Journey To The Narrative Spaces Of Malay Literature

Authors: Muhammad Haji Salleh
Publisher:  IIUM Press
ISBN: 9789674913519
Weight: 0.5 kg
Pages: 252
Year: 2024
Price: RM75

The courses I have taught in Malaysia, Michigan and Leiden further opened new doors to texts that I have not studied before this. And I was happy to have the opportunity to open these doors and discover their offerings. For many years I have entered into the different spaces of Malay literature itself. Among them are Sulalat al-Salatin, The Genealogy of Kings, the epics, the pantuns and hikayats. I have also been often invited to many conferences which required me to write essays on the different aspects of Malay literary works. Some of them I have gathered here as an example of this long journey into spaces of literary discovery. Initially, I have tried to decipher the mind of the author at the point of creation and composition, using prefaces of the main texts which often let us glimpse into concepts, forms, the imagination and their tradition. I have also tried to unfold the literary function of their works, as noted in this preface. The theme of love is a popular one indeed in the Malay hikayats and oral tales. Intrigued by the many romantic situation and characters I have tried to pursue the ways and means how this theme was described and dramatised. Many are the stages that are slowly unveiled before the audience as the story develops. Thus, I learnt to take cognisance of their various stages of expansion. The length of the journey is also a highlight of the transitional face of this literature. At least two writers have tried to find a way of describing their travels and gathered a vocabulary to describe the real places and people along the way. I considered these to be among the earliest modern literary works in the Archipelago. Among my most intimate of spaces is translation. Besides trying my hand at some of the more prominent works, like The Epic of Hang Tuah and The Genealogy of Kings, I have also tried to describe the many unique challenges in translating them from classical Malay into English and share them with my readers. In the next group of essays, I consider how the themes, performances, characters were shared not only among the Malay-speaking storytellers and performers, but also those from Burma, Thailand and Kampuchea. I also tried to show how some of the themes were borrowed and expanded in Southeast Asia.