participation in the Indonesian struggle for Independence of 1945–49. Many more Balinese were enthusiastic, even passionately devoted, supporters of Indonesia’s first president than the book indicates. Here Hanna and Ide Anak Agung were very much of a like mind; Hanna coming from Cold War America had no time for the Left’s ideas of Land Reform or People’s Art, while Ide Anak Agung, as a very modern traditional ruler, was on a side of politics that was simultaneously conservative and liberal. His political grouping, identified with the leadership of the wise Sutan Sjahrir, was conservative because of its opposition to radical reform, particularly of wealth and privilege, but adopted a liberal and internationalist perspective. Ide Anak Agung’s own cosmopolitan life and outlook exemplified this.
This book’s highlighting of the kingdom of Gianyar at the expense of the other former Balinese kingdoms needs to be taken with a grain of salt, since Gianyar was the newest of the Balinese kingdoms, and had neither the status of the high kingdom, Klungkung, nor the prestige of Gianyar’s main twentieth-century rival kingdom, Karangasem. The autobiography of one of Karangasem’s royal sons, Dr A. A. Madé Djelantik, The Birthmark: Memoires of a Balinese Prince (Periplus), makes a useful counter reading to the pro-Gianyar views of Bali Chronicles.
At a time when the Balinese are desperate to restore tourist numbers to the days before Indonesia’s political crises and the catastrophic bombings of October 2002, it seems strange that Hanna was so worried about what would happen when Bali’s tourist visits reached the 300,000 mark. This is another reflection of the views current at the time the book was written: that Bali required a strategy to preserve its culture against tourism. In retrospect, this strategy, which had its origins in the research of Balinese writer Nyoman S. Pendit on the international sociology of tourism, ignored a number of issues. First, culture is not a fixed or unchangeable “thing,” but rather an adaptable series of perceptions and social representations. In Bali’s case, tourism has helped to reinforce a separate sense of Balinese identity, and given Balinese players in Indonesian society the means by which to support their island’s idea of uniqueness. As Hanna points out, the dilemma for Bali has always been one of how to support a dense population with limited resources, and tourism is the chief means to provide such support. Bali, in that sense, has been a model of success for other islands, and even nations, to emulate.
The real problem for Bali, one that was not so clear in the priorities of the 1970s, is preserving nature rather than culture. Rather than reaching the predicted level of 500,000 visitors per year in 2000, Bali achieved over 1,000,000 per year, but at the expense of its ecology. Despite excellent planning processes, government authorities were left at the mercy of rampant development too close to beaches, in ugly ribbons of small shops, and throughout areas that were originally planned as “green belts.” The result has been polluted and eroded beaches, shortages of water, and a deterioration of the quality of life for most Balinese. The challenge of the twenty-first century will be to restore tourism while making Bali livable.
Hanna’s sense of concern for Bali, and his devotion to the island, shines through in each part of the book, no more so than in the last section, with its potted version of Balinese religion and culture. Falling back on stereotypes of “the Balinese,” as any such summary will, this section is most in need of updating. No longer can we say “the Balinese family lives in a spacious, walled compound which is part of an enclave of compounds,” for example, since the majority of Balinese live in crowded conditions in cities, although in many cases the villages that Hanna encountered in the 1970s have been incorporated into urban sprawl in a way that maintains many earlier aspects of social organization.
This is a book of its time, a description of Bali’s interaction with the West, but a book that deserves re-reading. Willard A. Hanna has left us a book that should be enjoyed as a collection of voices, sometimes dissonant, often self-serving, but always fascinating.
Associate Professor Adrian Vickers University of Wollongong January 2004
Contents
Foreword Contemporary Balinese Dilemma
Chapter 1 The Dewa Agung and the Radjas (Pre-1800)
Island Setting and Cultural Background
Hinduization and Javanese Influences
Modjapahit Conquest and Early Rulers
Dewa Agung as Emperor and Symbol
Emergence and Divergence of Eight Radjadoms
Decline of Dewa Agung’s Authority
Chapter 2 Western Intruders (Pre-1800)
Early Portuguese and Other European Visitors
Houtman Expedition of 1597; Shore Party in Kuta and Gelgel
Audience with Dewa Agung and Lesson in Geography
Entertainment by Kijloer; Interview with Portuguese Merchant
Desertion of Roodenburg, Claaszoon, and Jan the Portuguese
Heemskerck Expedition of 1601; Roodenburg as Interpreter; Dewa Agung’s Letter to Prince Maurits
V.O.C. Factory and Free Burghers from Batavia
Trade in Slaves and Opium; Missions of Oosterwijk and Bacharach
Balinese Community in Batavia; Senopati; Balinese–Javanese Wars
Chapter 3 Recruitment, Trade, and Travel (1800–1830)
Distant Effects of Napoleonic Wars
Daendels’ Design for Recruitment; van der Wahl’s Visit
