Elements of the Pastoral inRowing Down Two Riaers: A

Biographical CriticismMohammad Sidik Arffin

Abstract: There are many theories in analysing a literary text. Inteaching literature in schools, teachers tend to focus on the NewCriticism and close reading of the text. An altemative theory isbiographical criticism which focuses on the author's iif".Muhammad's pastoral poems are discussed with his biographicalbackground and the Malay rural setting.

Keywords: literary theory, close reading, biographical criticism,pastoral

INTRODUCTION

Teaching literature in Malaysian schools requires some knowledgeof literary theory and criticism. The usual practice is teaching closereading and practical criticism of the literary texts. This criticaltheory which is known as the New criticism involves a scrutiny ofthe elements in literary sfudies such as theme, structure, plot,paradox, irony and figurative language like simile, metaphor andpersonification. Most teachers are familiar with such terminologiesand are able to lead their students to understand the text.

However, teachers may also resort to an alternative literarytheory called Reader-Response criticism. This theory emphasisesthe role ofthe reader during the reading process. It is an interactionof the reader and the text. During analysis the text becomes astimulus for eliciting the past experiences, knowledge and thoughtsof the reader. (Bressler 1994: 179) It is an attempt to describe whatis going on in the reader's mind while interpreting a text. It is likethe experience of re-reading a favourite novel after many years, forinstance, reading a book during the teenage years would have a

l)astoral lilcnrcnts

different response compared to reading it as an adult (Kennedy &Gioia 2002: 809).

Both of the critical methods mentioned above deal only with the

text itself. New Criticism with its 'close reading' techniquesdivorces itself from discussing matters extraneous to the text such

as history the political, social and economic conditions existingwhen the text was written (Wolfreys, J. 2002: 17). AlthoughReader-Response criticism focuses on the reader's activity duringthe reading process; nevertheless it is tied to the text, which serves

as a trigger for the creative activity of the reader (Booker M. 1996:

4t).There are, however, other options available to the teacher.

Literary theory or criticism has been in existence since the days ofAristotle and his Poetics. A knowledge of literary criticism wouldenable the teacher to use various approaches in analysing a text and

to a certain extent avoid the routine and boring task of close readingand looking for plot, point of view, characterisation and the likecommon in literature lessons. This paper discusses BiographicalCriticism, one of a host of critical and literary theories. Thediscussion focuses on one literary genre, namely the poems in the

anthology Rowing Down Two Rivers by Muhammad Haji Salleh.This paper highlights certain aspects in Biographical Criticismwhich the teacher can adapt for the lesson plans.

Biographical Criticism deals with the interpretation of aliterarytext by looking into the author's life and times to determineauthorial intention, that is what the author intended the text to be.

This criticism was developed in the late nineteenth and earlytwentieth centuries before the advent of the New Criticism whichfocuses on the text itself. (Tyson 7999: 118). Nevertheless, thiscritical theory is still being used where relevant and at times it isalso known as the Biographical-Historical Criticism since it also

involves the analysis of real historical events during the author'stime, or when the text was written.

Knowing about the author's life helps the reader to understandthe text. A reader who reads the biography ofan author can see howthe author's life experiences and also the historical setting

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determine what the author creates (Kennedy & Gioia 2002: 7g6).Even knowing a single important fact about the author will deepenthe reader's understanding and response to the text, for instancelearning that Charles Dickens's father was imprisoned for debtwhen Dickens was only l2 years old, would enable readers tounderstand the theme of his novels such as David Copperfietd.

The analysis of Muhammad's poems in the next section of thispaper considers his personal background and educationalachievements. A notable feature of this analysis is seeing how hevoices his feelings and sentiments as a Malay who has made it inthe academic field and who also has eamed national andinternational recognition in literature. A prominent feature of hispoems in the anthology is that they still maintain Malayness: thesedentary agrarian setting together with the traditional and spiritualMalaysian values.

MUHAMMAD HAJI SALLEH _ HISBIOGRAPHY AND WORKS

Rowing Down Two Rivers is an anthology of poems by MuhammadHaji Salleh. It consists of selected poems originally written inMalay and also his own English language poems. The Malaylanguage poems which are translated into English have appeared inBeyond the Archipelago, 1995 and his English language poemshave been published in Time and Its people,l979. The Malaypoems have been chosen from a number of his anthologies since1973 namely Sajak-sajak Pendatang,lgJ3, (poems of a stranger),Buku Perjalanan Si tenggang II, 1975, (travel journals of SiTenggang II),Ini juga Duniaku, 1977, (this too is my world), Sajak-sajak Sejarah Melayu,l98l, (poems from the Malay Annals), DariSeberang Diri, 1982, (from the other side of the self), WatakTenggara, 1993, (from the southeast), Sebuah Unggun di tepiDanau, 1996, (fire on the lake) and in 1998, Aksara Usra, (time'salphabet).

With quite an exhaustive list of poems to his credit, Muhammadis a talented and prolific poet. He started writing poetry in 1964

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while he was a teacher trainee at Brinsford Lodge, Unitcd

Kingdom. From then on he studied, enjoyed and taught literature.

He gets inspiration from the literatures he reads and studies- from

Persian literature to American Indian, Carribean and Hungarian

literature and inspiration from the places where he had stayed and

worked or visited, locally or abroad such as Bukit Mertajam, Kuala

Kangsar, Kajang, Singapore, Jakarta, Leiden, Hamburg and

London.Born in Taiping in 1942, he had his early education in Sungai

Acheh, Bukit Mertajam and Kuala Kangsar, furthered his tertiary

education in the United Kingdom, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur

and finally ended with a Doctor of Philosophy in Comparative

Literature from Michigan State University. As a result of studying

and working both locally and abroad, he accumulated a vast array

of life experiences especially regarding socio-economic and

educational issues and (as noted earlier) these experiences and

knowledge inspired him to write about the individual and society,

especially the Malay society that he belongs to. For his

contributions to Malaysian literature, the Sasterawan Negara(National Literary Laureate) award was bestowed upon him in 1991

and in 1997 the government of Thailand conferred on him the SEA

Write award. J

In his preface to Rowing Down Two Rivers (2000), Muhammad

Haji Salleh said that he was fortunate to have been educated in both

the Malay and English mediums of instruction and was exposed to

both literatures. He could write poems in the two languages but

deemed himself as still a single poet. He feels justified in the title ofhis latest collection of poems - the analogy that he has two rivers

flowing within him.He feels that if he should take out a boat and

row down one river, the poems would be in Malay, but if the boat is

launched on the other riveq it would be English.The poems selected for discussion in this paper are taken from a

section of the anthology, titled Time and its People. Even though

Muhammad writes about the individual, that is about himself as a

representative Malay, he also touches on the Malay society as a

single unit. He looks into the Malays' belief systems, their

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pref'erences and alternatives, their happy and sad momcnts, theirstruggle to survive during changing times and a host of problemsbesieging the community. Time and its people is indeed anobservation of the Malay people and their environrnent.

THE PASTORAL ELEMBNTS

what is inherent in Muhammad's poems is the atmosphere ofMalay village life. Ir depicts the idyllic, simple life of the Malayvillager or the poor, helpless padi farmer with his limited resourcesin an unfriendly natural environment. consequently, there areelements of the pastoral in this anthology with special reference tothe Malay society.

However, the word 'pastoral' does not have a single meaningpertaining only to the agricultural sector. In the oxford Dictionary(2000), pastoral has been defined as showing country life or thecountryside or activities relating to farming or agriculturalpractices. A pastoral work of literature has other connotations apartfrom country living or livelihood depending on agriculturalactivities. According to william Empson (196g) in some versiottsof Pastoral, it is any work which prefers a simple rather thancomplicated life. The simple life may be that of the shepherd, thechild or the working man. A pastoral work of literature seryes as away to criticise the norms of society and the class structure ofsociety existing during the period (Abrams, M.H. l99g: 202).Abrams also cites other critics with regard to the use of, the term'pastoral'. They use the term to refer to any work which representsa withdrawal to a place that is close to the elements of nature, wherethe character can contemplate or try to find solutions to thecomplexities, frustrations, and conflicts of the social world(Abrams, M. H. 1999: 203).

Northrop Frye defines the tenn as a contrast between countrylife and city or town life. The differences can be satirical ormelancholic. The pastoral mode can lead naturally to allegory andsymbol. However with modern day realism, writers seem to avoidthe pastoral aspect since society accepts direct criticism.Nevertheless, some hints of the pastoral are still found in recent

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writings with the growth of a complex society (Frye, Northrop et al.

1997: 345). According to John Peck, pastoral poetry portrays a

peaceful, rural world in contrast to the comrpted, contemporary

life. It can be a form of escapism but it does not evade realitytotally. By presenting an artificial picture of an innocent world, itreflects the comrpt practices or vices of the real world. Therefore

the pastoral poem has a wider, contemporary reference, satirizingthe moral, political and religious state of society (Peck,John 1993:

55).Muhammad's collection of poems in this anthology shows the

characteristics of the pastoral form of poetry as described above.

Though depicting the agrarian economy of the Malays, surmisingand contemplating their future, it is not an escapism on the writer'spart as to the plight of his own race. Neither is it a 'back to nature'call or a call 'to the good old times' of the typical rural Malay life.As shall be seen in the poems to be discussed, it is a form ofcriticism of some of the negative traits of the Malays and also of the

other factors hindering Malay progress.

Seeds refers to the life and also hopes of the persona oI'orthe

farmer who places much hope that the 'seed' he plants will grow

into young, green shoots that bear fruits. He feels as if he is part ofthe whole cycle of cultivation:

In my grasp I feel their skins burst and slap my hands

yellow shoots creeping into my bloodnow as I drop them intomorning earth, they are plants within me

(page 187)

The poem shows a simple, agrarian life of a farmer depending on

nafure only to survive. He places much trust on the forces of nature

and hopes they will not create havoc or else he would suffer hunger

and death. The personification used, 'earth-womb', conjures an

image of the earth being the womb to provide sustenance for man

similar to a women's womb for procreation of human beings.

It is a 'back to nature' message in this poem and also the close

relation of man and his surroundings. It is also symbolical in the

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sense that the planting of the seed by the farmer actually means areturn to the origin of man, with particurar emphasis on the roots ofthe Malay man' The mood of this poem is melancholic andnostalgic. The Malay would like to return to his origin, to hispeaceful haven in the village, for instance. A hectic life in the citywould be stressful and so a retreat to the solace of the vilage wouldbe a great relief as well as therapeutic:

nurlure mepenetrate my fruitsand return me to my new blood

(page 187)

After a sojourn in the vilrage, the Maray wourd go back to the city,refreshed and energetic as ifhe is a new .seed,, ready to grow andbear fruit' Therefore in'seeds', the elements of the pastoral can beseen in the emphasis on the'seeds'or the origins of the writer orthe Malays in general. The ,seed', ,earth,,.yellow

shoots, and'fruits' symbolises the roots of the Malays. Agriculture and theMalays are interrelated, but it does not mean the writer wants aI theMalays to revert to farming.

In rain, the poem also shows the relationship of man and nature,namely the importance of water for sustenance. It is concemed withthe way of life of the Malays, the farmers, as seen in the characterof usin' The farmers hope only for the rain to come to start plantingpadi' It implicitly comments on the Malay fatalistic uener independing only on p_rayers without trying other means of gettingwater for irrigation of their padi fields.

A child in the sarong cradlewails with damp crieshis father curls his black back in sleep

(page 188)

During the period of drought, the farmers pray and hope for the rainto come but other than that, they do nothing andraze around. withthe rain, they began to work and pray that it would last long for theplanting season:

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It is the beginning of a giftUsin's muscles quiver

... prayers are said

usin wades his fields(page 189)

The lines above indicate that the Malays, especially those involvedin agriculture forge a close relationship with the natural forces

around them- the land, the rain and whatever that enables them to

survive. Together with these factors they, being Muslims, have faithand trust in God to help them in times of trouble, and they are

grateful when they see the 'help' that comes to them (the rain).An aspect that the poet would like to convey would probably be

the role of the authorities to help the poor Malay farmers toimprove themselves through modern techniques of farming and toget out of the cocoon of fatalism and reliance only on theirenvironment. Since this poem is from the compilation of 1978

(Time and lts People), it was probably written in the seventies

during the rapid era of developing the nation after the May l3thincident and the implementation of the New Economic Policy

under the Second Malaysia Plan. The May l3th incident refers to

the ethnic riots in Malaysia on 13th May 1969 after the general

election. The ruling government, the Alliance party, failed to get a

two-third majority in parliament. The opposition parties managed

to encroach into the Alliance's strongholds. The riots started as a

result of inflammatory political speeches and victory processions

by victorious opposition parties. A state of emergency was declared

by the government (Zaharom 2002: 124). The New EconomicPolicy (NEP) was the outcome of the May 13th riots. It was felt that

the socio-economic disparities between the Malays and the non-

Malays resulted in ethnic distrust and enmity. Thus the NEP was to

address the socio-economic imbalances among the ethnic groups so

that peace and development would prevail (Zaharom 2002: 127).

The poet must have seen that the policy of restructuring the

economy and helping the indigenous (bumiputra) as in the NEP,

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especially in the rural areas had not been expansive enough. Sonrcareas probably in the east coast states ofthe peninsular, have beenleft behind or the officers responsible have not been successful topersuade the farmers to adapt to changes in agriculture. Moreover,the Malays themselves, inheriting the poverty of their fore- fatherscould not afford and did not have the capital to purchase machinery.

A child in the sarong crodle indicates poor living conditions.Probably the parents and the children sleep on mengkuang matsonly. The overall picture that this poem paints is of a simple butharsh life dependent on nature and God. Rain, and together with it,'water' symbolises the basic necessities of the rural Malay, left toeke out a living on their own. Indeed this poem fits the descriptionof pastoral on one hand, since it shows the simple life of thefarmers. On the other hand, it highlights the inequality existing atthat time and even today between the has and the have-nots. Itshows class consciousness and describes the life of the low,proletarian class of farmers. William Empson says that the elementof pastoral is found in proletarian literature and also includes folkliterature written by the people, about the people and for the people(Empson, William 1968: 6). Being observant of others, Muhammadhas depicted in his pastoral poem the difficulties and challenges ofthe Malay lower class.

As discussed earlier, a pastoral work of literafure can be used tocriticise the norms or class structure of society. In the new road,such criticism of Malaysian society, particularly the Malay societyby the poet is clear. The poem consists of five stanzas ofunevenlength. The setting is in a Malay kampung in the present era. Thepersona is the poet himself, telling the audience what had happenedcoupled with relevant examples.

The first impression after reading this poem would be thefeeling of nostalgia, longing for the typical Malay kampung life:

cycling back from tarred lanes

of the new housing estate

to the sandy paths under kampung trees

(page 190)

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and

this was his land where he shot birdsin his youth..

(page 190-191)

It brings back memories of his younger days, going hunting orfishing or planting padi and returning horne with mud all over hisbody. Nevertheless, the poet is not only concerned with thatnostalgic feeling since the underlying issue is of change in the

villages, the inevitable change that would finally come to everyMalay kampung and which the Malay has to accept. The changes,

mostly physical ones, are those such as tarred roads and housingestates to repiace the typical Malay kampung houses. The otheraspect of change is the lifestyle of the villagers.

The changes that occur show a wide gap between the rich and

the poor:

New cars and branches of aerials(page 190)

This line refers to those staying in the housing estates who are able

to own cars and television sets and other electrical applianceswhereas the poor Malay farmer has to contend with:

Sun-darkened and oldIn a field sarong

(page 190)

The poor farmer probably lives alone since his children are eaminga living in the cities. The children can do better in life witheducation, but the parents have to stay in the rural areas since theyare involved in agriculture.

The last two stanzas of the new road show the inner conflict ordilemma of the Malay farmer. With development ali around him orhis village, and his farm being encroached upon by the expandingtown or city, he has no altemative but to sell it to the rich towkay ordeveloper. He regrets doing it but he is forced to do it in order tosurvive.

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This was his land before those men in wide carsCame to persuade him in broken malay

(page 190)

The farmer is angry with himself for what he did, but because ofeconomic pressures, he was forced to sell his land :

They bought it,Earth that swelled rambutans,mangosteensThey took away his generations

(page 191)

To the Malays of yesterday, land was a very important componentin their lives, especialiy with agriculture. Selling off his land is thesame as selling off his generation. Being pastoral and alsoproletarian in nature, this poem serves as a criticism of the simpleMalays who could be tempted with money by the rich towkays tosell off their most important asset, namely land. This poem showsthe class strata in Malaysian society with the rich, business-mindednon-Malays and the poor, farming class Malays. It is of no usecrying over spilt milk. The damage is done. The land which hadbeen sold off to the businessmen cannot be retrieved. However, therole of the authorities is crucial here, for instance designating areasfor Malay reserve land. Government interference is important toavoid the poverty stricken Malay farmers parting with theirancestral land.

The final pastoral poem to be discussed here is her children(page 195). It starts with a prologue :

- where are you hurrying to, grandma walking so fast and notstopping at our hut?-oh, I'm just goin' down to the fields to see the children.

(page 195)

The grandmother was hurrying to the fields to see her children,literally, but what the r,vriter means by ,children here, are theyoung, padi plants growing as a result of the toiis of the oldgrandma:

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they always call their padi plants childrenthese wombs of seeds, human or vegetables

the sprouting nursery of love(page 195)

In her padi field, she has to find her way among the tall, growingpadi stalks but she would not get lost because of the close

connection, the bond of love between her and her children:

no, she will not drown,her children will ferry her

with their roots and leaves

(page 195)

'Ihis poem highlights the importance of the relationship between

man and nature. A harmonious one would lead to prosperity where

man does not disturb the ecological balance of nature and is

rewarded by a bountiful harvest as seen in the last stanza (page

I e5):

she plucks three gold grains

as though not to hurt,and dehusks them one by one

between her old betel red teeth

and grinds them to gaiety

The personification of the young padi plants as being 'children' tothe old lady shows the pastoral concept of being close to nature; inthe poem the grandmother represents the Malays. Padi farming is

usually associated with the Malay race, and the writer probably

creates this scene of the woman and her padi plants to depict the

proximity of the Malays to land and agriculture, which was once

the mainstay of the economy of their forefathers. It also shows the

changes taking place nowadays with the younger generations

migrating from their kampungs for further education or better jobprospects, leaving behind the older generation, the grandmother, totend to her 'children'.

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In conclusion, it is apt to say that Muhammad l-laji Sallclr wlircspoems as Empson says it ' by the people, about the peoplc, lirr. thcpeople'. He writes about the Malay community as he sees it and ashe experiences it. His collection of poems in Rowing Down TwoRivers has the Malay 'taste' or 'feel'. His childhood experiences inthe rural areas, his life in both rural and urban areas and abroadenable him to write about the Malay community, to convey theneeds of the Malays and the trials and tribulations the Malays haveto face in the years to come.

Muhammad Haji Salleh writes about himself and hiscommunity. In his acceptance speech for the national literarylaureate award in 1991 he said:

"I wish to emphasise here that whatever steps we take intothe future should begin from our own selves. To all writerswho have ambitions of describing reality, the first step mustcome frorn within themselves. This is where they shouldreturn. ... a writer ought to return to his his culture before orafter his departure."

(Solehah Ishak. 1998:212)

Therefore in this anthology he has described the realities of theMalays and could not avoid the pastoral elements in the Malayculture. However, he is critical of the attitudes of the Malays andthe changes occurring in their daily lives such as discussed in thepoems rain and the new road. In his acceptance speech, he said:

"Current problems within society often slip by in workswritten too hastily. Doubts, difficulties of the mind,suppression of culture in world already made international,the meaning of industry and modemization in our lives,destruction of the earth, individuals wrapped up in sentimentand prejudice- these we have not yet really and trulydiscussed."

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l)askrral I'llcnrcnts

ln the pastoral poems discussed, Muhammad depicts the lives ol'ordinary people- the Malays in their kampungs. The Malays being

traditional farmers lead simple, contented lives but sometimes too

fatalistic so much so that they do not work hard to change their way

of lives. God does not help those who do not help themselves.

Mostly depending on an agrarian economy, the Malays depend on

the forces of nature. They have worked hard to survive using

traditional methods. They are marginalised, staying on the fringes

of urban areas only and neglected by the government. Some ofthem are gullible enough to fall prey to unscrupulous non-Malaybusinessmen selling their most important asset that is the land.

CONCLUSION

Although the poems discussed were written in the seventies, some

of the issues raised are still relevant today. His poems can be

pastoral in style and proletarian in nature, nevertheless he writesabout his Malay society and himself. Rowing Down Two Rivers

reveals the nature of the problems faced by the Malays - their hope

and inspiration for a better future. In short, to be Si Tenggang, the

new knowledgeable, resilient and courageous Malay, one has toventure out to new frontiers but still maintain the Malay identity.

With the biographical background of the author and the pastoral

elements mentioned and analysed above, the literature teacher can

use these aspects in the literature classroom, by providing the

students with input on the life of the author. This will enable them

to relate the issues found in the poems to the background of the

author-his ethnicity, values and way of life. In addition, informationand discussion about aspects of the pastoral, coupled with an

overview of Malay history enables better comprehension and

empathy regarding the problems of the Malays. On the other hand,

the teacher can adopt an eclectic approach by using close reading

techniques together with Reader-Response and bibliographicalinformation. All options are available for teaching literature totoday's students in ways that can promote an appreciation forliterary reading.

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(Solehah Ishak. 1998: 214)

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REFERENCES

Abrams, M. H. (1999) A glossary of literary terms. Th Edn. Orlando: HarcourrBrace College Publishers.

Booker, K.M. (1996) A practical introduction to literary theory and criticism.New York: Longman

Bressler, c.E. (1994) Literary criticism: an introduction to theory and practiceNew Jersey: Prentice-Hall

Empson, william. (1968) some versions of pastoral. London: chatto & windus.Frye,N., Baker,S., Perkins, G., perkins, B.M. (1997) Harper handbook to

literature. New York: LongmanKennedy, X.J. & Gioia, Dana e002) An introduction to /iction New york:

Longman

Muhammad Haji Salleh (2000) Rowing down two riversBangi: penerbit uKMPeck, Johnson & coyle, Martin. (lg%) 2nd Edn. Literary terms and criticism.

Houndmills: MacMillan press LtdSolehah Ishak et al. (Ed).(1998) Malaysian Literary Laureates:selected works.

Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan pustaka

Tyson, Lois (1999) Critical theory today: a user-friendly galde. New york:Garland Publishing

wolfreys, J.Robbins, R. & womack, K. (2002) Key concepts in literary theory.Edinburgh: Edinburgh University press.

zaharom Nain (2002) The structure of the media industry: Implications fordemocracy. In Loh Kok wah, Francis & Khoo Boo Teik (ed) bemocracy inMalaysia. Surrey: Curzon press.

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