New Book

Moshah · 4th December 2009, 07:19 AM

What we might have is a post-independence / kamardikan keris industries, being told from perhaps another perspective. The author might not be a collector nor in love with keris, instead she was fascinated with the industry, which by then is one of a rural economic activities. If that is so, I expect the esoteric aspect of the keris-making will be mentioned less.

Also worth knowing is how big the industries are by then. Does most village has its own besalen?

As you said, David, it might worth checking.

BTW, do you think Obama should have interests in keris?

He might have a short spell of living in the Indonesia, but most of us did not even lived there, isn't it?

David · 4th December 2009, 04:11 PM

Moshah, there is really no doubt that this is not a book writing from the perspective of a keris collector or even someone in love with keris. Dunham's expertise is economical anthropology so i also doubt there will be any real mention of the esoteric qualities of the keris, though i do expect there to be mention of the present keris industry. Understanding all aspects of Indonesian culture can only serve to increase our understanding of the keris, so i believe this would be a valuable read even if there were no mention of keris. But since much of her time was spent with metal workers i am fairly confident the keris will receive a good mention here.
Given his mother's work and the fact the Obama spent a fair amount of time in Jawa i would imagine that the President is well aware of the keris. I don't know if it is a particular interest to him or not.

4th December 2009, 07:19 AM	#1
Moshah Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 171	What we might have is a post-independence / kamardikan keris industries, being told from perhaps another perspective. The author might not be a collector nor in love with keris, instead she was fascinated with the industry, which by then is one of a rural economic activities. If that is so, I expect the esoteric aspect of the keris-making will be mentioned less. Also worth knowing is how big the industries are by then. Does most village has its own besalen? As you said, David, it might worth checking. BTW, do you think Obama should have interests in keris? He might have a short spell of living in the Indonesia, but most of us did not even lived there, isn't it?

4th December 2009, 04:11 PM	#2
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,250	Moshah, there is really no doubt that this is not a book writing from the perspective of a keris collector or even someone in love with keris. Dunham's expertise is economical anthropology so i also doubt there will be any real mention of the esoteric qualities of the keris, though i do expect there to be mention of the present keris industry. Understanding all aspects of Indonesian culture can only serve to increase our understanding of the keris, so i believe this would be a valuable read even if there were no mention of keris. But since much of her time was spent with metal workers i am fairly confident the keris will receive a good mention here. Given his mother's work and the fact the Obama spent a fair amount of time in Jawa i would imagine that the President is well aware of the keris. I don't know if it is a particular interest to him or not.