INFLUENCE OF INDIANISATION ON THE LITERATURE AND PERFORMANCES IN INDONESIA AND MALAYSIA
Felyn Toh (14)
307
ABSTRACT
This paper seeks to examine the influence of Indianisation on the literature and performances in Indonesia and Malaysia. Indianisation has helped shaped the Malay language,
To a certain extent
INTRODUCTION TO HYPOTHESIS
Indianisation refers to the spread of the Indian culture to Southeast Asia. Investigations in the past thirty years indicate that rather than a process of cultural colonization, “Indian influences were selectively assimilated into a pre-existing, well-developed cultural base”.
Indian culture was diffused through the autochthonous societies of Southeast Asia, which is a form of syncretism. By a process
…show more content…
Several Indian languages including Bengali and Hindi are descended from Sanskrit. While the language is not widely spoken today, influences of this language can be seen across Southeast Asia.
1.1 Language
Malay is the national language of Malaysia and Indonesia. In Malaysia, it is called Bahasa Malaysia and in Indonesia, Bahasa Indonesia. The Malay of both countries comes from the Sanskrit-influenced Austronesian tongue, which came from contacts with India from the past. However, due to the influence of different colonial languages, the Indonesian and Malaysian registers of Malay are set apart by centuries of different vocabulary development. Despite that, it can be noted that Sanskrit has had and still continues to have a broad impact on the Malay language.
Malay is spoken by 240 million people across the Malacca Strait. Malay is the predominant language in both Malaysia and Indonesia and hence, the influence of Sanskrit on the Malay language is
…show more content…
It is inscribed on three faces in Pallava script. The Ye dharma hetu is a famous Sanskrit mantra widely used in ancient times. This inscription is evident of the influence of Indianisation in ancient Southeast Asia.
2. Literature
Malay folklore refers to a series of knowledge, traditions and taboos that have been passed down through many generations in oral, written and symbolic forms among the indigenous populations of Maritime Southeast Asia. It can be noted that Indonesia shares with Malaysia the heritage of classical Malay literature.
Kakawin are long narrative poems composed in Old Javanese, written in verse form with rhythms and metres derived from Sanskrit literature. The poems depict events and characters from Hindu mythology, which shows an Indian influence. However, the narratives are set in the local landscapes of the
The postcontact Indian was a far different creature than the pre-contact Indian, and the aberrations of those later societies can be laid to the effects of decimating diseases, and the pressures of war, alcohol, and technology.(Sale,321)
In India and World Civilizations by D.P. Singhal, the theme is “the cross-fertilization of cultures and the resultig new development” (Embree 451). The author uses artifacts from Mohejodaro and Yucatan, theories of Parmenides, and the revenue system of Ptolemaic Egypt (Embree 451). Singhal discusses the Hellenistic world and the Roman Empire and how it influenced artistic creativity in India. Singhal rejects the idea of Hellenistic and Roman art having any influence on Indian art. Despite having easy access to Christian sources, there isn’t any evidence of India being influenced by Christian thought, according to Singhal.
There are many cultural and societal influences that have made Hinduism vital to the region in which it originated. Hinduism can be traced to the Indus Valley Civilization that took place in 4000 BC to 2200 BC. India was a land of diverse cultures, religions, races and ethnicities. Hinduism was the unifying umbrella that brought peace to the land. The belief in Ahimsa or non-violence reduced warfare. In Ancient India, the caste system brought about social order but later this system decayed and gave rise to social ills. Many other cultures and invaders of the region influenced the development of Hinduism over the centuries. When the Indo-Europeans invaded India during 1500 to 500 BC, their religion of Vedas also greatly influenced the indigenous beliefs of Hinduism. Over 80% of Indians still practice Hinduism in modern India. The Hindus brought up in Hindu families are so steeped in the various Hindu traditions from infancy that they are totally imbibed into the Hindu religious system. The sages and seers over the ages held a prominent place in the religious beliefs of the region and their teachings of non-violence, unity, prayers and a life of righteousness have greatly influenced Hinduism.
One of the best things that British imperialism did for India was helping them to connect with the rest of the world through technology, science , and most important medicine since by that time Indian residents would be called “uncivilized” in different aspects such as the need for them to learn a better way of hygiene habits , how to prop...
History of the Malays resulted in two dance forms dances that are West Malaysia and Dances of Orang Asli. Unlike the Chinese, the Malays migrated as individuals. According to Madam Som said, despite migrating as individuals, they shared the same religion, which is Islam, guarded by the same cultural values and shared the same Malay language. The Malays migrated to Singapore to seek for economic opportunities from the British as they lack of economic power. As they migrate to Singapore to settle down, they performed and taught the locals of Singapore Malay Dance, cultural features of the sea nomads such as the Batak. Orang Asli started to fade away and the court traditions of Sumatra, Java and Malaya became irrelevant.
However, Malaysia has a different interpretation on race. The hierarchy of race was brought and introduced by the Dutch, Portuguese, and British colonies, but have changed based on the contemporary ideas. As previously before, people were placed on race based structures by using three categories: Chinese, Malay, and Indian. Based on your “race” you were placed in a certain category and
...nese control, a southern Vietnamese state, called Funan, spread out over much of Indochina and the Malay Peninsula—providing a trading and cultural circle for Indian merchants, Brahman priests, and Buddhist monks. This Indian influence continued even after the decline of Funan, as did Indian influence in the independent state of Tai and the Khmer Empire of Cambodia. Also drawing on Indian tradition and Sanskrit writing was the maritime empire of Srivijaya based on the island of Sumatra, and dominating the waters in that area and extending up to the Malay Peninsula. After 800 it was the early Indian form of Buddhism (called Theravada Buddhism) that dominated in Southeast Asia. Finally, it was not direct Indian control that was the key to the expansion of Indian culture, but an extension of trade and religious networks.
Evidence shows that Chinese civilization originated in the Yellow River basin (805). Indian civilization began in and around the Indus River valley. It is not remarkable that each of these great civilizations sprang from the land around a river system. Life is drawn to water, and seasonal floods often regenerate the soil around the watershed. The mo...
Pandey, T. N., 2014. Lecture 1/9/14: Culture of India: Aryan and Indigenous Population. Cultures of India. U.C. Santa Cruz.
The first aspect of language is vocabulary. Interestingly, Indonesian has some similar vocabulary like American, result...
BOSE, Sugata and JALAL Ayesha. Modern South Asia: history, culture, political economy. London, Routledge, 2011
When in 1978 Edward W. Said published his book Orientalism, it presented a turning point in post-colonial criticism. He introduced the term Orientalism, and talked about 2 of its aspects: the way the West sees the Orient and the way the West controls the Orient. Said gave three definitions of Orientalism, and it is through these definitions that I will try to demonstrate how A Passage to India by E. M. Forster is an Orientalist text. First, Said defined Orientalism as an academic discipline, which flourished in 18th and 19th century.
It was mostly used in religious literature, primarily during Vedic age, and the fact that most modern Indian languages have been directly derived from or strongly influenced by Sanskrit, the language and its literature is of great importance in Indian culture akin to that of Latin in European culture. Some Sanskrit literature such as the Yoga-Sutras of Patanjali and the Upanishads were translated into Arabic and Persian. The Panchatantra was also translated into Persian.
Platt, J. & Weber, H. (1980). English in Singapore and Malaysia: Status, Features, Functions. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press
Tagalog is ones of the many dialects derived from the Malay language family and belongs to the Malayan branch of the great Malayo-Polynesian linguistic family. The Malay language is not specifically a language of any nation, but of communities spread throughout the Pacific islands such as Sumara, Sunda, Java, Bornea, Flores, Timor, and the Philippines. In the early sixteenth century Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, and his Malay interpreter both noticed how the interpreter could easily be understood from one island to the next, indicating that there was a similarity between the different dialects of the Malay language.