Recontextualization of cundhuk jungkat in Javanese women’s attire: From signifier of virginity to aesthetic component of dance costume

Abstract

Cundhuk jungkat is an element of Surakarta court attire that is symbolically associated with marital status and aristocratic identity. Within aristocratic dress practices, its use was normatively associated with unmarried noblewomen. The ornament also constitutes an important component of female dance costumes in the Surakarta style. This study examines the recontextualization of the meaning of cundhuk jungkat and the cultural factors underlying this shift. The study focuses specifically on Surakarta-style dance, particularly bedhaya and srimpi, within the artistic traditions of the Surakarta court. It employs a qualitative ethnocoreological approach, drawing primarily on documentary sources, including written records, scholarly literature, and photographic documentation, complemented by the researcher’s practical experience as a dance practitioner to provide contextual insight into costume practices. The findings show that cundhuk jungkat has shifted from a normative-regulative attribute within aristocratic dress to an aesthetic, artistic, and performative element of dance costume. Its function as a marker of social and personal status, particularly unmarried status, is no longer primary, while its visual and artistic functions have become increasingly prominent. Nevertheless, its gendered dimension remains evident through its continued use as part of female dancers’ costumes. This shift does not indicate the disappearance of its symbolic meaning, but rather a reconfiguration of the hierarchy of its functions through a process of recontextualization. The findings demonstrate how a traditional attribute embedded in the normative and hierarchical order of the court is negotiated and reinterpreted within changing social and performative contexts.