Embodied Communities

Felicia Hughes-Freeland is an anthropologist and filmmaker. She is a Reader in Anthropology, Dept of Geography, School of the Environment and Society, Swansea University. She has done extensive research in Indonesia on Javanese dance over a period of nearly thirty years and her articles have been widely published. Her edited books and ethnographic films include Ritual, Performance, Media and The Dancer and the Dance.

• List of Figures and tablesPreface and AcknowledgementsA Note on Spelling and Other MattersAbbreviationsChapter 1. Introduction: Dance, Culture, and EmbodimentChapter 2. Before the Nation: The Heyday of Court DanceChapter 3. From Colony to Nation: Dance in the Reign of Haengkubuwana IXChapter 4. Embodying Culture: Dance as EducationChapter 5. Performance and Symbolism: Bedhaya and the Poetics of PowerChapter 6. The Art of Dancing: Joged MatatamChapter 7. Changing Styles of Patronage: Tourism and CommoditizationChapter 8. Conclusion: Embodies Communities in the Nation StateAppendices IAppendices IIAppendices IIGlossaryBibliographyIndex

“Even if it is rather demanding, Hughes-Freeland’s study makes for highly rewarding reading.”  ·  JRAI“The book is carefully constructed…we can learn a lot from it [which] may well be due to its robust empiricism.”  ·  Social Anthropology/Anthropologie sociale“This book attempts a much more comprehensive consideration of dance in its cultural, social, and historical contexts than most and the author should be commended not only for this ambitious approach but also for keeping ethnographic method as the foundation of the research… the world of dance scholarship, anthropology, performance studies, and Indonesian studies are the better for this book which is, in important ways, remarkable."  ·  American Ethnologist"This is a valuable addition to the literature on performance in Southeast Asia, on dance history, and on culture change in general … a very timely and important work … the quality of its prose, the depth of research involved make it a unique contribution to dance scholarship."  ·  Hélène Bouvier, CNRS, Paris