Hearing Southeast Asia : sounds of hierarchy and power in context / edited by Nathan Porath.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Porath, Nathan, editor.

Series:

NIAS studies in Asian topics ; 69.

NIAS Studies in Asian Topics ; 69

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sound--Political aspects--Southeast Asia.

Sound.

Sound--Sociological aspects.

Manners and customs.

Politics and government.

Social conditions.

Southeast Asia--Politics and government.

Southeast Asia.

Southeast Asia--Social conditions.

Southeast Asia--Social life and customs.

Physical Description:

xxv, 384 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Copenhagen K, Denmark : Nordic Institute of Asian Studies 2019.

Summary:

There is no moment of our waking life in which we do not experience sounds or make sounds. The human body is a sound-making organism. In densely peopled areas like many parts of Southeast Asia, then, the potential is for tumult, an infinity of different sounds competing to be heard. Pandemonium is not unheard of in Southeast Asia - not least in times of political unrest - but in everyday situations uproar is uncommon; cultural, social, political and personal factors (among others) work to calm, channel or even silence the tumult. Providing focus to this interdisciplinary volume on sound in SE Asia are detailed descriptions of the context of sounds and sound-making within the region's diverse socio-cultural semiotic frames of hierarchy and power. Drawing on examples from Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, each author discusses some aspect of sound in relation to their ethnographic context. Sound examples are also found on a companion website. Varied approaches to understanding sound are offered but in some way each relates to hierarchy and power. All show the importance of sound for understanding the processual implementation of hierarchy (or its opposite) in the construction of the social environment and the role of sound in the efficacious.

Contents:

l The Ensoundments of Hierarchy and Power in Southeast Asia p. 1 / Nathan Porath

2 Music and the Cline of Malayness: Sounds of Egalitarianism and Ranking p. 87 / Geoffrey Benjamin

3 Sounds in the Water World of the Orang Suku Laut in the Riau Islands of Indonesia p. 117 / Cynthia Chou and Margaret Kartomi

4 Embodied Knowledge, Numinous Power and Comedic Sounds in the Healing Aesthetics of the Orang Sakai of Riau p. 140 / Nathan Porath

5 Contrasting Acoustical Signatures and the Power in Ritual: Nuaulu Spirit Healing in the Moluccan Islands p. 174 / Roy Ellen

6 Revaluating Birdsong in a Contested Environment: Dayak Activists and Acoustic Ecology in West Kalimantan, Indonesia p. 202 / Timo Duile

7 Sound Wars: Piety Civility and the Battle for Indonesian Ears p. 228 / David Henley

8 Resounding Power: Balinese Perspectives on the Gong Agung p. 254 / Andy McGraw

9 Sound Authority in Myanmar p. 283 / Gavin Douglas

10 Healing sounds in Rakhine (Myanmar): Auspicious and Apotropaic Recitations in a Theravada Buddhist Context p. 307 / Céline Coderey

11 Sonic Piety: The Aural Environment of Roman Catholic Passion Rituals in the Philippines p. 341 / Julius Bautista

12 How Does Thailand Sound? p. 367 / Martin Platt.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9788776942618

8776942619

9788776942625

8776942627

OCLC:

1082313219

Publisher Number:

99982232713