Islam and Javanese acculturation textual

This Thesis deals with the cultural encounter between Islam and Javanese culture as represented by the slametan ritual. The major purposes of this thesis are threefold (1) to give a brief account of the historical backdrop of the encounter between Islam and the Javanese tradition (2) to discuss the onging dispute among scholars over whether the slametan is animistic, syncretistic or Islamic; and (3) to prodive a new perspective on the slametan ritual based upon textual (religius) and contextual (socio-cultural) analysis. The hypothenis underlying this work is that the slametan is a prototype of syncretistic ritual, the representative of Islamic elements-as its core-on the one hand, and local traditions-as its periphery-on the other. This work will argue againts the theory of the slametan developed both by Geertz and Woodward. The first scholar sees the slametan from a socio-cultural perspective only, while the latter views it on Islamic theological basis. The current writer argues that one should employ a holistic perrspective to see the slametan comprehensively; both from "inside" (religious perspective) and "outside" (cultural perspective).