• Women and Evangelical Merchandising in the Nigerian Filmic Enterprise
  Ogaga Okuyade
  
  Abstract: If there is any single popular art form that can be considered the most significant in the representation of postcolonial life in Nigeria today, it is, without question, Nollywood. Nollywood has become the most popular medium of entertainment and like Nigerian literature it plays an important role in articulating cultural and national consciousness. Although, the enterprise continues to defy definition because its production remains localized, it has become so popular among the people, considering the fact that Nigeria is now more of a watching society to a reading one. This essay examines the role of women in evangelical films in Nollywood. The films make it apt that women are very powerful tool for proselytizing, but they are also portrayed as agents of destruction employed by marine spirits and the world of the coven to wreak havoc and pain on man. Invariably, the essay articulates the strategies filmmakers employ to give expression to the notion that women are objects and not subjects in these films. High Way to the Grave and End of the Wicked are the filmic texts purposively selected for analysis.

Keywords and phrases: Nollywood, evangelism, women, God, patriarchy

Download

• Moral Versus Aesthetic Approaches: The Relevance of Environmental Aesthetics
  Lok Chong Hoe
  
  Abstract: Many philosophers, beginning with Plato, have classified aesthetic and moral judgments together on the basis of one important, shared feature: both involve value judgments. This practice is misleading, as these two forms of judgment can be very different; for instance, moral judgments always imply obligation and the compulsion to act in certain ways, features that are not necessarily present in aesthetic judgments. This difference has given moral judgments a certain degree of seriousness (Scruton 1974), which implies they must always override other concerns, including aesthetic ones. The difference between moral and aesthetic judgments is, perhaps, most clearly highlighted in the realm of environmental protection. If most of the practical reasons for environmental protection are essentially moral (being geared toward ensuring the survival of present and future generations of humans), then they must override all aesthetic concerns for environmental preservation. How then should we weigh the importance of aesthetic considerations in environmental protection?

Keywords and phrases: moral dimension, aesthetic approach, emotional expression, universality, uniqueness

Download

• Laskar Pelangi: Satu Penelitian Adaptasi Novel ke Filem
  (Laskar Pelangi: A Close Study of the Adaptation of Novel to Film)
  Sohaimi Abdul Aziz
  
  Abstrak: Makalah ini menjelaskan secara kritis hubungan di antara novel Laskar Pelangi karya Andrea Hirata dengan filem yang memakai tajuk yang sama arahan Riri Riza. Hubungan ini diteliti dalam konteks adaptasi. Perbincangan tentang adaptasi yang terjadi dibuat berdasarkan empat peringkat, iaitu peringkat naratif, verbal ke visual, enunciation dan keseluruhan. Hasil penelitian ini mendapati wujud sinergi yang kuat di antara pengarang novel dengan pengarah, penulis skrip dengan penerbit filem Laskar Pelangi. Walau bagaimanapun, filem Laskar Pelangi tetap berdiri sebagai satu seni visual yang berbeza daripada novel yang diadaptasikannya.

Kata kunci dan frasa: adaptasi, novel, filem, verbal dan visual

Abstract: This paper describes the critical relationship between a novel entitled Laskar Pelangi written by Andrea Hirata and a film by the same title directed by Riri Riza. This relationship is examined in the context of adaptation. The adaptation of the novel is discussed according to four levels, namely narrative, verbal to visual, ''enunciation'' and the overall. The analysis of the study suggests the existence of a strong synergy between the author of the novel and the director of the film, screenwriter and film producer of Laskar Pelangi. However, the film still stands as a visual art which is different from the novel.

Keywords and phrases: adaptation, novel, film, verbal and visual

Download

• Manipulasi Peristiwa Israk Mikraj dalam Karya Sastera Arab dan Barat: Satu Analisis Terhadap Al-Maqamah Al-Iblisiyah, Al-Tawabi' Wa Al-Zawabi', Risalat Al-Ghufran dan The Divine Comedy
  (Manipulation of the Isra' and Mi'raj in Arabic and Western Literatures: An Analysis of Almaqamah Al-Iblisiyah, Al-Tawabi' Wa Al-Zawabi', Risalat Al-Ghufran and The Divine Comedy)
  Rahmah Ahmad H. Osman And Mohd Shahrizal Nasir
  
  Abstrak: Peristiwa Israk Mikraj merupakan salah satu tanda kekuasaan Allah SWT yang diperlihatkan kepada hamba-Nya. Tanpa iman yang kukuh, ia tidak dapat diterima akan kebenarannya. Justeru, peristiwa yang mengandungi seribu satu hikmah dan mukjizat ini amat besar nilainya di sisi Islam yang akan tetap terpahat dalam lipatan sejarah Islam. Makalah ini akan membincangkan manipulasi peristiwa Israk Mikraj dalam beberapa buah karya sastera Arab dan Barat. Untuk tujuan itu, makalah ini akan mengkaji beberapa buah karya sastera yang dikaitkan dengan peristiwa penting ini iaitu al-Maqamah al-Iblisiyah, al- Tawabi' wa al-Zawabi', Risalat al-Ghufran dan The Divine Comedy. Kajian ini juga akan menyingkap beberapa perkara yang dilihat secara langsung merupakan manipulasi daripada peristiwa Israk Mikraj. Jika aspek ini jelas wujud dalam karya-karya tersebut, maka tidak boleh tidak satu kesimpulan boleh dibuat, iaitu peristiwa Israk Mikraj telah jelas mempengaruhi perkembangan sastera Arab dan Barat. Namun, apa yang lebih penting ialah kesahihan peristiwa Israk Mikraj harus terus dipelihara dan dipertahankan daripada sebarang unsur-unsur negatif dan penghinaan terhadap Islam dan umatnya Dari sudut yang lain pula, keadaan ini tidak dianggap sebagai menyekat idea kreatif bagi penghasilan karya sastera secara tuntas.

  Kata kunci dan frasa: manipulasi, peristiwa Israk Mikraj, sastera Arab dan Barat
  
  Abstract: The Isra' and Mi'raj (the night journey and ascension of Prophet Muhammad) is considered, in Islam, a symbol of the greatness of Allah. This divine experience of the Prophet, which contains a thousand and one wisdoms and miracles, is very significant in Islam and Islamic history. Yet without a strong conviction, it is not perceivable to be true. This article is an analysis of the manipulation of the Isra' and Mi'raj in several Arabic and Western literary works which make reference to the event, namely al-Maqamah al-Iblisiyah (The Maqama of Iblis), al-Tawabi' wa al-Zawabi' (The Treatise of Familiar Spirits and Demons), Risalat al-Ghufran (The Epistle of Forgiveness) and The Divine Comedy. The aim is to reveal some of the issues that emerge as a direct result of the manipulation of the Isra' and Mi'raj in these works. The existence of the manipulation of the Isra' and Mi'raj in the literary works will indicate that the heavenly incident has to some degree influenced the development of Arabic and Western literatures. If it does exist, it is important that the truth of the Isra' and Mi'raj is protected from any form of denigration that offends Islam and its followers. Nevertheless, this should not be an obstacle where creativity in literary work is concerned.

Keywords and phrases: manipulation, Isra' and Mi'raj, Islam, Arabic and Western literatures

Download

• Beyond 2020: Malay and Indonesian in a New Linguistic World Order
  Arndt Graf
  
  Abstract: This article departs from a discussion of Graddol's (1997) prediction that the hierarchy of world languages will change between 1997 and 2050. Current monopoly languages like English and French, notably, are forecast to be replaced by an oligopoly of languages led by Chinese, Hindi/Urdu, English, Spanish and Arabic by the year 2050. In order to examine this general assertion, a bibliometric case study of the foreign-language books on Malaysia and Indonesia is conducted. It is shown that no trend of the emergence of a new oligopoly of world languages or a beginning of such a trend can be observed. Neither Chinese nor Hindi/Urdu, Spanish or Arabic have gained any significant role that would be comparable to that of English. Further, by comparing the current flows of international student migration with the rankings of the world's top 400 universities, it is argued that the share of the English-language cluster might be even increasing slightly in the foreseeable future. Finally, the economic relevance of the world's most important languages is assessed, through a weighted calculation of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the world's countries and territories in relation to the languages used in these countries. In general, the English-language cluster seems to remain unchallenged as the world's most important academic and economic language. From Graddol's five new leading languages, only Chinese seems to be making some considerable advances in the economic field, while it is not yet a major international academic language. Instead, languages such as Japanese, German, French and Spanish seem to continue to play relevant roles, albeit only secondary to English.

Keywords and phrases: Southeast Asia, books, student migration, economic relevance of languages

Download