Dr. Noridah Kamari delivered a 60-minute webinar on “Sejarah Sastera dalam Dunia Kritikan Sastera Melayu: Kelebihan dan Keterbatasannya” (History of Literature in The World of Malay Literary Criticism: Its Strengths and Limitations). It was the third Wacana Warisan Series (WWS) webinar in 2022, organised by the Malay Heritage Foundation (MHF). Dr. Noridah is a Ph.D. holder in Malay Literature from the University of Science, Malaysia (USM). She is presently the co-owner and publisher of a Malay literary publishing outfit, Unggun Creative. Her collection of poems, entitled Gigi Nadim Masih Rongak, was published in 2020.
Saturday, 28 May 2022 — Dr. Noridah Kamari was the third WWS guest speaker invited this year. She was introduced to the virtual audiences by MHF Vice-Chairman Dr. Azhar Ibrahim. Dr. Noridah shared that her webinar comprised three parts – (1) History of Literature in The World of Malay Literary Criticism, (2) Its Strengths and Limitations, and (3) A Case Study of 19th Century Literary History.
Dr. Noridah shared that literary criticism refers to the practice of studying, evaluating, and interpreting concrete works of literature as an individual. It includes practical criticism such as impressionist criticism and judicial criticism, where the emphasis is on the language of the text rather than its author. The objective of practical criticism is to encourage an individual(s) to concentrate on ‘the words on the page’ rather than rely on preconceived beliefs about a text. In addition, Dr. Noridah also mentioned historical critique, biographical critique, sociological critique, and psychological critique. According to Hashim Awang, she said that literary history is the study of works in chronological order.
Dr. Noridah proceeded to list down the different stages of literacy appreciation, simply the ability to understand, enjoy and evaluate. In other words, it is a means of understanding all the nuances that are very prevalent in literary works, be it drama, prose, or poetry. Also, it should not be confused with literary criticism. For individuals to pull this off successfully, they must put the following principles in proper perspective, which consists of the context of the text, structure of the text, device used by the writer and their effectiveness, the setting of the text, and the central ideas or themes which the text symbolises.
Dr. Noridah explained that the main task of literary history is to place literary works in a tradition, which requires skills and knowledge. The study of literary history is often seen as a branch of comparative literature and emphasises narrative dimensions and perspectives beyond the past and future from a present perspective. This means that someone has to update literary history writing from time to time.
Dr. Noridah also touched on literary history in comparative literary discourse, which can be characterised as a dialogue transcending time and era boundaries. This dialogue exists because researchers in a contemporary time frame with new knowledge face the shortcomings and limitations of the old, traditional ways of writing literary history.
Dr. Noridah next shared a quote by R. O. Winstedt (1939), extracted from the book “A History of Classical Malay Literature”. Winstedt said that “anyone who surveys the field of Malay Literature will be struck by the amazing abundance of its foreign flora and the rarity of indigenous growths”. According to Dr. Noridah, the view that colonial powers are the centre of the historical writings is the earliest European worldview in Malay history. The trend to put their history over the top of Malay history seemed rampant and expanded more rapidly. They even placed their colonial power at the paramount of the record, although they were actually the minor players in some affairs and occasions. They were somewhat biased towards upgrading their presence in the Malay region and degrading the invaded people and their historical writings, which are evident in the quote by Winstedt.
Dr. Noridah also shared that Hikayat Seri Rama is often mentioned and placed under the Singapore-Malay literature without any apparent reasons. Traditional literary tales passed on by word of mouth are undoubtedly challenging to identify the exact date or put a time stamp. Additionally, the account stemmed from the Indian literature, and there is no evidence to state the tales took place in Singapore. The justification for placing Indian-influenced literary materials here was because Singapore at that time was a kingdom and had yet to embrace Islam.
Dr. Noridah also referenced Hikayat Jawa, especially Hikayat Panji Kuda Semirang, Hikayat Cekel Waneng Pati dan Hikayat Misa Gumitar, are under the Literature of Malacca, while these tales may have been produced in Java and brought into Malacca through the migration journey of the narrators. She stressed that through this example, as a result of human migration and unclear state boundaries, literary works placed under a city could also be owned by another at the same time. The organisation of these works and figures are also mixed and unclear.
A closing Q&A session followed the third WWS webinar in 2022. Dr. Azhar moderated this segment, and Dr. Noridah addressed several questions from the virtual audience who tuned in via Zoom and Facebook Live.
WWS comprises a series of webinars to encourage the development of new and alternative approaches to understanding Malay history, economy, politics, society, and culture. Beyond the clichés and convenient mainstream narratives lie many lesser-known facts about the Malay community in Singapore.
The 2022 season comprises six different speakers delivering exciting topics on legacy discourse. Participants who register and attend via Zoom for at least five sessions are issued a Certificate of Attendance. WWS webinars are available in either English or Malay. Three more WWS sessions are being scheduled this year.
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