Culture, Tradition and the Series of Bruneian Folklore

Abstract

This project is the first scholarly study on The Series of Bruneian Folklore and its significance as a legacy for the culture of Brunei. It is also the first English translation of selected tales in the Series. The broad trajectory of this thesis examines the survival of Brunei’s powerful oral narrative heritage which existed for 500 years as a vital part of traditional Bruneian society, and which still survives in the form of published children’s literature. Amidst modern culture, however, it is considered an outdated object of the past; this explains its deteriorating presence as a formative cultural force in the Brunei of today. This dissertation transforms this perception of the Series and recognizes it as the embodiment of an important cultural and historical heritage. The main theoretical foundation is Homi Bhabha’s, The Location of Culture (1994) and the main literary framework is the Gothic mode: together they both serve as an overarching framework for analysis in each chapter. International literary perspectives are employed to achieve a cross-cultural examination of the Series, addressing this published expression of Brunei’s complex narrative heritage within the context of recent literary discourse. As a product of hybrid cultural influences and historical practices, published in a contemporary time frame, the Series has been approached with reference to Western literary concepts and modes of critique, including Postcolonialism, Feminism and the Gothic, addressing its importance as the reflection of a unique narrative heritage.