Speaking to God in Javanese - article ; n°132 ; vol.34, pg 133-142

Stuart O.Robson

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L'Homme - Année 1994 - Volume 34 - Numéro 132 - Pages 133-142
10 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique

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• Publié par: L-HOMME0
• Publié le: 01 janvier 1994
• Nombre de lectures: 6
• Langue: English

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Stuart O. Robson
Speaking to God in Javanese
In: L'Homme, 1994, tome 34 n°132. Anthropologie de la prière. pp. 133-142.
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Robson Stuart O. Speaking to God in Javanese. In: L'Homme, 1994, tome 34 n°132. Anthropologie de la prière. pp. 133-142.
doi : 10.3406/hom.1994.369832
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/hom_0439-4216_1994_num_34_132_369832Stuart O. Robson
Speaking to God in Javanese
between tongue, so. community Stuart This O. Javanese. two Robson, language in prayers Central Speaking failed in Java Javanese to when use to God the asked and respect in Indonesian to Javanese. pray and exclusively intimacy — in This order article levels in to Indonesian explain present studies why in the refused their differences a Catholic mother to do
Oral language-use is subject to variation dependent on situation; that
variation can take many forms, and the situation of speech can change
in many ways. The use of Javanese constitutes no exception1. In
fact Javanese might be said to be highly sensitive in this area: a wide spectrum
of variation is possible, correlating with perceptions of a range of possible
social relations. The result is the well-known system of "speech-levels", on
which an extensive, and growing, literature already exists2.
One particular use of language is that found in Christian prayer. Here the
"social" relationship involved is that of worshipper (speaker) to God (hearer).
For reasons that fall within the field of theology, there is a clear distinction to
be drawn between Islamic use of language and Christian, firstly because Islam
uses both its sacred language, Arabic, for purposes of ritual prayer and the ver
nacular on other occasions, and secondly because the nature of the relationship
between man and God is different. In Christianity this is a personal relation
ship, which has intriguing consequences for language-use. The case of Chris-
1. This paper was written in June 1988 during a short period of fieldwork financed by the Indonesian
Studies Programme, Leiden, sponsored by Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, and conducted
under the auspices of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Jakarta. Thanks are due to these
institutions for making the research possible.
2. Two recent books on this subject by J. Joseph Errington are Language and Social Change in Java,
Linguistic Reflexes of Modernization in a Traditional Royal Polity (Ohio University Monographs in
International Studies, Southeast Asia Series N° 65, Urbana, Illinois, Ohio University, 1985), and
Structure and Style in Javanese, A Semiotic View of Linguistic Etiquette (Philadelphia, University of
Pennsylvania Press, 1988).
L'Homme 132, oct.-déc. 1994, XXXIV (4), pp. 133-142. 134 STUART O. ROBSON
tianity is all the more interesting as it is a comparatively recent phenomenon in
the Javanese language-area, so that a continuing evolution can still to some
extent be traced. For the purpose of the present discussion, attention will be
limited to Roman Catholicism and the region of Central Java3.
Koentjaraningrat (1980: 128) has revived the idea of familiarity versus
unfamiliarity in the field of Javanese religion. In this area much variation in
belief and practice can be observed, leading to several attempts to provide a
satisfactory description. I am in complete agreement with Koentjaraningrat' s
use of the term Kejawèn (or Agami jawi) to refer to the variant of the majority
religion, a term which can be translated with "Javanism". Historically, el
ements of animism, Hinduism and Buddhism, and Islam can be found in this tra
dition, which has also, wrongly, been called Abangan. Kejawèn has as its log
ical opposite orthodox Islam (the variant sometimes called Santri), which was
introduced in Java in the 16th century but only slowly made headway in the
interior until recent times. Hence Koentjaraningrat characterizes Kejawèn as
"familiar", and Islam as "unfamiliar". But he does not mention Roman Cath
olicism. This omission is regrettable, as Harsja Bakhtiar has already pointed
out the need to include the forms of Christianity in any picture of "the religion
of Java" that pretends to be complete (Bakhtiar 1973: 87). Now if Islam is
unfamiliar, then surely the idea of is even less familiar — what
would an ordinary Javanese make of the expression cempéning Allah ("Lamb
of God"), to give but one example out of many? The clothing of such ideas,
common to all forms of Christianity, in a new language, Javanese, must have
formed a severe test for those who first undertook it.
When Roman Catholicism was finally allowed to be propagated in Java, in
the early part of the 20th century, a process of translation was begun, centred in
Yogyakarta. Much attention was paid to producing suitable materials in the
Javanese language, deferring to sensibilities on the matter of language-
use. The priests who performed this task were Dutch4, so a proportion of this
translation was from Dutch into Javanese, whereas the central part of the
liturgy will have meant a direct translation from Latin into Javanese. In either
case the aim was to preserve the content intact while giving it an acceptable
outward form. Much would depend on the skill with which this was done, and
many improvements and changes will have been necessary over the years.
The aim of this article, however, is not to trace the development of mater
ials in Javanese, but to take their most recent form to record what use is made
of them, and in particular to try to discover the attitude of the users toward
them, negative or positive. On the basis of our findings regarding these points
3. It is undeniable that Javanese is used not only by Roman Catholics and Muslims but also by
Protestants, but it is not the intention to make comparisons with them here.
4. According to information kindly given by Prof. P. J. Zoetmulder SJ, it was primarily Fr. H. Van
Driessche who was responsible for composing the Javanese texts. He is said to have had an exten
sive knowledge of Javanese. According to the Sejarah Gereja Katolik, vol. 3-b (1974: 860-861),
in 1919 he moved from Muntilan to Yogyakarta, where his work was then centred. to God in Javanese 135 Speaking
conclusions can be drawn on the appropriateness of the linguistic forms to a
given social situation.
At the outset we will need to be more explicit as to who the above ment
ioned "users" Catholic" is are, in view of the fact that the status of "average
hard to establish, and someone can always be found who holds an opposite opi
nion. The locality is Muntilan (Central Java), one of the original centres of
Roman Catholicism in the Javanese- speaking area5. The church at Muntilan
has the position of parish (paroki) and is the base for one priest (pastor). Below
this church come a number of "posts" (stasi), and the lowest group in the hie
rarchy is the "circle" (kring)6. The circle with which we are concerned here is
found in the village (desa) of Keji, which comes under the post of Ngawèn.
(It is not impossible that in the near future Ngawèn will be raised to the posi
tion of "subparish".) These are thus the users whose views are quoted here.
Further, our subject is restricted to prayers (sembahyangan); these can be
private or common, liturgical or non-liturgical. We are therefore not dealing
with the text of Scripture (Kitab Suci or Injil) or with books of religious instruc
tion. This restriction is made because prayer involves the use of language
within a relationship; it can be looked upon as a "one-sided dialogue", in which
one party speaks and the other listens.
Although for some it may not be necessary, the nature of the relationship
between the individual worshipper and God does need to be clarified. In
Christianity, God is anthropomorphized as a father, which implies that man is
his child. As in other societies, this relationship carries within it implications
of an affective and behavioral nature. These implications can be subsumed
under two heads: respect and intimacy. In Java one's father is entitled to high
respect; he is both progenitor and head of the house. But he is not so high as
to be unapproachable; it is possible to address him and to express one's feelings
without offending, providing the proper forms are observed7.
However, in the case of God as "father" it is obvious that allowance has to
be made for a big difference from a human father. This is because God is
mahakuwasa (almighty) as well as mahasuci (all-holy). The possession of
such qualities must have consequences for the use that human beings make of
language in order to address God.
In this situation, the highest possible form of language is required. Such a
requirement is fulfilled in several ways. Javanese has two levels: basic and
polite (basa%). The level called basa is used for addressing those for whom
respect is demanded, e.g. elders, strangers, persons of high status. There is,
5. On the history of the Roman Catholic mission in the Muntilan area, see Sejarah Gereja Katolik,
vol. 3-b, 1974: 847-860.
6. These terms are all borrowed f