Song text composition in Pinloin among the indigenous Jahai of Peninsular Malaysia : a local postmodernist approach?

Chan Clare Suet Ching,

QR Code Link :
Type :	article
Subject :	MT Musical instruction and study
ISSN :	2232-1020
Main Author :	Chan Clare Suet Ching,
Title :	Song text composition in Pinloin among the indigenous Jahai of Peninsular Malaysia : a local postmodernist approach?

Place of Production :	Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris
Year of Publication :	2016

Abstract :

The Jahai are one among 18 indigenous Orang Asli groups in peninsular Malaysia. They perform the traditional pinloin, a song and dance genre, during the pano ceremony (séances) and tree and fertility rituals. The song text and music of pinloin is taught to the Jahai halaq (shaman) by their chenoi (spirit guide) through dreams. Pinloin song text manifests the flora and fauna of the rainforest of Malaysia as depicted by the chenoi. Today (2016), the function of pinloin as a ritual enactment has shifted to a form of entertainment or cultural experience for tourists, visitors and visiting dignitaries. This change has resulted in a disruption in the transmission of the traditional pinloin song text. In this article, I argue that there is an increase in the use of the pastiche approach such as random sharing of fragments of song text, sporadic unfolding of narratives and little connection between the title and song text in pinloin song text compositions due to the influence of the ‘tourist gaze’. I support this argument by comparing Jahai song text form and composition technique in the early 20th century, late 20th century and early 21st century.

References

1. Benjamin. G. (2014). Temiar religion, 1964-2012: Enchantment, disenchantment and reenchantment in Malaysia’s uplands. Singapore: National University of Singapore (NUS) Press. 2. Best, E. (1924). The Māori (Memoirs of the Polynesian society, volume 5). Wellington: The Board of Maori Ethnological Research. 3. Brooke, C. (10 March 2011). Beautiful black and red broadbills. Retrieved from https://featuredcreature.com/wpcontent/uploads/2012/10/117392690.TG9r6H3X._ H4B8678a2.jpg. 4. Burenhult, N. (2005). A grammar of Jahai. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. 5. Carey, I. (1976). Orang Asli: The aboriginal tribes of Peninsular Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press. 6. Chan, C.S.C. (2012). Heterogeneity in the musical acquisition of the Orang Asli children from the Mah Meri and Semai groups. Malaysian Music Journal 2(1), pp.7-21. 7. Chan, C.S.C. (2015). Standardizing and exoticizing the Main Jo’ph for the tourist gaze. Asian Music Journal 46 (2), pp. 89-126. 8. Chan, C.S.C, & Lim, S. L. (2016). Jahai music and dance in Malaysia: Sustaining heritage and identity. Unpublished research (Univerity Research Grant). Tanjong Malim: Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris. 9. Cohen, E. (1979). A phenomenology of tourist experiences. Sociology 13, 179-201. Cohen, E. (1985). Tourism as play. Religion 15, 291-304. 10. Culler, J. (1981). Semiotics in tourism. American Journal of Semiotics 1, 127-40. Davidson, G.W.H, Phillipps, K. & Kamis, A. (1989). Pengenalan burung-burung di Malaysia. Selangor: Federal Publications Sdn. Bhd. 11. Dentan, R. K. (1997). Malaysia and the “original people”: A case study of the impact of development on indigenous peoples. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. 12. Endicott, K. (Ed.). (2014). Malaysia's original people: Past, present and future of the Orang Asli. Singapore: National University of Singapore (NUS) Press. 13. Evans, I. H. N. (1968). The Negritos of Malaya. London: Frank Cass and Company Limited. (Original work published 1937). 14. Harvey, D. (1990). The condition of postmodernity: An enquiry into the origins of cultural change. Oxford [England]: Blackwell. 15. Herskovits, M. J., & Herskovits, F. S. (1947). Trinidad village. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf. 16. Jeyarajasingam, A. (2012). A field guide to the birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 17. Jumper, R.D.L.(2001). Death waits in the "dark": The Senoi Praaq, Malaysia's killer elite. Westport. Conn,: Greenwood Pub. Group. 18. Khairuddin Hj. Kamaruddin (2001). Tumbuhan tempatan Malaysia: Kaitannya dengan nama tempat. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. 19. Krakauer, J. W., & Shadmehr, R. (2006). Consolidation of motor memory. Trends in Neurosciences 29, 58–64. doi:10.1016/j.tins.2005.10.003. 20.Kramer, J. (2002). The nature and origins of musical postmodernism. In Lochhead, J. & Auner, J. (Eds), Postmodern music/ Postmodern thought (pp.13-26). New York, NY and London: Routledge. 21. MacCannell, D. (1989). The tourist, 2nd ed. London: Macmillan. 22. Marx, K. (1967). Economic and philosophic manuscripts of 1844. Moscow: Progress Publishers. 23.Mastin, L. (2010). Memory recall. Retrieved from http://www.humanmemory. net/processes_recall.html. 24. Merriam, A. P., & d’ Azevedo, L. H. C. (1957). Washo Peyote song. American Anthropologist 59, 615-614. 25. Merriam, A. P. (1964). The anthropology of music. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press. 26. Oesch, H., & Musikwissenschaftliches Institut (Basel). (1977). An Anthology of South-East Asian Music: 5. Music of the Negrito of Malacca. - Ca. 1977. Kassel: Bärenreiter- Musicaphon. 27. Robson, C. (2008). A field guide to the birds of Southeast Asia. London, Cape Town, Sydney, Auckland: New Holland Publishers. 28. Roseman, M. (1998) (partly based on manuscript by Hans Oesch). The indigenous peoples (Orang Asli) of the Malay Peninsula. In Miller, T. E. & Williams, S. (Eds.), Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Volume 4: Southeast Asia. New York, NY: Garland Publication. 29. Miller, T. E., & Willams, S. (Eds.). (2008) The Garland handbook of Southeast Asian music. New York, NY & London: Routledge. 30. Nettl, B. (1954). Notes on musical composition in primitive culture. Anthropological Quarterly 27, 81-90. 31. Nettl, B. (1956). Music in primitive culture. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 32. Nettl, B. (2005). The study of ethnomusicology: Thirty-one issues and concepts. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 33. Nicholas, C. (2000). The Orang Asli and the contest for resources: Indigenous politics, development, and identity in Peninsular Malaysia. Copenhagen: International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. 34. Nketia, J. H. K. (1982). Developing contemporary idioms out of traditional music. Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, T. 24, Supplementum: Report of the Musicological Congress of the International Music Council, pp. 81-97. 35. Ong, W. (2010). Securing the population from insurgency and subversion in the second Emergency (1968-1981). PhD Dissertation. University of Exeter. 36. Ratos, A. (1986). The Orang Asli of Malaya. Kuala Lumpur: Maxwell School. (Original work published 1957). 37. Roseman, M. (1991). Healing sounds from the Malaysian rainforest: Temiar music and medicine. Berkeley: University of California Press. 38. Schebesta, P. (1973). Among the forest dwarfs of Malaya. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press. (Original work published 1928). 39. Skeat, W. W., & Blagden, C.O. 1906. Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula (Vol. 2). London: Macmillan. 40. Sweeney, A. (1994). Malay word music: A celebration of oral creativity. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kementerian Pendidikan, Malaysia. 41. The Department of Statistic Malaysia. (2010). Population distribution and basic demographic characteristic report 2010. Retrieved from https://www.statistics.gov.my/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=117&bul_id =MDMxdHZjWTk1SjFzTzNkRXYzcVZjdz09&menu_id=L0pheU43NWJwRWVS ZklWdzQ4TlhUUT09. 42. The Department of Orang Asli Development (JAKOA). (2010). Aboriginal population breakdown by ethnic and sub-ethnic groups of peninsular Malaysia. Unpublished report. 43. Urry, J. (2002). The tourist gaze. London: Sage Publications.

This material may be protected under Copyright Act which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials.
You may use the digitized material for private study, scholarship, or research.

Back to previous page