Sounding the center
Subtitle: history and aesthetics in Thai Buddhist performance
By: Deborah Wong.
Series: Chicago studies in ethnomusicology
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2001
Place of publication: Chicago
Language: eng
Number of pages: 348
Subjects: Rites and ceremonies -- Thailand -- Bangkok.; Ritual -- Thailand -- Bangkok.; Ethnomusicology -- Thailand -- Bangkok.; Folklore -- Thailand -- Bangkok -- Performance.; Oral tradition -- Thailand -- Bangkok.; Dance -- Religious aspects -- Thailand -- Bangkok.; Music -- Religious aspects -- Thailand -- Bangkok.; Bangkok (Thailand) -- Religious life and customs.; Bangkok (Thailand) -- Social life and customs.
Description: Sounding the Center is an in-depth look at the power behind classical music and dance in Bangkok, the capital and sacred center of Buddhist Thailand. Focusing on the ritual honoring teachers of music and dance, Deborah Wong reveals a complex network of connections among kings, teachers, knowledge, and performance that underlies the classical court arts. Drawing on her extensive fieldwork, Wong lays out the ritual in detail: the way it is enacted, the foods and objects involved, and the people who perform it, emphasizing the way the performers themselves discuss and construct aspects of the ceremony.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 315-333) and index.