Andrea Giolai
University lecturer
- Name
- Dr. A. Giolai
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 4732
- a.giolai@hum.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0002-0215-5976
Andrea Giolai is University Lecturer Ethnography and Performing Arts of Japan at the Leiden Institute for Area Studies. He teaches and conducts research in sensory ethnography, sound studies and Japanese performing arts.
Fields of interest
- Research on sound, hearing, sound art
- Affect, embodiment, the senses in research
- Acoustic multinaturalism, ecomusicology
- The reconstruction of musical heritage
- Japanese performing arts
About
My research focuses on the anthropology and ethnography of Japan, with a strong emphasis on sound as a medium for art and as a cultural artifact. I specialize in the production of sonic heritage in/through rituals, the reconstruction of ancient musical materials, and the relation between sound, loss, and environmental change.
I have worked extensively on local versions of Gagaku, the musics and dances historically associated with the Japanese court. My PhD dissertation Decentering Gagaku. Exploring the Multiplicity of Japanese Court Music analyzes how these repertoires are practiced in Western Japan. In the past, I have researched the sonic production of atmospheric participation at Japanese religious festivals, the reconstruction of musical notations and instruments, and the embodied, affective interplay between musical and physical movement in Gagaku performances.
After obtaining a Conservatory Diploma in modern flute (2009) and an MA in Japanese Studies at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice (2011), I completed a joint PhD in Area Studies at Leiden University and Ca’ Foscari University (2017). I conducted several years of fieldwork and archival research in Japan: as a special research student at Kyoto University (2013-2014); as a Japan Foundation Dissertation Research Fellow at the Research Institute for Japanese Traditional Music of Kyoto City University of Arts (2015-2016); and as a Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellow at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies (2017-2019). I joined LIAS in September 2019.
Current projects include a study of how sound is related to various scales and typologies of environmental loss, funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), and a multi-sited study of the performance and reconstruction of music and musical instruments from the Asian Silk Roads. I am also working on a monograph on sonic heritage in contemporary Japan, based on several years of fieldwork and apprenticeship.
Key Publications
2021 “The Matsuri as Sonic Event” in Fabio Rambelli, Erica Baffelli, and Andrea Castiglioni (eds.) The Bloomsbury Handbook of Japanese Religions, London: Bloomsbury Academic, 217-219.
2020 “Encounters with the Past: Fractals and Atmospheres at Kasuga Wakamiya Onmatsuri”, Journal of Religion in Japan, 9 (1-3), 213-247.
2019 “Sensing the Music: Oral Mnemonics as a ‘Technique of Affective Sensitization’ in Japanese Court Music”, Asian Anthropology, 18 (3), 203-221.
Recent Courses
- Sound as heritage in Asia (from AY 2024-25, MA elective)
- Anthropology of Japan (until AY 2023-24, MA elective)
- Listening and hearing in research (until AY 2023-24, PhD seminar)
- Performing arts of Japan. Tradition, diversity, and authenticity (BA seminar)
- Ethnography and Anthropology of Japan. Intimacy and the senses (BA seminar)
University lecturer
- Faculty of Humanities
- Leiden Institute for Area Studies
- SAS Japan
- Giolai A. Hojo T. 3 November 2023, Tomoko Hojo with Andrea Giolai. Artery. A podcast on art, authorship and anthropology s02e03 [podcast].
- Giolai A. (2022), Musical instruments in Nō: the warp and the weft. In: Boscolo Marchi M. (Ed.), Trame Giapponesi / Japanese tales. Venice: Antiga Edizioni. 75-98.
- Giolai A. (2021), Case study: the Matsuri as sonic event. In: Rambelli F., Baffelli E. & Castiglioni A. (Eds.), The Bloomsbury Handbook of Japanese Religions. Bloomsbury Handbooks. London: Bloomsbury Academic. 217-219.
- Giolai A., Takuwa S. & Masaaki U. (Eds.) (2021), 雅楽のイロイロを科学する本 / Toward a scientific study of the Gagaku world. Kyoto: Research Institute for Japanese Traditional Music.
- Giolai A. (2021), Hearing the past, sounding the text: on Gagaku as acoustic palimpsest. In: Giolai A., Takuwa S. & Ueno M. (Eds.), 雅楽のイロイロを科学する本 / Toward A Scientific Study of The Gagaku World . Kyoto: Research Institute for Japanese Traditional Music. i-xxiv.
- Giolai A. (2020), Il Gagaku al Teatro Nazionale di Tokyo (1966-2016). Fare e Disfare la Tradizione” (Gagaku at Tokyo National Theater (1966-2016). Doing and Undoing Tradition). In: Caroli R., Negri C. & Ruperti B. (Eds.), Sguardi sul Giappone. Venice: Libreria Editrice Cafoscarina. 255-272.
- Giolai A. (2020), Encounters with the past: fractals and atmospheres at Kasuga Wakamiya Onmatsuri, Journal of Religion in Japan 9(1-3): 213-247.
- Giolai A. (2019), Sensing the Music: Oral Mnemonics as a ‘Technique of Affective Sensitization’ in Japanese Court Music, Asian Anthropology 18(3): .
- Giolai A. (2018), Steps to an ecology of Gagaku: nature, place and sound in Japanese ‘court music'. In: Mariotti M., Novielli M.R., Ruperti B. & Vesco S. (Eds.), Rethinking nature in Post-Fukushima Japan: facing the crisis. Venice: Ca’ Foscari University Press. 49-69.
- Giolai A. (2017), Il Suono-Il Corpo-Il Cosmo. La Trasmissione del Sapere Dottrinale nel Canto Liturgico Buddhista Giapponese (Body-Sound-Cosmos. The Transmission of Doctrinal Knowledge in Japanese Buddhist Chant). In: Casadei Turroni Monti M. & Ruini C. (Eds.), Musica e Esperienza Religiosa. Milano: Franco Angeli. 102-118.
- Giolai A. (3 May 2017), Decentering Gagaku. Exploring the multiplicity of contemporary Japanese Court music (Dissertatie. Leiden University Institute for Area Studies (LIAS), Humanities, Leiden University). Supervisor(s) and Co-supervisor(s): Cwiertka K., Ruperti B.
- Giolai A. (2016), Passion Attendance: Becoming a ‘Sensitized Practitioner’ in Japanese Court Music, Antropologia e Teatro: Rivista di Studi 7: 244-266.
- Giolai A. (2013), Borders of Tradition: Social Innovation, Hybridity and Consumption of Traditional Music in Contemporary Japan. Asato W. & Aoyama K. (Eds.), Reconstruction of the Intimate and Public Spheres: Proceedings of the 5th Next-Generation Global Workshop. . Kyoto: Kyoto University. 601-613.