HL7888 Directed Study in Literature: The Southeast Asian Epic


So I was asked to create a proper course outline for my project. It's as follows:
HL7888 Directed Study in Literature: The Southeast Asian Epic
August Semester 2018
Advisor: Boey Kim Cheng
Student: Ng Yi-Sheng
Description
Southeast Asia was transformed by European colonialism: a historical phenomenon that fundamentally altered our politics, economics and society. As such, it is supremely difficult for a 21st century writer to gain a holistic sense of the region’s culture before the invasions of Albuquerque in Melaka/Malacca, Legazpi in Maynila/Manila, the VOC in Jayakarta/Batavia/Jakarta.
This study project is in effect a crash course in decolonization: my attempt to counter my Eurocentric and Sinocentric literary education through reading of a pre-modern Southeast Asian canon. I shall focus on narratives by Southeast Asians about Southeast Asians, composed in the classical tradition in the pre-colonial or early colonial eras; retellings of Hindu, Persian and Arab lore are of secondary interest.
Throughout the semester, I wish to explore the following themes: religion, magic and the supernatural; kingship and leadership; trade and cosmopolitanism; gender, sex and romance; stock literary tropes. Some of my notes will be shared publicly on a new blog at http://southeastasianepics.blogspot.com/ , thus allowing the online community to share in my journey, offering insights and corrections, or delving into reading projects of their own.
Ultimately, this knowledge will nourish my thesis project: a historical novel set in 14th century Singapore, based on the legendary histories of Sejarah Melayu / Sulalatus Salatin / The Malay Annals.
Texts: A bibliography of early Southeast Asian classics is attached. My readings will be drawn from this list.
Schedule of readings and assignments
Week 1: 17 August
Compile bibliography, set up blog and write class outline.
Week 2: 24 August
Overview:
A History of Classical Malay Literature, by Liaw Yock Fang
Voices of Southeast Asia, ed. George E. Dutton (skim)
Oral traditions of Southeast Asia and Oceania : a bibliography, by Herman C Kemp (skim)
Traces of the Mahabharata and Ramayana in Javanese and Malay Literature, eds. Ding Choo Ming, ‎Willem van der Molen (skim)
Week 3: 31 August
Malay Peninsula 1:
Sejarah Melayu / Sulalatus Salatin / The Malay Annals, by Tun Seri Lanang*
Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa / The Kedah Annals*
Week 4: 7 September
Malay Peninsula 2:
The Precious Gift / Tuhfat Al-Nafis, by Raja Haji Ali
The Epic of Bidasari*
Hikayat Hang Tuah*
Week 5: 14 September
Java 1: Serat Centhini
The Centhini Story
Forty and One Nights of Rain, by Elizabeth Inandiak
Week 6: 21 September
Java 2:
Nagarakrtagama
Wanban Wideya: A Javanese Panji romance
Week 7: 28 September
Other Indonesian islands:
The Balinese poem Basur : an introduction to magic
Hikayat Indraputra
The Makassar Annals (skim)
RECESS WEEK
Week 8: 12 October
Philippines:
Philippine Folk Literature: The Epics
Week 9: 19 October
Thailand 1:
Khun Chang Khun Phaen
Week 10: 26 October
Thailand 2:
Yuan Phai*
The story of Phra Abhai Mani*
Sunthorn Phu : an anthology
Week 11: 2 November
Burma:
The Glass Palace Chronicle

Week 12: 9 November
Vietnam:
The Tale of Kieu
Week 13: 16 November
Final essay preparation and assorted additional readings.
* Indicates a book that  I have already read, but will take time to notate and analyse.

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A Bibliography of classical Southeast Asian texts available in the National Library of Singapore

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