スンダ人とスンダ世界(<特集>東南アジアの世界像)

Abstract

This essay is an attempt to discuss the ethnic character of Sundanese (orang Sunda) who mainly live in West Java. Although they are the second major ethnic group in Indonesia, it seems that their ethnic character is less conspicuous than that of the Javanese, Minangkabau or Bataks. The Sundanese have their own traditional world (alam Sunda) by which they are distinguished from other ethnic groups. The elements of alam Sunda are : (1) Sundanese language (basa Sunda), (2) distinctive legends, myths, folktales and adat (customary law), (3) a unique image of the dwelling area (kampung) and its surrounding landscape, which consists of dense forests in the mountain areas, hills and brooks around the kampung, rice fields (sawah, serang), palm trees and bamboo groves near the kampung and so on. The Sundanese world is hierarchic. It has a center and a periphery, defined in terms of social class and region. The center is the Priangan area, particularly Bandung, where historically the aristocratic and bureaucratic elites (menak) have been created by such outside powers as the Javanese and the Dutch. These elites are characterized by their ability to use refined language (basa lemes). On the other hand, the world of common people is the world of unrefined (kasar) language. Kabayan, a hero of folktales, is a typical character of the kasar world. This character also has the potential to overthrow the hierarchic Sundanese class society, because the majority of the Sundanese belong to the kasar world and, like Kabayan, they sometimes criticize and fight against the ruling class. In this respect such a character as Kabayan might exist among oppressed people all over the world.