|
DEATH OF THE LOCAL FOLKTALE?
Sunday Star, StarMag, Aug 28, 2005
Cultural colonialism, it’s been called, when shoot-em-up Hollywood movies are more popular than locally made ones, when burgers are what kids reach for rather than roti canai. BRIGITTE ROZARIO finds out our rich tradition of local folktales is in danger of being ‘colonised’, too.
STEP into any bookshop in Malaysia. Chances are you’re going to see lots of foreign children’s books. Local books for children tend to be schoolbooks, exercise and revision books.
What about folktales?
If you can find any such books, chances are they won’t be as attractive as the colourful and beautifully illustrated foreign books sitting next to them.
Are Malaysians abandoning Sang Kancil and Pak Pandir for Mulan and Beauty and the Beast?
|
|
Are children losing interest in local folktales? |
|
Shamini Dias, an arts educator who uses storytelling in her work, says there is definitely a dearth of locally written and published books on local folktales that can compete against the beautiful editions from foreign publishers.
“If you ask most people, they may recall Sang Kancil or Badang stories but only from their English or Bahasa Melayu textbooks in school,” says Dias.
She believes this dearth is due to a lack of awareness that Malaysia has a wonderful, rich tradition of folktales. “When we begin to publish local tales with beautiful illustrations, and strong editing, and we have better market placement of these books, I think you will find consumer tastes changing.
“Like most consumer tastes, the preference for foreign stories is an outcome of marketing. It’s not just a preference for foreign stories per se – it’s whatever has enough marketing drive behind it to build visibility. If you look at the kind of foreign stories that are popular, they are the ones with big marketing budgets, those linked to films, games and toys.
“Very few people had read J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings until the film was made – then I had students telling me about this ‘cool new writer!’ (Rings was first published in 1954.) And more children will tell you The Little Mermaid is Ariel (from the Disney animated film) rather than the (Hans Christian) Andersen version. When I work with children, often their imagination is peopled by characters from Disney and television series,” says Dias.
Racial boundaries
Most of the local folktale books are sold directly to libraries and schools, says Dr Azlena Zainal, a lecturer at Universiti Sains Malaysia’s School of Humanities.
Azlena is currently writing a paper on local children’s folktales. While researching for it, she was amazed at the variety of available material.
“The problem here is probably caused by several issues. For one thing, local folktales tend to be racially based. We have Malay folktales, Indian folktales, Chinese folktales. Whether we like it or not, people tend to identify with their own culture. This limits the appeal of local folktales. While Snow White will appeal to all racial groups because it is seen as ‘universal’, Badang and Hikayakat Puteri Kayangan would appeal more to the Malays. Although we live in a multi-racial society, we do not subscribe to a ‘melting pot’ system like that in Western cultures.”
She agrees with Dias that many local books in the market are not appealing. The storyline is set in remote periods (many Western folktales are set in remote periods as well but the writers clearly describe the setting to make it real to the readers). The language is very formal and does not appeal to children and their sense of humour. The books are not printed on glossy paper nor are there many attractive illustrations.
Meanwhile, Western folktales, thanks to the big animation movie houses, are aggressively promoted. Storylines are sometimes diluted or changed to suit contemporary values (to the criticism of many adults). Movies and videos increase the popularity of these folktales. The sale of all manner of paraphernalia such as mugs, T-shirts, toys, duvets and bags appeal to children.
Azlena believes this is why many children are familiar with the likes of Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, and the Hunchback of Notre Dame. “We lack that kind of promotion with our local folktales. As the Malay saying goes ‘Tak kenal, maka tak cinta’ (you can’t love what you are not familiar with),” she says.
What to do?
Everyone agrees that something needs to be done to archive and document local folktales before they are lost forever.
“These stories might (re-emerge) in a different medium,” points out Silverfish Books owner Raman Krishnan hopefully. “It might be in a digital medium, or a video or a TV series. It would be very sad if they are lost altogether,” says Raman.
Dias believes that losing these stories would mean losing cultural richness and diversity. “When that happens we will have to face the negative consequences – imaginative reduction, homogeneous minds and imaginations, a greying out of human colour. It would be sad beyond belief.
“But maybe there’s hope ... if ‘ethnic living’ and ‘the rustic home decor’ are lifestyle trends, maybe local tales might catch on ....”
Publishers must be willing to invest in local folktales, suggests Azlena.
“Make them big, bright and appealing. The sales of the paraphernalia alone would cover publishing costs. Bookstores must offer more space for local folktales. Promote them. Hold competitions with book launches and tie the marketing to big fast food restaurant names. The adventures of Sang Kancil would be brilliant for this purpose,” she says.
Azlena believes that children’s book writers should also write with children in mind. The language, the plots and the way the message is put across must appeal to children.
They should not be preoccupied with moral lectures. Let the moral values be transmitted indirectly, says Azlena. There is a multitude of lessons that one can learn from a local folktale, history, culture, norms and belief system.
“For example, when you are born Malay, you are not given a manual on how to become a good Malay. The lessons of do’s and don’ts are picked up through verbal interactions and from stories of this nature,” says Azlena.
“You learn from Tanggang that being disrespectful to your mother is totally unacceptable in the Malay culture. You learn that if you spend your day daydreaming like Mak Jenin, you will not earn anything.
“Personally, I think the outlook is not all doom and gloom. With creative marketing and strategies, local folktales could be equally popular as foreign folktales. Who can resist a good story!” she adds.
Copyright Star Publications (M) Bhd
Related stories:
Have a Tale to Tell?
Stories to Grow up With
ALSO:
Help for bad knees, September 25, 2006
One of the 'famous five', September 24, 2006
Tribal treasures on show, September 17, 2006
Common thread, September 11, 2006
Motivational tools, August 13, 2006
Thumbs up for Hammer and humour, July 9, 2006
Booking her way to health, June 4, 2006
How it all adds up, May 21, 2006
A web of interests, April 30, 2006
No limit to ideas, March 26, 2006
Small wonder, March 19, 2006
Powered by books, Feb 26, 2006
What's in a bag?, Jan 8, 2006
Making a list, checking it twice, Jan 1, 2006
Versatile reader, Dec 25, 2005
Memories of Xmas past, Dec 25, 2005
Affordable art by Masters, Dec 18, 2005
The alchemy of jewellery, Dec 18, 2005
Fantasy reigns supreme, Nov 6, 2005
Preeti lifelike, Oct 29, 2005
Words to examine her soul by, Oct 23, 2005
Growing need for online remedy, Oct 9, 2005
Yearning for learning, Oct 9, 2005
Lim laughs and learns, Oct 2, 2005
From Thumbelina to Middlesex, Sept 25, 2005
Raving about retro, July 17, 2005
A Beary nice era, indeed, July 17, 2005
Λ back
to top |
|
