From Raids to Digital Returns: The (Im-)Materiality of Manuscripts in Decolonializing Heritage Practices
In 1812, the royal palace of Yogyakarta (Central Java) fell to British forces, resulting in the raid of the royal library’s manuscripts. Over the last decade, the manuscripts raided in 1812 that ended up in the British Library were digitized and ‘returned’ to the royal house of Yogyakarta in the for...
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| Auteurs principaux: | , |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Langue: | Anglais |
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Archipel
2026
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| Accès en ligne: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:archipel_9684 |
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openedition |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:archipel_9684 https://doi.org/10.4000/15ga0 urn:doi:10.4000/15ga0 en https://journals.openedition.org/archipel/9684 2026-01-05T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/15ga0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ From Raids to Digital Returns: The (Im-)Materiality of Manuscripts in Decolonializing Heritage Practices Archipel Association Archipel info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2104-3655 info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/0044-8613 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/archipel Ardiyansyah, Panggah Meyer, Verena Java Manuscrits numérisation décolonisation tournant ontologique Java Manuscripts digitization decolonization ontological turn In 1812, the royal palace of Yogyakarta (Central Java) fell to British forces, resulting in the raid of the royal library’s manuscripts. Over the last decade, the manuscripts raided in 1812 that ended up in the British Library were digitized and ‘returned’ to the royal house of Yogyakarta in the form of a hard drive containing 30,000 digital images. In this paper, we seek to explore ideas underpinning the returns of manuscripts in digital form as part of broader decolonial and heritage discourses and practices. We investigate the political and cultural grounds in disseminating manuscripts’ digital copies and ask what kinds of shifting assumptions about the nature of textuality and manuscripts are indicated by digital returns. This is especially relevant given that some manuscripts in traditional Java, those designated as pusaka, are not merely media transmitting textual information. Rather, their materiality contains a power of its own. We conclude with some reflections on how the meanings assigned to the materiality of manuscripts and textuality might affect our scholarly ways of approaching Javanese manuscripts; what ethical implications there may be, especially when the democratization of access through digitization is framed as part of a decolonial movement; and what this entails for future research. En 1812, le palais royal de Yogyakarta (Java central) tomba aux mains des forces britanniques, entraînant le pillage des manuscrits de la bibliothèque royale. Au cours de la dernière décennie, les manuscrits pillés en 1812 et conservés à la British Library ont été numérisés et « restitués » à la maison royale de Yogyakarta sous la forme d’un disque dur contenant 30 000 images numériques. Cet article explore les idées sous-jacentes à la restitution numérique des manuscrits, dans le cadre plus large des discours et pratiques décoloniaux et patrimoniaux. Nous examinons les fondements politiques et culturels de la diffusion des copies numériques de manuscrits et nous nous interrogeons sur les évolutions des conceptions de la textualité et des manuscrits que ces restitutions numériques révèlent. Cette question est d’autant plus pertinente que certains manuscrits traditionnels de Java, désignés comme pusaka, ne sont pas de simples supports de transmission d’informations textuelles. Leur matérialité recèle une force propre. Nous concluons par quelques réflexions sur la manière dont les significations attribuées à la matérialité des manuscrits et à la textualité peuvent influencer notre approche scientifique des manuscrits javanais ; sur les implications éthiques qui peuvent en découler, notamment lorsque la démocratisation de l’accès par la numérisation est envisagée dans le cadre d’une démarche décoloniale, et sur ce que cela implique pour les recherches futures. |
| collection |
OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
Anglais |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
Java Manuscrits numérisation décolonisation tournant ontologique Java Manuscripts digitization decolonization ontological turn |
| spellingShingle |
Java Manuscrits numérisation décolonisation tournant ontologique Java Manuscripts digitization decolonization ontological turn Ardiyansyah, Panggah Meyer, Verena From Raids to Digital Returns: The (Im-)Materiality of Manuscripts in Decolonializing Heritage Practices |
| description |
In 1812, the royal palace of Yogyakarta (Central Java) fell to British forces, resulting in the raid of the royal library’s manuscripts. Over the last decade, the manuscripts raided in 1812 that ended up in the British Library were digitized and ‘returned’ to the royal house of Yogyakarta in the form of a hard drive containing 30,000 digital images. In this paper, we seek to explore ideas underpinning the returns of manuscripts in digital form as part of broader decolonial and heritage discourses and practices. We investigate the political and cultural grounds in disseminating manuscripts’ digital copies and ask what kinds of shifting assumptions about the nature of textuality and manuscripts are indicated by digital returns. This is especially relevant given that some manuscripts in traditional Java, those designated as pusaka, are not merely media transmitting textual information. Rather, their materiality contains a power of its own. We conclude with some reflections on how the meanings assigned to the materiality of manuscripts and textuality might affect our scholarly ways of approaching Javanese manuscripts; what ethical implications there may be, especially when the democratization of access through digitization is framed as part of a decolonial movement; and what this entails for future research. |
| author |
Ardiyansyah, Panggah Meyer, Verena |
| author_facet |
Ardiyansyah, Panggah Meyer, Verena |
| author_sort |
Ardiyansyah, Panggah |
| title |
From Raids to Digital Returns: The (Im-)Materiality of Manuscripts in Decolonializing Heritage Practices |
| title_short |
From Raids to Digital Returns: The (Im-)Materiality of Manuscripts in Decolonializing Heritage Practices |
| title_full |
From Raids to Digital Returns: The (Im-)Materiality of Manuscripts in Decolonializing Heritage Practices |
| title_fullStr |
From Raids to Digital Returns: The (Im-)Materiality of Manuscripts in Decolonializing Heritage Practices |
| title_full_unstemmed |
From Raids to Digital Returns: The (Im-)Materiality of Manuscripts in Decolonializing Heritage Practices |
| title_sort |
from raids to digital returns: the (im-)materiality of manuscripts in decolonializing heritage practices |
| publisher |
Archipel |
| publishDate |
2026 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/archipel |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/15ga0 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/archipel/9684 |
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1877291825100750848 |