s semiotic lens reveals multilayered signs embedded in the various forms of nature as a partner, the sacred, and as power. The analysis indicates that the constructed nature has reflected an ethic of interdependence in which humans must learn from and live with nature. It can be assumed that nature has an enabling agentive quality that transforms Bermana Sakti into an accomplished leader. Wawacan Bermana Sakti anticipates ecological crises by perpetuating the notion that human survival and legitimacy depend on recognizing nature’s agency and not subordinating it. Reflecting on Indonesia’s current ecological disaster, revisiting old manuscripts from various parts of Indonesia might shed light on local wisdom applicable to contemporary issues.