‘Play And Playing’- Cross-reading The East-coast Bajau’s Ritual Performances as A Traditional Theater Performance

Sharifuddin Zainal and Mohd Kipli Abd Rahman and Esterlina Moo Chin Len Lazarus and Muhamed Syafiq Salleh and Amsalib Pisalie and Mohamad Nor Hisyam Musa (2023) ‘Play And Playing’- Cross-reading The East-coast Bajau’s Ritual Performances as A Traditional Theater Performance. Gendang Alam, 13 (1). pp. 1-13. ISSN 2180-1738

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Abstract

The East-Coast Bajau ethnic group is clustered into the Bajau Laut ethnic division. Having a sea centered belief, the spirits of ancestor (Keombo’an) and the spirits of nature - these formerly pagan ethnic groups have achieved a syncretism of beliefs since the emergence of Islam. These changes in beliefs have been a factor in the occurrence of liminal processes; in their practice and beliefs of the sacred traditional healing ritual performances to the more secular form of traditional theater. The terms of 'play and playing' is a familiar term and a common practice of the traditional theater performances in which instead of acting, the performers play the role in accordance with its spontaneous and improvisational features. The playing skills of the traditional theater players (instead of performers) are always tested with their ability to develop performances based only on a given storyline. The elements of ‘play and playing’ are also an important part to the performance structure of the Bajau Laut’s healing ritual, most of which consist of secular elements in the ritual performances. The ‘play and playing’ element in the ritual performance is seen as the aesthetic potential of the Sabah’s indigenous traditional theater. This paper aims to synthesize the liminal performance of the Bajau’s traditional ritual as a traditional theater performance text. Through the crossreading towards ‘Victor Turner’s-ritual theory’ and ‘Richard Schechner-performance theory’, the discourse analysis on the elements of ‘play and playing’ was carried out to obtain and to unfold the traditional theatrical features of the Bajau.

Item Type:	Article
Keyword:	Bajau Laut, ‘Play and Playing’, Performance, Ritual, Theatre
Subjects:	D World History and History Of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Etc. > DS Asia > DS1-937 History of Asia > DS520-560.72 Southeast Asia > DS591-599 Malaysia. Malay Peninsula. Straits Settlements > DS597.22-599 Local history and description > DS597.33-597.34 Sabah. British North Borneo G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GT Manners and customs > GT1-7070 Manners and customs (General) > GT3400-5090 Customs relative to public and social life Including town life, court life, festivals, holidays, ceremonies of royalty, etc.
Department:	FACULTY > Academy of Arts and Creative Technology
Depositing User:	SITI AZIZAH BINTI IDRIS -
Date Deposited:	22 Sep 2023 15:59
Last Modified:	22 Sep 2023 15:59
URI:	https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/37384

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