Smells and Bells

In the chapter Celebrating Religion and Nation , Rasmussen writes about the Sayembara Azan: The Call to Prayer Contest. This is a four day contest in which men perform the Azan in public in front of a panel of judges who are evaluating them based on six criterium. Like Rasmussen says, I agree that it was strange to learn that this sacred practice, the Azan, was performed in such a way that it seemed to take away from its significance, sacrilegious as Rasmussen says. Rasmussen brings up four points about this practice and the last one was the most interesting to me. She said that by having this contest in the public, it separated it from its religious significance. By doing that, the practice was made more available for both people like her (a woman, non-muslim, researcher), and more importantly, for native Indonesians who might not be active participants in the religion. These public events are a way to draw them into the community. I think this is an interesting point especially i...

Jakarta City Central      In her book Women, the Recited Qur'an, and Islamic Music in Indonesia, Anne Rasmussen discusses the soundscape of major Indonesian cities such as Jakarta. She mentions that she learned about the world through it's noises: the honking and clanging of traffic, motors of delivery motorcycles, vendors, idophones, radio, televisions, etc. She describes how the architecture is open and the walls are porous "rendering the outside world ever-present in the domestic sphere" (38). In some sects of the Indonesian culture it is believed that silence leaves you vulnerable to the spirit world. Therefore to ward of the evil spirits the city is covered in light and overlapping sound. Shops in southeast shopping malls would point their speakers into the hallway to entice people to come into their store. This leads to the generation of competitive music. When Rasmussen was in Central Java her host would loudly broadcast the radio all night so that the eve...