DRAMAFORDEVELOPMENT: Sundanese Wayang Purwa ... · DRAMAFORDEVELOPMENT: Sundanese WayangGolekPurwa, anIndonesianCaseStudy ByKathyFoley if themimeticanddulcet poetry canshowanyreason

East-West Cu1ture1Ii

UNiCATiJiQwest Center L Honolulu, Hawaii

East!

4

October 1979

Volume 6 Number 1

DRAMA FOR DEVELOPMENT:Sundanese Wayang Golek Purwa, an Indonesian Case Study

By Kathy Foley

if the mimetic and dulcet

poetry can show any reason forher existence in awell-governedstate, we would gladly admit her,since we ourselves are veryconscious of her spell.

-Plato, The Republic, X

The ancient quarrel between

philosophy and poetry caused

Plato to ban the arts, which feed

the passions, from his republic,but current use of the

performing arts in transmitting

development messages might

persuade even Plato that the arts

are more-than justified in the

well-governed state. Non-formal

education programs utilizing folk

media, especially dramatic forms,

have served as effective modes of

raising consciousness on family

planning, health care, and

economic development in a

number of countries. In India in

1971 the Directorate of Publicityin Bombay employed forty

The East-West Culture LearningInstitute Report, formerly The Culture

Learning Institute Report, is availablefree of charge to individuals,

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entertainment troupesperforming over the year to one

million viewers in four hundred

villages to incorporate health and

development messages in their

shows.'

In Ecuador the non-formal

education project undertaken bythe government in collaboration

with the University of

Massachusetts in the early 1970's

used puppets and socio-drama

along with a variety of games to

motivate people to developmathematical, social, and readingskills.2 In Indonesia, traditional

puppet and dance forms have

been used increasingly in recent

years by the government to

promote its development

program. In West Java wayanggolek purwa, a wooden rod puppetform, has been extensively used

for this purpose.

Current interest in the use of

traditional entertainment forms

to receive future issues, please writeto

William Feltz, EditorEWCLI ReportEast-West Culture Learning InstituteEast-West CenterHonolulu, Hawaii 96848 USA

as vehicles of non-formaleducation has prompted a

number of conferences on this

topic. In 1972 a UNESCO/IPPF

conference was held in London

to draw up guidelines for usingtraditional media in publicizing

family planning using the logicthat, "No communication strategywould be complete unless it

included the traditional media,"

since, "they have always served toentertain, educate, to reinforce

existing ideas or ideologies or to

change existing values and

attitudes."' As a result of this

conference a meeting was held in

New Delhi in 1974 in which eightIndian folk forms were used to

present family planning messagesas a kind of case study. Projectsin the Philippines, Mexico, and

other countries have followed

directions indicated by these

conferences.

Using the wayang golek

purwa of Sunda, the

mountainous region of West Java,Indonesia, I would like to

undertake a case study of the use

of this traditional form to present

development messages. Althoughthe case is specific, it has

importance both in its own rightand as a general model of powers

(Continued on page 2)

DRAMAFOR DEVELOPMENT...(From page 1)and pitfalls of the use oftraditional media by modern

governments.

The Form and Its Context

The wayang golek purwauses wooden rod puppets in anall night performance which takes

place outside on a raised stage. A

single storyteller, called a dalang,

manipulates the puppets, speaksall their voices, gives narration,

and sings mood songs to tellstories of characters found in the

Indian epics, The Mahabhrataand Ramayana. Musical

background and interludes are

provided by the gamelan orchestraof bronze percussive instrumentsand one or more female singers.Although stories presupposeevents that are described in the

epics, most performances dealwith events that are nevermentioned in the standardliterary versions. To make an

analogy to western theatre,

imagine plays about Hamlet

showing him as a child or in hisstudent days in Wittenburg, but

always aware of the destiny thatawaits him.

Wayang golek normally take

place in connection with selamatan

(ritual feasts) held for weddings,circumcisions, exorcisms, and

occasionally, are performed forforty day ceremonies for anewborn child or bersih desa, aritual "cleaning of the village." Itis the most popularentertainment form of the

twenty-two million Sundanesewho live in the western part ofJava, an island the size of NewYork State; the populationdensity of 1,600 per square milemakes Java the most highlypopulated large area on earth.4This density, coupled with one ofthe world's lowest gross domestic

products, has prompted thecurrent government to opt for

family planning and developmentprograms. Although there is a

high degree of self-sufficiency in

the villages, Java in particularand Indonesia in general cannot

produce enough rice to feed the

population, and to the villagerrice is synonymous with life itself.

Mass media are reaching anever growing, but still limitedaudience. In 1975 the averagecinema attendance in Indonesiawas about one per year per 1000inhabitants; there were

thirty-seven radios and twotelevisions for each 1000 people.'Outside the cities, electricity is

generally available only certainhours of the day in those villagesthat possess a generator and thislimits transmission of mass mediato those areas. It is little wonderthat there has been a continuallygrowing effort by the

government to use wayang toreach rural audiences andindicators point to an increase.The government has recentlyexpanded efforts to incorporateall dalang into national artistic

organizations, and in 1978 amultimillion dollar contract was

signed by PENMAS, theIndonesian directorate ofeducation for the people, withthe Center for InternationalEducation at the University ofMassachusetts for technicalassistance to a non-formaleducation project that would

employ traditional media,

presumably, including wayang, to

implement its program.

Legitimacy

There are critics who protestthe use of art to carrydevelopment messages for variedreasons. Some point out that the

major appeal of the art form isemotional while the argument for

development is largely a rationalone. Others point out that the

message becomes contaminated

by other, traditional conceptspresented in the performance.Still others protest the violationof art by its use for politicalpurposes. Each of these protestsbear some validity in the case ofthe wayang golek purwa.

Indeed wayang moves the

viewer through emotion. One ofthe earliest records of theexistence of wayang from ArjunaWiwaha composed between1035-1049 attests to this: "Thereare people who weep, are sadand aroused watching the

puppets, though they know theyare merely carved pieces ofleather manipulated and made to

speak. These people are like menwho, thirsting for sensuous

pleasures, live in a world ofillusion; they do not realize the

magic hallucinations they see arenot real."' Still, no developmentprogram is going to argue withsuccess. When wayang mentions

family planning, for example, it isat least one more reinforcementof a concept: as awareness grows,acceptance, and, eventually,practice become more possible.

The fear that traditionalfeatures of the form may work

against the development messageseems more germane, for wayangdoes contain many elements thatwould seem to contradict the

message: In the case of familyplanning, for instance, people inmy village would often use the

newly-learned English term

"playboy" to type Arjuna, theheroic Pandawa brother from theMahabharata cycle who appearsin many of the plays that are

performed. The number of his

marriages and, hence, mandatoryoffspring is almost beyondreckoning. What is more the

image of the female presented inalmost all performances is of a

passive creature who is

kidnapped or jousted over. She is

given in marriage to the herothat merits her, but is rarely anactive participant in her fate.

But, although such featuresare ingrained in the mythos and

ur-patterns of wayangperformances, creative and valid

ways have been found to endorse

development messages. Of the

forty-seven major dalang that Iinterviewed formally and the

many others with whom Iconversed informally during myfourteen months of field study inWest Java, all claimed that they

2 East-West Culture Learning Institute Report

have included developmentmessages in their performances.They most frequently cited

examples of ways to incorporatefamily planning messages. Manydalang would use the contrast of100 unruly Kurawa, born of onemother, and five peace-lovingPandawa brothers, born of twomothers, as an argument forsmall families. In Sunda it is

usually the need and greed of theformer clan that cause thetroubles that lie at the base of theMahabharata cycle stories.

All the dalang claimed that

they used the pawongan, theclown-servants of the Pandawa, to

slip in development themes, sinceit was these characters who couldbe able spokesmen of

development without violatingthe form. The argument is

justified. Arjuna and his brothersare aristocrats who can only talkof the mythic events that make

up the story. Any reference tothe present would be considereda violation of the form. But the

pawongan Semar and his sons arecommoners whose life and lot aremuch closer to the reality of theaudience. By tradition, they canrefer to current events and talkof or even to a member of theaudience without violating theform. When the father, Semar,

complains that schools are builtbut there are no funds formaintenance, when his son,

Astrajingga, says he is too stupidto undertake a mission becausehe never went to school, or whenanother son, Dawala, chides hisbrother for wanting to run off to"make his fortune in the city"instead of dealing with the

problems of their village, theaudience identifies and knowsthat it is modern times ratherthan mythic times to which the

pawongan refer.What is more, though these

characters are clowns, and muchof their talk is buffoonery, theyhave a special twist. Semar, thefather, is actually the olderbrother of the high god whorules the universe. The audienceknows despite all his clowning

InJulyandAugust, 1979, one ofHawaii teatiiigartists, JuiietteMay Fraser, washonor-nan exitAit

ofher works spanningseventyyears. Fraser received the Hawaii State Order ofDistinctionfor Cultural

Leadership in 1978, andasuperb portrait of the artist by William F. Draper willhang in the Culture

Learning Institute lobby. Pictured above, the artist points outpreliminary drawings offrescoes preparedforachurch in Greece to Hawaii's Lt. GovernorJean King. Institute Director VernerBickley is atfar

right.

around, what Semar says is

actually more meaningful thanthe dialogue of most of the othercharacters combined. Therefore,the most usual way that a dalanginserts a development message isin a speech of Semar. In

performances I have seen, this is

usually at Semar's first

appearance. As the musicalinstruments clang, Semar popsup and delivers a speech duringwhich he congratulates the familythat is having the feast. He then

goes on to express the personalfeelings of the dalang onwhatever topic he chooses todiscuss. On a number ofoccasions, dalang chose to speakof development.

Also I found developmentmessages included in the lyrics ofthe sinden, the female singer.Most singers had in their

songbooks two songs that havebeen issued to them bygovernment offices, and which

they said they used to sing. Onewas on reforestation and one on

family planning. A literaltranslation of a portion of thelatter runs as follows:

Let's go register for familyplanning

and seek our aimsfor a happy home

Even if the wayang containsmuch that contradicts the

development message, it doeshave enough flexibility to

effectively transmit messages to

justify its use.Still the question of violation

of the art must be confronted.The concepts of art for art's sakeor art for entertainment's sakeare fairly rare in the annals of

history. Drama has long madeherself the handmaiden ofvarious interests, especiallyreligion (medieval mystery plays,Indian bhakti performances), orideals of a particular class orpolitical power (no -the Samuraiclass, kabuki -the Tokugawagovernment).

From a functional orhistorical perspective the wayanggolek of Sunda has never been a

"pure" art. It has always beenconnected with religion andfurthered the interests of thecurrent political elite, be itHinduized kings, Muslim saintsor Central Javanese princes. The

wayang is used to performreligious exorcisms, and almost

always takes place in connectionwith a religious ceremony for arite of passage. What is more,

though the stories deal with


DRAMAFOR DEVELOPMENT...(From page 3)characters from the Hindu

pantheon, any Sundanese dalangwill swear that wayang wascreated by the wali, the Muslimleaders who proselytized Java, toteach Islamic religion. Dalang inSunda believe the first wayangwere performed in the mosque.To enter the performance, aviewer had to swear to his beliefin Allah and the Prophet.Certainly the Hindu stories wererevised to fit Muslim ethics afterthe introduction of Islam.Moreover, in an elaborate

attempt to reconcile thecontradictions implied in the

conflicting Hindu-Javanese andMuslim world views, wayang hasevolved a geneology that makesthe Javanese kings thedescendants of the wayang gods,but all ultimately descended fromAdam who was created by Allah,

thereby endorsing the Hindutradition, the Muslim religion andthe Javanese kings all at the sametime.

Wayang has always beenused to validate religious and

political ideas. To expect it to

support the present political andsocial program is not unnatural.

Recent history

The use of the wayang for

governmental purposes has

expanded since Indonesian

Independence. Dalang were first

openly recruited to support a

political stance by the Japaneseoccupation forces. But it waswhen the revolution began in1945 that they took to this newrole with enthusiasm and usedtheir art on the fronts to stir upthe patriotism of the troops.After Independence dalang werecalled upon by the Sukarno

government to continue theirmission as "information officers"and support his politicalmanifestoes.

The first "upgradings,"meetings of dalang called by the

government to inform them and

gain their support in advertisinggovernment programs, seem tohave begun about 1962 in Sunda.

Shortly afterward, in 1964, thefirst conference of the newlyorganized Sundanese dalangorganization was held. The

president of the organization,who worked for the governmentcontrolled radio station, calledSukarno the "great dalang" and

pledged the organization to helpthe government in nation

building.' In the period prior to1965, many dalang were affiliatedwith art wings of the various

political parties that then existed.When political disturbancesoccurred in 1965, manyperformers who were supportersor suspected sympathizers withthe previously legal communist

party (PKI) were arrested and

imprisoned. Since then, the

government has required allartists to register with the

Department of Education andCulture. Dalang are obliged toobtain travel permits to go to

performances they have beenhired for and the person who hashired them must obtain a specialpermit to hold the performance.

The use of wayang golek to

support specific governmentdevelopment programs seems

fairly recent. In the case of the

family planning, which has beenthe most active program in

enlisting the support of the

dalang for relatively non-politicalpurposes, the major push wasfrom 1974-1976. During this

period a series of up-gradings for

dalang as well as artists fromother genres were held at the

provincial and regency level byBKKBN, the Indonesian

government office in charge of

family planning. In 1975 the cityof Bandung, the capital of West

Java, had a week of performancesthat focused on family planning,using many different traditionalforms. In 1972 and again in 1976films were made by the BKKBNthat used wayang golek totransmit a family planningmessage.

In the past few years efforts

by such individual programs asBKKBN have subsided, butgovernment influence persists.The up-gradings continue on a

regular basis, but those Iattended seemed moreconcentrated on the level of theart, with a mandatory call to

generally support the

government programs, than on

giving performers specificinformation on any program thatthey could pass on to theiraudiences. The most noticeablerecent development is theincrease of government founded

organizations for artists, whichare, in theory, non-political.PEPADI, the Union of Dalangsof Indonesia, is one such

organization, and only last yearthe government started BKKNI(The National Organization for

Co-ordinating the Arts ofIndonesia) which includes allIndonesian artists in its ranks.

Although these organizationshave use and value to the dalangand other artists by improvingmaterials for education of artists,and creating a group awarenessthat may result in unity of artistson issues of mutual concern,control often lies withgovernment arts administratorsrather than with the artiststhemselves. Such organizationsare increasing pressure on the

dalang to preserve the politicalstatus quo. February 19-24, 1977the government held a meetingfor forty-six major dalang fromall over Indonesia with thetheme: "The participation of

dalang in promoting the

well-being of the country andstrengthening the leadership ofthe New Order in the

development of the nation."

Impact

The reason that the

government is anxious to keepdalang helping to publicize its

program is that dalang areindeed heeded by the rural

population. Wayang fulfills mostof the requirements that haveshown to make a form a useful


tool to transmit a developmentmessage. The audience is familiarwith it and accustomed to its usefor development purposes; theeducational messages that areincluded by dalang are generallysimple and well emphasized;other media such as radio andTV reinforce the messages; and,at least in areas that border thecities, the government services

promoted by the wayang areavailable.' Added to this is the

authority that the dalang himself

gives to the message. He comesfrom and speaks to his people.The older dalang isoftenconsidered religiously powerfuland frequently called upon tobless holy water that is variouslyused for healing sickness, helpingend martial problems, or gettinga promotion. A major dalang isone of the richest and mosthonored members of hiscommunity. Top dalang make

$200 to $400 a night and

perform on the average twentynights a month. They earn farmore than most educated citypeople could ever dream of,much less the average rural

person. What is more, the dalang

conceives of himself as in thetradition of the Muslim saintsand believes it is his duty to giveinformation that will benefit the

community he serves. When he isconvinced of a program, hetakes the initiative in carryingthe message to the people. The

family planning program in West

Java, for example, had taken

virtually no action since 1976 to

encourage dalang to include

messages in their performances,yet in 1978 this was the

government program that wasmost frequently and positivelymentioned in wayang golekperformances that I saw. It mustbe noted, too, that virtually noneof these dalang were receivingany form of payment for theirefforts.

Wayang has been an effectiveaid to the development programand can undoubtedly be even-more effective, as problems thatbeset programs are eliminated bygovernment vigilance, andservices become more available inrural areas. Even greater impactmight result if a system of

communicating detailedinformation about the particulars

of each program wereestablished. This might givedalang greater conviction in theprograms and, through greaterknowledge, better mastery inpresenting the material to theiraudience.

Communication should be

encouraged both ways. Criticismof what is wrong with the worldhas always been a function ofwayang, as of theatre forms inmany cultures. Wayang makes apositive contribution togovernment programs bypointing out their weaknesses aswell as giving information aboutthem. This aspect of wayangshould be safeguarded, anddalang should be encouraged toexpress their opinions, foralthough they have been given amandate by the government,their original mandate is fromthe people, whose best interests

they, like the government,ultimately must serve.

Footnotes

'Tevia Abrams, "Folk Theatre in


Twenty educators .,net w Lea-1-9 in Wary, .,.a - -, ,es,

'S 0~

thedevelopmentofattitudes, skills, andknowledge necessaryfor effective cross-culturalinteractions. Coordinatedby research associate Kathleen Wilson, the workshop

addressed the needs and interests of institutions whichprovide cross-cultural instructionalprogramsforpersonsfrom differentcountries. Picturedabove:Front Row

(left to right): Robin Richardson, WarwickJohnson, Doug Porter, Koji Kato, Gerald Aitken, G. Trifonovitch, Eric Casino. SecondRow:Kenneth Robinson, Betty

Fish, LawrenceFish, Mike Hamnett, R.T. Mahuta, V. C. Bickley, Norman Dinges, Kathy Wilson, Anuiijit Singh, Isao Sasaki,PaulPederson,JzroNagai, Kentaro

Kihara. BackRow:HowardNixon, Malcolm Skilbeck, Norm Geshwind, Stephen Kemmis, Ted Rodgers, Michael Sullivan, John Brownell, Frank Pottenger,John

Agard, TedWard.

East-West Culture Learning Institute Report 5

DRAMAFOR DEVELOPMENT...(From page 5)

Maharashtrian Social Development," Edu-cational TheatreJournal 27, 3 (1975): 398.'Information on the project is available in

James Hoxeng.LetJorge Do It: An Approachto Rural Non-Formal Education (Amherst:Center for International Education, Uni-

versity of Massachusetts, 1973) and "Non-

Formal Education in Ecuador," TechnicalNotes 1-13 and Non-Formal Education in

Ecuador, 1971-1975 both from the Center

for International Education.3IPPFand UNESCO, "Experts Meeting on

the Integrated Useof Folk Media in Family

Planning Communication Programmes,"London, 20-24 November 1972 (Paris:UNESCO, 1972), 2.1.1.1."'Indonesia," Countries ofthe World and their

Leaders, third edition (Detroit: Gale Re-

search Company, 1977). p. 512.'Statistical Yearbook 1977, 29th edition (NewYork:United Nations, 1978), pp. 938, 944.'As quoted inJamesBrandon, On ThronesofGold: Three Javanese Shadow Plays (Cam-

bridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Univer-

sity, 1970), p. 3.

7Buku Pangeling-ngeling SeminarPadalangan,28-29 February 1964 (Badung: Yayasan

Padalangan Java Barat, 1964), p. 10.8Panitia Penyelengara Saresehan DalangSeluruh Indonesia, "Laporan Hasil-HasilSaresehan Dalang Seluruh IndonesiaTahun 1977," Pandaan, East Java 19-24

February 1977, p. 17.'These are the criteria that have been pre-sent in programs using entertainmentmediathat have proved effective accordingto Nancy Radtke, "NFE and Entertain-ment," The NFE Exchange 12, 2 (1978), 3.

References

Abrams, Tevia. "Folk Theatre inMaharashtrian Social Development Pro-

grams," Educational Theatre Journal, Vol-ume 27, No. 3, October 1975.

Convergence, Volume 1, No. 2, 1977. Specialissue on Folk Culture and Development

guest edited by Nat Colletta.

Hoxeng,James. LetJorge Do It: An Approachto Rural Non-Formal Education. Amherst:Center for International Education,School of Education, University of Mas-sachusetts, 1973.

IPPF and UNESCO. "Experts Meeting onthe Integrated Use of Folk Media and

Mass Media in Family Planning Com-

munication Programmes," London 20-24November 1972. Paris: UNESCO.

Nemenzo, GemmaandAlice Coseterig. FolkMedia in the Philippines, monograph seriesno. 6. Quezon City, Philippines: Popula-tion Communication Project, 1975.

"Using Folk Media to Expand Communica-

tion," Information, Education, Communica-tion in Population Newsletter, No.20, Hono-

lulu: East-West Center Communication

Institute, 1975.The NEE Exchange, No. 12, 2, 1978. Special

issue on Non-formal Education and En-tertainment. East Lansing: Institute for

International Studies in Education,

Michigan State University.

CLI research staff growsTwo scholars joined research

teams in the Culture LearningInstitute late in 1978.

Dr. Kathleen Wilson, a

specialist in curriculum andinstruction has played a

significant role in the shaping ofthe new project entitled,

"Problems in International

Cooperation," of which she is

coordinator.Dr. Wilson was vice president

of programs and publications of

the International Girls Club and

Camp Program, 1970-75. Sheserved as administrative assistantto the Indonesia Project of the

Institute for International Studies

at Michigan State University and

was an instructor in education.She was also acting director of

Educational Design Associates.Dr. Wilson earned a PhD in

curriculum and instruction from

Michigan State University in1978.

Dr. R. P. Anand hasjoinedthe project, "Cultural Problems in

Treaty Negotiation," and will

work closely with researchassociates Dr. Choon Ho Parkand Dr. John Walsh as well as a

team of research fellows andother CLI participants.

A scholar of internationallaw, Dr. Anand earned a JSDdegree from Yale University in1964. Prior to joining the

East-West Center, he was

professor of international law andhead of the international legalstudies division of the School ofInternational Studies at the

Jawaharlal Nehru University in

New Delhi. Anand has received

fellowships and awards for

academic excellence in legalstudies. His publications include

eight books as well as numerousarticles on international law.

Flow many more of us canthe earth hold and sustain? Canwe consume our resources at

present rates, take care of thewastes, and maintain a viableenvironment? When culturesencounter each other throughgovernments, corporations, andinternational organizations, willwe benefit or suffer? Can wecommunicate better to getanswers to these questions? 'Whatcan he done to mobilize human

energy and intelligence to solvehuman problems?

At the East-West Center we

bring together people from Asia,

the Pacific, and the United Statesto analyze problems and searchfor alternative solutions. Here

y11 1'on Jnd scholars, national

policy planners, corporatedecision makers, arid graduatestudents. The challenge is to

work together in an atmosphereof equality, mutuality, and

respect.The East-West Center is an

axis for ideas and action, a placefor building better relations arid

understanding. Together, asworld partners, we can shape abetter future for our planet.


ASEAN TREATIES & CULTURE LEARNING:A look at the planning of an EWCLI project

By John E. Walsh

In an earlier Culture

Learning Institute Report(January 1978) I outlined someof the thinking that led our

project team to hypothesize that

treaty negotiating and treatymaking might be richly insightfulsources of culture learning. Inthat article I stressed treaties asthe formal, official and primarymeans by which governmentsinteract with other governments.Treaties are essentiallycross-national and cross-cultural;as such they can be seen asreflecting or refracting in specificconcrete situations the thinkingand the valuing of the parties(countries) signatory to them.

Having agreed that researchinto treaty negotiating and treatymaking might well open the wayto a deeper and clearer

understanding of the culturesinvolved, the project team facedthe problem of determiningwhich kinds of treaties andindeed which actual treatieswould be most likely to serve our

purposes. Most countries are

party to a wide range of treaties,some of highest importance andsome of lesser importance. Itwould be necessary to select fromthe many thousands of treatiesnow in force throughout theworld those that seemed topromise the fullest measure ofculture learning output.

The purpose of this article isto report on how the projectteam came to select the ASEAN(Association of South East AsianNations) treaties, to indicate whatthe project's objectives are, and to

suggest briefly how we now planto proceed toward the

accomplishment of those

objectives.

Contemporary significance

The research team this yearconsists of: four graduatedegree-seeking students (onefrom Thailand, one fromVietnam, and two from theUnited States); three researchinterns (Taiwan, Philippines, andthe United States); one researchfellow (India); three permanentstaff members (Korea, India, andthe United States). As we beganour discussions about which

treaty or treaties might best lendthemselves to the kind of "culture

learning" research we had inmind, the criteria according towhich we would make ourselection began to emerge.

First, we agreed that wewanted to select a treaty ortreaties that had a high level of

contemporary significance. Wewanted, in other words, to. beconvinced within ourselves thatthe research we would do and theother activities we would engagein would be of interest to thewide thoughtful public in manydifferent countries rather thanjust to those in academic circlesor specialized office. "Who is

going to care?" or "Who is it

going to make a difference to?"were frequent questions as weconsidered such treaties as thoseon the law of the sea, on outerspace, on human rights, onborder questions, on the UnitedNations Charter, on educationalexchange, on tariff agreements,on the International Court ofjustice and the development ofinternational law, and even on

strategic arms limitation. All ofthese and others recommendedthemselves to our consideration

precisely because interest in themis so widespread. But no one of

them was sufficiently weighty toconvince the team as a whole

against the doubts and hesitanciesof this member or thosemembers.

Secondly, we wanted to selecta treaty or treaties in the makingof which cultural variables anddifferences would be prima faciepronounced. Our thinking herewas that many of the most

important treaties are on mattersof such generally recognizedimportance or are an attempt toanswer such urgent felt needsthat countries accede to themalmost as a matter course. Detailsof how these treaties are to befinanced and administered maycause serious disagreements butno one doubts that the treatiesare in essence good and

necessary. The treaties

establishing the World Health

Organization, the World FoodOrganization, or the UniversalPostal Service would be examplesof this type. Keeping in mindthat our objective was not to

study the intrinsic technical legalaspects of the treaty, nor whetherthe treaty was an equal or fair

treaty, nor what its binding forcemight be in international law butrather what is revealed about thecultural attitudes, values, ways of

thinking and world views of thesignatory countries, we did not

spend much time in discussion oftreaties of this type.

Third and more practically,in keeping with the generalorientation of the Culture

Learning Institute and theEast-West Center, we wanted toselect a treaty or treaties broad

enough in scope so that the

necessary research and relatedactivities could engage the


East-West Culture Learning Institute Report 7

ASEAN TREATIES...(From page 7)

interests and the expertise of aninterdisciplinary, multi-cultural,and multi-level research teamover the project's five year life

span.In the light of these three

criteria, it is not surprising thatwhen the ASEAN treaties were

brought up as a possible focus forthe project the immediatereaction of the team as a wholewas to agree that the proposaldeserved much further and moreserious consideration. The ideamet each of the three criteria

relatively fully. (1) The ASEANTREATIES are of immense

importance not only to theASEAN countries themselves butto the rest of the world as well.(2) The ASEAN treaties bringtogether in a regionalorganization five countries with

widely different languages,histories, customs, religions and

legal systems, in short, with

widely different culturalidentities. (3) The ASEANtreaties are broad and general

rather than being particularizedor special purpose treaties. Theyare therefore nicely suited to

interdisciplinary andmulti-cultural research.

The fact that all five of theASEAN countries, Philippines,Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore,and Malaysia regularly send

participants to the East-WestCenter was seen as a furtherreason for selecting the ASEANtreaties.

One point remained to beclarified, however, before theteam members could all agree on

selecting the ASEAN treaties asthe team's central focus. Somemembers expressed doubts - asdid a number other

knowledgeable people with whomwe discussed this matter - thatthe ASEAN treaties had been inexistence long enough to have, asyet, been the cause of any verydeep or widespread socio-cultural

changes. A preliminary andtherefore somewhat superficialchecking, however, favored theconclusion that many changeshave already taken place becauseof the ASEAN treaties, again

both within ASEAN itself and inthe attitudes of other countriestoward the regional organizationas a whole and to its individualmembers. Equally important,certain movements and trends havebeen set in motion and these arelikely to lead over time tosocio-cultural changes of vastproportions. The project will beconsidering the trends and thedynamics of change as well as thechanges already clearly evident.

All of these considerationspointed to the consensus finallyreached by the project team,namely, that the ASEAN treatiespresented an excellentopportunity for culture learningthrough the study of treatynegotiation and treaty makingand that a widely significant highquality research project could bedeveloped with them as thefundamental points of departure.The project would be entitled"The Socio-Cultural Impact ofthe ASEAN Treaties." The

process through which we teammembers had gone in arriving atthis decision was in itself a deep,genuine and personal form of

- -(Poetry,), "January-February, 1979.Along with staffand participants in the CLI research project, "Contact Literature in Cross-National Perspective," the poetsdiscussedthe modern poetry whichis thefruit ofa meetingofcultures, both within andamongnations. Picturedabove: FrontRow(left to right): Mohd Saleh, Donald

Long, Fasz Ahmed Faiz, E. Sarachchandra, Muhammad Moniruzaman, Karen Smith, Kazuko Shiraishi, J. C. Amirthanayagam. Back Row: Reuel De'nny,Theodore Weiss, Naomi Lazard, Ken Ann Huime, Subramani, Young-gui Lee, Alfred Yuson, Syd, C. Harrex.


culture learning.

Project objectives

All East-West Center projectshave as their ultimate aim and

objective the creating of better

understanding and more friendlycooperative relationships amongthe peoples of Asia, the Pacific,and the United States. Within this

over-arching objective, theSocio-Cultural Impact of theASEAN Treaties Project hasthree more immediate or

proximate objectives:1. To engage in cross-

cultural collaborative or teamresearch in a process whichhas its own reality, validity and

authenticity as a form of mutualculture learning. Reference has

already been made to the

importance of this process. Themembers of the team, made upof representatives of severaldifferent cultures, learn as theygo along how members of othercultures perceive things, how theyorder their values, how theybehave, and how their sensitivitiesand emotional patterns vary and

change. Throughout the projectthe team meets once a week - oroftener as necessary - to reporton progress, to share researchresources and discoveries, toshare common problems, and to

give each other the benefit oftheir diverse cultural insights.

2. To generate and publish aseries of publications that containthe findings, conclusions and

interpretations of the research.These books will each be on a

specific subject but taken as awhole they will constitute a

thorough study of theSocio-Cultural Impact of theASEAN treaties.

While it is anticipated thatscholars will find the individualvolumes and the entire series

helpful, the books will beintended primarily for a generalreadership. As such they mightwell be used as required readingsor as references in schools,

colleges, and continuing

education programs. In a furthereffort to make sure the results ofthe research are disseminated as

widely as possible, the books inthe series will be considered as

possible basic resource materialsfor the making of documentingfilms and videotapes for use on

public television. The authorsand principal investigators willhave this possible audiovisual useof their materials in mind as theygather data, make their analyses,and write their books. Though itwill not be the controlling factor,it will help to determine how theauthors proceed in their researchand how they order and write uptheir findings.

Two further pursuits aboutthe proposed volumes should bementioned. The first is that thereis a growing interest on the partof large nations and small aroundthe world in the ASEANcountries and their imaginativeexperiment in regionalorganization. The volumes in thisseries will be written in English,although some of the principalinvestigators and authors will beAsian. The subject matter is such,however, that translations intoother languages might be highlyuseful and desirable. If thisshould prove to be the case, everyeffort will be made to make surethe books are translated and

published in various countries.The second is that its treaties

are coming to be seen as playinga greatly increased part in the lifeof every nation. Yet the

knowledge of treaties, how theyare made, how they become lawdomestic and international and,how they directly influence the

day-to-day existence of the

average person is either notavailable or is just not

appreciated and understood. Theseries on "The Socio-Cultural

Impact of the ASEAN Treaties"is also seen as a way of helping tofill the great gap most people feelbetween their knowledge oftreaties and the role and meaningof treaties in their lives. In short,it is expected that the series willdemonstrate clearly that treaties

do have an immense impact onthe social and cultural life of anyof the peoples who enter intothem.

3. A third objective of the

project, which will be

implemented however only asfunds become available, is the

creating at the Culture LearningInstitute of a DocumentationCenter on ASEAN. There are

already a number of first-rateSouth East Asian studies centersin various parts of the world. The

project seeks to develop closecollaboration with these. TheCulture Learning Institute'sDocumentation Center onASEAN would be, so far as weknow, the only such center in thePacific and its purpose would beto make these necessary researchmaterials available to scholars inthis region. This DocumentationCenter would concentrate onsuch things as official documents,

speeches, editorial commentaries,

periodical references, and basic

reports. It would include only themost authoritative books andthose that are not readilyavailable elsewhere.

As far as we have been ableto determine, the work in our

Project supplements rather than

duplicates the work being done inthe above-mentioned South EastAsian Studies centers. Our

emphasis on the socio-cultural

impact of the ASEAN treaties

appears to be a distinctivelydifferent approach.

Project plan

The planning of the project,at the time of this writing, is well

underway but is by no means

complete. In this, the concludingsection of this report, I wouldlike to mention some parts of theoverall plan on which we havenow reached general agreementand also indicate some majorareas that still need further

thinking and clarification.


ASEAN TREATIES...(From page 9)

We have agreed that thework of the project will bethematic rather than

country-by-country. What thismeans is that the principalinvestigators will be responsiblefor researching a given"socio-cultural impact" throughthe five countries rather than

studying the differentsocio-cultural impacts within anyone country. Five such themeshave now been selected and ourintention is to add others. Thesefive themes are themselves

subject to change or modificationas further research throws morelight on them. They are: (1) The

impact on the legal system; (2)the impact on archipelagicthinking; (3) the impact onscientific and technologicaldevelopment; (4) the impact oninternational perspectives; (5) the

impact on educational theory and

practice.The principal investigators

will be assisted in their researchand writing by members of theteam according to the teammember's interest and field of

specialization. One of the teammembers, who is expert in

quantitative analysis, will beavailable to assist all of theprincipal investigators at differenttimes. The present plan calls the

principal investigators and theircollaborators to devote about oneyear to basic research, both at theEast-West Center and inSoutheast Asia. It also calls for asimilar period of time to bedevoted to the writing of thebook or monograph on the

particular theme.

Conferences

Plans call for twoConferences of ASEAN Expertsand Principal Investigators: oneto be held in Manila in May of1980, possibly on a cost-sharedbasis with the University of the

Philippines. This conference will

be a kind of midway check ofresearch already accomplishedand the gathering of ideas aboutwhat remains to be done and howit can best be done. The other tobe held at the East-West Center,

probably in January, 1981, whichwill have at its purpose adiscussion with persons directlyinvolved in the educational

process of how the research dataand its interpretations can be castinto forms most useful toeducators.

This is generally where the

project stands in its planning atthe moment. We are still in theinitial planning stages and we are

grateful to Professor JeromeCohen of the Harvard East Asian

Legal Studies Department, whorecently spent a day inconsultation with us. A numberof things remain to be workedout in detail but I will mention

only three here:

Methodology. The researchmethods used in this project will

necessarily vary somewhat fromone to the other depending onthe particular item being studiedor explored. Yet since each of thebooks is to be part of the serieswe will want to make sure fromthe very beginning that, withintolerable limits, the books arecompatible. The generalmethodology will be socialscientific rather than that properto legal research, philosophicalresearch, or historical research.The fundamental controlling ideabehind the research is that we are

engaged in culture learning as

part of the effort to achievegreater mutual understanding. Asone of the principal investigatorsstated, "Our effort is todetermine how Asian is ASEAN?"

Although the precisemethodology is still in the processof being clarified, it is most likelythat each of the principalinvestigators will use somecombination of the more or lesswell established social scienceresearch methods and techniques:review of the primary and

secondary literature, interviews,field observation, conferences

and consultations with experts,and such field surveys andquestionnairs as may bepracticable and appropriate. Datasources, among others, willinclude the ASEAN Secretariatsthemselves, the Southeast Asianstudies centers, various agenciesof the United Nations, andboth governmental and non-governmental organizationswithin ASEAN.

One advantage of the studyis that many of the persons atvarious levels most closelyassociated with the establishmentof ASEAN are still living andmight be available for personalinterviews. Finally, the questionof methodology in individualcases will depend on whether theinvestigation is seen primarily asan attempt to measure impactsalready being felt and

experienced,or as an attempt toestablish initial bench marksagainst which trends ormovements just beginning to takeshape can be measured at a laterdate.

Cost-sharing. The project asnow designed has fairly limitedobjectives and we should be ableto achieve them with the

appropriated funds budgeted bythe East-West Culture LearningInstitute. However, ourpreliminary discussions andconsultations have evidenced ahigh degree of interest in the

project, based both on the greatimportance of ASEAN as a

regional organization and on thedistinctiveness of the project'sapproach. It might be possible tosecure funding or cost sharingfrom such sources as

philanthropic foundations,centers of East and SoutheastAsian studies, institutions ofhigher education, or governmentagencies in various countries,including the ASEAN countriesthemselves.

If outside funding or

cost-sharing should becomeavailable, the project would be

expanded in scope, not extendedin time. Items for which outsidefunding or cost sharing might be


sought include but are notlimited to: (1) Stipends to payco-researcher for specific fieldresearch; (2) conferences orseminars of experts on each ofthe themes in the project to beheld at the East-West Center orelsewhere; (3) publicationsubsidies; (4) translation costs; (5)documentation center expenses;(6) video-taping and filmingexpenses.

Some of the cost-sharingcould be in-kind contributions for

example, the release of a certain

percentage of a professor's timeto enable him or her to work onthe project. Other funding mighttake the form of direct monetarygrants for specific purposes.

Dissemination, evaluation and

follow-up. These are essential

components of the master plan ordetailed agenda for the project towhich the team has as yet givenonly slight attention. They arementioned briefly here because

they will be questions on whichthe team will be working in themonths ahead. They will beincluded among the things wewill be discussing with the

participants in the planningseminar to which seven personsfrom Asia and the Pacific andthree from the United Stateshave been invited, March 12-23,1979.

Dissemination

In keeping with theEast-West Center's policy that thedissemination of research

findings are to be considered an

integral part of each of its

projects, our team has made theinitial decision to seek educationaloutlets for the materials it

produces. As indicated earlierthis dissemination may take theform of both audio-visual andwritten materials. Also, the samebasic research data can be

presented in different waysdepending on whether it isintended for scholarly journals orfor broader educational purposes.The project encouragespublication in scholarly journalsbut the primary output, that is,the series of books on "TheSocio-Cultural Impact of theASEAN Treaties" will be writtenfor those in senior high schools,liberal arts colleges, and

continuing education programs inthe US and for their equivalentsin other countries throughtranslations.

One idea we have been

considering is to invite aneducational consultant orcurriculum writer to work witheach of the principal investigators

at the organizational stage of hisor her research effort on the

specific themes. This would helpensure that the kinds of analysisand data gathering actuallyundertaken do not overlook or

neglect areas that would later

prove necessary to the

disseminating of results ineducational programs. Asindicated earlier, a conference foreducational specialists is definitelyplanned for the early writingstage of the project.

Every East-West Center

project team expects to beevaluated on the basis of howwell it achieves the objectives itsets for itself and on how well ithas met the East-West Centercriteria. It is not too early to startbuilding an evaluation awarenessas well as an evaluationmechanism into the verystructure of the project. We havenot done so as yet.

Evaluation of this project andother East-West Center projectstakes on special significancebecause it helps to determinewhether to follow-up the projectwith another similar to it or to

change research directions

altogether. All projects are oflimited duration: this one is duefor completion at the end of thefiscal year 1983.

THE EAST-WEST CENTER is anational educational institutionestablished in Hawaii by the U.S.

Congress in 1960 to promote betterrelations and understanding betweenthe United States and the nations ofAsia and the Pacific throughcoo=ative stony, training, aimresearch. Each. year inure than 1,500men and women from many nationsand cultures work together in

problem-oriented institutes or on

"open" grants as they seek solutionsto problems of mutual consequencetWEast and West. For each Center

participant from the United States,two participants are sought from theAsian and ?acifsc area. The U.S.

Congress provides basic funding for

programs and a variety of awards,and the Center is administered by apublic, nonprofit corporation with aninternational Board of Governors.1777 East-West Road,Honolulu, Hawaii 96848

ProfessorLee Chae-Suk of the College ofMusic, Seoul National University, and Dr. Lee ByongWonofthe University ofHawaiipresentedalecture-demonstration onKorean KayagumMusic in August, 1979,

as part of the Institute's continuing "Cultural Manifestations" series.

A special presentation of traditional Ha-

waiian music and dance was sponsored by theEast-West Culture Learning Institute on October

18, 1979. Drawing upwards of800peoplefromthe East-West Center and the Honolulu commu-

nity, theconcertfeatured theMenofWaimapuna,the Hawaiian Isles Serenaders, and the womendancers ofthe Halau o Kahanuola.

A 26-member troup visiting the centerfrom

Rarotonga, Cook Islands, joined in thefestivitiesand in Polynesian fashion, contributed to theper-formance (to the left).


Documents

DRAMAFORDEVELOPMENT: Sundanese Wayang Purwa ... · DRAMAFORDEVELOPMENT: Sundanese WayangGolekPurwa, anIndonesianCaseStudy ByKathyFoley if themimeticanddulcet poetry canshowanyreason