Re: scribd.com

Mickey the Finn · 15th February 2021, 06:05 PM

On the topic of online sources of keris information in Bahasa Indonesia, scribd.com appears to have a few interesting titles.
Before I go ahead and buy myself a membership, does anyone else have one?
If so, would you say it's worth it? Would you say you've gotten your money's worth from the site?
Any feedback regarding scribd.com's value as a source of keris and other senjata related information would be appreciated.
Thank you.
Mickey

A. G. Maisey · 15th February 2021, 09:48 PM

Mickey, keris literature is a very mixed bag, and a major problem with it is that you need a reasonably high degree of knowledge before you can sort the wheat from the chaff.

Another problem is that there is virtually nothing that is universally agreed:- if you move from one society into another you find that some, or maybe even a lot, of what you think you might know does not apply in this other society. Nothing is set in stone, nothing is universal, and even in a single society much keris belief varies from locality to locality, group to group, family to family, and even person to person.

The vast bulk of "keris knowledge" is actually keris belief, so true knowledge comes back to being knowledge of one or more keris belief systems, and understanding of those systems is based in sociological and anthropological knowledge.

A lot of keris literature has been written by people who have a very superficial understanding of the keris, and frankly, if your objective is to become a competent collector of keris in the world outside of a keris bearing society, you really do not need a lot of in depth understanding, a grab-bag of exotic words and a good eye is perhaps all you need.

A lot of the literature that has been written in Bahasa Indonesia or Modern Malay is very flawed, but having said that, that material probably does present one point of view that for the person who wrote it, is a valid one.

In respect of scribd.com, I've just looked at the site and I note that you can get 30 days of free membership. Why not list all the keris literature you can find, post the titles here and then other members might be able to comment upon what you are considering paying good money for.

15th February 2021, 06:05 PM	#1
Mickey the Finn Member Join Date: Dec 2017 Posts: 90	Re: scribd.com On the topic of online sources of keris information in Bahasa Indonesia, scribd.com appears to have a few interesting titles. Before I go ahead and buy myself a membership, does anyone else have one? If so, would you say it's worth it? Would you say you've gotten your money's worth from the site? Any feedback regarding scribd.com's value as a source of keris and other senjata related information would be appreciated. Thank you. Mickey

15th February 2021, 09:48 PM	#2
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,892	Mickey, keris literature is a very mixed bag, and a major problem with it is that you need a reasonably high degree of knowledge before you can sort the wheat from the chaff. Another problem is that there is virtually nothing that is universally agreed:- if you move from one society into another you find that some, or maybe even a lot, of what you think you might know does not apply in this other society. Nothing is set in stone, nothing is universal, and even in a single society much keris belief varies from locality to locality, group to group, family to family, and even person to person. The vast bulk of "keris knowledge" is actually keris belief, so true knowledge comes back to being knowledge of one or more keris belief systems, and understanding of those systems is based in sociological and anthropological knowledge. A lot of keris literature has been written by people who have a very superficial understanding of the keris, and frankly, if your objective is to become a competent collector of keris in the world outside of a keris bearing society, you really do not need a lot of in depth understanding, a grab-bag of exotic words and a good eye is perhaps all you need. A lot of the literature that has been written in Bahasa Indonesia or Modern Malay is very flawed, but having said that, that material probably does present one point of view that for the person who wrote it, is a valid one. In respect of scribd.com, I've just looked at the site and I note that you can get 30 days of free membership. Why not list all the keris literature you can find, post the titles here and then other members might be able to comment upon what you are considering paying good money for.