Smells and Bells

The week after spring break, the class entered a new unit: sound. We did this by reading the first chapters of Women, the Recited Qur’an, and Islamic Music in Indonesia by Anne Rasmussen. Qur’an recitation is a widespread practice in Indonesia when women recite passages from the central holy text of Islam. This ritual takes place in secular and religious settings. Rasmussen cites five contexts where Qur’an recitation is practiced. The first is  khatam al Qur’an , where the entire Qur’an is recited by thirty women at the same time. Pondok pesantren is when girls in boarding school learn recitation as part of their education. Qur’an recitation is also a staple of the college curriculum, where it is taught at a more advanced level. Women can then prepare to competitions in small groups, which is the fourth context. The fifth is the hafla-al Qur’an , a competition where recitations are judged by a series of experts, and prestigious prizes are awarded to the most talented Qur’an reci...

The conversation facilitated by Professor Allen on Tuesday was very illuminating in terms of what we've been discussing in Women, the Recited Qur'an, and Islamic Music in Indonesia . I think allt he different types of recitation and music we've listened to in the last week provide a lot of examples of Professor Allen's points. The video we watched at the beginning of class today is a perfect example. Last class we talked about the creation of space with music. The Islamic Indonesian performers in this piece created a very informal, communal space featuring drums, electric guitar and other musical components that one wouldn't immediately associate with a religious performance. The audience participated fully and it was as if there was a conversation happening between the performers and the audience throughout the musical parts. The previous clips we listened to and watched seem to illustrate some different points. Professor Allen talked about some ethnomusicologi...

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...