Il rèak di Bandung tra rituale cerimoniale e intrattenimento popolare: una tradizione contemporanea sundanese

Abstract

The one of “horse dances”, commonly known in Indonesia as jaranan, kuda lumpingor jathilan, is a branch of ceremonial musical performances during which a group of artists led by a pawanganalogous, hence not perfectly corresponding, to the one of the shaman – and accompanied by an ensemble of musicians, undergo a series of voluntary possession by the spirits of the ancestors. In the present article – which will be completed with a second part in the next issue of this journal – the author problematizes the Sundanese version of this phenomenon: kasenian réak. The analysis is developed in relation to the polar tension between the concepts of tradition and innovation, touristification and orthodoxy, artistic performance and ritual ceremony that the practice has experienced evolving since the construction of independent and the consequent cultural policies.