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Made to be Seen brings together leading scholars of visual anthropology to examine the historical development of this multifaceted and growing field. Expanding the definition of visual anthropology beyond more limited notions, the contributors to Made to be Seen reflect on the role of the visual in all areas of life. Different essays critically examine a range of topics: art, dress and body adornment, photography, the built environment, digital forms of visual anthropology, indigenous media, the body as a cultural phenomenon, the relationship between experimental and ethnographic film, and more. The first attempt to present a comprehensive overview of the many aspects of an anthropological approach to the study of visual and pictorial culture, Made to be Seen will be the standard reference on the subject for years to come. Students and scholars in anthropology, sociology, visual studies, and cultural studies will greatly benefit from this pioneering look at the way the visual is inextricably threaded through most, if not all, areas of human activity.
This is the most comprehensive book devoted to Sumatra in more than half a century. It summarizes earlier studies, and provides a huge amount of new knowledge for the first time in readily accessible form. Sumatra is one of the world’s largest islands, rich in flora and fauna, minerals and timber, and located at the midpoint of the maritime route between China and India. These are ideal conditions for the creation of a fascinating history. Sumatra has played a major role in world trade for 2,000 years, but its culture and archaeology have been surprisingly neglected. This volume sets out to remedy this defect. With chapters on history, archaeology, anthropology, folklore, and religion, the authors focus particular attention on the relations between the coastal peoples who are best known to outsiders, and the hinterlands, where most of the important resources lie. The list of authors includes most of the principal living authorities on Sumatra. Their cumulative experience consists of many years on all parts of the island. The book is copiously illustrated, and includes a comprehensive bibliography for those who wish to pursue further study of the wide range of topics covered.
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This collection aims to attract attention to the admirable achievements of indigenous builders in Indonesia and to contribute to a broader sense of commitment to the endangered architectural heritage in the region. It presents the second part of the results of a research project on vernacular architecture in western Indonesia, sponsored by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences. The volume is intended to provide an introduction to all relevant vernacular architectural traditions and developments in western Indonesia. The 21 contributions, all written by researchers with long first-hand experience in the area they are dealing with, are arranged according to the location of the ethnic group...
The traditional houses and settlements of the several hundred ethnic groups of Indonesia are extremely varied and all have their own unique history. Underlying this rich diversity are fundamental similarities rooted in the ancient heritage that is shared by all the peoples in the Indonesian field of study. The multiplicity of ways in which this heritage is given shape in each local situation bears witness to an amazing creativity in adapting to regional circumstances and social changes. Inter-ethnic comparison of the architectural structures is a way to arrive at a better understanding of both the shared traditions and the diverging developments. In many cases, the variety of house forms wil...
The first book that deals with the territorial cults of early Japan by focusing on how such cults were founded in ownerless regions. Numerous ancient Japanese myths and legends are discussed to show that the typical founding ritual was a two-phase ritual that turned the territory into a horizontal microcosm, complete with its own ‘terrestrial heaven’ inhabited by local deities. Reversing Mircea Eliade’s popular thesis, the author concludes that the concept of the human-made horizontal microcosm is not a reflection but the source of the religious concept of the macrocosm with gods dwelling high up in the sky. The open access publication of this book has been published with the support of the Swiss National Science Foundation.
This volume seeks to foreground a “borderless” history and geography of South, Southeast, and East Asian littoral zones that would be maritime-focused, and thereby explore the ancient connections and dynamics of interaction that favoured the encounters among the cultures found throughout the region stretching from the Indian Ocean littorals to the Western Pacific, from the early historical period to the present. Transcending the artificial boundaries of macro-regions and nation-states, and trying to bridge the arbitrary divide between (inherently cosmopolitan) “high” cultures (e.g. Sanskritic, Sinitic, or Islamicate) and “local” or “indigenous” cultures, this multidisciplinar...
Freek Colombijn examines the social changes in Indonesian cities during the process of decolonization. That process had major repercussions for urban society. These social changes are studied from the angle of urban space in general, and the provision of housing in particular. This provides fresh insight into how people experienced decolonization. The author challenges the idea that a shift from ethnic to class differences was the overriding social change during decolonization. He argues instead that class differences had already formed the predominant dividing lines in colonial urban society. Colombijn also focuses on the shifting balance of power between the main agents in the urban arena. Through the use of hitherto unused historical sources, the book presents a wealth of new data about the Indonesian city and the decolonization process. Published in cooperation with the Netherlands Institute of War Documentation (NIOD). Originally published with imprint KITLV (ISBN 9789067182911).
Ritual language, wild and domestic animals, and objects of material culture like houses, palaces, and works of art, are often loaded with symbolic meaning. Reading the landscape , or giving meaning to the natural environment, is a cultural act as well, and one must discover what mountains, coastlines, and islands mean to different groups of people. In this book, written on the occasion of Professor Reimar Schefold s retirement from the Department of Cultural Anthropology at Leiden University, colleagues and former students from the Netherlands and abroad demonstrate the variety and wealth of the field of symbolic anthropology. The regional focus of the book is Indonesia. The studies presented range from small island communities in western, northern, and eastern Indonesia to urban settlements in Java and Sumatra. All the contributions are in one way or another related to Reimar Schefold s work over the past thirty-five years, work that includes extensive studies on material culture, rituals, and the use of symbols in the expression of ethnicity among the various cultural groups of Indonesia.
Explores the concept of 'house' in the context of Levi-Strauss' idea of the house as a link between kinship-based societies and class societies, developing this further into an examination of a conjuncture of architecture, people and symbolism.