An Anthology of Traditional Malay Literature

Edited by MUHAMMAD HAJI SALLEH

Penerbit UM (First Published, 2023)
472 pages including Bibliography and Index

RM85.00

In stock

ISBN: 9789674882594 Product ID: 36510 Subjects: , Sub-subjects: ,

An Anthology of Traditional Malay Literature is a collection of poetry and fiction, legal digests, epistles and religious treatises, narrated, sung or written in the Malay language, in the Malay Archipelago. This language was and is widespread in the Malay Peninsula, Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, in Kalimantan, (Indonesian Borneo), including Pontianak, Ketapang, Sintang, Banjarmasin, Kutai and Samarinda. It was the lingua franca for most of Insular Southeast Asia and even in parts of Continental Southeast Asia, and to be found in Southern Thailand, in the provinces of Satun, Patani and Nakorn Sithammarat, and some islands in Southern Philippines. This time-span of traditional Malay literature covers a period from the earliest beginnings of oral works, through the inscriptions on stone and metal, and through further developments in oral storytelling, the advent of writing. In the decades of the 18th and 19th centuries a collision with western colonial powers and their cultures has resulted in a literature that reflected this traumatic confrontation and also, the so-called ‘modern’ elements. Along with this too we notice the rise of the new genres of the report, the travelogue, the autobiography and biography, which interestingly are prominent antecedents of modern literature.

For scholars of Malay literature in the region the great oral bulk of stories and poems are as important and are as sophisticated as the written ones. Here too are to be found the roots, the early concepts, the prevailing aesthetics and also the different styles and art of narration. While oral literature began with the settling of the land many centuries ago it is also at present, in many places, especially those far away from the big cities, still quite alive. Stories are being told, poems sung and incantations repeated in everyday rituals or everyday situations. In Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang for instance, there are still some performances of the makyung dance-drama, while in Kelantan and Johor the wayang kulit, puppet theatre, is staged, though quite infrequently now. In the meantime, pantuns, the all-time favourite four-line verse form, are at present still quite robust.

While surviving as their roles as lullabies, verses for wooing, and proverbs, they are aggressively colonizing cyber space. What scholars of Malay literature consider to be oral literature would now include many different forms and genres, from the so-called ‘soother of woes’ stories, or penglipur lara, to the proverbs, mantras, pantuns, legends, comic and animal tales. While these are essentially narrated to entertain, they also provide much practical instruction, guidance for living, and moral lessons for those who would seek them, for many were/are those who found their moral lessons from literature. As its very name indicates, it is oral, not only in its composition but also in its narration and essential characteristics. The narrative devices used are, subsequently, oral too—like repetition of lines and sounds, a beauty culled from the music of language, where stock phrases and description are among its main features.

A Quid of Betel: An Introduction
Oral Literature

LEGENDS
Langkawi: The Curse of Mahsuri

STORIES OF ORIGINS
The Origin of Bubu Mountain and Hijau Mountain
The Opening of the State of Palembang
Princess of the Giant Bamboo
Dayang Isah of Tandang Sari

ANIMAL TALES
Sang Kanchil and the River Otters
The Sky is Falling
Kongkang/Slow Loris

THE SOOTHER OF WOES STORIES
Hikayat Awang Sulong Merah Muda
Hikayat Inderaputera
Panglimo Awang by Pak Ganti
Sijobang
Hikayat Malim Deman
The Story of Captain Manis (Nakhoda Manis)

EPICS
Hikayat Ser Rama
Hikayat Hang Tuah
The Duel between Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat

THE DANCE-DRAMA, MAKYUNG
The Magic Kite, Dewa Muda
A Makyung Legend; Raja Gondang
Makyung Maharisi Burung Jerijit

THE WAYANG KULIT
Wayang Kulit/ Malay Shadow Play
Contemporary Mek Ulung .
The Wayang Kulit of Kelantan: Jintan Mas

COMIC TALES
Pak Kadok
Pak Pandir
Si Lunchai

PROVERBS
Malay Proverbs
More Malay Proverbs
Proverbs from Beyond the Peninsula

THE PANTUN FROM THE ARCHIPELAGO AND BEYOND
Pantuns
Pantuns from the Peninsula and Eastern Sumatera
More Pantuns

SYAIR
Syair Siti Zubaidah Perang Cina
The Syair of Wage-Cuts
Syair Mukomuko
Syair Sinyor Kosta
Syair Sultan Maulana

ORAL/TRADITIONAL LITERATURE
The Guritan of Raden Suane
Malay Charms

GURINDAM
Gurindam Dua Belas

INSCRIPTIONS
The Kedukan Bukit Inscription (Palembang)
The Talang Tuwo Inscription (Palembang)
The Kota Kapur Inscription (Bangka)

THE LETTERS
Letter from the Sultan of Acheh to King James 1 of England
Letter from the Captain Laut of Buton to the Governor General at Batavia
Letter from the King of Jambi to the Governor General at Batavia
Letter from the Raja Bendahara Paduka Sri Maharaja of Birni to the English Captain at Jambi
Letter from Pangeran Nata Negara of Sumenep to James Clark, Resident of Sumenep, 29 April 1815
Letter of Haji Abdul Rahman of Banjarmasin to Hendrik, Posthouder of Muara Pantuil

BIOGRAPHY AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Hikayat Nakhoda Muda, Memoirs of a Malayan Family
Hikayat Perintah Negeri Benggala, A Journey to Kolkota

MALAY HISTORIES
Hikayat Raja-Raja Pasai
Sulalat al-Salatin/Sejarah Melayu. Ms 18 in The Royal Asiatic Society, London
Sang Naya’s Rebellion against the Portuguese in Melaka
Merong Mahawangsa
Tuhfat al Nafis (The Precious Gift)
Hikayat Banjar
Hikayat Patani

LITERATURE OF LEGAL DIGESTS AND GOVERNANCE
Bustanu’s Salatin
The Maritime Laws of Melaka
The Laws of Melaka

LEARNING FROM THE WORLD
Hikayat Panji Semirang
Hikayat Muhammad Hanafiah, The Story of Muhammad Hanafiyyah
The Story of Sultan Ibrahim Ibn Adham

Bibliography
Index

Weight0.5 kg
Dimensions22 × 14 × 2 cm
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