Balinese Discourses on Music and Modernization

Village Voices and Urban Views

Brita Renee Heimarck, Brita Heimarck Renee

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN:
  9781136800450
• Topic: Médias et arts de la scène
• Subtopic: Musique

While many Western scholars have discussed the technical aspects of Balinese music or the traditional contexts for performance, little has been written in Western languages about Balinese discourses on their music. This dissertation seeks to understand the experience of music in Bali according to Balinese voices through an analysis of oral and written dialogues on music, mainly by musicians and dalangs (shadow play puppeteers) from the village of Sukawati, scholars, teachers, administrators and students from the Indonesian College of the Arts (STSI) in the City of Denpasar. The study examines the influence of modernization on the traditional arts and their role in society. A concentration on Balinese discourses enables individual performers and scholars to represent themselves to a greater extent than previously seen in ethnomusicological scholarship, making this study more of a critical discussion among equals than a Western interpretation of 'others'. This approach permits a rare view into contemporary Balinese conceptions and practices of music.

PART ONE

Musical Discourses from Sukawati: The Transition from Traditional to Modern

CHAPTER ONE

Historical Accounts of the Shadow Play Tradition in Banjar Babakan, Sukawati

IN THIS CHAPTER, I WILL GIVE AN HISTORICAL VIEW OF THE SHADOW PLAY AS practiced in the twentieth century by a renowned family of shadow puppeteers (dalangs) and shadow play musicians (juru gender) known as keluarga dalang, from Banjar Babakan, Sukawati. I am concerned with the vast experiences of several influential musicians and shadow play performers from the older generation of this extended family. In particular, I will concentrate on the legendary and historical accounts told by Bapak I Wayan Loceng (b. 1926), who has performed gender wayang (shadow play music) since 1936, and Bapak I Wayan Nartha (b. 1941), who played gender wayang for many years with Loceng, and then began to perform as a dalang (see plate 1.1 and 1.2). These two performers are respected teachers of the shadow play tradition, and they have been seminal in further developing and maintaining this art form in Bali. Loceng and Nartha’s experiences not only raise artistic concerns but also indicate the political circumstances of a given time. Loceng’s sixty-year performance history covered in this study spans the end of Dutch colonialism, the Japanese invasion in World War II, the Declaration of the Republic of Indonesia in 1945, and subsequent independence.

In our numerous conversations cited in this study—most of which took place in 1996—Loceng and Nartha would often expound upon certain issues with minimal questioning on my part, therefore I refer to this type of discourse as an “account.” For the purpose of this study, I have defined “account” as similar to a monologue in which the discussant gives a lengthy description on a musical topic or narrates a detailed story from legend, literature, or personal experience. These historical accounts provide

Plate 1.1. Loceng giving offerings for a tooth-filling ceremony.

Plate 1.2. Bapak I Wayan Nartha performing wayang parwa.

the basis for a comparison to later perspectives on music and the shadow play tradition discussed in subsequent chapters.

Most of these accounts are based on lived experience, but occasionally they recount stories from legend or literature that can be confirmed by written material. For example, in this chapter, Loceng’s description of the Sukawati performers being sent to Nusa Penida as political prisoners was corroborated by a Balinese chronicle (babad) text. I have checked oral discourses that cannot be verified by written texts against other accounts, such as those given by other Balinese performers. Each local authority not only contributes information, but also serves to verify, clarify, or counter the information given by others. Thus, by having dialogues, interviews, and discussions with a broad range of people I have been able to validate the information given. This chapter provides performers’ historical accounts which are especially valuable because they have not received extensive coverage in previous scholarship. These accounts are the most reliable source we have to develop a better understanding of the history of the Balinese shadow play in the twentieth century. At the same time, these local histories introduce the shadow play performers from Banjar Babakan, Sukawati.

According to Foucault, discourse is “from beginning to end, historical—a fragment of history, a unity and discontinuity in history itself, posing the problem of its own limits, its divisions, its transformations, the specific modes of its temporality.”¹ Some of the Balinese discourses illuminate specific historical time periods, others enter and re-enter musical dialogue over an extended period of time. The latter is particularly true for myths that maintain their relevance through their close association with certain art forms. I begin by recounting the discourse of Wayan Loceng in which he relates the origin myth of the shadow play. According to this legend, the gods created the shadow play and the first shadow master or dalang. This story gives insight into the profound function of the shadow play since its inception, and its sacred role in Balinese ceremonies. The second and most extensive section in this chapter deals with the relations between the shadow play performers from Banjar Babakan, Sukawati, and the courts of Sukawati and Gianyar, with brief mention of Klungkung, Nusa Penida, and Badung. A series of accounts by Wayan Loceng, Wayan Nartha, and Wayan Wija (see plate 1.4) delineate the history of this family of dalangs, explaining their genealogical heritage and early renown; the granting of instruments according to royal or religious connections; political unrest in 1945; royal patronage; and a possible literary source for the shadow play in Sukawati. The third section in this chapter gives historical depictions of the shadow play as it was practiced forty to fifty years ago. The stories of Wayan Nartha illuminate the earlier performance practices and spiritual significance of this tradition, while also indicating some of the more recent changes that have occurred. The last two sections contrast the older traditional attitudes with more contemporary models for teaching and performing, respectively.

Plate 1.3. Map of Bali.

Plate 1.4. I Wayan Wija discussing the texts he uses for shadow plays, including Srimad Bhagavatam and Srimad Devi Bhagavatam.

By basing this chapter on the stories, reflections, and accounts of the older generation of performers, I conjoin them to construct an oral history of the shadow play tradition. Each narrative represents a particular practice or event that occurred in a given time and place, experienced by specified individuals, even if the narrative takes place in the mythic past and the characters are none other than the Hindu gods. Each account is at once self-contained and related to the stories that follow.² In this manner, it is possible to allow for both the specificity of each occurrence—now represented in textual form—and the overlapping points between them.

THE MYTH OF CREATION

For both Loceng and Nartha, the origin of wayang kulit (the shadow play) is enshrouded in a myth of divine creation. This myth relates that the gods created wayang in order to entertain the highest god Siva and transform him from his role as the destroyer Rudra back into his beneficial form as Siva. I will summarize this legend, as it was told to me by Loceng:³

When Siva and Uma came together as husband and wife, they produced one son named Dewa Kumara. Siva, also known as Batara Guru, was very pleased. But Uma, or Batari Dewi, became angry that her son was only loving and affectionate towards his father. One time when she went to breast-feed the child, she was extremely angry, and her hair was completely disheveled. Batara Guru came and saw his wife looking like a demon, like Kala, not like Uma the goddess. So he said in a harsh way, ‘How is this? You look just like a demon, like Kala, the same as Durga. You should go from heaven now. It is not right for you to stay here as a demon.’ With that, Siva sent her away.

And so Batari Uma went from heaven to the world, to a quiet place in the forest. There was a very large tree and there she cried. When her tears touched the ground they were like those of the demon Kala. If her child, left with Siva in the heavens, wanted breast-milk, because she was not there, the milk came out of her breasts and fell on the ground. On the spots where the milk fell, grew a special kind of banana called pisang saba, which to this day can be given to babies, like mother’s milk.

Later, Dewi Uma wanted to make a palace in the forest, but one fit for a demon, with lots of trees, resembling a cemetery, not a beautiful or luxurious palace. She changed her name to Dewi Rohini and practiced yoga and meditation. She was not yet fully a demon. Though sad, she was still a goddess. Over time she succeeded in her meditation, and many demons, including Satan, came out to the forest. Dewi Rohini began to teach black magic to the demons, and the palace became powerfully imbued with supernatural qualities. It became the State for black magic, and no one dared to go there. She now became Batari Durga. Her canine teeth grew out like fangs, and her hair was long and unruly. As Dewi Dalam, Durga oversaw the Pura Dalam temple, and guarded the cemetery.

Back in heaven, the god Siva was watching over the child resting, but soon Kumara began to cry for mother’s milk. In apparent forgetfulness, Siva wondered where Uma had gone. He became angry and put the child on top of a small altar in the house. Then he realized his mistake; he had told her to leave. So Siva went to find Uma in the world. He changed his face and appearance so that he could meet her, transforming himself into Rudra Murti. He was a terrifying sight, and carried every kind of weapon.

Rudra found his wife, Rohini, having a meeting with her black magic students. He wanted to be with his wife, and have sex with her. They were both in a powerful, unruly state and their union caused illness all over the world. To have a god joined with a demon was not good, and it was destroying the world. Many people died.

The three gods still in heaven, Brahma, Wisnu, and Iswara, saw the devastation of the world and wanted to stop it. They decided to create entertainment to entice Rudra and Durga to become gods again so that the world would return to normal. First, they would dance the barong, a benevolent lion-type figure. In addition, Dewa Brahma created the masked dance—topeng. So, at the crossroads near the forest, they had a performance. Durga’s black magic followers distanced themselves in fear of the gods’ performance. Thus, even now, topeng is performed in temple ceremonies in order to keep bad forces and black magic away. Brahma danced Topeng Merah, a gruff minister character with a red face. Dewa Wisnu performed the telek welcoming dance with soft, supple movements so that good thoughts would return to Rudra. The goal of the entertainment was to make Rudra pleased and happy. The fundamental purpose of the arts is to please.

At last Rudra and Durga remembered who they were and joined in the dancing, but in their present forms the Earth got worse, causing earthquakes. The dancing of Durga and Rudra was rupturing the world, because they had not yet returned to their previous state as gods. So Brahma, Wisnu, and Iswara stopped the dance and decided they needed a different principle to bring Kala back to her form as Dewi.

Thus, the god Brahma invented the shadow play. He drew on a piece of leather and carved it out to make a shadow puppet. Then he made the first man out of his body to be the first dalang, whom he called ki dalang Kangkung. Batara Brahma gave him the fire torch container and then Brahma ignited and became the fire. Dewa Wisnu gave the story. Batara Iswara produced the voice and speech. And Batara Bayu, the god of wind, gave the energy and caused the flame to flicker, creating interesting shadows on the screen. In this way, they managed to capture the interest of the two crazy gods, Durga and Rudra, with the shadow play.

From there dalang Kangkung became the cleverest, and most renowned shadow play puppeteer, and his successors in future generations were called shadow masters from the palace (dalang kedaton) in his honor. Due to the unique purpose of their creation, and special boons granted by Siva after his return to heaven, dalangs are allowed to say anything. They are permitted to say too much, to speak in a coarse way, to speak well, and even to criticize the gods. Dalangs can say too much or too little, because they can make people feel love and stimulate their interest.4

Thus, because Rudra and Durga were pleased by the shadow play and felt that there was truth in what the shadow master said, they turned back into gods. In this manner, Brahma, Wisnu, and Iswara succeeded in healing the highest god, Siva, through the art of the shadow play.

In this myth, Uma’s negative state of mind triggers her transformation from a heavenly goddess into the frightful figure of Durga. Her envy and anger, or in other accounts her attachment, are more appropriate to a demon, not a god, and thus her appearance begins to resemble the darkness of her inner feelings.⁵ According to this argument, when one’s sentiments become negative, filled with hatred, envy and anger, known as the inner enemies in Hindu thought, one’s outer appearance begins to reflect the ugliness of one’s thoughts. Due to Uma’s unruliness, she is banished from the upper world of the gods to the middle world of humans. Here she develops her supernatural powers and begins to teach black magic to the demons, gradually becoming the embodiment of Durga, a powerful goddess of the darker forces. In order to meet with Uma in this state, Siva also manifests his more fearsome aspect as Rudra—the Destroyer.

A complex dilemma ensues when the highest god takes on a...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• List of Plates
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part One: Musical Discourses from Sukawati: The Transition from Traditional to Modern
• Part Two: Musical Discourses in the Context of Stsi, the Indonesian College for the Arts in Denpasar, Bali: Stsi as a Mirror of Modernization Based on Continuity and Change
• Conclusion
• Appendix 1: Original Indonesian Text of Interviews, Accounts, Dialogues, and Conversations with Scholars and Performers from Sukawati
• Appendix 2: Key to the Notation and Musical Transcription of “Sulendra”
• Appendix 3: Original Indonesian Text of Interviews, Accounts, Dialogues, and Conversations with Faculty and Students at STSI as well as Brief Citations of Balinese Written Discourses
• Appendix 4: The Opening Four Verses of Prakempa: Sebuah Lontar Gambelan Bali
• Notes
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index