The Life of a Balinese Temple: Artistry, Imagination, and History in a Peasant Village

Hildred Geertz

Published by University of Hawaii Press 2004

The Life of a Balinese Temple

Artistry, Imagination, and History in a Peasant Village

Hildred Geertz

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824864811

Overview
Contents

About this book

Should a temple be seen as a work of art, its carvers as artists, its worshipers as art critics and patrons? What is a temple (and its art) to the people who make and use it? Noted anthropologist Hildred Geertz attempts to answer these and other questions in this unique look at transformations in material culture and social relations over time in a village temple in Bali. Throughout Geertz offers insightful glimpses into what the statues, structures, and designs of Pura Désa Batuan convey to those who worship there, deepening our understanding of how a village community evaluates workmanship and imagery.

Following an introduction to the temple and villagers of Batuan, Geertz explores the problematics of the Western concept of "art" as a guiding framework in research. She goes on to outline the many different kinds of work—ideational as well as physical—undertaken in connection with the temple and the social institutions that enable, constrain, and motivate their creation. Finally, the "art-works" themselves are presented, set within the intricate sociocultural contexts of their making. Using the history of Batuan as the main framework for discussing each piece, Geertz looks at the carvings from the perspective of their makers, each generation occupying a different social situation. She confronts concepts such as "aesthetics," "representation," "sacredness," and "universality" and the dilemmas they create in field research and ethnographic writing. Recent temple carvings from the tumultuous and complex period that followed the expulsion of the Dutch and the increasing globalization and commercialization of Balinese society demonstrate yet again that any anthropology of art must also be historical.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Terms, Names, and Spelling Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Part I. Work
1. A Temple and an Anthropologist Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. Those Who Carry the Temple on Their Heads Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
3. The Purposes of Pura Désa Batuan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	35
Part II. Works
4. The Age of the Balinese Rajas (before 1908) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	75
5. The Age of the Dutch Rajas (1908–1942) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	101
6. Forms, Meanings, and Pleasures Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	139
7. The Age of the Last of the Dutch Rajas (1948–1950) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	173
8. The Age of Freedom (1950–1967) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
9. The Age of the Tourists (1966–1995) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	203
Afterword Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	241
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	245
Glossary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	267
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	277
Illustration Credits Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	285
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	287
About the Author Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	293

Language: English
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 312
Illustrations
- Other: illus.

eBook

Published: June 30, 2004
ISBN: 9780824864811