An study of covarrubias personal account as per

Kuala Lumpur

Covarrubias, Miguel. Island of Bali. Jakarta: Oxford School Press, 1972 (Reprint coming from 1937 edition). Introduction, Chapters 1 2 .

McPhee, Colin. A residence in Bali. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1979 (Reprinted from 1946 edition). (excerpts): 9-31.

In the introduction, Covarrubias describes his travels to and time in Bali. The first phase then elaborates on the island – geography, weather, the Balinese creation fantasy and so on. The second chapter elaborates on the island’s inhabitants – dress, build, culture, societal hierarchies, jobs, racial roots, ancestry, community myths, wats or temples, history, and so on. Overall, Covarrubias attempts to explain the island as factually as is possible, given that his narrative is based off of personal experience. Instead of attempting to set a scientific encyclopedia entry, Covarrubias includes his personal reactions, supplying his accounts a personal and descriptive experience.

In person, I noticed the fact that author generally seems to paint Bali as a mystically isolated place. For example , Covarrubias writes, “To the Balinese, Bali may be the entire world” (Covarrubias, 6). Towards the end of the first chapter, Covarrubias also writes, “Few Balinese know how to swim and they rarely venture in to the sea besides to bathe nearby the shallow seashores, and then they proceed only a few ft from the shore” (Covarrubias, 10). At the same time, Covarrubias notes which the people live “in this sort of close touch with nature, ” and laments the exploitation of Balinese tradition through travel. The fact that the Balinese might still seem isolated and untouched is somewhat surprising, given the other invasions and violence in Bali’s record. In fact , Covarrubias mentions on-page 37 the fact that Dutch military did not keep Bali right up until 1914, “when it was regarded as that Balinese resistance was sufficiently controlled. ” Possibly then, police and puppet rulers even now governed Bali, and it’s hard to believe that their presence and effects would not have got still recently been felt by Covarrubias twenty-three years later.

Similarly, with this excerpt, McPhee describes his time by Bali in autobiographical style. The research begins with McPhee talking about his encounters on the ship, and earnings to describe in vivid detail the remainder of his trips, including music, conversations, reactions, feelings, findings, and more. Unlike Covarrubias, McPhee does not attempt to organize by simply topic, but rather takes the reader along his journey, allowing for the reader to “discover” Bali personally.

One component that minted me in McPhee’s research was the passageway on page twenty-eight that referred to “hot rivalry” between “Nyoman’s légong gamelan and the team of the other banjar. ” I believed this verse gave more perspective to the Balinese tradition, which is generally painted because completely harmless and nutritious. It’s easy to forget that Balinese people are persons, just like all of us, and have related experiences, regardless if in different situations. The discussions in this publication with Sarda also gave a very personal touch to Balinese lifestyle, and revealed partially how Sarda seen his universe – to some extent matter of factly – in comparison to the awe and tiptoed value that Americans usually view Balinese tradition with.

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