Women in the shadows : gender, puppets, and the power of tradition in Bali /
Jennifer Goodlander.
- Athens : Ohio University Press, (c)2016.
- 1 online resource (xiii, 199 pages) : illustrations
- Ohio University research in international studies. Southeast Asia series ; number 129 .
Includes bibliographies and index.
Figures; Acknowledgments; Note on Language and Terms; Chapter 1-Gender, Puppets, and Tradition; Part One Sekala:The V isible Realm; Chapter 2-Practices ofTradition; Chapter 3-Objects of Tradition; Part Two Niskala:The I nvisible Realm; Chapter 4-Ritual Traditions; Chapter 5-Women Dalang; Chapter 6-Thoughts fromthe Shadows; Notes; Glossary; References; Index.
"Wayang kulit, or shadow puppetry, connects a mythic past to the present through public ritual performance and is one of most important performance traditions in Bali. The dalang, or puppeteer, is revered in Balinese society as a teacher and spiritual leader. Recently, women have begun to study and perform in this traditionally male role, an innovation that has triggered resistance and controversy. In Women in the Shadows, Jennifer Goodlander draws on her own experience training as a dalang as well as interviews with early women dalang and leading artists to upend the usual assessments of such gender role shifts. She argues that rather than assuming that women performers are necessarily mounting a challenge to tradition, "tradition" in Bali must be understood as a system of power that is inextricably linked to gender hierarchy. She examines the very idea of "tradition" and how it forms both an ideological and social foundation in Balinese culture. Ultimately, Goodlander offers a richer, more complicated understanding of both tradition and gender in Balinese society"--
9780896804944
Shadow shows--Indonesia--Bali Island. Women puppeteers--Indonesia--Bali Island. Wayang. Sex role--Indonesia--Bali Island. Ethnology--Indonesia--Bali Island.