Contoh Abstract (English)
For the author, this research report is more or less a progressive journey of discovery about the Javanese and their way of life, in which originally started out to be a study of generosity among the Javanese and turned into a full scale investigation of Javanese culture, how it is changing and what is causing the change.
Of course to do justice to the diversity of Javanese culture among the roughly 60 million Javanese alive today, this report is an specific case study among the Javanese in the city of Yogyakarta, DIY and investigates how different forces present in the world today are helping to shape the future course of Javanese culture and way of life in this city.
As a case study of perhaps a broader phenomenon, Yogyakarta was chosen for one because I was already familiar with the city and had many friends and contacts upon whom I could rely for information and advice. Apart from that, Yogyakarta is an obvious place to start any research on change in Javanese culture because it is traditionally regarded as being the heart of traditional Javanese culture, particularly so in the villages surrounding Yogyakarta which make up the special district of Yogyakarta. (DIY).
My research initially focused on what aspects of Javanese culture where under threat or likely to change in the future and relayed ordinary people’s fears, hopes or outlooks on the future make-up of Javanese culture. Later as my readings developed into more abstract readings of culture itself, I realized my focus was primarily centered only on certain aspects of culture such as social organisation, language and the arts and excluded some parts of culture such as economics, tools and knowledge specifics. Of course this isn’t necessarily a weak point as any culture is hugely diverse and hence hard to approach comprehensively, but instead reflects my own interest in certain parts of culture above others. This outlook is approached and explained in detail in Chapter Three of my report entitled: Consequences of Javanese Cultural Change in Yogyakarta.
Following this, I started examining some of the causes of possible change in Javanese culture in Yogyakarta and based on my research notes came up with eight forces that impact on Javanese culture to some degree or another. None of these forces, which are primarily the result of changes in the world in the last fifty or so years, act independently of one another but on the contrary often interact and support each other. They are: globalisation, modernisation, consumerism, tourism, mass media, foreign culture, domestic culture (other cultures in Indonesia, particularly Betawi), and narcotics. Each of these forces are outlined in further detail in Chapter Two, entitled: Influences on Javanese culture in Yogyakarta.
In the final stages of my research, when all the available data had been gathered, I re-examined the basis of my research on culture, and relying on secondary materials and my own understanding of culture in general, produced a small report which served to further my understanding of how Javanese culture in Yogyakarta formed and thus how it was likely to change and in what way in the future. This is outlined in Chapter One, entitiled: Features of Javanese Culture in Yogyakarta.
In that sense, this report is essentially conveying people’s ideas, conceptions (or misconceptions), fears and outlook on Javanese culture in Yogyakarta within a framework of chapters that relay my own limited understanding of how Javanese culture in Yogyakarta functions, the forces that impact on this culture, and thus what the prospects for the future may be based on this.
One problem I faced was, as a researcher, how do you extract detailed information from respondents whose knowledge of a particular ‘force’ is severly limited or none-existant. To overcome this, I relied more on secondary materials in an attempt to gain a broad understanding of the general nature of the ‘force’. Following this, I used two other methods: firstly, through observation of the way people go about their lives, and the norms they live according to, and secondly through contacts from more educated people.
God willing, my earnest hope would be to return to this subject of interest at a later date in order to conduct further research on something which for my part, is I believe lacking in comprehensiveness because of the researchers’ limited exposure to Javanese society in Yogyakarta. Surely this is a topic which should concern or invoke the interest of every Javanese who is interested in the make-up and direction of his culture and way of life.
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