Staging heritage: the nationalisation of Dabus in Malaysia

Abstract

The development of a national identity was a shared experience for Southeast Asian countries after World War II. Malaysia, having achieved independence only 66 years ago, still struggles to define its national identity given its multicultural nature. During the post-independence era, the government made efforts to maintain racial harmony due to diverse race categorisations and ethnicities, as well as rising racial tensions. Therefore, a number of policies were implemented towards the development of a Malaysian identity. The implementation of policies, such as the National Culture Policy (NCP) affected both the music and dance heritage specifically, as well as the arts community at large in Malaysia. Dabus as a ritualistic performance which includes self-flagellation undergoes modifications as it was developed as one of Malaysia’s performing arts genre. However, dabus development at the village and national level remained distinct. In this research project, I investigate the institutionalisation of dabus during post-independence Malaysia, focusing on dabus developments as a staged performance. With this thesis, I argue that dabus is representative of Malaysia's cultural and historical experience, considering its presence as a ritual, a local music and dance traditional form, and a government-sponsored performing art genre. By studying the policies of Malaysia that define cultural identities, I use dabus to highlight issues of presentation and representation of Malaysia's heritage through the performing arts. For this purpose, the study compares the repertoires of Perak as a ritual, Kuala Selangor as a local music and dance traditional form, and the choreography of Jabatan Kebudayaan dan Kesenian Negara (JKKN) as a performing art genre, which construct a Malaysian identity at the local, state, and national levels, respectively