National Library brings history closer to younger generation through 50 ancient manuscript comics
The National Library of Indonesia (Perpusnas) is continuously striving to bring historical heritage closer to the younger generation by adapting ancient Nusantara manuscripts into modern formats, such as comics.
Aditia Gunawan, Head of the Nusantara Manuscript Management Working Group at the Perpusnas Information Services and Manuscript Management Centre, stated that the library is preparing 50 comics based on Nusantara manuscripts. These have been selected based on their historical and cultural value, including manuscripts that are part of the UNESCO Memory of the World register.
“These manuscripts are already part of the Memory of the World. If the world knows about them, why shouldn’t Indonesians?” he said in Jakarta on Monday.
Aditia mentioned that the 50 comics cover various Nusantara stories and manuscripts, including La Galigo by Syekh Yusuf Al-Makassari, the story of Tuanku Imam Bonjol, and the Panji tales.
The selection process considers how stories within ancient manuscripts can be packaged to be more easily understood by children. Consequently, the content is not presented in a heavy manner but is developed into stories that relate to everyday life.
He provided examples of story depictions showing simple activities, such as a child going to the market with their mother or picking fruit with their grandmother, so that children can recognise the content of the manuscripts without having to face the difficult-to-understand ancient texts directly.
“Therefore, we are introducing aspects that are friendly and close to daily life. We want the whole world to know what the stories of Nusantara are like, who Syekh Yusuf was, and so on,” said Aditia Gunawan.
Perpusnas is also in communication with UNESCO so that these comics and children’s books based on Nusantara manuscripts can be distributed through UNESCO platforms.
“If there is anything that deviates too far from history, we also curate for accuracy and precision regarding the sources,” Aditia added.
The adaptation programme has already received a response from digital readers. The comics available through the iPusnas application are reported to have been read by almost 40,000 people accessing Perpusnas sites.
In addition to comics, Perpusnas previously published 25 comics and children’s books in the Babad Diponegoro series in English. This effort is part of Perpusnas’ strategy to introduce Indonesia’s rich history and culture to international readers.
“Through this adaptation, works written hundreds of years ago can still be read by today’s society in a format that is more closely aligned with the readers’ characters,” he concluded.