Papers by Dustin D Wiebe
Asian Music, 2022
The Society of the Divine Word (SVD) began the first Catholic mission to Bali in 1935. Several of... more The Society of the Divine Word (SVD) began the first Catholic mission to Bali in 1935. Several of the first missionaries sent were Dutch and American priests with training in ethnology and linguistics who employed their findings to missionize the Balinese. The resultant missiologies legitimized some aspects of local custom, notably recurring discourses of ancestral belonging that were commonly mapped onto Balinese music, dance, and theater. This article examines rare archival material--including the Bali Mass manuscript--to better understand the role of performing arts in the mutually-informing history of Catholic-Hindu relations in Bali before and after Vatican II.
Religions, 2021
This article reviews recent (2015–2021) English-language publications that focus on music in/as/a... more This article reviews recent (2015–2021) English-language publications that focus on music in/as/about religion (broadly defined)—including world, folk, and indigenous religious traditions. While research related to Euro–American-based Christian music accounts for more publications than any other single tradition examined, this review intentionally foregrounds religions that are not as well represented in this literature, such as Islam, Hinduism, Confucianism, and folk and animistic traditions from around the world. Recurring trends within this literature elucidate important themes therein, four of which are examined in detail: (1) race and ethnicity, (2) gender and sexuality, (3) music therapy (and medical ethnomusicology), and (4) indigenous music. Broadly speaking, recent (2015–2021) publications related to religion, music, and sound reflect growing societal and political interests in diversity and inclusion, yet there remain perspectives, ideas, and ontologies not yet accounted f...
Locating Christian Congregational Music: Indigeneity, Cosmopolitanism, and Diversity, 2018
Yale Journal of Music and Religion, 2016
This article examines the nature of interreligious relations between Protestants of the Bali Chur... more This article examines the nature of interreligious relations between Protestants of the Bali Church and Hindus as enacted through dramatic forms of Balinese music and dance. Particular attention is paid to the influence of mass tourism as a contributing factor in this process. Since the early twentieth century these arts have formed a central component of a pan-Balinese identity discourse known as" kebalian." The first Balinese converted to Christianity during the 1930s and were subsequently excommunicated from their ancestral villages for refusing to participate in local customary practices (including the ritualistic use of gamelan music). For this reason, Balinese Christians have historically been regarded as “traitors” with no claim to kebalian. Since the 1970s, however, the Bali Church has employed local music and dance in a variety of church-based contexts as one means to “contextualize” congregational life. The adoption of these and other forms of local culture (ex. language, clothing) have reconfigured and challenged the existing parameters of a generally Hindu-centric kebalian. This has led to the formation of a religion(agama)/culture(budaya) dichotomy, which is often used as the intellectual underpinning for the arts as a tool of identity construction. The article concludes with an analysis of the contextualized musical drama, Tarian Perdamaian, to illustrate the practical complications of this dichotomy and suggests the theatrically situated “interreligious gaze” as a lens through which to better understand the parameters of twenty-first century interreligious relations in Bali.
This article analyses how the Protestant Balinese, after discarding Western models of practice th... more This article analyses how the Protestant Balinese, after discarding Western models of practice that formed Christian history in Bali, negotiated with their Hindu counterparts about the use of Balinese customary practices and traditions as the heritage and identity of all Balinese. Several questions concerned which genres of performing arts are sacred or religious and which can be adapted by non-Hindus. The Christian versions of the dance-drama genres of "sendratari" and "pragmentari" are among the outcomes of these negotiations. However, it is a third actor who interfered, and made the final decision about the use of dances: the Provincial Ministry of Tourism and Culture, which held a seminar on that issue in 1971 and decided that only certain categories of dance may be used for non-sacred performances. This decision (ratified by the Governor in 1973) was made in the context of tourism rather than interreligious relationships. The dances to be used for tourist performances were defined as "culture." Since these non-sacred forms were declared as not involving Agama Hindu, they were suitable for re-appropriation by the Christian brethren, who invited Hindu Balinese to assist in performance. Thus, this article illustrates how the Hindu Balinese, under the pressure of Christians and tourism, try to disentangle elements of "religion" from those of "culture." In doing so, Christians have negotiated internally to synthesize Balinese culture and their faith.
Thesis Chapters by Dustin D Wiebe
This dissertation examines the role of twentieth-century performing arts in the transformation of... more This dissertation examines the role of twentieth-century performing arts in the transformation of Protestant/Hindu relations in Bali. More specifically, it demonstrates how the regional tourist economy produced a largely artificial sacred/secular musical binary and how this distinction in turn fostered newly hybridized genres of Christian gamelan music and dance. Religiously mixed gamelan groups of Balinese Protestants and Hindus now regularly perform this repertoire, a stark contrast to the strict religious segregation of the early and mid-twentieth century. Through such interaction a shared, interreligious aesthetic discourse has emerged. I utilize aspects of social network analysis, and material culture studies to illustrate how one particular Protestant denomination, known colloquially as the Bali Church (or Gereja Kristen Protestan di Bali, GKPB), has established and maintained this discourse vis-à-vis Protestant/Hindu music networks based on shared concerns regarding ethnic (Balinese) identity, described locally as “kebalian.”
The main body of the dissertation is divided into two main sections, each consisting of two chapters. The first section establishes the historical development and narrative upon which the second proceeds. Chapter one examines the development of contextual practices within the Bali Church from 1972 onward, including biographical details of key church builders and artists, and the establishment of institutions within GKPB that have played a pivotal role in promoting contextual art. Chapter two looks at the expansion of tourism in Bali and the important role this new economy played in creating a legitimated sphere for church participation in Balinese performing arts.
The second major section is more analytic in nature and illustrates some of the important social implications arising from the intersection of contextual art with touristic practice and ideology. Chapter three explores the contemporary association between localized musics, Hinduism, and constructs of Balinese identity. Finally, in chapter four theories of capital and social networks are explored as interpretive devices for understanding the social function of these interreligious interactions and the driving forces behind them. In particular, the notion that key actors in a given network may act as brokers between groups is explored as a model for understanding Christian/Hindu relations in Bali.
Book Reviews by Dustin D Wiebe
Conference Presentations by Dustin D Wiebe
In response to the radically changing social and political landscape of our post 9/11 world, new ... more In response to the radically changing social and political landscape of our post 9/11 world, new discourses are developing that seek to understand the impacts of what are increasingly termed “interfaith” and “interreligious” practices. This paper examines the role of Balinese gamelan music as a catalyst in the formation of interreligious social networks in Bali. Drawing from theoretical discourses in material culture studies and social network analysis, I demonstrate the means by which Bali’s Hindu majority relates to a number of religious minority groups (particularly Buddhists, Catholics, and Protestants) vis-a-vis the sustained production of gamelan music. More specifically, I demonstrate how gamelan instruments function as nexus points within interreligious networks, and create shared musical, social, and theological discourses that promote tolerance and understanding. Through the ethnographic analysis of festivals, ceremonies, music instruction, and other sites of church, temple, and community performance, I illustrate how religious doctrine, local histories, and kinship ties coalesce through music, in turn leading to new pathways for social and political cooperation. In my analysis I position gamelan instruments as a type of “spiritual capital” (Ramstedt 2008) that have, in part, directly facilitated new interreligious cooperation that would not exist otherwise. In arguing for the “social life of instruments” (Bates 2012), I demonstrate how networks of musical production can contribute to global efforts aimed at providing non-violent solutions to interreligious conflict.
Marketed internationally as “The Island of the Gods,” Bali has become one of the world’s most pop... more Marketed internationally as “The Island of the Gods,” Bali has become one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations. A major driving force behind this economy are a myriad of visual and performing arts, many of which are integral to Bali-Hindu ceremonial life. What is often lost in the sea of advertising and general discourse (both popular and scholarly) is that these arts are a significant component of life for other religious groups as well. This paper examines how the local Hindu majority interacts with religious minorities through the shared production of Balinese gamelan music. By examining the collaborative musical practices of these groups I address two central research questions: In what ways does gamelan music facilitate the formation of interreligious social networks, and how do these networks reflect a localized process of musical transnationalization?
Over the course of the twentieth-century, Balinese gamelan music has come to form a fundamental a... more Over the course of the twentieth-century, Balinese gamelan music has come to form a fundamental and dynamic component of what is often referred to as kebalian, or “Balineseness”, a construct often conflated with Hinduism and Bali’s Hindu majority. Though Bali continues to be a predominantly Hindu island, the increasingly acute influences of technology, transmigration, and political reform have led to greater religious diversity. This paper examines Balinese gamelan music as a category of social network formation and more importantly how such musical traditions serve to mitigate development of these networks. More specifically I ask: How does Balinese gamelan serve to establish interreligious social networks and what can we learn about the nature of these networks by considering various models of network theory? Research to date has revealed that in addition to Balinese Hindus, other religious groups are beginning to utilize gamelan as a mode of identity formation. For example, since early 1970s some Balinese Christians, both Protestant and Catholic, have begun to incorporate gamelan music into social gatherings, worship services, and even large international Christian conferences. It is now commonplace for Christian artistic directors to hire Hindu musicians and dancers to ensure the success of high quality, large-scale production, thus adding a layer of complexity to interreligious social networks. Previous work suggests that although the confluence of Islamic social networks and Balinese gamelan are limited, they do exist and as such will also be factored into my analysis. The primacy of gamelan in Bali as a means of displaying cultural knowledge has contributed to an increasingly heterogeneous web of religiously informed social network relations. Drawing from the contemporary literature on social network analysis (including, Scott 2012; Prell 2011; Freeman ed. 2008) this paper examines the practical applications of social network theory, particularly as it relates to the fields of ethnomusicology and anthropology. Ultimately, I aim to demonstrate some of the socio-political factors giving rise to these network structures and what may be inferred from them.
Bali’s rich artistic legacy has made it one of the most documented within ethnomusicological lite... more Bali’s rich artistic legacy has made it one of the most documented within ethnomusicological literatures. Much consideration has been given to the dynamic relationship between the arts, spirituality, and identity that have come to represent one of the cornerstones of Balinese musical scholarship. The intellectual confluence of these cultural constructs have historically focused on Balinese-Hinduism, however, the growth of church communities in Bali since the 1930’s are expanding the scope of this paradigm. This paper explores church music practices as a means of identity formation within Balinese Christian communities while examining music’s (in)ability to develop uniquely Balinese expressions of the Christian faith. Gereja Kristen Protestant di Bali (GKPB) is an indigenous Christian denomination that is seeking ways to situate elements of Balinese arts within a Christian worldview. Former Balinese bishop, I Wayan Mastra, has been the intellectual driving force behind this initiative, a process he calls “contextualization.” Christian Balinese artists such as I Nyoman Darsane and I Wayan Rajek have established a body of contextualized music that draws from traditional Balinese musical genres (such as kecak, renjang, and topeng) as a means to express Christian theologies within worship contexts. The works of Rajek, Darsane, and others have resulted in a hybrid tradition that is at once celebrated as a means of cultural and religious mediation, while simultaneously criticized as theologically inappropriate and imperialistic.
Over the course of the last ninety years, tourism has come to form an integral part of the Baline... more Over the course of the last ninety years, tourism has come to form an integral part of the Balinese economy. Central to this economy is what Michel Picard has termed, “cultural tourism,” which has been built upon Bali’s appeal as an exotic oriental paradise, artistically rich and founded upon a unique Hindu social structure. Since 1931, however, small groups of Balinese Christians have begun to form across the island, adding a religious plurality and complexity not often recognized in Balinese socio-religious discourse. This paper examines the vital role music and tourism has played in establishing an artistic language that challenges the fundamental link between Balinese identity (keBalian) and Agama Hindu, thereby creating a space for Christians in Bali to be both Christian and Balinese. Central to my analysis is the development of sendratari, a dance-drama genre first developed in Java in the early 1960s but soon imported to Bali. Early Balinese sendratari productions embodied significant artistic innovation, perhaps most notably the movement away from linguistically complex dramatic episodes toward a more linear narrative model. This new way of conveying cultural knowledge – often with a clear beginning, middle, and end – led to the creation of artistic productions that were often aesthetically pleasing (and intelligible) to Balinese and tourist audiences alike. In 1972, a synod council of Gereja Kristen Protestan di Bali (GKPB) passed a bill to officially promote “contextualized” (kontektualisasi) church practices, including the use of traditional Balinese music and dance styles. Soon thereafter, artist members of GKPB began producing sendratari Kristen – a subgenre of sendratari borrowing extensively from Christian narratives. By exploring modern socio-religious categories germane to Balinese studies (adat/agama, sacral/provan, and wali/bebali/balih-balihan), I will demonstrate how sendratari Kristen is simultaneously challenging these categorical distinctions and creating a platform for a Balinese Christian identity, both in Bali and abroad.
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Papers by Dustin D Wiebe
Thesis Chapters by Dustin D Wiebe
The main body of the dissertation is divided into two main sections, each consisting of two chapters. The first section establishes the historical development and narrative upon which the second proceeds. Chapter one examines the development of contextual practices within the Bali Church from 1972 onward, including biographical details of key church builders and artists, and the establishment of institutions within GKPB that have played a pivotal role in promoting contextual art. Chapter two looks at the expansion of tourism in Bali and the important role this new economy played in creating a legitimated sphere for church participation in Balinese performing arts.
The second major section is more analytic in nature and illustrates some of the important social implications arising from the intersection of contextual art with touristic practice and ideology. Chapter three explores the contemporary association between localized musics, Hinduism, and constructs of Balinese identity. Finally, in chapter four theories of capital and social networks are explored as interpretive devices for understanding the social function of these interreligious interactions and the driving forces behind them. In particular, the notion that key actors in a given network may act as brokers between groups is explored as a model for understanding Christian/Hindu relations in Bali.
Book Reviews by Dustin D Wiebe
Conference Presentations by Dustin D Wiebe
The main body of the dissertation is divided into two main sections, each consisting of two chapters. The first section establishes the historical development and narrative upon which the second proceeds. Chapter one examines the development of contextual practices within the Bali Church from 1972 onward, including biographical details of key church builders and artists, and the establishment of institutions within GKPB that have played a pivotal role in promoting contextual art. Chapter two looks at the expansion of tourism in Bali and the important role this new economy played in creating a legitimated sphere for church participation in Balinese performing arts.
The second major section is more analytic in nature and illustrates some of the important social implications arising from the intersection of contextual art with touristic practice and ideology. Chapter three explores the contemporary association between localized musics, Hinduism, and constructs of Balinese identity. Finally, in chapter four theories of capital and social networks are explored as interpretive devices for understanding the social function of these interreligious interactions and the driving forces behind them. In particular, the notion that key actors in a given network may act as brokers between groups is explored as a model for understanding Christian/Hindu relations in Bali.