Kulintang Stateside: Issue on Authenticity of Transformed Musical Traditions Contextualized Within the Global/Local Traffic (original) (raw)
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2010
A resurgence of interest in the Philippine gongs and drum tradition called kulintang took place in the United States from the late twentieth century. It is performed in its traditional style but has also seen several transformations. This study examines the popularity of the kulintang among Filipino American academics, artists, and the youth. It seeks to answer questions about the authenticity of traditions, as they are transported into an unfamiliar territory and given new forms of dynamism by individuals or groups for their own immediate needs to locate their identities. The concepts of authenticity and the traditional are becoming more and more slippery in this globalized age. When situated within the phenomena of transnational movements of people and swift exchanges between cultural practices, it becomes impossible to adhere to a fixed definition of what are authentic and traditional without essentializing the culture bearers or “ethnic artists.” This paper takes into account th...
A resurgence of interest in the Philippine gongs and drum tradition called kulintang took place in the United States from the late twentieth century. It is performed in its traditional style but has also seen several transformations. This study examines the popularity of the kulintang among Filipino American academics, artists, and the youth. It seeks to answer questions about the authenticity of traditions, as they are transported into an unfamiliar territory and given new forms of dynamism by individuals or groups for their own immediate needs to locate their identities. The concepts of authenticity and the traditional are becoming more and more slippery in this globalized age. When situated within the phenomena of transnational movements of people and swift exchanges between cultural practices, it becomes impossible to adhere to a fixed definition of what are authentic and traditional without essentializing the culture bearers or "ethnic artists." This paper takes into ...
Cuaderno Internacional de Estudios Humanísticos y Literatura (CIEHL), 2013
Cultural and historical dynamics in the Philippines for the last five hundred years has been one long series of continuous impingement from the outside on the most vital aspects of social life-religion, economy, politics, and education, From its indigenous and colonial pasts, different cultural traditions evolved. Among some 8 to 10 percent of Filipinos who were not initially reached by the early Christianization movement of Spain 1 , a variety of traditional practices that are distinctly Asian in character have survived. On the other hand, varying degrees of acculturation and assimilation of influences from the west, both imposed and freely accepted or adapted resulted in greater diversification, developing new and interesting forms of social practice and artistic expression. Among the urbanized communities in principal cities and provincial capitals and towns, life has been essentially influenced by electronic technology, industry and modern systems of education and communication. Although people in these major centers of population come from diverse ethnic and social backgrounds, they have developed a common penchant for foreign commodities and a concept of life largely measured by materials markers and foreign aesthetic symbols. A social order has been spawned by the introduction of western mores and ideologies to generate cultural needs which in most cases have been induced by a high regard for western life and civilization.. In the field of artists practices foreign-made music, just like its counterpart commodities in food, clothing, and machinery, has become a necessary luxury, a source not only of entertainment and leisure, but also of social prestige, based on the idea that western music represents not so much western humanism, but rather a superior quality of life.
Twenty-Four Drums, Two Lands: Performing Glocalization of the 24 Festive Drums in Malaysia and China
Journal of Music Research, 2024
The enormous sound amplitude of the 24 Festive Drums is a thrilling performative spectacle in Malaysia's cultural scene. Being native to the Malaysian sonic landscape, the drums exhibit distinguishable Chinese characteristics in nature: it was established in 1988 when renowned Malaysian intellectuals Tan Chai Puan (陳再藩) and the late Tan Hooi Song (陳徽崇) integrated the conception of the "jieling" (節令) into the drum design and the stylistic performance. The spirited, captivating rhythm of the membranophones was then an instant success as a well-received cultural feast, eventually making the performing art a highly regarded national heritage. This ethnographic study examines explicitly the 24 Festive Drums that flourished in Malaysia and China. Based on in-depth interviews with 15 professionals involved in the 24 Festive Drums in China and Malaysia, this study investigates how the performance with Chinese cultural characteristics displays a combination of globalization and localization. The findings indicate that, in the context of globalization, the drum demonstrates "glocal" attributes in the process of Chinese cultural dissemination and reflects these characteristics in the "glocal" identity construction among the practitioners. It suggests that the identity is not an isolated individuality, but a composite identity constantly constructed and reshaped in the cultural flow of integration between global and local cultures.
Finding new ground: Maintaining and transforming traditional music
Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Cambodia (Ed. K. Brickell, K. & S. Springer), 2017
In their volume Cambodian Culture since 1975, editors Ebhihara, Mortland and Ledgerwood (1994) explore themes around ‘Khmer trying to preserve their culture, trying to define what Khmer culture is, and trying to fit their culture within new contexts’. Focusing on the next 20 years – roughly 1995 to 2015 – this chapter builds on that earlier research, centring its attention on changes in the practice, transmission, and dissemination of traditional music in Cambodia. First, it assesses recent developments in efforts to preserve and revitalise traditional genres, including the nomination of certain traditions for recognition by UNESCO as world intangible cultural heritage. Second, it examines contemporary values and constructs surrounding innovation and recontextualisation, including the influence of a growing Khmer and Western pop music culture. Finally, it reflects on the rising profile of Cambodia’s traditional and contemporary performing arts in the international arena, and explores implications for the trajectory of Cambodia’s music traditions into the 21st century.
philippineislands.ph
The Kalanguya are an indigenous people group of the northern Philippines with a population of approximately 70,000. One of the authors (Arsenio) is a member of this ethnolinguistic group who manages a touring ensemble that incorporates traditional music and dance in performances for Kalanguya communities. Like recent efforts by UNESCO and other transnational cultural organizations, we advocate for strengthening local practices over preserving captured images and sound recordings. While there are important roles for archives and libraries, traditional performing arts are by definition dynamic, culture-making activities that problematize objectification and static forms of documentation. This paper explores the role of these Kalanguya ensemble members as agents of preservation of cultural knowledge that is no longer practiced in its traditional contexts. By analyzing the structure of the group's performance, we investigate how the performers negotiate: 1) their own contingent, constructed, and shifting identities that often fall "in-between" standard classifications of the major ethnolinguistic groups of the northern Philippines; 2) ideas of authenticity regarding the representation of these traditions via new performance contexts; and 3) changes in the meanings of the generations-old rituals for the current generation.
Traditional Music as "Intangible Cultural Heritage" in the Postmodern World
Texas Scholarworks, 2013
Compared with its roles in pre-modern societies, traditional music, previously called "folklore," has been playing very different roles in the globalized world. These new roles, however, are rarely articulated in a systematic manner. While most discourse on the contemporary use of traditional music comes from the case studies of ethnomusicologists, the concept of "intangible cultural heritage," which is usually associated with the initiatives of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) in safeguarding intangible cultural heritage (including traditional music), provides a new perspective to understand the new roles that traditional music plays in the postmodern world. A systematic examination of these roles is crucial, because it allows an in-depth analysis of the hidden power relations behind the contemporary use of traditional music. Furthermore, with the idea of "salvation from disappearing" being more and more problematic in contemporary practice, the project of preserving traditional music cannot be firmly grounded unless its contemporary values are demonstrated. In order to systematically identify and analyze the contemporary use of traditional music, this paper examines the current literature on intangible cultural heritage and the related international initiatives undertaken by the United Nations and its specialized agencies such as UNESCO and UNDP, in combination with the major issues raised by ethnomusicologists regarding the use of traditional music in creative industries. Using two major case studies-Kunqu and HAN Hong's new Tibetan music-to demonstrate the aesthetic, political, economic and ethical dimensions of the use of traditional music in contemporary society, I argue that there is a fifth dimension, the social dimension, of the value of traditional music in the postmodern condition. The articulation of this social dimension of the contemporary use of traditional music serves to establish its universal relevance and to identify its unique character that makes it a powerful tool to serve as a counter-hegemonic force.
Hybridity, Identity and Human Agency in Kalutang School of Living Traditions
The kalutang are tuned percussion sticks made from the branches of the kwatingan tree, which is endemic to Marinduque, a province located at the center of the Philippine archipelago. Presently played to announce the arrival of Roman soldiers during the Moriones festival (play about the passion of Christ), the kalutang has deeper significance in the life of the people of Marinduque. The present study aims to discuss how indigenous funds of knowledge are validated in the Kalutang School of living music tradition vis-à-vis a move toward an indigenized Philippine music education system. Data gathering was done via participant-observation, video documentation, interview and focused group discussion. An analysis of field notes, videos and interviews reveals socio-cultural themes like hybridity, identity formation, and the exercise of human agency and how these are played out in a non-formal music education system.