Kebaya Encim as the Phenomenon of Mimicry in East Indies Dutch Colonial’s Culture

Abstract

Clothing is not just simply a fashion’s matter. It is an artifact of culture once used to differentiate someone based on his/her ethnic identity and position in certain power field. Dutch East Indies colonial government was very aware of this as they issued the rule at 1872 which required every resident to use 'its ethnic clothing' respectively in public areas. But there is exception in the case of the Dutch, Indo Belanda ¹⁾, Tionghoa Peranakan ²⁾, and Native women's clothing. They had to wear kebaya and batik sarong (Jean Gelman Taylor, 2009). The clothes worn by indigenous women of Indonesian (particularly in Java), subsequently worn by Tionghoa Peranakan and Indo Belanda. From 1872 until 1920 Dutch women also wore kebaya and batik sarong in their house because the clothes were very comfortable to use in the hot and humid tropical region. To differentiate their position as the highest class in the colonial hierarchy, they wore kebaya made from luxury fabric and batik sarong, which designs was derived from European style in soft colors.  On February 10, 1910 the colonial government issued a regulation for the Tionghoa Peranakan: “Wet op het Nederlandsch Onderdaanschap” (Act on Dutch nationality), on gelijkgesteld which means 'equalization'. This equalization led the rich Tionghoa Peranakan women to wear kebaya and batik sarong similar to the Dutch women's. First they imitated the Dutch kebaya made ??of white cotton decorated with white lace. After a while they began to modify their Dutch kebaya to white kebaya kerancang ³⁾. But at last they wore the colorful kebaya sulam, which was embroidered with China’s ornament design. These Tionghoa Peranakan’s kebaya was known as kebaya encim ⁴⁾. Since the object of study came from the past, this descriptive qualitative research uses philological method. Data is collected from books that discuss the history of Dutch East Indies society in the late 19^th until early 20^th century. Interpretation is based on the point of view of Homi Bhabha’s theory of mimicry and hybridity.

Keywords: Kebaya, Gelijkgesteld, Hybridity, Mimicry

1)                   Tionghoa Peranakan were descendants from mixed marriages of Chinese men and indigenous Indonesian women.

2) Indo Belanda were descendant from mixed marriages of Dutch men and indigenous Indonesian women.

3) Kebaya Kerancang (cutwork) made by perforate the fabric of kebaya after it had been embroidered to make it similar of lace.

4) Encim means auntie or simply Chinese women