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Performing selves: The trope of authenticity and Robert Wilson's stage production of I La Galigo

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 September 2015

Abstract

In 2010, La Galigo, a Bugis mythological epic describing the founding of the human world, was included in UNESCO's Memory of the World register. This accolade again brought La Galigo into the international spotlight, as had occurred when Robert Wilson's stage play I La Galigo, based on this epic, debuted in Singapore in 2004. Wilson's production received acclaim and critique, with reviews primarily focusing on his ability to achieve an authentic representation of Bugis identity and their past. These responses raise questions around the presupposition that there is an authentic Bugis identity and past that can be publicly recreated. This article analyses the concept of authenticity through reviews of Wilson's production and the work of key theorists to show that for many people, authenticity is achievable and of critical importance in underpinning any sense of a unified and singular ethnic identity, while for others, identity is always already a mix of different global influences and as such is either irrelevant, or liberated from a sense of a singular heritage.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore 2015 

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References

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2 I draw on Internet-accessible reviews of the production in English (and less so in Indonesian), and from my conversations with people in South Sulawesi between 2004 and 2008. Unfortunately I have not seen the production.

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4 While this article does not undertake the task, it would be productive in further work to explore differences between reviews written by academics and Indonesia specialists, and those written by performance critics. Performance reviewers are not necessarily experts on Bugis culture, or even Indonesia, nor are Indonesia specialists necessarily knowledgeable about performance. Moreover, an analysis of media coverage in Indonesian would provide added depth to future analysis.

5 My interest in South Sulawesi, and specifically La Galigo, began in the late 1990s when I started Ph.D. fieldwork. As my thesis focused on gender among Bugis, it was important to gain a historical perspective. As such, much of my ethnographic fieldwork and archival research focused on La Galigo, learning Bugis script, and talking with bissu (androgynous shamans) and other people with an interest in the past. In 2007 I was able to interview people in South Sulawesi about their perceptions of the I La Galigo stage play. See Sharyn Graham Davies, Challenging gender norms: Five genders among Bugis in Indonesia (Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2007); Sharyn Graham Davies, Gender diversity in Indonesia: Sexuality, Islam, and Queer selves (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2011).

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