Description
Book SynopsisThis ethnography focuses on the romantic experiences of women from adolescence to maturity in a rural village in North Bali. It delves into the intensity of passion that exists below the harmonious veneer of traditional patterns of courtship and marriage, motherhood, and connubial fidelity.
Trade ReviewThe vivid portrayal of the eroticised subjectivity of North Balinese women is complemented by rich analyses of social life. Jennaway provides us with a profound understanding of the impediments to women’s agency, while at the same time speaking eloquently of women’s strength and determination. -- Linda Connor, University of Newcastle, Australia
This is a really enjoyable book; it is engagingly written and easy to read, and the issues raised are long neglected and important. It contributes new understandings of Balinese society. Jennaway explicitly targets the traditional muteness and objectification of women in Bali, and aims to make women the articulate subjects of the book. In this, she succeeds admirably. In Balinese society and in the anthological literature on Bali, women's voices have traditionally been suppressed (Ch. 1). In focusing on female experience and subjectivity, and especially in attending to young women's unconventional expressions of desire (for example, deception of parents, 'hysterical' attacks; Chs 6 and 7), Jennaway allows the women to 'speak' and express their feelings. -- Lyn Parker, The University of Western Australia * Anthropological Forum, Vol 15, No. 1, March 2005 *
[Sisters and a Lovers] is beautifully written, thoroughly researched, and detailed in its analysis and conclusions. -- Laura Noszlopy * Journal Of The Royal Anthropological Institute *
Richly textured and emotionally evocative, Jennaway's 'embodied ethnography' makes a compelling case for the linkages between women's speech, sexuality, and relative powerlessness. The book is a valuable and vivid analysis of Balinese emotional life and gender roles. This important study will be of interest to a wide and varied audience. -- Nancy J. Smith-Hefner, Boston University * Asian Studies *
An original, compelling, and beautifully paced book that marries ethnography and theory artfully and captures the realities of its subjects skillfully and convincingly. It will be an important contribution to the literature in the fields of sexuality and gender studies, area studies, and ethnography. -- Lenore Manderson, University of Melbourne
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction: Ethnography and Fiction in Punyanwangi Chapter 2 Muting Desire: Women, Sex, and Discourse Chapter 3 Producing Desire: Village Economy and Social Organization Chapter 4 Marrying Desire: Locating Women in the Social Order Chapter 5 Depriving Desire: Lovina Tourism and the Economy of Pleasure Chapter 6 Delinquent Desire: Female Sexuality in Punyanwangi Chapter 7 Expressing Desire: Women and Hysteria in Punyanwangi Chapter 8 Conclusion: Denial and Delirium: Women's Desire as Transgressive Capital Chapter 9 Epilogue: The Naming Ceremony Chapter 10 Appendix A: On Ethnographic Truth(s) Chapter 11 Appendix B: Discourse and Dichotomies Chapter 12 Appendix C: Notes on the Village Household Census Chapter 13 Appendix D: Cloves Chapter 14 Appendix E: Gender and Labor in Punyanwangi Chapter 15 Appendix F: List of Agnatic Descent Groups (Tunggalan), Desa Adat Punyanwangi Chapter 16 Glossary
