Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

A. G. Maisey · 6th January 2023, 07:38 AM

I think that what you relate in post #25 is probably pretty true of Indonesia also Green, however, my experience of Indonesia is limited to Central Jawa, mainly Solo, East Jawa, mainly Malang, places south & east of Malang, Madura, and Bali.

I have spent very little time in major cities like Jakarta & Surabaya, in fact I have not been to Jakarta since 1978. Virtually all the contact I have with people in Jawa is with quite conservative Javanese people on the one hand, and very humble grass roots Javanese people on the other hand.

Most of what I know about keris, most of what I believe about keris I learnt in Solo in the period between 1966 and 2015. Most of that instruction came from men who began their journey with the keris prior to WWII. I think all these people have now passed, but I still have friends and acquaintances in Solo who are of senior generations, and from what I can understand, their values do not seem to vary much from the values of my past teachers.

I have set forth in post #22 my observations in respect of keris display.It seems to me that both the bulk of the people I used to know & who have already passed, and the bulk of people I still know and who are still in this world hold the opinion that keris display of virtually any kind is, in a word, crass, and not really the correct way for a Javanese gentleman to behave.

There is an immense variation between overall Indonesian standards & values as they are now, and the standards & values of conservative Central Javanese traditionalists.

6th January 2023, 07:38 AM	#26
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,729	I think that what you relate in post #25 is probably pretty true of Indonesia also Green, however, my experience of Indonesia is limited to Central Jawa, mainly Solo, East Jawa, mainly Malang, places south & east of Malang, Madura, and Bali. I have spent very little time in major cities like Jakarta & Surabaya, in fact I have not been to Jakarta since 1978. Virtually all the contact I have with people in Jawa is with quite conservative Javanese people on the one hand, and very humble grass roots Javanese people on the other hand. Most of what I know about keris, most of what I believe about keris I learnt in Solo in the period between 1966 and 2015. Most of that instruction came from men who began their journey with the keris prior to WWII. I think all these people have now passed, but I still have friends and acquaintances in Solo who are of senior generations, and from what I can understand, their values do not seem to vary much from the values of my past teachers. I have set forth in post #22 my observations in respect of keris display.It seems to me that both the bulk of the people I used to know & who have already passed, and the bulk of people I still know and who are still in this world hold the opinion that keris display of virtually any kind is, in a word, crass, and not really the correct way for a Javanese gentleman to behave. There is an immense variation between overall Indonesian standards & values as they are now, and the standards & values of conservative Central Javanese traditionalists.