Friday, April 26, 2013

My voice : Hikayat



Les légendes et folklores. Les souvenirs des le monde anciennes
Hikayat. Garuda. Puteri. Voyages fantastiques.
Nous perdons, et nous perdons une partie intrinsèque de nous

                                                                                                  ninotaziz



legends and folklores
hikayat, syair dan wayang
memories of ancient days
magical, whimsical

almost gone

storytellers
penglipurlara, pak dalang, mak yong
held court with wit
timeless wisdom

almost extinct

legendary heroes
hang tuah, che siti, santubong
larger than life
tragicly ridiculed

almost irrelevant

ancient kingdoms
campa, majapahit, melaka, langkasuka
lessons from the past
forgotten, therefore

sadly repeated

almost annihilated



by ninotaziz
__________________________


Victoria over at dVerse encourages us to give in to our voice today.

I use my voice to revive legends of the ancient Malay kingdoms. And to stress its importance to our sense of self, continuity and people.

At the International Congress of Asian Folklore in Jogjakarta this June, I hope to emphasize the need to provide new content for Asian folklore with my paper entitled Reviving Ancient Folklore Through Historical Fiction.




8 comments:

  1. This is just great... and I love the end... (and sad) ... names I should learn more about. And the video is just awesome

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    1. I am glad you liked it, Björn. I love the gamelan orchestra and grab any opportunity to perform.

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  2. i hear you in this..our stories are important..and how they inform our lives and actions as well...storytelling is def a lost art...in many places...i def want to be one though and capture those stories for my fam...

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    1. Oh yes, Brian. You are a storyteller first, then only poet extraordinaire. No, even in your poetry, you always tell us stories.

      Definitely why I started retelling and rewriting folklores, Brian. For my daughters.

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  3. I enjoyed this so much--the blend of cultures, the music, and, of course the poems. I guess I never realized that you write in French as well and that makes me happy. I welcome anything in French.

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    1. Thank you Victoria. Through cross borders initiatives, I can help my culture survive. It is beautiful, yet faces many challenges.

      I love the French for their pursuit of culture. A group of French poets led by V Hugo and Verlaine promoted the pantoun which was based on the Malay pantun back in the 19th century. H Faucconier's Les Malaisie won the French highest literary award the Goncourt Prize in the 1930s. And Francois Rene Daillie wrote the book Alam Pantun Melayu which is so inspiring to me.

      Writing in French helps me express my appreciation.

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  4. I loved the sound of reading these unfamiliar words - that I don't know them added to the sense of something being lost.

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  5. this is awesome...and it is sad that so many cultures and also traditions get forgotten with the years

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