Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• van Zanten, Wim

Titel

The Marriage Relationship between Player and Kacapi Zither in West Java

Ist Teil von

• Ethnomusicology forum, 2008-06, Vol.17 (1), p.41-65

Ort / Verlag

Abingdon: Taylor & Francis Group

Erscheinungsjahr

2008

Quelle

Taylor & Francis Online

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The kacapi zither is a significant instrument of West Java (Sunda). I elaborate on the relationship between player and instrument, described as a 'marriage', by looking at the way the instrument is described and played by Sundanese informants, and its associations as reflected in myth, ritual and poetry. The marriage metaphor emphasises the correct and harmonious relationship between the sexes-lawful union instead of incest-and between a ruler and his realm. I also expand on earlier formulated ideas that the Sundanese arts represent female aspects of human communication. I argue that gender issues cannot be reduced to fixed male-female dichotomies. This becomes clear if we look at gender-reversal issues like male performers performing female roles and vice versa, a common phenomenon in Indonesia. Similarly, musical instruments are not just 'male' or 'female', but may be classified as such by their relationship with players. Structuralists say that the element of structure is not a thing, but a relation. Studying these systems of relations may supply information on the issue of gender that is still not abundant in ethnomusicological works.