UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE Speaking About Ghosts (Cerita Hantu Melayu): Malay Narratives-In-Interaction A Dissertation SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Cheryl L. Nicholas Norman, Oklahoma 2004 UMI Number: 3270682 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform 3270682 Copyright 2007 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 © Copyright CHERYL L. NICHOLAS, 2004 All Rights Reserved. SPEAKING ABOUT GHOSTS (CERITA HANTU MELAYU): MALAY NARRATIVES-IN-INTERACTION A Dissertation APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION BY Dr. ^lemencia Rodriguez, Cmi^ Dr. D. Lawrence Wieder, Chair Dr. Sandra Imgan, Member Dr. Todd Sandel, Member Dr. Courtnéy mughn, Outside Member Acknowledgements Thanks to My Advisors: Dr. D. Lawrence. Wieder Dr. Clemencia Rodriguez For your mentorship, support, encouragement and care. Without you, this would not be possible. Heidi Mau For the past, present and future. My Family For your unconditional love. My Committee Members: Dr. Sandra Ragan Dr. Todd Sandel Dr. Courtney Vaughn For making a tough journey enjoyable and memorable. And to everyone else who has helped make this process possible. You are in my heart. IV Table of Contents List of Tables ......................................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ....................................................................................................................................... viii Abstract ............................................................................................................................. x PART ONE: THE RESEARCH AGENDA Chapter: Growing up with Hantu ................................................................................................. 2 1 My Memory, My Narrative ........................................................................................ 3 Hantu in My Hometown ............................................................................................ 5 ‘Keras’ Locations ............................................................................................... 10 Hantus Around Me ............................................................................................ 14 Nescafe-Time Hantu ......................................................................................... 16 Divinations and Warnings .................................................................................. 19 Getting to Know Hantu Melayu ................................................................................. 21 Hantu Raya ....................................................................................................... 21 Pontianak ......................................................................................................... 22 Hantu Penangallan ............................................................................................. 23 Toyol ................................................................................................................ 25 Orang Bunyian ................... 26 Dissertation Overview ................................................................................................ 27 Author’s Notes ................................................................................................... 29 Chapter: Why Study Malaysian Cerita Hantu? .......................................................................... 30 2 Narratives, Identity & Reality ....................................................................................... 30 Social Reality in Storytelling Context, Performance & Interaction ....................... 34 Written Accounts of Malay Magic & Hantu ................................................................. 39 Cerita Hantu as Malay Memorate-Narrative ........................................................ 42 Language, Narratives and Malaysian Reality ....................................................... 49 Research Rationale ....................................................................................................... 52 Chapter: Historical Influences, Belief Systems and Postcolonialism ................................... 56 3 Language Influences .................................................................................................... 60 Spiritual Foundations: Malay Magic and Belief Systems ............................................. 62 Animism, Semangat and Islamic Humoralism ...................................................... 62 Islamization in Malaysia: Contemporary Issues ................................................... 67 Malay Belief Systems .................................................................................................. 71 The Postcolonial Condition .......................................................................................... 73 Malay Social Reality and Orientalism .................................................................. 77 Western Accounts of Malay Spiritual and Mystical Culture .................................. 78 Malaysia Today .......................................................................................................... 79 Chapter: Research Protocol ............................................................................................................. 83 4 Epistemological Considerations ................................................................................... 83 Ethnography: Fieldwork and Interviews ..................................................................... 86 Setting: Research Sites ......................................................................................... 86 Participant Selection: Interviews and Ethnographic Data ..................................... 88 Media and Culttiral Artifacts ............................................................................... 93 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................. 94 PART TWO: MALAY GHOST STORIES AND THE MALAY WORLD VIEW Chapter; Coffman’s Dramaturgical Metaphor and Frame as Theoretical Device 98 5 Narrative Sequence and Temporal Order .................................................................... 98 Malaysian Speech Communities ........................................................................ 104 Narratives and Symbolic Interactionism ..................................................................... 106 Coffman’s Dramaturgical Metaphor and Frame Analysis ......................................... 107 Constructing Realities from Cerita Hantu Melayu ........................................... 113 Chapter: Telling the Cerita Hantu .............................................................................................. 114 G Activity During the Interaction: The Talk Setting ........................................................ 114 Telling Stories in the Interview ........................................................................... 117 Performing Identity in Interaction ...................................................................... 122 Using Verbal and Nonverbal Cues in Interaction ....................................................... 125 A Malaysian Flair to Storytelling ....................................................................... 125 Verifiability: Negotiating Competence in Talk .......................................................... 132 Chapter: Social Reality in Cerita Hantu: What Does Cerita Hantu Do? ........................... 137 ~1 Stories that Socialize or Teach ................................................................................... 137 Stories that “Situate” .................................................................................................. 143 Stories that Situate Time and Space ................................................................... 143 Stories that Situate Social Arrangements .......................................................... 152 Age and Locality ..................................................................................... 152 Socio-Cultural Identity .............................................................................. 159 Chapter: Social Reality and Talk About Reality: Hantu in Malay Belief Systems ........ 168 8 Meneguh: If You Say It, They Will Come .................................................................. 168 Meneguh as Haihng .......................................................................................... 169 Framing Social Reality: Meneguh in the Working Consensus ........................... 173 BeUef Systems in Conversation ................................................................................ 177 Syncretism: