The Portrayal of Javanese Women in Waljinah’s Selected Songs: A Hermeneutics Study

. This article explores the portrayal of Javanese women in the lyrics of Waljinah’s selected songs which were popular in the 60s and 70s namely Walang Kekek (grasshopper), Resepsi (wedding party), and Lelo Ledung (lullaby). It applies hermeneutic method of analysis which enables us to unravel meanings from a written text, such as song lyrics. Therefore, the primary data were taken from Waljinah’s selected songs. The secondary data were taken from the literature on Javanese women and society, Javanese songs, and the sociological context when the songs were popular. The results show that the selected songs illustrate Javanese women as active, motherly, and independent indicating noteworthy traits of Javanese women which support the argument that stories on Javanese women are not only stories of the losing party. This article concludes that the selected songs do provide images on Javanese women which in our view, go beyond the era when they were popular.