Covering the history of Bali from before the Bronze Age to the presidency of Megawati Sukarnoputri, this examination highlights the ethnic dynamics of the island and its place in modern Indonesia. Included is an analysis of the arrival of Indian culture, early European contact, and the complex legacies of Dutch control. Also explored are the island's contemporary economic progress and the environmental problems generated by population growth and massive tourist development.
"Lela in Bali tells the story of an annual festival of eighteenth-century kingdoms in Northern Cameroon that was swept up in the migrations of marauding slave-raiders during the nineteenth century and carried south towards the coast. Lela was transformed first into a mounted durbar, like those of the Muslim states, before evolving in tandem with the German colonial project into a festival of arms. Reinterpreted by missionaries and post-colonial Cameroonians, Lela has become one of the most important of Cameroonian festivals and a crucial marker of identity within the state, Richard Fardon's reconstruction of two hundred years of history is an essential contribution not only to Cameroonian studies but also to the broader understanding of the evolution of African cultures."--BOOK JACKET.
The island of Bali has long been characterized in the West as the last “paradise” on earth, but there is far more to this small Indonesian province. Bali Tourism presents an enlightening ethnographic study of some of the most important icons—for tourists and locals alike—in Balinese culture and society and explores the growth of this island as an “exotic” vacation destination. In addition, it offers a firsthand look at many aspects of daily life, a semiotic analysis of its dominant cultural symbols, and insights into tourists’ perceptions of Bali. A thirty page photo section offers a unique glimpse at this remarkable island. Through a distinctive use of cultural analysis and psychoanalytic modes of interpretation, Bali Tourism offers an in-depth study of Balinese tourism, society, and character. This handy, easy-to-read text is an essential overview of what the island has to offer tourists and looks at the exciting possibilities—and the potential pitfalls—of visiting this extraordinary land. The book paints a vivid portrait of this country’s hidden gems and popular tourist destinations, exploring the ways visitors see Bali—and how the Balinese see visitors—as well as the promise and problems Bali faces in developing its tourism industry. Bali Tourism is an ideal book to read before visiting Bali yourself—or recommending/planning a trip for others. The fresh insights it presents will help make any trip to the region more rewarding for the traveler. It is also a unique scholarly resource, complete with informative tables, references, and a bibliography, for academics and students at all levels of tourism studies.
This book tells the history of Bali—the "paradise island of the Pacific"—its rulers and its people, and their encounters with the Western world. Spanning the entire history of Bali since the beginning of recorded time, it stretches the culture and politics of the island as a backdrop to the dilemma hat now confronts the Balinese: the choice between economic decay or cultural decadence in the face of "cultural tourism"—Bali's only promising industry. Balinese history tells a fascinating story. For a thousand years, the peculiar splendor of Balinese–Hindu culture came very close to satisfying the social, religious and artistic needs of the people. The arrival of European visitors in the 1920s and 1930s soon made the island's magical charms known to the outside world, and forever changed the "real, unspoiled" Bali. This is the story about the vulnerability—and durability—of an ancient culture to the modern world. There already exists a wealth of literature on Balinese art and thought and the singularly beautiful Balinese way of life which often seems to outsiders like a lavishly costumed pageant continuously and merrily played out against a superbly scenic tropical backdrop. Except for several Balinese court chronicles, impenetrable to most foreigners, and a few other works, mainly in Dutch, by Western writers of the nineteenth or early twentieth century, there is almost nothing of any consequence with regard to Balinese history, economics, and politics, or the roots of the present dilemma. It is the aim, therefore of this account to provide a background sketch of historic events, to trace the complications of domestic and international politics, to depict the changing economic scene, and to introduce the key characters, Balinese and Western, of the island drama of the last millennium as it now comes to an especially significant new climax. Since all else in Bali cues to the cultural tradition, there is also a chapter dealing with the basic conceptual elements of a life–outlook best described as Balinism. A new introduction by Adrian Vickers, a professor of history at the University of Sydney, places the book into the context of the literature on Bali and the impact that the Western world and tourism are currently having on the island.
This book tells the story of Bali--the "paradise island of the Pacific"--its rulers and its people, and their encounters with the Western world. Bali is a perennially popular tourist destination. It is also home to a fascinating people with a long and dramatic history of interactions with foreigners, particularly after the arrival of the first Dutch fleet in 1597. In this first comprehensive history of Bali, author Willard Hanna chronicles Bali through the centuries as well as the islanders' current struggle to preserve their unique identity amidst the financially necessary incursions of tourism. Illustrated with more than forty stunning photographs, A Brief History of Bali is a riveting tale of one ancient culture's vulnerability--and resilience--in the modern world.
The glossy guide book image of Bali is of a timeless paradise whose people are devoutly religious and artistically gifted. However, a hundred years of colonialism, war and Indonesian independence, and tourism have produced both modernizing changes and created an image of Bali as ‘traditional’. Incorporating up-to-date ethnographic field work the book investigates the myriad of ways in which the Balinese has responded to the influx of outside influence. The book focuses on the fascinating interrelationship between tourism, economy, culture and religion in Bali, painting a twenty-first century picture of the Balinese. In documenting these diverse changes Howe critically assesses some of the work of Bali’s most famous ethnographer, Clifford Geertz and demonstrates the importance of a historically grounded and broadly contextualized approach to the analysis of a complex society.
Note: This title was out of print. Re-issued in its original form in 2010. The first comprehensive history of Balinese politics from the middle of the 17th century till the end of Dutch colonial rule in 1942. Based on extensive research in colonial archives in the Netherlands and Indonesia, a variety of Balinese historical narratives, interviews with former colonial officials as well as many Balinese, and fieldwork data concerning temples, rituals, and oral histories. Schulte Nordholt traces Balinese history by means of a collective biography of the Mengwi dynasty, describing the rise to power, the formation and expansion of a negara, the subsequent crises, and its fall in 1891. Between 1906 and 1942 Bali became part of the Dutch colonial state and experienced bureaucratic rule and processes that resulted in a ‘traditionalization’ of Balinese kingship and culture. The story of the Mengwi dynasty under colonial rule ended in a conflict between two factions. This conflict had an unexpected but devastating outcome.
Examining representations of Balinese culture in complex contexts of Indonesia's colonial history, Hindu ritual practice as opposed to Islam, and comparative Indo-European hierarchies, Boon offers a powerful critique of doctrinal approaches to culture, religion, literature, politics, and the history of ideas and disciplines.
From the bestselling author of 'Hotel Kerobokan' and co-author of Schapelle Corby's 'My Story' comes an incredible account of Bali's hidden drug world. With unprecedented access to some of Bali's biggest international smugglers and local dealers, Kathryn Bonella has written a book even more explosive and revelatory than 'Hotel Kerobokan'.
