Singing Hokkien and Collective Effervescence
Sometimes when I look in the mirror I wonder who the ang mo (caucasian) is. Sunday I had a similar experience at the 74th Anniversary combined worship at Paya Lebar Chinese Methodist Church. As we sang the Hokkien songs (I used the Romanized text) I was feeling proud to be Hokkien. Wow, all our voices so nice, blending together, so beautiful. When my colleague gave announcements in Hokkien I followed in English. Well, I sort of designed the service. But someone after thought I was interpreting Hokkien into English. Mei banfa. Wo bu dong.
No, I enjoy my Hokkien and other Chinese friends, but my ancestry is from the other end of the Euro-Asian landmass. My mother was English and my father German (Volga Deutsche), and the two spoken languages I tried to learn in my youth are German and Spanish, not Chinese.
But back to the combined service at PLCMC, I am interested in the experience of solidarity evoked by that congregational singing. There I was, a U.S. citizen, a "farmboy" from California, a descendent of German farmers, singing along with folks from southern China and feeling like I was one with them. I was even beginning to catch the familial longings, that all the children and youth should have been there to catch the joy of the moment.
"Collective effervescence" was an expression coined by the French sociologist Emile Durkheim, to show how the activities of a group gathering together into close proximity, and singing or chanting enthusiastically or engaged in other passionate activities can lead to "an extraordinary degree of exaltation". A similar experience of collective effervescence can occur with the energy of a contemporary worship service, a political rally or a small town harvest festival. One of the greatest results of any such experience is that people go away still singing the theme song, quoting the key phrase, practicing the moves and talking among themselves how they can't wait for the next time. One function of this effervescence is to strengthen the social bond of the community.
Leaders of congregations and other groups concerned about maintaining strong social cohesion need to focus, in part, on the structure and energy these gatherings. How much better than arm-twisting and cajoling individuals to come back than to hear them say, "I'm so glad I came. I can't wait to come back."
No, I enjoy my Hokkien and other Chinese friends, but my ancestry is from the other end of the Euro-Asian landmass. My mother was English and my father German (Volga Deutsche), and the two spoken languages I tried to learn in my youth are German and Spanish, not Chinese.
But back to the combined service at PLCMC, I am interested in the experience of solidarity evoked by that congregational singing. There I was, a U.S. citizen, a "farmboy" from California, a descendent of German farmers, singing along with folks from southern China and feeling like I was one with them. I was even beginning to catch the familial longings, that all the children and youth should have been there to catch the joy of the moment.
"Collective effervescence" was an expression coined by the French sociologist Emile Durkheim, to show how the activities of a group gathering together into close proximity, and singing or chanting enthusiastically or engaged in other passionate activities can lead to "an extraordinary degree of exaltation". A similar experience of collective effervescence can occur with the energy of a contemporary worship service, a political rally or a small town harvest festival. One of the greatest results of any such experience is that people go away still singing the theme song, quoting the key phrase, practicing the moves and talking among themselves how they can't wait for the next time. One function of this effervescence is to strengthen the social bond of the community.
Leaders of congregations and other groups concerned about maintaining strong social cohesion need to focus, in part, on the structure and energy these gatherings. How much better than arm-twisting and cajoling individuals to come back than to hear them say, "I'm so glad I came. I can't wait to come back."
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