Bidasari: Jewel of Malay Muslim CultureJulian Millie The sly wit and silky eroticism of the verse genre known as romantic syair were staple dishes on the Southeast Asian cultural menu, especially in the Malay, Islamic regional centres. Yet very few examples are available in translation for the many readers interested in the genre, and attempts by academics to account for their powers of attraction are even rarer. This book is the author's effort to convey the seductive qualities of the sexiest of the romantic syair, the 'Poem of Bidasari'. Few Malay works have been loved and disseminated to the extent the Syair Bidasari has. It was translated in other languages of the region like Makassarese and Maranao and adapted for the Malay theatre and cinema. Three tasks are attempted in the book: a transliteration into Roman characters of one of the surviving Malay manuscripts of the poem, a translation of that manuscript into English, and an inquiry into the poem's virtues. The intertexts drawn upon in the analysis reveal the author's conviction that understanding of traditions of kesenian rakyat (popular arts) such as pantun and the Malay theatre provides the background that allows the text to signify most powerfully. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Part | 7 |
Evocation of performance genres | 237 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
adinda Ahmad akan Allah anak anakanda anakku ayahanda bagai baginda baginda raja baik bangsawan Barang Beberapa bercinta berjalan berkata bersabda berseri bertitah beta Bidasari chiefs child dada dalam cita dapat dayang Demilah dengan di dalam diberi diri duduk emas gerangan hamba hari hati hatinya hendak Hoƫvell istana jangan Janganlah Jikalau kakanda Karena kasih kata kemari kembali Kembayat kepada kita Klinkert lagi laki istri lakunya Lela Sari makota Malay Mandudari Mangkubumi manikam manuscript masuk mata memandang menangis menengar menteri menyembah merchant muda negeri nyata orang pada paduka pantun patik pergi prince princess pula pulang queen raja pestari Raja Putra rasanya Sambil sangat Sangatlah saudagar Sebab segala segera sekali sekalian sembah Semuanya sendiri seorang seperti seraya berkata serta servant Setelah Sinapati sirih Siti Bidasari stanza suatu sudah Sudahlah suka syair Syair Bidasari terlalu tersenyum tiada tiada terperi Tiadalah titah tuan putri tuanku tunduk wife