Jakarta, BRIN Public Relations. History is an element of culture. Indonesian culture has a lot of historical substance, local and regional in nature, which is interesting to explore. Writing of local histories is expected to preserve the nation’s cultural heritage, especially those originating from regions that have not yet been fully researched or developed.
The Community and Cultural Research Center of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) in collaboration with the Cultural Heritage Expert Team of Metro City, Lampung, develops the local history as included in a book entitled ‘Spreading the Spirit of Lampung Local History: A collection of writings from Lampung’ published in August 2021.
Acting Head of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Organization, Ahmad Najib Burhani, in the foreword of the book said that this book has the privilege not only because it adds to the understanding of history of Lampung, but also because the book is able to give a new perspective on how to socialize history in the language and presentation easier to accept by all.
This book writing is also a sign of the strong spirit of public history in Lampung. Attention to history is no longer dominated by certain circles, but has now been increasingly widespread. “Strong historical awareness from various circles and levels of society is a good sign of realization of a society that is not only mature in culture, but also civilized,” he said. “History is not understood solely based on the number of years and past events told, but can be contextualized in today’s life,” added Najib.
Najib said, the people of Lampung will certainly benefit greatly from reading this book from which they can work together to evoke historical stories and preserve their cultural heritage. “A great and advanced society is a society that does not lose its culture but makes that culture an identity,” he said.
Development of Local History in Lampung
Hidayatullah Rabbani, a researcher at BRIN’s Community and Cultural Center Research, explained that support for the book publication is a manifestation of BRIN researchers’ commitment to the development of Lampung local history. “The main reasons are enriching historical literacy sources, revitalizing writing of local histories, opening up opportunities for historical tourism, returning history to the community to involve them as actors and producers of history itself,” Hidayat explained.
Furthermore, Hidayat said that public history is important because it plays a role in growing historical empathy among the community, where historical empathy is an inner connection that is built between a person and the past. “Historical empathy is useful for building an understanding that the present life is a continuation of the past, because the legacy will always be preserved in the memory of the community, especially the benefits for life,” he said.
According to Hidayat, community involvement is in the form of producing and communicating their history through writing, by raising issues or topics related to historical buildings, local history, historical tourism, and history learning. The writers try to shorten the distance between the past and the present and try to make it relevant and significant to the current situation, he said.
As we all know, Lampung has always had great potential with its cultural and historical features. This book explores the uniqueness, diversity and history that exist in several regions in Lampung such as Metro, Tulang Bawang, Pringsewu, Bandar Lampung, East Lampung, and Central Lampung. (suhe/ed:mtr)
Source: https://international.brin.go.id/news/brin-researchers-committed-to-promoting-lampung-local-history/