Abstract
Bible translation and indigenous hymnody have always been important parts of the localization of the Christian faith. In this study, we describe how local songwriters creating songs with lyrics based on translated scriptures play a vital role in the process of localization in Christian communities in Indonesia. We focus primarily on thirty-nine scripture songwriting workshops that we and our colleagues conducted over the past six years in Indonesia, as well as ongoing interactions we had with communities in Ambon and Central Sulawesi. We begin with a literature review to establish the influences which shaped our songwriting workshops and our motivation for conducting them, and then we describe the workshops themselves and the process of musical localization that took place. Throughout the study, we highlight the role of local agency, the importance of fusion genres, and the creation of unique Christian identities through the localization of music.
Highlights
Most of the fifteen members of the songwriting group Pontong crammed into our small, sweltering studio to record a recent composition
If local agency is as important as we believe it is, can someone from outside the local community help in the process of musical localization? Whenever Ambonese musician John Beay facilitated songwriting workshops with us, he told the participants, “The missionaries came to our islands hundreds of years ago and told us that we couldn’t use our drums, conch shells, and traditional music to worship God
Ingalls et al (2018) define musical localization as “the process whereby Christian communities take a variety of musical practices—some considered ‘indigenous,’ some ‘foreign,’ some shared across spatial and cultural divides; some linked to past practice, some innovative—and make them locally meaningful and useful in the construction of Christian beliefs, theology, practice, and identity” (Ingalls et al 2018, p. 3)
Summary
Most of the fifteen members of the songwriting group Pontong crammed into our small, sweltering studio to record a recent composition. Whenever Ambonese musician John Beay facilitated songwriting workshops with us, he told the participants, “The missionaries came to our islands hundreds of years ago and told us that we couldn’t use our drums, conch shells, and traditional music to worship God. If local agency is as important as we believe it is, can someone from outside the local community help in the process of musical localization? Whenever Ambonese musician John Beay facilitated songwriting workshops with us, he told the participants, “The missionaries came to our islands hundreds of years ago and told us that we couldn’t use our drums, conch shells, and traditional music to worship God They recently came back and told us to pick it all up again.”. Before we describe our process and involvement further, we will consider other perspectives on localization and applied ethnomusicology
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