A medicine of sweetmeats; On the power of Malay narrative
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2850871 |
|---|---|
| Authors | G L Koster (1. [email protected]), H M J Maier, Henk Maier |
| Year | 1985 |
| Volume | 141 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 441-461 |
| Publication date | 1985-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Bijdragen tot de taal- land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0006-2294 • E-ISSN: 2213-4379 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1163/22134379-90003376 |
| OpenAlex | W2069242523 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 7 |
Introduction In the 18th century, the coastal areas around the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea presented the picture of a motley variety of petty states constantly engaged in struggles for power, wealth or survival in ever changing configurations and alliances. For foreigners and natives alike this political fragmentation must have been quite bewildering. In spite of this heterogeneity, however, a unifying bond continued to provide a certain cohesion: Malayness. Similar political notions and concepts, similar customs and rituals, the same religion, Islam, the same language, and the same textual tradition provided the Malays dispersed over this vast area with a common identity. Both in this area as a whole and in its constituent parts, the negeri (state), it was this Malayness which served as a common bond and permanent cohesive factor. In the present article we will focus on one component of the Malay textual tradition, notably narrative texts, to show that all stories, the more serious as well as the more playful ones, were exemplary. This exemplariness, it will be argued, allowed them to express and confirm the Malay identity and strengthen the cohesion of Malay life and society. The power of the texts is an ambiguous one: they may not only be regarded as providing examples for imitation, but can also albeit not without risks be read as reflections of Malay reality
Aesthetics · Art · Cohesion (chemistry · Elite · Linguistics · Mainstream · Malay · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · Asian Studies and History · Education and Islamic Studies · History · Law · Linguistic, Cultural, and Literary Studies · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,05 |
| Citation span | 1986 - 1992 (7) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |