A NEW WAVE OF INDIAN INSPIRATION: Translations from Urdu in Malay Traditional Literature and Theatre

1The authors are most grateful to Rosemary Robson-McKillop for her invaluable help in revising the English text of this article and to Dr Jan van der Putten for his useful comments on an earlier draft. View all notes

In the late 19th century the Malay world experienced a new impact of artistic stimuli from Islamic India. This not only brought to life half a dozen literary works, translation-adaptations from Urdu (Hikayat Gul Bakawali, Syair Indra Sebaha, Hikayat Sultan Bustamam, Hikayat Ganja Mara and some others), but also considerably enriched histrionic culture of the region, in particular through the creation of the Wayang Bangsawan theatre. The influential Indo-Malay community, Jawi Peranakan, played the role of cultural brokers in this process; the Indian Parsi theatre was its major medium. By studying in detail the extant bio-data of translators from Urdu, prototypes and principles of their translations, the history of the Parsi theatre in the Malay world and literary-theatrical interactions within it, the article reveals the paradoxical nature of the new wave of Indian inspiration. On the one hand, this wave contributed a great number of innovations to Malay culture, thus stimulating its modernisation; on the other hand, together with the burgeoning number of lithographs, it marked the beginning of a new (if final) era of flowering of traditional Malay literature. Another issue discussed in the article is the significance of this relatively well-documented stage of the Indo-Malay cultural interface for a better understanding of its earlier stages (for instance in Malacca of the 15th to 16th century or in 17th century Aceh), information of which is still scarce and uncertain.