Instrumental Lives: Musical Instruments, Material Culture, and Social Networks in East and Southeast Asia

By: Helen Rees and Jennifer C. Post and Bell Yung and Terauchi Naoko and Tyler Yamin and Maire-Pierre Lissoir and Insee Adler

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Synopsis: The musical instruments of East and Southeast Asia enjoy increasing recognition as parts of humanity’s intangible cultural heritage. Helen Rees edits a collection that offers vibrant new ways to link these objects to their materials of manufacture, the surrounding environment, the social networks they form and help sustain, and the wider ethnic or national imagination. Rees organizes the essays to reflect three angles of inquiry. The first section explores the characteristics and social roles of various categories of instruments, including the koto and an extinct Balinese wooden clapper. In section two, essayists focus on the life stories of individual instruments ranging from an heirloom Chinese qin to end-blown flutes in rural western Mongolia. Essays in the third section examine the ethics and other issues that surround instrument collections, but also show how collecting is a dynamic process that transforms an instrument’s habitat and social roles. Original and expert, Instrumental Lives brings a new understanding of how musical instruments interact with their environments and societies. Contributors: Supeena Insee Adler, Marie-Pierre Lissoir, Terauchi Naoko, Jennifer C. Post, Helen Rees, Xiao Mei, Tyler Yamin, and Bell Yung

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
Book Size:: 336 Pages
ISBN-13:: 9780252045929
Publisher:: University of Illinois Press
Date of Addition:: 07/23/24
Copyrighted By:: the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: Nonfiction, Art and Architecture, Social Studies, Music, Philosophy
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.
Edited by:: Helen Rees
Introduction by:: Helen Rees