COMMODIFICATION OF ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS INTO MANUSCRIPT’S ILLUMINATION BATIK

• Main Author: Laksmiasri, Warastri
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/86636
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Commodification is the changing function of an object that is generally not seen as a commercial product into a commodity. Today, the term of commodification has been used more widely than since it was first introduced, namely as a description of human action as the subject of economic values. One thing that common in the various of the commodification phenomena is that actors see an opportunity to make money. The commodification cannot be separated from the changing of the society's perspective in the norms and values of the object. In this research we will see the actors’s view of the ancient manuscripts as an object of commodification. To be able to see the motives of the actors in doing this commodification, we must know the process of commodifying ancient manuscripts into batik. The aim of this research is to review the process of commodification of ancient manuscripts into manuscript's illumination batik using market agencement theory. Ancient manuscripts – which are kept daily in the scriptorium – can be transformed into batik after passing a passiva(c)tion processes. Passicva(c)tion is a continuous process that is able to make goods enter the customers's life. The method used in this research is qualitative with a case study approach. This research highlights two cases of commodification of ancient manuscripts into manuscripts’s illumination batik at Pakualaman (since 2011) and Rumah Gadang Mande Rubiah (since 2018). From those two cases, to become a product, the ancient manuscripts experienced four phases, the first phase: when the ancient manuscript is still formed as manuscript, the second phase: when the ancient manuscript is transformed into a batik motif, the third phase: when the batik motif become a batik, and the fourth phase: when the batik is reattached to the scriptorium identity. The first phase towards the second phase is a condition when many elements dettach from the manuscript; the second phase towards the third phase is the condition when the agents attach some regional identity; the third phase towards the fourth phase is when the element of "ancient manuscript identity" is reattached to the product. This reattaching is the essence of this commodification because it functions as a differentiator for the product from other batik. In both cases, passicva(c)tion gives buyers space to adjust the prices, such the fabric type and type of batik making process. This flexibility ease singularity between products and buyers. This ancient manuscript’s illumination element has formed a new market in the world of batik. Regarding those market, the agents in the Pakualaman case prefer to create an exclusive market while the agents in the Rumah Gadang Mande Rubiah case prefer to create a general market. Referring back to the statement that the occurrence of commodification is tied to society's perspective on the norms and values of an object, the agents around the Pakualaman manuscript’s illumination batik has succeeded in making the commodification process as a medium for spreading the good thought from the ancient manuscripts to the wider community, while the agents around the manuscript’s illumination batik of the Rumah Gadang Mande Rubiah has succeeded in making this commodification process empowering MSMEs.