Overview

Power Plays is the first scholarly book in English on wayang golek, the Sundanese rod-puppet theater of West Java. It is a detailed and lively account of the ways in which performers of this major Asian theatrical form have engaged with political discourses in Indonesia and shaped technological and commercial conditions of art and performance in a moderniziing society. Andrew Weintraub focuses on superstar performers and the musical troupes that dominated wayang golek during the New Order political regime of former president Suharto (1966-98). Studies of actual performances illuminate stylistic and formal elements and situate wayang golek as a social process in Sundanese culture. Power Plays shows how meaning about identity, citizenship, and community are produced through theater, music, language, and discourse. Power Plays is at the center of a new synthesis emerging among ethno-musicology, cultural studies, and media studies. Its cross-disciplinary approach will inspire researchers studying similar struggles over state authority and popular representation in culture and the performing arts.

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