Bali as a work of Art
Art as central activity of Balinese life
We have no art, we do everything the best we can
Why Bali focus on art? Bali is example of sociocentric culture
Persona-based self: It is the dramatis personae, not actore, tha
Dramatis persone: Persona = Mask, the mask the not only put on the faces, point the certain role
A face a people wear represent the role that they suppose to play. For example: mask life, role on stage, a part on drama, unique person with personal thought feeling and desire.
Why Balinese are different:
Egocentric:
First name, highly individual, unusual names replace common names NAME
Name get more unique this day Bali: 4 types of name: First name utterly individual: often nonsense syllable, not much used, in adulthood becomes private, secret. Children most often called by birth order name: Wayan, Njoman, Made, Ktut. Ideal 4 kid in a family, 5th kid start again with Wayna and so on
Name is not gendered, third king id tiltle name is high statues used after marriage.
Teknonym: naming in terms of a relationship. Name to their youngest descendant: father of…, grandfather of …., keep changing if get younger and younger decendant.
Freud’s theory of Repression: Oedipus crisis: boy fears castration, also indentifies with his dad ( introjects), also introjects social rules (which dad symbolizes).
Scary person threatening punishment comes into self, scare one inside your head. Boy Felt angry about dad, believe dad had aggressive feeling to him.
When they boy introject dad: redirect to self, don’t do it. Repression: slpitting the mind in too part: Consious part: it is ok to think about and unconscious part: what forbidden to think about>
When to start think forbidden thing, Freud believe you fail inhibited, threatening yourself with punishment For example: ask someone to dancebut afraid, start imaging bad things happen she wont like me, or she wont like me, or may be fall over the feet . Imagining all bad thing could happen, this way you threantening yourself, result you have to tendency not to do it and feel inhibited
Balinese process of repression Mother and other teasing = repression, tease baby by provoking display of emotion.
Mead view of social:
Teasing practice by bali mother to provoke display of emotion from the infant. Mother give her baby to her sister make baby cry and get emotional. Mother lose the interest to get the baby back.
Not fear of castration but fear of humiliation = inhibition, people are laughing at you all the time,
Child internalizes laughing mother and other, so child stops expressing personal emotion , because they don’t want to humiliated.
Lek: shyness, stage fright, fear that one will not perform or play a role well, provides motivation to play role well, anxiety that personal self will break through.
Playing one role well, not suppose to show not who you are, you are humiliated if you drop the mask and lose control.
Personal inner self become dissociated: Hypocognized = few words for emotions
Kened: one word for all inner events: feeling, thinking, intuiting, willing, desiring.
Personal inner self dissociated.
Dissociation: split off and forget about a part of self, deny, dis-dentify:
Bali: expressing dissociated self in an altered state. Stage of trance: hypnotized, your whole metabolism change in trance, people in trance have to access to memory to remember information that they have. They can be very strong thing, stronger than they ordinary be.
Witch and Dragon: Dragon with good, Witch is evil. Layers of culture. Older: magical animistic Pacific Islander, witch. Newer: Hindu migration Buddhist dragon.
Witch carry the clor for what the baby carry .
Witch = mother symbol.

Trance = Transition: children learn how to deal with inhibition by going to trance state. In Trance, one can act out thing that be repressed. Trance in transition in a sense that first, personal self becomes a focus of joking, second personal self is erased and become hypercognized, third the self comes back as spirit and possess people in the trance
Sublimation: things that are repressed can be redirected into some source of projects or activities. In Bali, the frustrated personal inner self in redirected into act. Making act is everybody’s favorite thing.
Balinese Adulthood:
Deep trance is no longer necessary. Everyone continues act their parts
Persona: everyone continually acts a part
Balinese think important to be polos: smooth, considerate, caring mask, but also animus, black magic interior (witchcraft).
Balinese fear of witchcraft: Unni Wikan said people need to maintain and constant conviviality, playing your role well Ramah: acting friendly, attentive, graceful.
They suppose to polos:
Polos are different between men and women. Men act though full and friendly. Woman act shining and gay. Women who act angry are called horrible like a witch.
Inner self comes back to haunt you:
Baliness says that main thing that you have to do to live a good life is to manage turbulent hearts means that that the black hole of strong emotion, the part of themselves that rebels against wearing a mask.
Politeness: protection against others’ mal-intent
Poise = protection against black hole of strong emotion.
Friendliness: “managing turbulent hearts:
Fear of love magic in Youth
Young woman are afraid that the disappointed lover will put a spell on them
Teenage girls are afraid of hysterical fits inflicted by rejected lovers.
Fear of neighbors and family:
You have to have some personal datas to practice witchcraft, like nail or fewhair. The problem is you can’t hide your feeling so well to your neighbor and family.
Dual Aspect of Polo