Articles

The narrator’s image in Malay traditional prose and its evolution

Vostok/Oriens '2017, №4

DOI: 10.7868/S0869190817040069

 
Throughout the history of Malay literature any work of fiction has mentioned its virtual author called “yang empunya ceritera” or “sahib ul-hikayat” (“owner of the story” or “the one to whom this story belongs”) who had many points of contact and kinship with the semi-sacred character, dalang, puppeteer of the traditional shadow-play – wayang. In the 19th century the narrator’s image undergoes a certain transformation in the autobiography of the “father” of modern Malay literature – Abdullah bin Abdulkadir Munshi (1796–1854) where the author sometimes refers to himself as “owner of the story”, being mainly its protagonist, speaking in the first person. Progressively the meaning of this term changed. In the period of decline of the Malay manuscript tradition it usually denoted the actual owner of the manuscript – librarian, copyist or just anyone who acquired manuscripts for commercial or scientific purposes. On this axis of values, the narrator undergoes transformation, being no more an author of the book, a connoisseur storing the memory of the myths and legends of the past, to an owner of commercial rights to the manuscript in the legal sense of the word.

Keywords: Malay narrative prose, manuscripts, owner of the story, dalang, authorship

Pages: С. 56–66