In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Reviewed by:
  • Power Plays: Wayang Golek Puppet Theater of West Java
  • Sean Williams
Power Plays: Wayang Golek Puppet Theater of West Java, by Andrew N. Weintraub. Athens: Center for International Studies, Ohio University, 2004. 295 pp., with musical examples, diagrams, drawings, photographs, bibliography, glossary, index, multimedia CD-ROM.

Wayang golek is one of the central performing arts of West Java, Indonesia. The genre uses three-dimensional wooden-rod puppets accompanied by a gamelan; the puppets are manipulated by a dalang or master puppeteer. Since its beginnings, it has incorporated multiple, complex roles: it has been used to entertain, to instruct the populace on issues deemed important to national development, to maintain identity, and to reinforce the social order. Rather than functioning merely as a pawn in the Indonesian government's New Order (and post-New Order) chess game of political control, however, wayang golek [End Page 109] rapidly developed into a locus for the contestation of territory and ideology, with the dalang at its center. Weintraub points out that "the production of meaning in wayang golek—through language, discourse, and music—is intersected by social struggles over power and authority" (p. 233). Wayang golek has received Western academic attention in the past (see, for example, the dissertations of Foley 1979 and Weintraub 1997), but Power Plays is the first English-language book published on the subject, and represents the most recent work.

After an initial introduction, Power Plays comprises three major sections: The State of Wayang Golek, Poetics and Politics, and Cultural Technologies and Representation. In his introduction, Weintraub offers a vivid window into a wayang performance, froma description of the preparation, to the treatment of the dalang and his retinue by the host, to Weintraub's own role in the proceedings. He also introduces the ways in which dalang serve as multi-directional "superstar" mediators of identity and community by summarizing the context of wayang golek both nationally and locally over a period of decades in the twentieth century. Weintraub includes a discussion of his own activities, particularly with Asep Sunandar Sunarya's famous troupe, by way of offering some context for the writer as well. By the end of the introduction, not only has Weintraub given a clear sense of the book's direction but he has also offered enough tantalizing glimpses of what lies ahead for the reader to make putting the book down difficult.

The first section, The State of Wayang Golek, comprises two chapters. Chapter 1, "Defining Wayang Golek," includes a section on the basic history of the genre, detailing its emergence as a specifically Sundanese genre and examining the ways in which politicians have attempted to co-opt the genre for their own purposes throughout its history. The chapter also mentions the social setting and patronage, briefly introduces the dalang and musicians, the language, puppets, character types, and play repertoire. Chapter 2, "Cultural Policy and Canons of Performance," features the impact that Sundanese scholars, competitions, and various attempts to codify and dictate performance practice have had on the development of padalangan (the art of being a dalang), and on wayang golek itself.

The second section, Poetics and Politics, includes three chapters. Chapter 3, "Superstar Dalang," focuses on the development of four major performers in the wayang golek milieu, delineating their styles, interactions with modern technology, and means by which wayang golek actually increased its market share despite competition from other types of entertainment. Chapter 4, "Challenging the New Order with Entertainment," offers a compelling look at specific ways in which (Suharto-era) New Order rules and officials were identified and challenged through the allegories provided in wayang performance. [End Page 110] This chapter makes extensive use of direct transcription of live performances, adding to its effectiveness. In Chapter 5, "The Spectacle of Sound, "Weintraub discusses the "multilaras" gamelan (gamelan with the capability to perform in more than one tuning system or laras), and the ways in which the greatly expanded instrumentation differentiated superstar dalang from "regular" dalang. He notes that the use of multilaras gamelan has resulted in both limitations and expansions in its impact on performance practice and repertoire.

The third section, Cultural Technologies and Representation, includes four chapters. In Chapter 6, "The...

pdf