Calling Back the Spirit

"Calling Back the Spirit" describes how, in the face of Indonesian and foreign cultural pressures, the Makassarese people of South Sulawesi are defending their local spirit through music and dance. The book examines the ways performers in this corner of Indonesia seek to empower local music and dance in a changing environment. Investigating a wide range of performance genres, contexts and issues, the book argues that local performing arts, from village ritual to commercial pop, form part of the complex cultural discourse in which local sensibilities continually ressert themselves in the context of larger hegemonies.