Something worth a passing glance

A. G. Maisey · 29th December 2024, 05:19 AM

If you say so Green, but your perspective is perhaps not the perspective of the Javanese people:- they own their culture, & they decide what is a part of that culture.

As for Islam & Jawa, well, that has been a contentious matter for a very long time.

Keris art & the Islamic World view?

Yes, some influence, but in only some respects and in a very limited way.

In Jawa, and also in Bali, all things are understood in a Javanese way & in a Balinese way, and particularly where Islam is concerned, that way might not be in accord with the way in which things are understood in other parts of the Islamic world.

This does not just involve keris art, it involves the entire society of Jawa and of Bali. To understand the way in which these peoples see & understand the world around them, we need to at least try to adopt at least a similar way of seeing that world.

In fact, in Jawa, there is no "stabilisation" of keris art & most definitely not any general "stabilisation" that tends to an Islamic set of values.

If you do not like the motif used in this pendok, that opinion can be easily accepted if it offends your personal sense of values, but in Jawa & in Solo a great many people would have different opinions.

I'd guess that you would probably find the Batik motifs of Cirebon & Pekalongan unacceptable also.

29th December 2024, 05:19 AM	#8
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,992	If you say so Green, but your perspective is perhaps not the perspective of the Javanese people:- they own their culture, & they decide what is a part of that culture. As for Islam & Jawa, well, that has been a contentious matter for a very long time. Keris art & the Islamic World view? Yes, some influence, but in only some respects and in a very limited way. In Jawa, and also in Bali, all things are understood in a Javanese way & in a Balinese way, and particularly where Islam is concerned, that way might not be in accord with the way in which things are understood in other parts of the Islamic world. This does not just involve keris art, it involves the entire society of Jawa and of Bali. To understand the way in which these peoples see & understand the world around them, we need to at least try to adopt at least a similar way of seeing that world. In fact, in Jawa, there is no "stabilisation" of keris art & most definitely not any general "stabilisation" that tends to an Islamic set of values. If you do not like the motif used in this pendok, that opinion can be easily accepted if it offends your personal sense of values, but in Jawa & in Solo a great many people would have different opinions. I'd guess that you would probably find the Batik motifs of Cirebon & Pekalongan unacceptable also.