Kebudayaan di Nusantara (dalam bahasa Inggris)

The culture which emerged in the Indonesian archipelago was a result of acculturation of local and foreign cultures, which is visible from many aspects, such as traditional cuisine, folk music and traditional dress. It can not be doubted that foreign culture would enrich our culture, although in reality this is not always the case. Sometimes the acceptance of foreign culture would cause deculturation, which already happened in the Indonesian archipelago. The culture of the Indonesian archipelago has been influenced by Indian, Chinese, Arab, Persian, Portuguese and Dutch cultures. Throughout history, our ancestors have accepted the positive influences of foreign cultures.

If we are aware of the culture which had emerged in the Indonesian archipelago, we would know that the foreign influence in our culture exists in every province of Indonesia. The cuisine reflects this, and it is proven that the traditional cuisine of the Indonesian archipelago has been influenced by Indian and Chinese cultures. Indeed, deculturation had happened in this aspect, and it had happened in many parts of the Indonesian archipelago. In the indigenous culture of the Indonesian archipelago, cooking pork and pig's blood has been done for generations, then after Islam had spread to every corner of the Indonesian archipelago and became the majority religion, the culture of cooking pork and pig's blood had been stopped, as the sharia (Islamic law) prohibits the consumption of pork and pig's blood. In other aspects, acculturation and deculturation is also evident, such as traditional music, we know that there are genres of Indonesian folk music which has foreign influence, such as keroncong (Portuguese influence), gambang kromong (Chinese influence) and zapin (Arab and Indian influence). So, it is incorrect if we say that the culture of the Indonesian archipelago is real indigenous culture, because the reality is not as simple as that. The culture that emerged in the Indonesian archipelago is created due to acculturation and deculturation.

The Indonesian archipelago has a cultural diversity which other countries may not have. Thus, we should keep it alive and not let our culture go extinct. There is nothing wrong in learning about other cultures, but our own culture must never be ignored and forgotten. By learning about foreign cultures, we could make a new innovation, be it in arts or in other aspects. If we are ignoring and forgetting our own culture, we are just letting the process of cultural genocide happening, slowly but sure. We should all unite to keep the cultural pluralism of the Indonesian archipelago alive.

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