Javanese-Malay: Between Adaptation and Alienation

Abstract

This paper examines the interaction between the imposed image of otherness and its manipulation. Descended from migrant workers who came over in the 1920s and 1930s, the Javanese-Malays form a latent sub-category within Malay society. They are generally known as powerful sorcerers or medicine men in Malaysia. Although this is partly due to their Javanese syncretic tradition, their alleged power could also be explained in relation to their marginal position in Malay society. Pragmatically, the Javanese-Malays also took advantage of the imposed image by carving for themselves a niche in the practice of sorcery that the Malays with their stronger Islamic orientation tend to avoid, officially at least. However, in the process of becoming Malay, the JavaneseMalays inevitably began to depart from their niche and thus their alleged magical power, which has served as their cultural resource.