Introducing Carok
Since early colonial times, the Madurese have been seen as a coarse and violent people, their character exemplified by carok, an attack motivated by a dispute over women or property.
The historical role of the Madurese in the Netherlands East Indies helps situate the relationship between this violent ascribed behavior and cultural factors. Today, despite laws aimed at curbing anti-social behavior and denials that carok persists, various forms of violence continue to provide avenues for individual justice. An analysis of recent cases suggests that personal, family, and social pressures play a part in sustaining high levels of violence, as do cultural perceptions of shame and guilt. However, in continuity with the past, institutional, ecological, and economic factors remain of fundamental importance. This chapter draws on fieldwork in Madura in 1995-1996 funded by the Fyssen Foundation (see Smith 1997).Carok is defined by Kiliaan (1904-1905) as “fighting with a sharp weapon” (atokar ngangghuj sandjhata tadjhem). The word is also used to describe a match where the players exchange winning and losing streaks, money which changes hands, and bouts of artistic martial arts (probably pencak silat) held at the turn of the century at Marengan, near Sumenep (carok Marengan), in which combatants fought with daggers without inJury.
Madurese are often referred to by outsiders, and quite often by themselves half- Jokingly, as orang carok, or “carok people.” In distinction to the Malay amok, commonly seen as the sudden unleashing of an indiscriminate attack (Winzeler 1990), carok is usually a premeditated settling of scores that targets a perceived wrongdoer, or, in the case of a feud, his family, but it can also describe acts of self-defense. Historically, carok has been known to take the form of a formal scheduled duel in the presence of witnesses.
At variance with the long-standing government policy against violent crimes, informants in Saronggi (Sumenep District) recount that carok combatants before World War II signed up at the local police station, thus insuring that decorum would be respected during the bout. The image of carok as a duel is dramatized by newspaper accounts and by at least one full-length film, Carok! The duel notion is also perpetuated by village accounts and oral history of prolonged bouts between similarly armed protagonists protected by amulets. Today, carok is usually a surprise attack, often from behind, with the victim quite often unarmed. As with Malay amok, carok has usually been viewed through a lens provided by the popular press, hearsay, and anecdotes gathered in casual discussions of folk character. The term has come to denote virtually any attack or homicide by persons of Madurese extraction, be they on the island, in East Java, or elsewhere in Indonesia. The aim of this paper is to review historical sources and introduce data from recent cases to correct some misconceptions, and more importantly, to get at the interplay of past and present, structural and social forces in Madurese violence.