| Special Seminar at KURCPI |
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What's Coming Up?
- Special Research Seminar, 15 July 2016
16:30-18:00, The Interdivisional Education and Research Building , 5th
Floor
「Amami Drumscapes and Chijin Culture: Form, Function and Meaning」
JOHNSON Henry (University of Otago, New Zealand)
The chijin is a drum that has a distinct identity in the Amami islands
of Japan. In this paper, particular attention is given to the changing
role of the instrument and the ways it carries cultural identity as an
emblem of Amami heritage in the present day. While the chijin is found
in different settings and numbers across the Amami islands, it is often
used on occasions that represent the islands more broadly, including festival,
musical, heritage and tourism contexts. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork
in Amami, this paper offers a cultural study of the form, function and
meaning of the chijin in modern-day island life. The paper shows how this
small percussion instrument has an important role in present-day Amami
culture, both in terms of its place in the soundscape of the islands and
its significance in cultural heritage and identity construction.
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Toppage
cpi.kagoshima-u.ac.jp
