Chinese Indonesian Musical Culture in Java: Identity and Meaning in a Long-term Diaspora

For centuries, Chinese immigrants have brought their traditional musical culture to Indonesia and maintained and developed it in their new environment. The representative musical genres include the Chinese Indonesian theatre forms wayang potehi, wacinwa and jasen potehi. Musical activity has been a vital way to construct and maintain a Chinese ethnic and cultural identity in the Chinese diaspora community in Indonesia. However, any expression of a Chinese identity was suppressed under President Suharto’s “New Oder” regime (1966-98), which resulted in a severe blow to the musical performances of the Chinese Indonesians for nearly 33 years. After the exclusionary policies were lifted, Chinese Indonesian music experienced a revival and further development, eventually generating new musical fusion forms (e.g. jasen potehi) combining intercultural elements (Chinese, Indonesian and Western). This thesis examines these developments through an introduction and four major chapters. Chapter Two maps the historical development of Chinese musical culture in Indonesia under the altered circumstances of political and cultural policies. Chapter Three looks at the way in which dynamic ethnic and cultural identities are constructed and shaped through the practice of Chinese Indonesian musical activities, by analysing the changes of wayang potehi. Chapters Four and Five examine fusion and hybrid processes in the performance forms, including the music. Close musical analysis is supported by the use of the new notation system Global Notation. The development of wacinwa and jasen potehi thus provides revealing case studies in the dynamics of cultural negotiation, identity, hybridisation, modernisation and localisation in the musical culture of a long-established diaspora community. Overall, the research presents new knowledge in the study of music in a diaspora community. The detailed musical analysis shows how the broader historical and cultural contexts are manifested in actual sound. Beyond its specific geographical and cultural focus, the study engages with broader themes of diaspora, hybridity, identity and revival of concern in the field of ethnomusicology internationally.