C.1. Direct Observation
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This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: • This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. • A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. • This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. • The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. • When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. JAVANESE POWER; SILENT IDEOLOGY AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT OF YOGYAKARTA AND SURAKARTA. Ofita Purwani Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. D.) The University of Edinburgh 2014 DECLARATION I hereby declare that: This written thesis is all my own work except where I indicate otherwise by proper use of quotes and references. This work has not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification except as specified. None of the material contained in this thesis is based on joint research. Ofita Purwani 2 ABSTRACT Yogyakarta and Surakarta are two cities on the island of Java, Indonesia, which are considered as the centres of Javanese culture. That identity has resulted from the existence of the royal court or kraton in each of them. Both cities have shared a similar history as descendants of the Mataram kingdom, the greatest kingdom in Java, which was divided into two in 1755. Both also share a similar physical layout of the palace, shown not only in the layout of the kraton compounds, which consist of seven hierarchical courtyards, but also in the names and the functions of the courtyards and buildings. They also share similar city layouts in which the palace located at the centre, two squares each at the northern and southern end of the kraton compounds, and a royal road, create a north-south axis which is claimed to be cosmological. However, the kratons have suffered different fates in the modern era. Since Indonesian Independence in 1945, Yogyakarta has been considered to be a ‘special region’, with its territory awarded a status equivalent to a province. Also the king is automatically appointed governor, while Surakarta is only recognised as a city, which is a part of the province of Central Java. While the kraton of Yogyakarta holds importance in Yogyakarta, with the acknowledgement of territory and the king’s political role as governor, the kraton of Surakarta has no influence in the city of Surakarta. The mayor of Surakarta city is elected by the people, and even in the 2010 election a candidate from the royal family of the kraton of Surakarta lost 10:90 to a non-kraton-related candidate. The kraton of Yogyakarta has its land and property acknowledged by the state, while the kraton of Surakarta has its land and properties appropriated by the state, except the palace and some of its noble houses. The description above shows that there is a difference in power levels between both kratons. This thesis examines the background process of power, particularly those related to architecture and the built environment including arts, rituals, and culture integrated with them. Based on Bourdieu’s theory of structure/agency, I focused myself on the silent ideology of the built environment, which embodies a power structure in people’s unconsciousness through experience, in order to find out why differences in power levels occurred in two places that share a similar history and physical layouts. Using a comparative analysis, I examine in detail the silent ideology in terms of landscape, in both urban and architectural context. This silent ideology, with the support of cosmological narratives and colonial discourses, together with the accumulation of history in each of them, has a determining role in reproducing the existing power structure and continuous effort as this silent ideology helps to make sure that the existing power structures last. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ............................................................................................................................... 2 ABSTRACT 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................. 4 TABLE OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... 6 LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... 14 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................................... 16 CHAPTER 1: GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO JAVANESE KRATONS ............................. 17 A. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 17 B. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF THE SPECIAL STATUS ................................................ 20 C. THE SIMILARITIES OF YOGYAKARTA AND SURAKARTA ........................................ 23 CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................................ 31 A. RESEARCH TENDENCIES ON JAVA ............................................................................. 31 B. ON ESSENTIALISM AND CONSTRUCTIVISM .............................................................. 37 C. THE THEORY OF STRUCTURATION AND THE THEORY OF FIELD ....................... 38 D. THE JAVANESE ‘POWER’ ................................................................................................ 44 E. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ......................................................................................... 47 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES .......................................................................... 49 A. GENERAL AIMS .................................................................................................................. 49 B. RESEARCH METHOD ....................................................................................................... 49 C. DATA COLLECTION .......................................................................................................... 50 C.1. Direct observation ...................................................................................................... 50 C.2. Interviews .................................................................................................................... 51 C.3. Secondary sources .................................................................................................... 51 D. DATA ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................ 53 CHAPTER 4: LANDSCAPE AND POWER ............................................................................. 55 A. THE LANDSCAPE OF CENTRAL JAVA .......................................................................... 55 A.1. Tectonic and Volcanic Forces on Java ................................................................... 55 A.2. Hydrology .................................................................................................................... 58 B. CONSEQUENCES OF THE LANDSCAPE ..................................................................... 62 B.1. Agriculture ................................................................................................................... 62 B.2. Barriers, boundaries and territories ......................................................................... 64 C. THE LANDSCAPE AND POWER ..................................................................................... 71 C.1. The location of cities.................................................................................................. 72 C.2. Spatial layout .............................................................................................................. 75 C.3. Rituals .......................................................................................................................... 81 D. THE PRESENT SITUATION .............................................................................................. 86 D.1. Volcanic and tectonic activity at present ................................................................ 86 D.2. Agriculture and Taxation ........................................................................................... 88 D.3. The cosmological narrative ...................................................................................... 90 E. CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................... 91 4 CHAPTER 5: POWER STRUCTURE IN URBAN CONTEXT ................................................ 92 A. URBAN MORPHOLOGY .................................................................................................... 92 A.1. Yogyakarta .................................................................................................................. 95 A.2. Surakarta................................................................................................................... 107 B. THE URBAN LAYOUT .....................................................................................................