In the series of events that aim towards increasing student capacity, our department holds a…
National Seminar on Indonesian Politics and Cultural History
UB’s Sociology Department once again held a national seminar entitled Politics and Indonesian Cultural History on November 21, 2018 and took place in the meeting room of UB Central Library. On that occasion, three main speakers attended; R.T. Soedarno Hadipuro, a Javanese cultural activist. Indhar Wahyu Wira Harjo, lecturer and researcher of Javanese culture from UB Sociology, and Richard Chauvel, historian and Indonesianist from Melbourne University.
The title of the seminar was taken because it was based on the fact that the culture was not neutral. There are many interests attached to it. Then culture must be seen as something inherent in the interests of the actors in it.
On this occasion, Soedarno gave an example by using artifact cultural products, in the form of kris. The history of kris in the archipelago began in the 5th century spread in temple reliefs. In the 8th century, keris became a vital weapon, but in its development it turned into attributes of culture and tradition that contained mystical values and art. Then today the kris is made into souvenirs, and many are still used for traditional events.
The spread of keris is spread to southeast Asia. In various regions of Indonesia there are kris with other designations, but the distribution of kris stops in Lombok, then leads to the east, there are no kris. The position of the kris in the past was able to replace the position of men who were unable to attend, at the time of marriage. Today, because meteorites are rarely found, they are then replaced using nickel as the raw material for making. The process of making keris is produced by a complicated and time-consuming process, Sumenep Madura is recognized as a city of Indonesian kris.
While Indhar Wahyu explained the results of his research related to Serat Centhini. His research aims to uncover a hidden message in Serat Centhini, which has only been known as the Javanese version of Kamasutra. In fact, the text as well as centhini is a collection of knowledge that is very complex. in it was written knowledge circulating throughout the island of Java, the writing of which was completed in 1814. This knowledge was obtained from 3 parts of the 12-volume thick area with an estimated 4,200 pages in a 9-year study that spent 10,000 ringgit.
Through the results of his research, Indhar Wahyu found that Serat Centhini places men superior to women in the family context. In addition, also in the social context, men play the most important role as kings, teachers and educators. Women are assumed to be educated by men. On the other hand, this text has a paradox, that this fiber also favored women, such as the story of the rejection of the character Niken Tambangraras who carried out rejection of applications that came based on aspects of his spiritual knowledge.
From left to right: R.T. Soedarno Hadipuro, Richard Chauvel, and Indhar Wahyu Wira Harjo
On the last occasion Dr. Richard Chauvel revealed a text entitled Decentralising Culture and Identity in Indonesian Reformation. He explained that politics is related to culture. Whereas, culture is a social construction. At the same time there is the role of provincial and district or city governments in identifying their regions in culture. Regional autonomy provides an opportunity for each region to promote and determine the cultural identity of the region. In its development, all policies until the New Order tried to make things that tended to generalize a number of things despite cultural prularism in Indonesia.
The role of Javanese culture is very dominant in the development of the Indonesian nation, but in the third millennium Javanese culture began to be marginalized and the next generation began to turn away because it was considered outdated. Even now, there are many regions that have begun to question local culture and their own cultural identity, such as Riau, Nias, Bugis, and Papua. This is a consequence of the three decades of New Order policies that tended to carry out cultural uniformity.