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Balancing the Human and Spiritual Worlds: Ritual, Music, and Dance Among Dusunic Societies in Sabah

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 December 2018

Jacqueline Pugh-Kitingan
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Extract

Ritual, according to Victor Turner, embodies symbolic action and has a processual flow (1967:149–50). Some ethnomusicologists have utilized Turner's ideas about symbolic action to examine the symbolism of music and dance in ritual. Marina Roseman, in her study of Senoi Temiar healing ceremonies, for example, observed that music and dance in Temiar ceremonies embody “meaningfully patterned sounds and movements” and “symbol-laden sounds and body movements” to awaken the cosmos and attract spirits to interact with humans (1991:15–16). Although Borneo cultures are very different from those of the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia, this description may also be generally applied to the practice of music and dance in traditional ritual contexts among Dusunic societies of Sabah, the east Malaysian state of northern Borneo.

Abstract in malay

Abstract in Malay

Istilah mitimbang (“dalam keadaan seimbang”) biasannya digunakan dalam banyak bahasa Dusun di Sabah, Malaysia, di utara Pulau Borneo, untuk menggambarkan hubungan yang ideal antara dua pihak. Dalam pandang dunia tradisional, alam semesta yang ideal adalah seimbang antara alam fizikal dan alam roh. Keseimbangan ini boleh diganggukan oleh tindakan manusia berdosa yang akan membahawa kemarahan kepada alam roh dan memberi kesan kepada alam fizikal. Upacara yang bersesuaian perlu dilakukan untuk mengembalikan keseimbangan atau keadaan neutral ini antara dunia manusia dan ghaib. Bacaan puisi ritual yang panjang atau rinait oleh ketua agama tradisional wanita, muzik ensembel gong dan tarian adalah elemen-elemen penting dalam upacara ritual utama tradisional ini. Rinait adalah koleksi besar kesusasteraan lisan dihafal oleh ketua agama tradisional wanita, yang merangkumi pandangan tradisional, norma adat, preskripsi ritual dan pengetahuan tradisional rakyat. Ia juga menyatakan rasional, prosedur dan keperluan konteks untuk upacara, termasuk muzik ensembel gong dan tarian. Walaupun pandang dunia, rinait, ritual, muzik gong, bilangan dan jenis instrumen, serta gaya tarian, berbeza- beza mengikut budaya dan masyarakat berkenaan, muzik ensembel gong dalam upacara secara umumnya dipercayai menjadi saluran di mana manusia dan alam roh bergabung. Tarian oleh ketua agama tradisional wanita dalam upacara ritual, membayangkan transaksi yang berlaku antara dunia manusia dan alam roh. Di kalangan banyak masyarakat, tarian sekular oleh orang biasa dibenarkan dalam beberapa konteks ritual sebagai satu bentuk perayaan. Lama kelamaan dengan penukaran kepada agama Kristian dan kadang- kadang Islam, dan berlalunya generasi tua, amalan ritual tradisional telah menurun. Walaubagaimanapun, dalam banyak kes muzik ensembel gong yang tradisional dan tarian terus dilakukan di dalam banyak konteks bukan upacara termasuk acara khas gereja. Dengan menggunakan contoh yang berbeza daripada dua masyarakat Dusun iaitu masyarakat Rungus dan masyarakat Lotud, artikel ini mengkaji peranan muzik dan tarian di dalam upacara ritual. la menunjukkan bagaimana muzik ensembel gong dan tarian sekular dalam upacara Moginum pada peringkat keluarga dalam masyarakat Rungus boleh merentasi ke konteks lain yang bukan ritual, manakala muzik gong khas dan tarian ritual dalam Mamahui Pogun di peringkat seluruh masyarakat Dusun Lotud akhirnya mungkin lenyap.

Type
Articles
Information
Yearbook for Traditional Music , Volume 46 , 2014 , pp. 170 - 190
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 by the International Council for Traditional Music

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