The company you keep: becoming one(self) in an Indonesian convent En bonne compagnie : devenir (quelqu’)un dans un couvent indonésien Pergaulan dalam biara di Indonesia: sebuah proses pembentukan diri*

Abstract

This article investigates companionate processes of self-making in a religious community of Catholic nuns in eastern Indonesia. I argue that the sociality of the convent establishes a unique context for understanding the effects of one's company on processes of self-becoming. Through two years of participating in convent life, and set against majority-Muslim Indonesia's religious and ethnic diversity, I offer an experience-near account of the complex ways that nuns negotiate self in the midst of others, each on her own journey of personal transformation. Inspired by concepts of community, intersubjectivity, and empathy, I propose company as a mid-level analytic for anthropological investigations into self and sociality. By attending closely to the dynamics of ever-shifting social groupings, company promises a better understanding of the transformational relationship between self and community.