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From Island to Nation-state Formations and Developmentalism: Penan Story-telling as Narratives of ‘territorialising space’ and Reclaiming Stewardship
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Abstract:
This paper is an attempt to position Penan story-telling in the context of the evolution of
Borneo from an island to that of a nation-state formation, defined ultimately by the grand
narratives of Malaysian developmentalism. The paper initially addresses the historical
picture of this transformation. It also critically interrogates the question of epistemology
in relation to the anthropology of ‘the Other’, specifically the methodology of research on
indigenous society. Against the dominant state-capital narrations of development, the
paper moves towards a postmodernist/storytelling ethnography of Penan de
territorialisation. It is argued that indigenous counter-narratives are equally capable of
generating their own legitimate forms of knowledge and discourse on development. By
adding to the Penan ethnographic base that has been paved by scholars such as Langub
and Brosius, I foreground my analysis of Penan de-territorialisation based on my
fieldwork in the Ulu Baram area of Sarawak, where I present an overview of the impact
of the state-sponsored modernisation process (read: developmentalism) on the Penan
traditional landscape and communitas. My argument on Penan de-territorialsiation is
further empowered by the storytelling of Penghulu James, which is a representation of an
indigenous notion of place, space and territory. This may also be seen as a defence of
Penan claims to 'stewardship' over the land despite their traditional status as non
cultivators, to contest the current bureaucratic 'rational legal' and official discourse which
governs the present Penan landscape. The paper calls for the role of a de-colonising
anthropology in mediating knowledge from the margins through the postmodernist texts
and storytelling ethnography, to narrate not only the realities of de-territorialisation, but
more importantly, the‘re-territorializing’ imaginings of indigenous society.
Description:
Date:
2015
Authors:
Zawawi Ibrahim
Publisher:
Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam
