Home Institution
Washington University in St. Louis
Publication Date
Spring 2014
Abstract
This paper aims to investigate how marriage customs as well as the perception of religion and its role in daily and family life changes within the context of religious plurality. This study specifically focuses on the experience of interreligious marriages on the island of Bali in Indonesia. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken in both Bahasa Indonesia and English in north and south Bali and minimally in east Bali. Twenty-one respondents were garnered in seventeen interview sessions. Findings showed a variety of means of dealing with this plurality, including choosing to follow only one faith, practising aspects of several faiths together and participating in different traditions individually. Many of these experiences reflected the conditions at the time of marriage as well as the values upheld by the society. While this paper chooses to focus solely on the religious aspects of these marriages, it should be noted that religious differences also work in tandem with cultural, racial, ethnic and even caste differences. However these other aspects are not discussed at length here.
Disciplines
Comparative Methodologies and Theories | Family, Life Course, and Society | Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | Gender and Sexuality | Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion | Social and Cultural Anthropology
Recommended Citation
Bhajan, Chelsea, "A Mixed Bag: The Inter-Religious Marriage Experience in Bali" (2014). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 1795.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/1795
Included in
Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons, Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons
Program Name
Indonesia: Arts, Religion, and Social Change