Bandar Seri Begawan - The Southeast Literature Council (MASTERA) will be conducting a series of lectures on comparative literature on July 28 at Balai Sarmayuda, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) Brunei in the effort to bring a new, radical and pragmatic territorial perspective for local literature in relation with the archipelago context.
Two lectures will be delivered by Prof Dr Abdul Hadi W.M. of Universiti Paramadina, Indonesia in the one-day event.
The opening ceremony of the event will be conducted by Dato Paduka Dr Awang Haji Ismail bin Haji Duraman, the Vice Chancellor ofUniversiti Brunei Darussalam.
The Director of DBP Dr Mataim bin Bakar in his capacity as the chairman of MASTERA of Brunei Darussalam will also deliver a speech.
At the closing ceremony, a speech will be delivered by lecturer Prof Abdul Hadi W.M. who will be presented with souvenirs.
The output of the lectures will be of utmost significance to local researchers of Malay literature in their attempt to compare local works with established regional writers.
The lectures, organised by the Southeast Asia Literature Council (MASTERA) has been conducted annually since 1997 commencing with Dr Sapardi Djoko Damono from Indonesia conducted a lecture, Modern Literature of Indonesia: Hybrid Literature.
Prof Dr Md Salleh Yaapar of Malaysia delivered a lecture on "Literature Comparison and 21st Century Southeast Asia Literature" in 1998.
It was the turn of the late Dr Luisa J Mallari Hall of the Philippines in 1999 when she made a literary comparison between the Philippines and Malaysia.
A Universiti Brunei Darussalam lecturers, Dr Ampuan Hj Brahim bin Hj Tengah, delivered a similar lecture entitled "Brunei Literature as an entity of Southeast Asian Literature" in 2000. Associate Professor Dr Hadijah Rahmat of University Technology Nanyang, Singapore delivered a similar lecture, Malay Indonesian Literature and the Capability of Poet Munsyi Abdullah and Hamzah Fanshuri, in 2001.
In 2002, a lecture entitled Relationship of Malay and Thailand Literature was conducted by Associate Professor Rattiya Salleh,` the deputy head of Thai and Eastern Languages Department and Malay Language course coordinator at the Thaksin university, Thailand.
In 2003, local literature activists listened to such lecture conducted by Dr Budi Darma of Indonesia who delivered "The Anatomy of Comparative Literature".
In 2004, it was the turn of Malaysian Prof Madya Dr Sahlan Mohd Saman to give out such lecture entitled Malaysian Literature in relation with Malay Archipelago Literature.
Prof Madya Dr Hj Hashim bin Hj Abd Hamid of Universiti Brunei Darussalam delivered a series of 4 lecturers in 2005 in relation with the topic "Jalur Sastera Brunei Dalam Sastera Nusantara" (Varieties of Brunei Literature in the Literature of the Malay Archipelago).
Last year it was the turn of Prof Madya Dr. Shahrudin bin Maaruf of National University of Singapore delivering a lecture entitled "Eternal and Dedication in Regional Literature".
Source: www.brudirect.com (23 Juli 2007)
