Bali Keris for Comment

[A. G. Maisey]

I intend to get back later about this, I can expand a bit on what Gustav has said, but do not have time right now.

Just one comment:-

Gustav has commented:- "--- people often contradict to themselves --- "

Well, that's true everywhere, but in the two societies of South East Asia that I know best, Jawa & Bali, what we have are a couple --- or maybe a few --- factors that occur constantly across the entire population.

Humpty Dumpty said this:- "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less."

This is particulary true of Jawa, but it also applies in Bali, perhaps to a lesser degree.

People treat words spoken as their own personal property & those words can be twisted with prefixes, infixes & suffixes that will not be found in any book of grammar.

Example?:- the word "keris" used in casual friendly conversation might become "keferis" or some other corruption that the listener will recognise but any passing person will not. This is done for many reasons, one reason, & perhaps the most usual reason, is to create a flow of words that is more pleasant to the ear than if the words found in a dictionary were used. Spoken words can be treated as an art form, rather than a vehicle of information or knowledge.

Another factor is that if a question is asked by an outsider, the answer given is not really considered to be necessarily an accurate one, but it should be an answer that will have the effect of satisfying the asker & making the asker feel pleased or comfortable, so the answer is very likely to be what the respondent believes that the asker wishes to hear.

Panembahan Harjonegoro(Alm.) was a noble and a respected authority on Javanese art & a member of the Surakarta Karaton, but he was not Javanese, he was ethnic Chinese & a member of a family who were the traditional bupatis of a part of the old Surakarta kingdom.

He was once asked why it was that if a Javanese person was asked to identify a keris during the morning, he would give a different answer than if he was asked to identify the same keris after lunch.

Harjonegoro's response was that any answer to any question put to a Javanese person will be emotionally based:- if he feels good, the answer will be positive & pleasing, if he feels a bit less than good, the answer will be negative & not necessarily pleasing.

What this all boils down to is that if anybody wishes to understand keris & the society & culture from which it comes, that person must first understand the culture & society.

This, of course, also applies to understanding other things that might be a part of these societies.