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Chapter Seven. Changing Dimensions, Changing Identities
- University of Hawai'i Press
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THIS CHAPTER highlights changes in the festival, in the officials, in the performing arts, and in the sociocultural identities of the participants over the last twenty years. “Change” is, of course, necessary for any major public festival to remain meaningful to its participants, but the changes at Lingsar have surprised me, and the forces involved in these changes—local government, religious leaders, Sasak and Balinese leaders—have uniquely revealed their intentions (see Harnish 2005). Little is hidden in the agendas of the concerned parties. I am nevertheless astonished at the rate of change, as I had assumed that such a significant event with religious underpinnings would have to change slowly to maintain its popularity. Many participants would disagree with me about the degree of change. Most Balinese and Sasak say that the festival has preserved its major functions and that only a few peripheral elements have evolved. One farmer I spoke with did not observe any change at all. Thus from many perspectives, nothing of significance has happened. My own perspective as an outsider who talks with most parties at Lingsar (and who analyzes the rites in ways that differ from participants) is that a number of elements have changed and that these and other elements will continue to change, perhaps more quickly. My more-than-twenty-year history of attendance at the festival and my (primarily) nonparticipant role also distinguishes my perception from participants over the same period. I submit that the reasons for change are bound up with shifting expressions of Sasak and Balinese ethnicity in Lombok. External forces—that is, globalization and alliances between nationalism and religious identity—are clearly influencing the direction of these changes. 190 C h a p t e r S e v e n Changing Dimensions, Changing Identities STRUCTURAL AND LEADERSHIP CHANGES One cause for change is connected to Indonesianization and the national arts agendas, and the related drive for music and dance on fringe islands like Lombok to be more like those in Java (see Sutton 2002), and for institutions like the Lingsar festival to represent local culture to both domestic and international outsiders. New leadership over the past twenty years has triggered a number of changes in interpretation and practice; additional changes have arisen in the way that these individuals have responded to pressure from outside forces. The Loss of Mangku Sanusi Many changes since 1993 can be traced to the death of Mangku Sanusi and his replacement by his younger brother, Mangku Asmin (Min). Though Min’s family had been involved for generations and Min himself had always lived close by, he had apparently never even attended the festival. Yet he inherited the right to become pamangku, and he chose to do so. According to everyone in a position to know, Min has not absorbed the essence and meanings of the rites, nor has he learned some of the proper techniques of carrying them out; moreover, he remains unable to discuss them either with insiders or outsiders. His nephew, Parman, taught Min much about the rites (along with Min’s older sister Inaq Mar, who is with him during much of the festival), but Parman says that Min remains buta (blind). While some of the harshest criticism has come from Parman, Parman himself never lobbied for the position, and if Min dies, he would probably still opt not to assume the pamangku role. In terms of knowledge about the festival, Parman asserts that he is tertua (eldest); some people even call him Mangku, a term of respect for pamangku. The Balinese leader Kereped made it clear that he would welcome Parman as pamangku. I believe, however, that Parman, who has a background of government service in the Ministry of Law, will never want to serve. To become pamangku, with its Waktu Telu association, would compromise Parman’s claim to be a modern, Islamic civil servant, and the public profile he has crafted would dissolve. He also could not criticize relationships with the Balinese or the handling of ceremonies since he would have to take responsibility for both. Parman wields more power now, with a weak pamangku. Not being the visible leader, he can work quietly behind the scene to further the Sasak position, to isolate the Balinese from government acknowledgment, and to undermine ritual elements he dislikes through his criticism of Min. If he survives Min, he will have a very strong hand in selecting the next pamangku. Changing Leadership within the Krama...