Indigenous storytelling and practical wisdom from Lembata to Salatiga

This project seeks to understand Indigenous storytelling as practical wisdom, exploring implications for engagement with Indigenous knowledge within public discourse in Indonesia.

Indigenous storytelling in Lembata conveys important traditional knowledge through depictions of practical wisdom, good judgement and excellent character, as expressed within everyday scenes and events. These stories concern responsibilities between people and the environment, and ways of getting along together within healthy and mutually supportive communities. Where international scholarship on Indigenous knowledge has prioritised the preservation through archiving and documentation and utility via application and adaptation of Indigenous knowledge, this research will explore the importance of Indigenous modes of storytelling to the formation of community-minded values and identities within Lembata and Indonesian society more broadly.

The proposed project has two main components that build from established relationships on Lembata and in Central Java.

(1) Researchers will work with local storytellers and educators in Lembata to develop several short children’s books in local languages, Bahasa Indonesia and English to engage a younger generation with traditional storytelling styles and themes. We will explore approaches to communication that enable storytelling to be inclusive and engaging, while also conveying nuanced understandings of social and ecological knowledge. Through these activities, we will consider approaches and opportunities for engaging with Indigenous knowledge through creative technologies, while retaining integral stylistics and themes of traditional storytelling.

(2) Because of Indonesia’s religious and cultural diversity, civic discourse often seeks to foster gotong royong (mutual assistance; productive relationships) across differences. By exploring ways that storytelling from Lembata fosters practical wisdom – in the ways communities get along with one another and work productively together – advocacy for Indigenous cultures within Indonesian pluralism can be strengthened. Researchers will explore themes developed during the storybook project in dialogue with academics in Central Java, considering implications for approaching Indigenous knowledge as practical wisdom in Indonesia.