Shifting Landscapes: Remapping the Writing Traditions of Islamic Southeast Asia through Digitisation
ABSTRACT
Studies of the languages and literatures of the Malay world of Nusantara have long been shaped by thecollections of manuscripts held in western institutions, which strongly reflect the interests of colonial officialswho formed them. A very different picture of the writing traditions of maritime Southeast Asia emerges froma survey of manuscripts still held in local communities digitised through the Endangered Archives Programmeand DREAMSEA. Primarily concerned with Islamic topics and often written in Arabic, the study of thesenewly-accessible collections has the potential to lead to a remapping of the intellectual landscape of the region.
Keywords: digitisation; manuscripts; writing traditions; Islamic manuscripts; Indonesia
Annabel Teh Gallop
The British Library, United Kingdom
