The Ensoundments of the Materially Ethereal in Indigenous Riau (Sumatra)
October 1, 2025 DOI: 10.5117/9789463726160_ch15 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Indigenous Performative utterance Embodied cognition Event particle physics Relation database Malay Aesthetics Environmental ethics Anthropology Ethnology |
| Key points | Argues that Sakai dikei rituals use humanly generated therapeutic sounds to mobilize ethereal matter for healing, and proposes exploring this in relation to Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of double “turning away of face.” |
Abstract
This chapter is focused on sounds associated with ethereal matter (semanget) and its embodied manifestation that vitalizes human, animal, and material physicality. I discuss the therapeutic sounds which are humanly generated to mobilize the materially ethereal to “repair bodies” in the Sakai shamanic healing rituals called dikei. The Orang Sakai lived on the edge of the Malay kingdom of Siak. Most Sakais are animist. Dikei is an ensounded performative event bringing ethereal beings and humans together for the purpose of healing and the reconstruction of boundaries between the human and ethereal dimensions. I suggest to explore this material in relation to Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of double “turning away of face.”