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Example research essay topic: Modernization Influence On Indonesian Culture - 1,919 words

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Modernization influence on Indonesian culture Indonesia has always been an object of curiosity and source of information for the Western scientists. Until modern times Indonesia faced a growing pressure of the world to move to modern development. The tourist industry is gaining popularity in Indonesia and becoming one of the primary sources of income as in many developing countries. Every tourist that went to Indonesia knows that dance is a big part of Indonesian culture is also a part of the tourism industry. In fact the tourist dances are increasing in number and can often be seen in Bali these days. So what exactly is the effect of tourism on the performing cultural arts in Indonesia?

One cant really say if it is good or bad, since the tourist industry goes far beyond flat labeling. Actually the dance in Indonesia is a transitional, linking state between modernity and tradition. The dance is always changing to meet the needs and to be capable of expressing peoples thoughts, emotions and feelings, so it is very difficult to say how much influence does the tourism have. Modernization and tradition terms are hard to define. Who can count the positive and negative effects of changes? Is the change has be in dance and Indonesia both?

There is a little controversy in dance idea, since it is constantly evolving, what form of dancing can be considered traditional. The term tradition takes different meanings depending on point of view you have approaching it. But how is the western version different from that of Indonesian? In a way tradition concept is very contradictory to the idea of always evolving dance, but it makes sense to consider tradition in a little less strict manner, possibly it can be viewed according to who is dancing and who for. Dance itself is the sophisticated way to expressing ones self, the "tradition" of dance is apt to change in the same way. Placing "modernity" in this context, it can again be viewed as for whom and for what reasons the dance is performed.

Judith Becker writes: ... the basic concept of the word modern when applied to the arts has to do with a changed relationship between the performer / composer and the audience. In all traditional arts there exists a kind of understanding between the artist and audience as to the purpose of the art form, a shared set of assumptions... The audience does not have to be always Indonesian; it can consist of tourists as well. As long as the audience and performer understand each other and are having a connection, there has to exist some sort of tradition. The audience-performer relations exist not only in arts, it is even present in the way a tourist communicated with a merchant at the market.

Thus even tourist performance of any type of dance can become traditional. As Michel Picard notes, "tourist performances are now acknowledged as Balinese traditions" and "it's a ritual dance to ask the gods for a lot of tourists. " Tradition does not remain the same: eventually the modern becomes accepted as the tradition and this cycle continues throughout time. Tradition is on the major part a matter of performer and audience relationship, which tourism certainly shapes and changes yet the people that create the art remain the main source of changing and shaping. In 1908 tourism was first introduced in the country. But it did not spread out much up until encouragement from President Suharto's New Order government.

As the result, the government had to determined the limits for what is accessible for tourists: .".. arts have become means to other ends, being nowadays expected to foster the development of tourism in Indonesia and to contribute to the development of the national culture" (Picard, p. 47). The tourists influences that bring about Western technologies and ideals are influencing Indonesian culture, which the latter is trying to maintain. Surely, Indonesian dance is the main aspect of the tourist entertainment. When dance start to cater to tourism, is it possible of Indonesia to preserve the whole meaning and connection of performer and audience? This introduces a new job-market to performers and, at the same time, offers dance in an entirely new light.

Tourism, a major item in the Indonesian economy, has brought about other, not so artful updating of traditional materials. Performances for tourists take place almost everywhere, and are the only regular employment for many people in Indonesia. The performers of dance are becoming very dependent on tourism, the question is how much does the outsiders influence the tradition? How much does the tradition has to be altered to fit modernization? The very fact that dances are being performed for tourists makes dance a commodity. At the same time we cannot claim that the tourist-oriented dances and performances have lost all the art values.

I think that the difference between the tourist dance and the dance where people are expressing themselves lies in the way of dance personality. Nevertheless we have to understand that tourism in inevitable and very important for Indonesia; therefore it is also inevitable that dance will change, though not as a sole result of tourism. Possibly the change of dance is due to the fact that tourism is another stage of dance evolution. While perhaps past "traditions" are being forgotten, new "traditions" are being created. Marcia Siegel is right in saying that "traditional art cannot remain static. Performance is not a museum, even when it strives to preserve the past" (McKean p. 628).

The biggest challenge that tourism creates in Indonesia is to develop and keep up with the pace of time and at the same time stay traditional. Modernity and tradition balance is hard to find, especially in the art form such as dance, where nothing is static and stagnant. In my opinion we should not blame tourism in being the only reason for change. Indonesia is an independent country that can make its own decisions, so western tourism should not be able to change Indonesian ways of living. "Bali has fascinated researchers throughout the 20 th century, perhaps because it is a place where art and life, ritual and theatre, consciousness and psychic detachment are inextricably entwined" (McKean, p. 84). It is quite easy to claim the evil nature of tourism that it is a destructive influence of the developed countries, but I think such a statement would me both arrogant and ignorant. In short, and perhaps most dramatically stated, the traditions of Bali will prosper in direct proportion to the success of the tourist industry.

Far from destroying, ruining, or "spoiling" the culture of Bali, I am arguing here that the advent and increase of tourists is likely to foster the arts: dance, music, architecture carving and painting (McKean, p. 1). It is true that tourism provides ways for creative exploration and more important employment for the performers. However I do not want to say that the tourist industry does not created problems: the challenge is to take "advantage of the appeal of their cultural traditions to foreign visitors without sacrificing their own values on the altar of monetary profit" (Picard, p. 37). While this is a difficult stage for the Indonesia people, they "seem to be coping with the tourist invasion... they are taking what they want, but they are not allowing themselves to any the less Balinese" (Forge, p. 5 - 6). It is not only tourism that is destructive; it is what all the people involved in tourism create and do that will eventually lead to destruction or improvement.

Tourism is ethnic relations -- it is the responsibility of everybody involved in tourism to come to an understanding of one another. It is generally though that wage-labor is one of the most efficient and productive type of work. If a labor market functions well, it means that the country is achieving and economic growth. However in Indonesia most of work is still structured as self-employment and as unpaid family work is some parts of informal sector, this may also be some household work in exchange of products for self-consumption. There are some ways to know when the wage labor growth is there and is accompanied by market segmentation. Segmented labor market has some economical sectors that are only open for specific social groups, while the most productive allocation of labor across employment sectors is severely constrained.

In the years 1993 and 1994 two surveys have been organized to investigate the size of labor market integration and labor market segmentation by sex, ethnicity, kinship, locality, and strategic group membership. The results were saddening since all of the better jobs were going to the representatives of the above-mentioned groups. Modernization has been changing the situation slightly and hopefully in the future it will help re segmenting the market by bringing more jobs into the country. A big part of modernization is the development of Indonesian television. The first role of the television is some specialized facts of Indonesian studies such as theatre, arts, dance and music to social changes, modernization and development and representation of Indonesia in media. A second role of the television is the representation of Indonesian religion, the link with the state ideology of Pancasila, comparison of broadcasts of different religions and the effects of television in producing hegemonic or standardized representations.

One more is the wider effect of the media, for example the impact of television on changing consumption patterns and styles of life, on appearing middle class, representations of cultural identity and responses to foreign television programs and life styles. There is extensive scope for research on non-Western media studies, for instance on the relationship between the imagined, or planned, uses of television and its actual effects in Indonesia, such as the relationship between the intended 'message' or theme and the problematic question of the audience response, the creation of audiences and their expectations, new forms of genre, narrative and image and their adoption in daily life. The opinions of modernity of Indonesia, as part of the history, has some irony in the concept of being modern. This irony is based on the data coming from the health areas that are very disturbing in Indonesia. The hybrid medical practices observed in an urban neighborhood mark a heightened anxiety with tradition and the authentic in the context of modern urban life.

Islamic treatment centers for drug-addicted youth are considered as health care provisions that are symptomatic of a modernizing society, and serve as points of mediation in commentaries on Indonesian social life and youth culture. Finally, the growth of "the psychological" as a hybrid collection of ideologies and experiences is explored as opportunities for both constructing new individual identities, and for appropriation by the state as a mechanism of control. As you see the modernization of Indonesian culture is there, the future will show whether it is good or bad, but for now let us hope that it will at least help the economical situation in the country. Bibliography: Picard, Ph. D. (FNS) Culture and Society: A Sociological Review of Geertz's ties with Special Reference to Indonesia London: 2001 McKean The Change of Traditional Ritual Life in the Context of Socioeconomic Development. New York: 2002 Forge Cultural Values, Organization, and Work Performance of Industrial Workers in Indonesia.

A Study of Industrial Relations in two Textile Enterprises in Yogyakarta. New York: Cooper Square Publishers, Inc 2000. web web Cathie Drive, Barbara Hall Culture Shock! : Indonesia (Ed. ) New York: The Viking Press, 1999. web


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