The Uniqueness Culture in Spain and India
By:
ZENI FILIANA
10111062
HIGHER SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEKNOKRAT
2015
Abstract
Culture is the characteristics of a particular group of people, defined
by everything from language, cuisine, religion, arts, music and social habits.
Baby jumping and baby throwing are one of cultures
tradition from India that becomes phenomena not only attract people attention
but also government’s attention. This paper, the writer discussed about culture
phenomena which is a ritual that held in Spain and India. So the writer needed
2 cultures to be compares each other.
INTRODUCTION
Culture, what culture do you know in the
world? Did you ever know the uniqueness culture in your country? Of course,
every country or every people has the own culture. Before the writer tell
further about culture, the reader must know what exactly culture is. Culture
according to Koentjaraningrat is a whole system of ideas, action and the work
of human beings in order to become a society that human beings belong to
learn. From that explanation the writer
conclude that culture is the characteristics of a particular group of people,
defined by everything from language, cuisine, religion, arts, music and social
habits.
Beside that there is cultural theory to
support this writing; Cultural theory is a conceptual effort to understand how
people use culture to continue the life in groups, to sustain life through the
cultivation of the natural environment and maintain balance with the
supernatural world. There are form and component in culture. According to J.J
Hoenigman the form is divided into 3 cultures: ideas, activities, and
artifacts. From that, here the writer will explain more about the culture that
exist in Spain and India. Both of those countries have the similarities and the
differences in their own culture. The form of culture in Spain and India is
about the activity. The activity means a manifestation of a culture that is
patterned action humans that exist in a society. Based on the manifestations of
the culture has several component, such as material culture, culture non
material, social Institutions, system confidence, aesthetics, and language. The
realization of a form of cultural activity commonly knows as social systems. In
the social system contains a variety of human activities that interact with each
other and the interaction between man and man but the other based on certain
patterns based on the customary code of conduct.
The nature of the activity is occurring in
the concrete daily life, but not only that it can be observed and documented a
form of cultural. In culture also there is a belief system in society; it will
affect how society acts. The system also will affect the valuation of trust that
exists within society also habits in the community. Not only that the belief
system also influence in the way of life, communication, and what food are
consumed by them. An example the belief held by society that is in Lamongan. In
that area the native people or citizen lamongan not allowed to consumed
catfish. It is based on the legend and beliefs that exist in the society. It
means the cultural system of knowledge covering system of ideas contained in
that idea of human mind, so in everyday life culture is abstract.
DISCUSSION
Based on the explanation in introduction,
here the writer chooses the culture that exists in Spain and India that writer
belief has the similarities and differences. In Spain the culture namely jumping the baby (El Colacho), while
in India the culture namely throwing the baby. By hearing the name of the
culture it already make sense for the people to know more about the culture
especially there are the similarities and the differences of each culture.
The first discussion is about the
similarities between jumping the baby in Spain and throwing the baby in India.
There are the 2 similarities in both of the culture;
1.
Tools
Baby jumping (El Colacho) is a traditional Spanish
holiday that has the philosophy inside that. The festival itself is part
of the celebrations held all over Spain for the Catholic festival of Corpus
Christi and whilst at this particular time many other cities and towns have
spectacular processions and a variety of other popular means of reveling and
enjoying themselves, there is only one Baby Jumping Festival.
While in India, Baby
throwing could
be India’s most bizarre ritual. The local name of this baby throwing ritual
remains unknown, but it has apparently been in practice for the past 700 years
by Hindu and Muslim Indians alike in the states of Karnataka and Maharashtra. So,
baby as the tools or an object toward those culture.
2. Purpose
In Spain, this festival
have the purpose is to anyone who is not blessed with receiving this protection
during their early childhood and has lived life looking over their shoulder
waiting for bad things to happen or illness to strike can, in their adulthood,
choose to take part in an exercise of jumping, known as the Hogueras. This is
intended to protect them from illness. It is thought to be a way to rid the
babies of evil spirits and original sin.
In
india believed to bring good luck to the baby, keeping
it safe and healthy. It also ensures prosperity for the entire family. The
ritual is generally meant for babies less than 2 years of age, and is so absurd
that it seems to blatantly defy all reason and logic. However, locals are
pretty staunch in their belief and in spite of all the hue and cry raised by
human rights activists, and even a ban on the ritual in 2011
Both of those cultures also have the differences.
There are 3 differences that can be found in those cultures, are;
1. Process
Baby jumping (El Colacho) during the event, known as El
Salto del Colacho (the devil's jump) or simply El Colacho, men dressed as the
Devil (known as the
Colacho) in red and yellow jump suits jump over babies born during the previous
twelve months of the year who lie on mattresses in the street. The
"devils" hold whips and oversized castanets as they jump bravely over
the unaware infants.
While, in baby throwing is sound scream,
before the ritual happen, at the top of the tower have been a lot of physicians
and local community leaders. Underneath, a white cloth is spread by some
religious leaders. The fabric used to hold the baby. When the baby was landed
safely, the followers of the ritual were cheering happily. At the time of the
ritual, the child who has not reached the age of 2 years will be lifted in the
balcony, held her arms and legs, it looks like holding a basket, then rocked
back and forth in the air. To his surprise, the baby was dropped from the
balcony with a height of about 15 meters. Under the balcony, there were 14 to
15 people waiting in the form of shouting chants of praise to God. Baby looks
scream and wail, but right underneath the group of people waiting to hold the
blanket. After bouncing on the blanket, the baby was captured by a man and
handed over to his mother. It takes a few minutes before the baby is able to
recover from the shock. This ritual is still widely practiced in villages
Harangal, Parbhani, India. Hundreds of people have made this an annual event,
which is thought to have been followed by the Hindus and the Muslims in India
for 500 years.
2. Place
Baby jumping is annual event that conduct in
Spain located at the northern Spanish town of Castrillo de Murcia,
near Burgos. It is happen in street so other people can watch this festival
freely.
While in India, people did this tradition in
temple or shrine. It is purely religious ritual that takes place
every year in Karnataka.
3. Doer
In Spain
most of the people are Catholics and Christians. But for this festival is for
chatolics followers so the doer is people who belief in Catholics.
But in
India Hundreds of people have made this an annual event, which is thought to
have been followed by the Hindus and Muslim in India for 700 years.
CONCLUSSION
Culture
is the characteristics of a particular group of people, defined by everything
from language, cuisine, religion, arts, music and social habits. Culture
refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values,
attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial
relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions
acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual
and group striving. Around the world there are so many cultures, and every
culture has their own characteristics and differences. Also between baby
jumping in Spain and baby throwing in India there are 2 similarities and there
are 3 differences that writer can found in this paper. The similarities between
baby jumping in Spain and baby throwing in India there are 2 such as; the tools
and the purpose. And differences between baby jumping in Spain and baby
throwing in India there are 3 such as; the process, the doer and the place.
