Gandrung and Female Identity: The Historical Transformation of Local Cultural Production in the Banyuwangi Tourism Festival 2002-2020

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-525-6_56How to use a DOI?

Keywords

gandrung; female; cultural identity; representaition; tourism festival

Abstract

This study examines the construction and representation of female identity in the context of Gandrung Banyuwangi performing arts, particularly in the transition from traditional art to tourist attractions in the form of cultural festivals such as Gandrung Sewu. Gandrung, which has been performed by women since the early 20th century and is rooted in the agrarian rituals of the Using community, underwent significant changes when the local government packaged it as a cultural product for the tourism industry. This study aims to analyze how the bodies and roles of Banyuwangi women are mobilized as symbols of cultural identity, while also serving as visual representations that support narratives of development and tourism promotion. This study employs a historical method to examine the evolution of Gandrung from the 2000s to 2020, along with a gender approach to analyze gender-based power dynamics in performance art and to interpret the construction and representation of female’s identity within cultural discourse. The findings reveal that women’s identity in Gandrung performances is caught in a tension between cultural preservation, market demands, and dominant religious values. Female’s bodies become a symbolic arena controlled by various actors in producing a cultural image that is “authentic” yet standardized. However, female dancers also demonstrate agency in re-constructing their identity narratives through artistic practices, choreographic selections, and adaptation strategies to public expectations. This study contributes to research on local culture, the politics of female representation, and critiques of the commodification of traditional art in the context of tourism-driven development.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Download article (PDF)

TY  - CONF
AU  - Hervina Nurullita
AU  - Yety Rochwulaningsih
AU  - Dhanang Respati Puguh
AU  - Alamsyah
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/31
TI  - Gandrung and Female Identity: The Historical Transformation of Local Cultural Production in the Banyuwangi Tourism Festival 2002-2020
BT  - Proceedings of International Conference on Neuroscience and Learning Technology (ICONSATIN 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 615
EP  - 625
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-525-6_56
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-525-6_56
ID  - Nurullita2025
ER  -