Bali 50 Years of Changes A Conversation with Jean Couteau
- Title
- Bali 50 Years of Changes A Conversation with Jean Couteau
- Original language
- English
- Author(s)
- Illustrator(s)
- Publisher
- Glass House Books
- ISBN
- 9781922332905
- Publication date
- 2022
- Subjects
- Bali life
- cultural life
- religious life
- environment
- Find Book
- https://www.amazon.com/Bali-50-Years-Changes-Conversation/dp/1922332909/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2YSHP0B4MU823&keywords=Eric+Buvelot&qid=1664834987&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIxLjQ3IiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=eric+buvelot%2Caps%2C395&sr=8-2
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Description(s)
The conversation in this book deals with the impact of modern life on Balinese society over the past 50 years. Eric Buvelot, journalist and 13 years’ editor of La Gazette de Bali, interviews Jean Couteau, an observer of Bali for over 40 years, author of many books, and national columnist for Kompas. They discuss changes from sexual behavior to religious practices, the engagement of Balinese with foreigners and other Indonesians, issues of tolerance, violence, economy, spirituality, cultural evolution, and the shift of mentality from myth to rational thinking. First published in French, this book was translated by Diana Darling, author of The Painted Alphabet, a classic novel of Bali. Bali: 50 Years is an exceptional book readable by all and dealing with the impact of fifty years of deep changes on Balinese society, culture, life and psyche. Jean Couteau, interviewed by Eric Buvelot, responds brilliantly to this important issue in a style accessible to all.
Review(s)
In Bali: 50 Years of Changes: A Conversation with Jean Couteau, Eric Buvelot and Jean Couteau have produced an intricate, sweeping, and controversial picture of Balinese consciousness, social patterns, and religious life, as well as Bali’s place within the national framework of Indonesia. It is doubtless the most ambitious attempt to present a holistic view of the island since Fred Eiseman, Jr.’s Bali: Sekala and Niskala (1990), or Adrian Vickers’ Bali: A Paradise Created (1989). Yet this is not a historical narrative, or the culmination of years of comprehensive research on a particular topic. Instead we find a series of transcribed conversations between two expatriates: Buvelot, a journalist based on the island since 1995, and Couteau, a renowned writer, social observer and commentator intimately involved with Bali since the 1970s. (The full review of the book is available here: https://www.insideindonesia.org/review-bali-50-years-of-changes)
.... "How will Bali appear in another 50 years? The Gods only know. Couteau suggests two means to counterbalance negative trends. The village, he says, must continue having the final word on just about everything. And a more universalist education system must be devised to counteract religious extremism. Finally, this book must immediately be translated into Bahasa Indonesia to help foster a new era of self-reflection and discussion. It will initiate many other conversations that may open pathways to support the Balinese navigating the new millennium." Read Richard Horstman's whole review in Life as Art Asia, https://lifeasartasia.art/2024/02/17/bali-50-years-of-changes-jean-couteaus-essential-new-volume-describing-the-balinese-modern-dilemma/)
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