Sijobang: Sung Narrative Poetry of West Sumatra (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780521105057)

Sijobang - the singing of a poetic narrative about the legendary hero Anggun Nan Tungga - is a form of popular entertainment in the area around Payakumbuh, in the highlands of West Sumatra. Although the story exists as a written text, it is best known locally as drama and sung narrative, and it is its character as an oral performance that forms the subject of this book. Nigel Phillips begins by setting sijobang in its cultural and literary context, and then goes on to describe the social background and training of the paid storytellers who perform the narrative. He presents a summary of the story, and discusses its transient, fragmentary and unstandardized form. Transcriptions and translations of two recorded performances follow, leading into a description of sijobang's main linguistic and literary features. Finally, Dr Phillips examines in some detail the extent to which performances vary from one occasion to another, and what connection this may have with the storyteller's degree of experience.

Author: Nigel Phillips
ISBN-10: 0521105056
ISBN-13: 9780521105057
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 03/19/2009
Pages: 268
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.87lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.61d