Intangible Cultural Heritage of Dance As Medium for Intercultural Dialogue: Culture Assimilator Reinterpreted
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Intangible Cultural Heritage of Dance as Medium for Intercultural Dialogue: Culture Assimilator Reinterpreted A thesis approved by the Faculty of Mechanical, Electrical and Industrial Engineering at the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus- Senftenberg in fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the academic degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Heritage Studies Submitted by B.A., M.A. Chee Meng Wong From Singapore Chairperson: Prof. Dr. phil. Christer Petersen Supervisor: Prof. Dr. phil. Marie-Theres Albert Supervisor: Prof. Dr. phil. Magdalena Droste Date of Oral Examination: 21st November 2013 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to start by thanking Prof. Marie-Theres Albert as head of the International Graduate School:Heritage Studies, for making all this possible in the first place, with her vision not only in establishing the masters programme of World Heritage Studies that I earlier graduated in, but also this current PhD programme of which I became part of the pioneer batch in 2010. I would also like to thank her as my first supervisor in this thesis, for she has virtually been the grand designer of my research, as she pointed out the directions for me in intercultural studies, hence providing the ground plans to build my thesis. I would also like to thank my second supervisor Prof. Magdalena Droste, whose meticulous manner in art history research and the close reading of texts has always been an inspiration. In addition, I would like to thank Dr. Muhamad Al-Zekri for acting as my mentor in my earlier semesters, giving me excellent tips in effective writing and presentation. I would also like to thank the support of Dr. Jana-Cordelia Petzold in initiating me into general aspects of academic life, as well as the administrative support of Mr. Robert Rode, not to mention all my fellow students for being there with me through thick and thin. My thanks also go out to all my associates back home in Singapore, especially all my gurus and fellow dancers - at Nrityalaya Aesthetics Society, which I have worked with for the Arts Education Programme; at Bhaskar’s Arts Academy, which has seen countless productions and performance tours under the Chairmanship of Mr K.P. Bhaskar, who witnessed several decades of development in Singapore’s arts scenes and told me endless stories about it; and at NUS Centre for the Arts, where it all began as artistic director and resident choreographer Mrs Santha Bhaskar first initiated me into a fascinating universe of dance. They have given me the very inspiration and motivation in the first place to embark on a research relating to Indian classical dance in Singapore. Writing this thesis has been a great learning process for me. The result may be just a humble contribution in the vast fields of research, but I look forward to a further journey from this vantage point on, in a world of great diversity that awaits our discovery and sharing. 2 Table of Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................... 5 1. INTRODUCTION: CONCEPTS AND APPROACHES ....................................................... 7 1.1 Background and Motivation of Research ............................................................... 7 1.2 Epistemology and Conceptual Framework ........................................................... 16 1.3 Working Definitions of Main Concepts ................................................................. 25 2. CONCEPTS OF CULTURE IN MODERNITY AND BEYOND ........................................... 38 2.1 What is Culture? – Perspectives in Anthropology ................................................. 39 2.2 Culture as Orientation System – a Concept emerged of Modernity ....................... 52 2.2.1 Culture as value orientation in action following Talcott Parsons’ framework ................. 52 2.2.2 Culture as orientation system in intercultural psychology of Alexander Thomas ............ 61 2.3 Globalisation and Need for Intercultural Dialogue ............................................... 76 2.3.1 Processes of globalisation as World System of economy without cultural integration .... 76 2.3.2 Consciousness of cultural differences with intensification of global-local relationship ... 93 3. INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE AND THE CULTURE ASSIMILATOR ........................... 116 3.1 The Goals of Intercultural Dialogue based on Council of Europe’s 2008 White Paper - “Living Together as Equals in Dignity” ................................................................... 117 3.1.1 Intercultural dialogue as a means to social cohesion ................................................... 117 3.1.2 Intercultural dialogue as an ideal of liberalism and value pluralism ............................. 127 3.2 Culture Assimilator as a Tool for Dialogue – an Intercultural Competence Framework according to Alexander Thomas ............................................................ 147 3.2.1 Dimensions of intercultural competence for intercultural learning ............................. 147 3.2.2 Culture Assimilator training for intercultural understanding ...................................... 162 4. NEED FOR INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE IN SINGAPORE AS A CULTURALLY DIVERSE NATION ............................................................................................................ 175 4.1 The Social Construction of Cultural Communities .............................................. 176 4.1.1 Society in a transcultural system as distinct from a multicultural system ..................... 176 3 4.1.2 The social construction of ‘race’ – example of Singapore as a postcolonial nation ........ 196 4.2 Need for Intercultural Dialogue in Singapore to Overcome Cultural Differences . 220 4.2.1 Lack of social cohesion in Singapore – civic or ethnic nationalism? .............................. 220 4.2.2 Lack of liberalism in Singapore in the public spheres on issues of racism and stereotyping .......................................................................................................................................... 234 5. HERITAGE AND DANCE ...................................................................................... 251 5.1 The Concept and Practice of Heritage ............................................................... 252 5.1.1 What is heritage? ...................................................................................................... 252 5.1.2 Heritage as medium for intercultural dialogue – between a transcultural model and a multicultural model ........................................................................................................... 267 5.2 Dance and Communication and Dance as Heritage............................................. 281 5.2.1 What is dance? – perspectives in anthropology ......................................................... 281 5.2.2 Power of dance in communicating cultural values and embodying social relations……..296 5.2.3 Dance as heritage ..................................................................................................... 305 6. DANCE HERITAGE AS MEDIUM FOR INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE IN SINGAPORE . 317 6.1 Dance as Medium for Intercultural Dialogue in a Transcultural Model ................ 317 6.2 Dance Heritage as Medium for Intercultural Dialogue in a Multicultural Model – Adaptation of the Culture Assimilator ..................................................................... 334 6.2.1 Cultural differences between Chinese and Indian communities in Singapore in the practice of dance heritage ................................................................................................. 334 6.2.2 Dimensions of intercultural learning with Indian classical dance as medium……….……..360 7. CONCLUSION: LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS..................................... 373 References .............................................................................................................. 390 4 Intangible Cultural Heritage of Dance as a Medium for Intercultural Dialogue: Culture Assimilator Reinterpreted ABSTRACT This thesis explores two different models in the use of cultural heritage as a medium for intercultural exchange. This role of cultural heritage is discussed under a larger political framework of intercultural dialogue as a policy approach in managing cultural diversity, with specific reference to the 2008 Council of Europe’s White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue. This policy approach is analysed here in terms of the goal in social cohesion and the liberal, procedural commitment in democracy towards cultural and value pluralism, with its relevance discussed in the context of Singapore, which claims an approach of ‘communitarianism’ upholding ‘Asian values’. Against the background of racism problems in Singapore, the staging and interpretation of Indian dance heritage in Singapore will be analysed between a transcultural and a multicultural model of intercultural dialogue, the former focusing on creative engagement to overcome differences in cultural identity, the latter focusing on mutual understanding and respect of differences. As part of the multicultural model, one will analyse cross-cultural interaction as ‘critical incidents’ based on the ‘Culture Assimilator’ method (otherwise known as the Intercultural Sensitizer) in intercultural communication training – which German social psychologist Alexander Thomas has repositioned in an intercultural competence framework aligned with systems theory. This framework