Hans Ras
Encyclopedia
Javanese language
Javanese language is the language of the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia. In addition, there are also some pockets of Javanese speakers in the northern coast of western Java...
and literature at Leiden University
Leiden University
Leiden University , located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The royal Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and Leiden University still have a close...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. In 1961 he was lecturer at the University of Malaya
University of Malaya
The University of Malaya is located on a campus near the centre of Kuala Lumpur, and is the oldest university in Malaysia. It was founded in 1905 as a public-funded tertiary institution...
, and in 1969 first representative in Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
of the KITLV
KITLV
The Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies at Leiden was founded in 1851. Its objective is the advancement of the study of the anthropology, linguistics, social sciences, and history of Southeast Asia, the Pacific Area, and the Caribbean. Special emphasis is laid on...
(the Leiden-based Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde = Royal Institute of Linguistics and Anthropology). Until his retirement he was several times a member of the board of the KITLV. From 1985 to 1992, he was professor of Javanese language and literature at the University of Leiden.
Youth
Hans Ras was born in 1926 in RotterdamRotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, as the third son of a family of four children. His father had a wholesale business in confectionery
Confectionery
Confectionery is the set of food items that are rich in sugar, any one or type of which is called a confection. Modern usage may include substances rich in artificial sweeteners as well...
, and all the children had to help in the business. They were all supposed to go to junior high school for their secondary education, as was usual at the time. However, when the eldest was expelled from such a school for precociousness and sent to a higher-grade high school, the others followed in his footsteps.
After Hans Ras passed his school-leaving exams, the Second World War broke out and he went into hiding, while his brothers were sent off into forced labour in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Even at that time he was interested in languages, in particular the Javanese
Javanese language
Javanese language is the language of the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia. In addition, there are also some pockets of Javanese speakers in the northern coast of western Java...
and Arabic language
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
. But his high school certificate did not give him admission to an arts course at a university.
Student years and travels
In 1946, Ras enrolled for the special course of IndonesianIndonesian language
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
studies for future employees with the Dutch colonial civil service. However, the political developments in the then Dutch East Indies made him realize that there was no future for Dutch civil servants in that country. After switching to economics for a while, he left the Netherlands for France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, where he found a job on a dam construction project. Here his knowledge of Arabic, acquired in his Indonesian studies course, stood him in good stead, as most of the workers were North Africans. He acquired a taste for travelling and travelled on to Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and Aden
Aden
Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...
.
On his return to the Netherlands, he did his national service training and after that, at the age of 24, applied for a job with the Rotterdam firm of Internatio (now called Internatio-Müller). He was sent to Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, where he worked in then Batavia
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
. Later he was sent as representative to Banjarmasin
Banjarmasin
Banjarmasin is the capital of South Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is located on a delta island near the junction of the Barito and Martapura rivers. As a result, Banjarmasin is sometimes called the "River City"...
, in Southeast Kalimantan
Kalimantan
In English, the term Kalimantan refers to the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo, while in Indonesian, the term "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo....
, to buy rubber from local growers. This was not without its dangers in the precarious relations between the Netherlands and Indonesia in those years. The local leftist trade unions were hostile to colonial capital, of which they regarded Internatio as a typical representative. In some of the violent demonstrations Ras was repeatedly threatened personally. For instance, once some workers who had been sacked used traditional medicine men to cast a spell on his house. As it became impossible to do his work here any longer, he returned to the Netherlands.
His stay in Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
had given Ras an even keener interest in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
in all its aspects, however. He was accordingly advised by the then Professor of Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
, Drewes, to try to get the recently introduced Indonesian interpreter/translator’s certificate. He passed the exams for this certificate, which qualified him for enrolment at a university.
In the course of the exams, he had met Widjiati Soemoatmodjo. Widjiati, who was an employee of the Indonesian embassy, was transferred to Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
in 1960. In the following period, Ras braved the weather in countless scooter rides between Leiden and Brussels. He was not to be deterred, even after a serious accident in which he got severe concussion.
Meanwhile, Ras diligently applied himself to his studies, including the compulsory courses in the Arabic language
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
and Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
. He tried to learn the vocabulary of these languages by pinning lists of words and idioms on the walls of his room, which he tried to learn off by heart even while he was shaving!
The University of Malaya
In 1961, Ras obtained his Master’s degree cum laude. He married Widjiati, and the newly-weds set out for Kuala LumpurKuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, where Ras had been appointed as lecturer at the University of Malaya
University of Malaya
The University of Malaya is located on a campus near the centre of Kuala Lumpur, and is the oldest university in Malaysia. It was founded in 1905 as a public-funded tertiary institution...
even before passing his Master’s exams. His head of department was Professor Roolvink, who later became professor at Leiden. Besides his teaching duties, Ras devoted his time to writing a PhD thesis on the Hikayat Banjar
Hikayat Banjar
The Hikayat Banjar is the chronicle of Banjarmasin, Indonesia. This text, also called the History of Lambung Mangkurat, contains the history of the kings of Banjar and of Kota Waringin in southeast and south Borneo respectively....
, the Malaysian-language history of Banjarmasin
Banjarmasin
Banjarmasin is the capital of South Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is located on a delta island near the junction of the Barito and Martapura rivers. As a result, Banjarmasin is sometimes called the "River City"...
.
In Kuala Lumpur, a son was born to the couple. On expiry of Ras’ three-year contract there, the family moved back to Leiden, where Ras became a lecturer in the Department of Languages and Cultures of Southeast Asia and Oceania.
In 1966, a daughter was born and Ras obtained his PhD degree cum laude on the basis of a voluminous thesis containing not only a careful edition of the text of the Hikayat Banjar
Hikayat Banjar
The Hikayat Banjar is the chronicle of Banjarmasin, Indonesia. This text, also called the History of Lambung Mangkurat, contains the history of the kings of Banjar and of Kota Waringin in southeast and south Borneo respectively....
but also a detailed description of the literary and cultural-historical context in which the text had originated. Not long after this, the Ras family left the Netherlands for Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
to make the necessary preparations for the establishment of the first Indonesian office of the KITLV
KITLV
The Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies at Leiden was founded in 1851. Its objective is the advancement of the study of the anthropology, linguistics, social sciences, and history of Southeast Asia, the Pacific Area, and the Caribbean. Special emphasis is laid on...
there.
Ras made a success of this venture in spite of major political and bureaucratic obstacles. Thanks to his efforts, a solid foundation was laid for the academic cooperation between the Netherlands and Indonesia, which continues to this day.
The University of Leiden, publications
After his return from Indonesia in 1971, Ras worked in the Department in Leiden. He concentrated more and more on Javanese and as associate of Professor Uhlenbeck took over part of the latter’s teaching load. When Uhlenbeck went into retirement, Ras was the obvious person to succeed him, So he was appointed professor of Javanese language and literature in 1985.As an aid to the teaching of Javanese language
Javanese language
Javanese language is the language of the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia. In addition, there are also some pockets of Javanese speakers in the northern coast of western Java...
, he wrote a Javanese grammar with a lengthy anthology of modern Javanese texts. Of special importance for the specialist scholar are a number of lengthy, in-depth studies of aspects of Javanese culture and literature. Two particular aspects of this culture enjoyed his special interest. In the first place he made a close study of the Indonesian wayang
Wayang
Wayang is a Javanese word for theatre . When the term is used to refer to kinds of puppet theatre, sometimes the puppet itself is referred to as wayang...
theatre and its historical development, translating the text of one play, The Abduction of Subadra, into Dutch. No less important are his studies on the origin, structure, function and reliability of Javanese historical texts
Javanese historical texts
Javanese literature has a very large historical component. In all sorts of texts, such as laudatory poems, chronicles, and travelogues, writers have interpreted the how and why of certain circumstances....
, in particular the Babad Tanah Jawi
Babad Tanah Jawi
Babad Tanah Jawi , is a generic title for a large number of manuscripts written in Javanese language. Their arrangements and details vary, and no copies of any of the manuscripts are older than the eighteenth century....
. Ras’ most important studies were reprinted in the monograph The shadow of the Ivory Tree. Ras spent the last years of his life preparing a new edition of the Pararaton
Pararaton
The Pararaton, also known as the Book of Kings, is a manuscript in the Kawi language. The comparatively short text of 32 folio-size pages contains the history of the kings of Singhasari and Majapahit in eastern Java...
, one of the most complex Old Javanese texts from a philological and literary-historical point of view. This text had already drawn his attention while working on the Hikayat Banjar. Poor health prevented him from completing this project.
Ras did however publish his conclusions from a comparison of the Pararaton
Pararaton
The Pararaton, also known as the Book of Kings, is a manuscript in the Kawi language. The comparatively short text of 32 folio-size pages contains the history of the kings of Singhasari and Majapahit in eastern Java...
(1481 AD) with respectively the Sanskrit Canggal inscription
Canggal inscription
The Canggal inscription is a Javanese inscription dated to 732, discovered in the Gunung Wukir temple complex in Kadiluwih village, Salam, Magelang Regency, Central Java. The inscription is written in the Pallawa script in the Sanskrit language...
(732 AD), the Śivagŗha (Siwagrha) inscription (856 AD), the Calcutta Stone (1041 AD) and the Babad Tanah Jawi (1836 AD). He finds clear similarities in character, structure and function of these texts. Also there is similarity with texts from the Malay historiography. On the ground of this, he concludes that from the whole Indonesian area one specific type of texts can be placed together in one literary genre, the ‘government chronicle’ or the ‘book of kings’: historiography at the service of the legitimity of kingship.
Ras occupies a rightful place in the Leiden tradition of Indonesian studies. The qualities for which his publications stand out most are painstaking factual research, mostly of manuscripts, combined with wide scholarly reading, critical acumen and keen intellect.
Enthusiastic teacher, gripping and graphic lecturer
In addition, Ras was an enthusiastic teacherTeacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
, whose lectures were absorbing and graphic – a real performer. This doubtless had something to do with the fact that, as opposed to most of his colleagues, he took a strong interest in folk theatre and popular culture – in what one might call, in the Latin meaning of the word – the vulgar aspects of Javanese culture.
Although he was a scholar of the old stamp and kept his students at a certain distance, he did try to get them actively involved with the subject. This he did by organizing a lecture in the form of a seminar with papers and talks by and discussion among the participants – quite an unusual approach in the department at the time – and by occasionally organizing lectures for students at his home.
He was able to inspire others with his own love for the culture and people of Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
, in an academic as well as other respects. He took a deep interest in others who were interested in Indonesian, and particularly Javanese culture. Such as, for instance, the puppeteer
Puppeteer
A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, such as a puppet, in real time to create the illusion of life. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the audience. A puppeteer can operate a puppet indirectly by the use of strings, rods, wires, electronics or directly by his or...
from Haarlem
Haarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
, Rien Baartmans – who died far too young – who performed not only Dutch puppet plays but also Javanese wayang
Wayang
Wayang is a Javanese word for theatre . When the term is used to refer to kinds of puppet theatre, sometimes the puppet itself is referred to as wayang...
plays and was famous, especially among children, for his wonderful performances of Wayang Kancil stories about the mouse deer. And his good friend Ger van Wengen, who devoted his time as curator at the Leiden ethnological museum to popularizing ethnology, with Ger using data provided by Hans, such as his book De schending van Soebadra (The abduction of Subadra), and Hans learning from Ger.
Old age
In 1992, Ras retired at the age of 66. It was not a happy development for him. He missed his work, and his health gradually failed him. He became a grandfather for the first time around the turn of the millennium, but was increasingly afflicted with Parkinson's diseaseParkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
. After an attack of pneumonia in 2000, it was no longer possible to live at home. He was moved to a nursing home in the village of Warmond, near Leiden, in August 2002, where, nursed with loving care by Widjiati till the end, he died on 22 October 2003.
After Ras’ retirement in 1992, Javanese studies at Leiden continued along the path followed, or even cleared by Hans Ras. The focus on written texts, by which of course Javanese studies in Leiden were characterized also before Ras’ time, continues to be dominant in the Department’s approach. Although traditional historiography
Historiography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
– which was one of his specialities – rather faded into the background, Ras’ attention to contemporary popular culture laid the foundations for the serious scholarly study of this which is still practised there today.
External links
- http://www.kitlv-journals.nl
- http://www.kitlv.nl
- http://athena.leidenuniv.nl/ub/bc/index.php3?m=74&c=142
- http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahasa_Banjar#Hikayat_Banjar