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Old 19th February 2022, 10:17 AM   #26
A. G. Maisey
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Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 6,765
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Yes Jean, change is a constant, it affects us all.

With Javanese values there might be changes, true, but the way it seems to work in Jawa is that new ideas, new ways, new understandings can come into the society, but those new things get assimilated and become something that is then uniquely Javanese.

There is something that a lot of people fail to realise, and it is the deep effect that the hierarchical way of thought alters everything that is subjected to that paradigm.

However, this structuring of all things into a ranked order weakens the further one moves from the cultural center of Jawa. We must not think of Jakarta, Surabaya and other major cities as subject to the same interwoven threads of hierarchy that applies in Central Jawa, especially so outside of the commercial heart of the cities.

One thing that is so deeply ingrained into traditional Javanese thought is that one must always give the questioner the response that one believes, or feels, that the questioner expects. When the respondent to a question is hierarchically placed at a lower level than the questioner, then it becomes imperative to give a response that is in agreement with what one feels the questioner wishes to hear.

Now, consider that cultural trait for a moment when we try to assess the accuracy, or truth of any response that we might receive to any question, if we are an outsider , moreover, an outsider whom many within Javanese society will place hierarchically above themselves.

So, if I chose to reply to your question about the name I would place on those pamors you enquired about, AND I had my Javanese hat on, I would either agree with you, or vary my agreement so slightly that variation would be hardly noticeable.

In fact, the name that we choose to place on any pamor is totally unimportant. Totally. Totally. Totally.

What is important is firstly to understand how the pamor was made, and equally important but from a different perspective, how we can read the talismanic qualities of the pamor by understanding what the motif is intended to convey.

As for accurate answers to questions, well, that depends very much upon the situation. A son might might get accurate answers from his father. A student might get accurate answers from his teacher, but if the father and the teacher are behaving in accordance with Javanese standards, the accuracy of the answer will be qualified by what he feels the student is able to understand.

To my mind, the only way to truly come to an understanding of the keris, is first to come to an understanding of the society that gave it birth.

If we do not at least try to do that, then we are no more than stamp collectors.
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