inferred f
D. THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF THE TOWN UP TO THE EARLY OF
3. Language as a Clarifying and Uniting Factor
The vertical social groupings of lower, middle and higher were somewhat similar to the Javanese language division of lower (ngoko) , middle (krama madya) and high (krama inggil) levels (see also Geertz:
1962:248-260). As in the social groupings themselves, the language divisions allow for some variations. On the whole, the pattern of social grouping matches the language groupings. There are similarities of levelling between the dichotomies of wong cilik and wong gedhe on the one hand and ngoko and krama on the other. A dynamic pattern of vertical social interactions between the members of each social group is described
in six linguistic exchanges. As an example the sentence: 'You will eat at home' is taken (see Figure 2.4).
The wong cilik would speak to wong cukupan by using krama madya 'Sampeyan bade nedho teng griya' (1). Wong cukupan and wong cilik might say to wong gedhe (if in fact they could speak to them at all): 'Panjenengan ngersakaken dahar wonten dalem' (2 and 3). In contrast to the pattern of upwards interactions are the downwards ones. The wong gedhe, mainly the priyayi, could speak to the wong cukupan by using krama madya :'sampeyan badhe nedho wonten griya' (4) or, if the relation was quite familiar, by using ngoko, the form a wong gedhe would usually use with one of the wong cilik: 'kowe arep mangan ing omah' (5). Wong cukupan might use ngoko to wong cilik: 'kowe arep mangan neng omah', or sometimes using krama madya (lower level): 'ndiko ajeng nedho teng griya' (6). These are the common levels of the Javanese language used in vertical interactions. Some modifications might occur when the speakers were feeling anger, sorrow, joy or some other strong emotion.
There were some further variant forms of oral communication among the members of the sub-groups at each social level or between the vertical groupings. For example the members of priyayi would speak Dutch to the European (wong Landa) and vice-versa. The wong cukupan or wong cilik would usually use high Javanese or Indonesian when they spoke to Dutchmen. The Javanese from all strata would speak ngoko with the Chinese. The Chinese would speak ngoko too to the Javanese in lower or similar levels, according to their feeling, or use Malay or Indonesian to the higher level. The Chinese usually spoke their own language among themselves. Among members of the same social groups, people would use the Javanese language according to the degree of their social levels.
The higher the social level the greater the possibility that they would speak high Javanese, and with lower social levels they used either middle or lower Javanese. Close friends would usually use ngoko with one another at all levels as a sign of familiarity; older and high status persons could also use the combination of ngoko and krama to younger and lower status persons, and these younger and lower status men would speak krama mixed with ngoko to older and high status persons, mainly close relatives, in return.
The diagonal line (xy) indicates the social attributes and the language etiquette which might, in this case, be treated as the synthesis of the horizontal and the vertical social groupings. The titles and the language chosen appeared to be good social level indicators among social groups in Pare.
In general, before the war, many different social groupings would still form a relatively close social structure, particularly at the upper levels of society where European, traditional priyayi, and modern Javanese intellectuals could be found. In spite of this relatively rigid social grouping at the top, there was a possibility to move up or down through individual achievement or capability, particularly in the social levels below the priyayi, where the vertical groupings were relatively more open.
Summing Up
To sum up, Pare is not an old, developed town with a long tradition behind it. In the middle of the nineteenth century, some settlements which are now only villages around Pare were more prominent than was Pare itself. Pare only began to grow with arrival of Central Javanese from
the Principalities and then of Dutchmen who opened up plantations in the area.
Because of its strategic site, the managers of plantations, the formal government authorities and the people in the region began to use Pare as a centre of services. This was the key to Pare's growth - developing into a local centre of marketing, transportation, administration, education and entertainment. More complex social groupings and stratification emerged. This small but growing town was the meeting place of Javanese and Western cultures. Javanese culture was more tradition-oriented and calm-shy; its great tolerance was presented by the Waringin. The west was characterized by cultural traits more dynamic, future oriented, vigorous and rational; it was symbolized in Pare by the Kamar Bola. The Waringin and the Kamar Bola to some extent blended in Pare, though with the Kamar Bola supported by the most powerful elite group, its prominent influences during the colonial period was recognized by most Parenese. Still, it was the mixture of the two cultures which characterized Pare for many decades. The Waringin, with its contorting, sheltering nature, tugged at the heartstrings of many Netherlanders, who came to feel very much at home in the Pare region. And which the Waringin touched the Javanese even deeper still, the attraction of the Kamar Bola, promising an upward trajecting for those with ability and dedication, could not be denied for many of the younger and more ambitious Parenese. There were negative sides to the symbols as well - the crassness of the Kamar Bola, the fact that the Waringin seemed mired in the past - but this did little to decrease the mutual attraction between the two in the final decade of the colonial era.
U U l i l N G ^ ' c o ^ ^ ' N l l L ^ - K i a o ^ - ' ^ ^ ^ G S
1083 orear'izedn’ftnd morenkasara^ d 0’°r<>
^
^.Coolio
~
b. Naid-Vaiter
fc.n °P Ceper
Teacher
c . Small peddler M e J h a o T ^
^ ^ e r
d -Artiaan
Ri . .
Natlve *hite collar
e -Peasant
,
armer
Native bureaucrat
ovcst bureau- The Dn-f^v, u
crat
* Gutch bureaucrat
x . / ana manager
i’ÜGlMtG 2 . 3 SOCIAL GROUPING AND ATTRIBUTE