This issue opens with Wayan Jarrah Sastrawan’s article ‘How to read a chronicle: the Pararaton as a conglomerate text’, winner of Indonesia and the Malay World’s Young Scholars Prize 2019. The article takes an innovative approach to understanding a key Javanese chronicle which has already received considerable scholarly attention. The methodology proposes new ways of thinking about chronicles and histories from the region more generally. As such, the article is in the best tradition of Indonesia and the Malay World, taking a fresh and dynamic approach to textual sources.
We received more than 30 entries for the 2019 edition of the prize, and several other excellent articles will be published in upcoming issues of Indonesia and the Malay World. The overall quality of the articles submitted, across the range of disciplines within the journal’s remit, is evidence of the academic calibre of a new generation of scholars engaging with the region.
I am grateful to our reviewers and members of the Editorial Board who were engaged in reading and evaluating the articles. Details for the next round of this biennial competition will be announced shortly.