From agricultural tool to identity symbol:: Musical and socio-political change in the pestle-and-mortar music of the Natuna Archipelago, Indonesia

Margaret Kartomi

doi:10.5406/ethnomusicology.61.1.0087

From agricultural tool to identity symbol: Musical and socio-political change in the pestle-and-mortar music of the Natuna Archipelago, Indonesia

Margaret Kartomi

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

For centuries the Islanders in remote Bunguran played pestle-andmortar
music with cosmological associations to lighten the chore of stamping
husks off rice grain. Different villages developed their own musical syntax,
terminology, and repertoire to play at domestic celebrations. Discovery of
natural gas in the 1960s led to weakened communal life, while the subsequent
stamping of corn and seeds instead of rice required less group energy for
music-making and new secular associations. In 2004 Natuna Regency chose the
pestle-and-mortar music as a Malay identity emblem which will help it survive,
with domestic participatory performances continuing alongside presentational
performances for government, corporate and tourist audiences.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	87-114
Number of pages	28
Journal	Ethnomusicology
Volume	61
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5406/ethnomusicology.61.1.0087
Publication status	Published - 2017

Access to Document

10.5406/ethnomusicology.61.1.0087

The Changing Identity and Sustainability of the Music-Cultures and Worldviews of the Riau Islands' Sea Nomads and Sedentary Malays
Kartomi, M. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Mora, M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Benjamin, G. (Partner Investigator (PI)) & Chou, C. (Partner Investigator (PI))
ARC - Australian Research Council
3/01/12 → 31/05/16
Project: Research

Cite this

@article{2a06f34caa2a4d0396999357d79b67d6,

title = "From agricultural tool to identity symbol:: Musical and socio-political change in the pestle-and-mortar music of the Natuna Archipelago, Indonesia",

abstract = "For centuries the Islanders in remote Bunguran played pestle-andmortar music with cosmological associations to lighten the chore of stamping husks off rice grain. Different villages developed their own musical syntax, terminology, and repertoire to play at domestic celebrations. Discovery of natural gas in the 1960s led to weakened communal life, while the subsequent stamping of corn and seeds instead of rice required less group energy for music-making and new secular associations. In 2004 Natuna Regency chose the pestle-and-mortar music as a Malay identity emblem which will help it survive, with domestic participatory performances continuing alongside presentational performances for government, corporate and tourist audiences.",

author = "Margaret Kartomi",

year = "2017",

doi = "10.5406/ethnomusicology.61.1.0087",

language = "English",

volume = "61",

pages = "87--114",

journal = "Ethnomusicology",

issn = "0014-1836",

publisher = "University of Illinois Press",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - From agricultural tool to identity symbol:

T2 - Musical and socio-political change in the pestle-and-mortar music of the Natuna Archipelago, Indonesia

AU - Kartomi, Margaret

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - For centuries the Islanders in remote Bunguran played pestle-andmortar music with cosmological associations to lighten the chore of stamping husks off rice grain. Different villages developed their own musical syntax, terminology, and repertoire to play at domestic celebrations. Discovery of natural gas in the 1960s led to weakened communal life, while the subsequent stamping of corn and seeds instead of rice required less group energy for music-making and new secular associations. In 2004 Natuna Regency chose the pestle-and-mortar music as a Malay identity emblem which will help it survive, with domestic participatory performances continuing alongside presentational performances for government, corporate and tourist audiences.

AB - For centuries the Islanders in remote Bunguran played pestle-andmortar music with cosmological associations to lighten the chore of stamping husks off rice grain. Different villages developed their own musical syntax, terminology, and repertoire to play at domestic celebrations. Discovery of natural gas in the 1960s led to weakened communal life, while the subsequent stamping of corn and seeds instead of rice required less group energy for music-making and new secular associations. In 2004 Natuna Regency chose the pestle-and-mortar music as a Malay identity emblem which will help it survive, with domestic participatory performances continuing alongside presentational performances for government, corporate and tourist audiences.

U2 - 10.5406/ethnomusicology.61.1.0087

DO - 10.5406/ethnomusicology.61.1.0087

M3 - Article

SN - 0014-1836

VL - 61

SP - 87

EP - 114

JO - Ethnomusicology

JF - Ethnomusicology

IS - 1

ER -

From agricultural tool to identity symbol: Musical and socio-political change in the pestle-and-mortar music of the Natuna Archipelago, Indonesia

Abstract

Access to Document

Projects

The Changing Identity and Sustainability of the Music-Cultures and Worldviews of the Riau Islands' Sea Nomads and Sedentary Malays

Cite this