Caged in on the Outside

Gregory M. Simon

Gregory M. Simon

Caged in on the Outside

Moral Subjectivity, Selfhood, and Islam in Minangkabau, Indonesia

In: Southeast Asia: Politics, Meaning, and Memory, 65

Edited by: David P. Chandler and Rita Smith Kipp

University of Hawaii Press | 2014

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824838324

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About this book

Caged in on the Outside is an intimate ethnographic exploration of the ways in which Minangkabau people understand human value. Minangkabau, an Islamic society in Indonesia that is also the largest matrilineal society in the world, has long fascinated anthropologists. Gregory Simon’s book, based on extended ethnographic research in the small city of Bukittinggi, shines new light on Minangkabau social life by delving into people’s interior lives, calling into question many assumptions about Southeast Asian values and the nature of Islamic practice. It offers a deeply human portrait that will engage readers interested in Indonesia, Islam, and psychological anthropology and those concerned with how human beings fashion and reflect on the moral meanings of their lives.

Simon focuses on the tension between the values of social integration and individual autonomy—both of which are celebrated in this Islamic trading society. The book explores a series of ethnographic themes, each one illustrating a facet of this tension and its management in contemporary Minangkabau society: the moral structure of the city and its economic life, the nature of Minangkabau ethnic identity, the etiquette of everyday interactions, conceptions of self and its boundaries, hidden spaces of personal identity, and engagements with Islamic traditions. Simon draws on interviews with Minangkabau men and women, demonstrating how individuals engage with cultural forms and refashion them in the process: forms of etiquette are transformed into a series of symbols tattooed on and then erased from a man’s skin; a woman shares a poem expressing an identity rooted in what cannot be directly revealed; a man puzzles over his neglect of Islamic prayers that have the power to bring him happiness.

Applying the lessons of the Minangkabau case more broadly to debates on moral life and subjectivity, Simon makes the case that a deep understanding of moral conceptions and practices, including those of Islam, can never be reached simply by delineating their abstract logics or the public messages they send. Instead, we must examine the subtle meanings these conceptions and practices have for the people who live them and how they interact with the enduring tensions of multidimensional human selves. Borrowing a Minangkabau saying, he maintains that whether emerging in moments of suffering or flourishing, moral subjectivity is always complex, organized by ambitions as elusive as being “caged in on the outside.”

Frontmatter Free access PDF PDF	i
Contents Free access PDF PDF	v
Acknowledgments Free access PDF PDF	vii
Introduction Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	1
1. The Village and the Marketplace: the Moral Structure of a Minangkabau City Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	16
2. Being Minangkabau: Imagining Adat, Islam, and Ethnic Character Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	39
3. The Awak People: The Moral Aesthetics of Social Unity Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	63
4. Living with the Devil: Pure Selves and a Corrupting World Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	86
5. Fashioning the Paribadi: Indirection and Spaces of the Personal Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	122
6. Being Muslim Subjects: Essential Tensions and the Promise of Transcendence Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	170
Coda Subjective Tensions, Flourishing, and Multidimensional Selves Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	209
Notes Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	215
References Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	231
Index Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	247
Other Volumes in the Series Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	257

Caged in on the Outside

Moral Subjectivity, Selfhood, and Islam in Minangkabau, Indonesia

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