Power Plays: Wayang Golek Puppet Theater Of West Java (Ohio RIS Southeast Asia Series) Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
Based on ethnographic fieldwork spanning twenty years, Power Plays is the first scholarly book in English on wayang golek, the Sundanese rod-puppet theater of West Java. It is a detailed and lively account of the ways in which performers of this major Asian theatrical form have engaged with political discourses in Indonesia. Wayang golek has shaped, as well, the technological and commercial conditions of art and performance in a modernizing society.Using interviews with performers, musical transcriptions, translations of narrative and song texts, and archival materials, author Andrew N. Weintraub analyzes the shifting and flexible nature of a set of performance practices called Padalangan, the art of the puppeteer. He focuses on “superstar” performers and the musical troupes that dominated wayang golek during the New Order political regime of former president Suharto (1966-98) and the ensuing three years of the post-Suharto period. Studies of actual performances illuminate stylistic and formal elements and situate wayang golek as a social process in Sundanese culture and society. Power Plays includes an interactive multimedia CD-ROM of wayang golek.Power Plays shows how meanings about identity, citizenship, and community are produced through theater, music, language, and discourse. While based in ethnographic theory and methods, this book is at the center of a new synthesis emerging among ethnomusicology, anthropology, and cultural studies. Its cross-disciplinary approach will inspire researchers studying similar struggles over cultural authority and popular representation in culture and the performing arts.
Series: Ohio RIS Southeast Asia Series (Book 110)
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Ohio University Press; 1 edition (November 22, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 089680240X
ISBN-13: 978-0896802407
Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 6 x 8.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #1,124,689 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #61 in Books > Arts & Photography > Performing Arts > Theater > Puppets & Puppetry #62 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Dramas & Plays > Regional & Cultural > Australia & Oceania #75 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Crafts & Hobbies > Puppets & Puppetry
I think Power Plays is a very good book. What I most like bout it is the way the book unfolds -- Weintraub seems to lead the reader slowly into the different modes of being of wayang golek and gets across a sensation of the density and depth of the genre and its practice. One of the manners in which this is done is the way the content is presented, slowly building the density of multiple forms of significance of Wayang. I also like the way the humor of the performances is actually presented in the book.To me this is an ethnography in a very deep sense of the word -- the time the author spent there permeates the book and the fact that he has multiple entry points into the subject-- performance practices, structure of sound, discourses on wayang, changing policy attitudes throughout different historical moments, characters and their roles--- is something that one can only learn or perceive with a thorough understanding of the genre. The book covers the politization of entertainment, the discussion of the relation between policy and performance; the fun people have perofmring or listening to Wayang Golek and the significance of that. I also found the discussion of sound structure and changing tuning of instruments and their social signification a crucial contribution of the book.I think this is a really good book that can stand as an excellent example of how ethnography is done in a globalized world.
One of _Power Play_'s unique features is its CD-ROM,which includes an interactive introduction to wayang golekthat covers wayang history, puppets, and performance practice.The book's text focuses on the many layers of political maneuveringthat make Sundanese wayang golek such a vibrant cultural production.The CD-ROM, with mp3 files (oops, should have been OGG/VORBIS, I suppose), lots of photographs and video clips,as well as an authoritative text, makes for a much moreentertaining introduction to wayang than any introductory chapterever could, and is worth the price of the book all by itself.Which is not to say the book part isn't good, too -- lotsof ethnographic and biographic information and keen culturalanalysis.You can see Andrew's book's blurb at[...]by the way, you can take a (very limited) e-book tour of_Gamelan: The Traditional Sounds of Indonesia_ at[...]Cheers, --Henry Spiller
Power Plays: Wayang Golek Puppet Theater of West Java (Ohio RIS Southeast Asia Series) Voices of the Puppet Masters: The Wayang Golek Theater of Indonesia Red Earth: A Vietnamese Memoir of Life on a Colonial Rubber Plantation (Ohio RIS Southeast Asia Series) A.M. Best Special Report: Southeast Asia Life & Nonlife: Southeast Asia May Reward Shrewd Insurers, Punish the Careless The Shadow Puppet Theatre of Malaysia: A Study of Wayang Kulit with Performance Scripts and Puppet Designs Java: The Ultimate Guide to Learn Java and Python Programming (Programming, Java, Database, Java for dummies, coding books, java programming) (HTML, ... Developers, Coding, CSS, PHP) (Volume 3) JAVA: JAVA in 8 Hours, For Beginners, Learn Java Fast! A Smart Way to Learn Java, Plain & Simple, Learn JAVA Programming Language in Easy Steps, A Beginner's Guide, Start Coding Today! The Rainbow Puppet Theatre Book: Fourteen Classic Puppet Plays Java: The Simple Guide to Learn Java Programming In No Time (Programming,Database, Java for dummies, coding books, java programming) (HTML,Javascript,Programming,Developers,Coding,CSS,PHP) (Volume 2) Vietnam Labyrinth: Allies, Enemies, and Why the U.S. Lost the War (Modern Southeast Asia Series) Chinese Houses of Southeast Asia: The Eclectic Architecture of Sojourners and Settlers Honor Bound: American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, 1961-1973 Tropical Birds of Southeast Asia (Periplus Tropical Nature Guide) Toms and Dees: Transgender Identity and Female Same-Sex Relationships in Thailand (Southeast Asia: Politics, Meaning, Memory) The Adventures of Mouse Deer: Favorite Folktales of Southeast Asia Butterflies and Skippers of Ohio (Bulletin of the Ohio Biological Survey New Series) A Rainbow of Friends / Un arcoíris de amigos Java Programming for Kids: Learn Java Step By Step and Build Your Own Interactive Calculator for Fun! (Java for Beginners) The Lion's Share [With Finger Puppet] (Activity Books) (Finger Puppet Books) Little Monkey: Finger Puppet Book (Little Finger Puppet Board Books)
