Tanggapan Pengarang Riau terhadap budaya bandar di Pulau Jiran
This is a study of Syair Ghayat al-Muna, a poem written by Abu Muhammad Adnan, a member of the nobility in Pulau Penyengat and an intellectual of the Riau Islands. He wrote or translated the poem for the burgeoning printing industry in Singapore. This indigenous printing industry was in the hands...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2007
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/1106/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/1106/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/1106/1/Tanggapan_Pengarang_Riau_terhadap_Budaya_Bandar_di_Pulau_Jiran.pdf |
| Summary: | This is a study of Syair Ghayat al-Muna, a poem written by Abu Muhammad
Adnan, a member of the nobility in Pulau Penyengat and an intellectual of the Riau Islands. He wrote or translated the poem for the burgeoning printing
industry in Singapore. This indigenous printing industry was in the hands of
several ethnic groups, contributing to the forging of new identities, such as the
Javanese, Indian Muslims and later, Malays from the islands. However,
competition from the colonial and capital-intensive printing firms eventually
proved too stiff, and Malay printing petered out (for the time being). The
indigenous lithographic presses were located at Kampung Gelam, near Rochor
River, where the Muslim trade and pilgrimage firms were concentrated, and
with which the printing was intimately connected. In Singapore a hybrid culture
rapidly developed during this period. Foreign books and magazines circulated
freely and Malay translations appeared on the book market. Several new hybrid
art forms appeared and rose to popularity, such as Baba pantuns, film and
bangsawan theatre. The syair discussed here should be interpreted in relation
and as a reaction to the developing urban culture that had spilled over onto
neighbouring islands: it was written or translated for the printing industry and
the story was part of the repertoire of the bangsawan theatre. Furthermore, the
way the story is presented, with personification of the different parties involved
in the literary process (narrator, pen, ink, etc.) and with the inclusion of
illustrations in the manuscript to support the story visually, is reminiscent of
Syed Sheikh al-Hadi’s book published in the 1920s. Therefore, a discussion
about the originality of his Hikayat Faridah Hanom should not only be focused
on the Arabic original, but should more importantly look into the cultural
atmosphere in Singapore at the turn of the century |
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