Flexibility and egalitarianism: musical insights from hunter-gatherers

ABSTRACT

Among egalitarian hunter-gatherer groups across the African continent, musical practices and egalitarian socialities are argued to be mutually implicated with one another. Southeast Asian hunter-gatherers also practice egalitarianism, however, and their musical practices represent a seeming anomaly alongside those of many African hunter-gatherer groups. Discussion of ‘hunter-gatherer musics’ that includes Southeast Asian perspectives has therefore been absent, even though cross-cultural, continent-spanning research with hunter-gatherers is common on topics such as politics, economics, and subsistence. Insights into egalitarianism can be gained through attention to the diversity in hunter-gatherer musical practices. This discussion of Ju|'hoan (Namibia) and Batek (Malaysia) musical practices demonstrates that egalitarianism can be understood in terms of its flexibility.

KEYWORDS:

• Hunter-gatherer
• egalitarianism
• polyphony
• aesthetics
• diversity
• flexibility

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister’s Office (EPU), and the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) for granting me permission to conduct research with Batek people in Taman Negara. For financial support, I thank the Leverhulme Trust, the Evans Fund at Cambridge, the British Library, and University College London. Universiti Sains Malaysia are also thanked for their institutional support in the course of fieldwork. I thank the British Library for awarding me the Coleridge Research Fellowship that allowed me to carry out this research, in particular Jonathan Benaim, Janet Topp Fargion, and Amelie Roper, for their help, support, and advice - alongside other members of the Unlocking Our Sound Heritage Team. Jerome Lewis is thanked for his insights on hunter-gatherer musics, as is Shzr Ee Tan for her thoughtful editing, and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. Most importantly, I thank my many Batek friends for allowing me to carry out this research, and for their help, generosity, and kindness.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Alice Rudge is a Junior Research Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies, University College London. She holds a PhD in Anthropology, also from University College London (2017), and was the recipient of a Coleridge Research Fellowship from the British Library (2018). Her work with the Batek focuses on the relationship between sonic practices, personhood, and the formation of ethics and aesthetics.

ORCID

Alice Rudge http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7023-5428

Notes

1. Based on ethnographic fieldwork with the Batek.

2. Pseudonyms are used throughout the paper for Batek names.

3. Based on ethnographic fieldwork.

4. Based on ethnographic fieldwork.

5. Based on ethnographic fieldwork.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Leverhulme Trust [grant number RP2011-R-045]; The Evans Fund, Cambridge University; The British Library [Coleridge Research Fellowship].