:: Studying Literature - Ariya Cam Bani

Ariya Cam Bani is a popular literature I think, because I’ve heard about this ariya before but never have a chance to read it. Actually I dun know how to read before..hihihi... The Cams use the terminology “Bani” to refer to the earlier Islamic influence in Campa kingdom. We can divide it into two meanings for the nowadays understanding, but please notify that this is juz my personal perspective – First group is the “Bani Cam” group. They think that “Bani” means “religion” which hooked to the orthodox Islamic practice. Eg: they do believe in Allah and Muhammad, performing solah, fasting, and also doing hajj, but it’s only the elders who fulfill the religious orders (in their ways) to represent the whole villagers in one village. Ok, enough about that because I dun know their ritual. The second group is the “Muslim Cam” group. This group is fully pure Muslim, and their practices are based on the holy Quran and hadith. I’m in this kind of group. Well, this group knows about the “Bani Cams” and how they practice but the Muslim Cams use the terminology “tamâ Bani” to refer to the mualaf (the person who convert himself into Islam). Huhh..it’s a bit debatable here as the right word should be “”tamâ Islam” not “tamâ Bani”. “Bani” doesn’t bring any meaning of “religion” or “Islam”. “Bani” is actually an Arabic word which means “Son”/“Anâk”. Dun believe me? Get an Arabic dictionary and search “Bani / Bin".

Enough for the introduction, now let’s head to the content of this ariya. Honestly, I dun really understand what is this literary writing is about. I know it is not a straight-forward poetry but symbolic instead. However, I don't know how to clarify what were the symbols symbolized. I can’t really classify whether the narrator was in the first person point of view or the third person point of view. I also cannot able to figure out the plot, I don’t know which part was the climax, and I don’t understand the ending. The writer put in the dialogue element, causing me a big problem because I cannot detect the speech belonged to whom. Thus, I can’t figure out the characteristic of the main characters in this ariya.

What do I understand is that this ariya is about a girl who was in love with a guy, who’s a Bani Cam but they dun get their families blessing, due to the different religion. Have U ever heard about “Romeo & Juliet”...or “Laila Majnun”? Their feeling towards each other is someway somehow alike to both Laila and Majnun. Laila is like a princess, while Majnun is just an ordinary guy. Majnun (Arab) = crazy / gila. This ariya is challenging as the usage of the language is awesome. Besides, I don’t know “love” words or expressions in my language, daddy never taught me. If not because of this ariya, I’ll never know what is “passion” or “darling” for the rest of my life. Hmm..I prefer to be frank. I found out that many literary devices applied in this ariya – the monologue, dialogue, hyperbole, foreshadow, poetic words, idioms...making the storyline hard to be understood. I studied the craftsmanship in the ariya myself, and I dun exactly know what I was doing! It took me one month to study, yet, I'm still not able to fully understand it. Too many strong words I never heard..headache! Below is the result:

- ELEMENTS OF THE ARIYA -

Speaker/ Persona

It seemed to be a dialogue between a guy and a girl.

Guy: “Mayut dreh yau ni aey haleng”. Haleng is girl darling.

Girl: “Kau huec kanda pacei puec suei”. Pacei refers to a beloved guy.

Setting

(1) Background Setting

:: The girl’s house – “Sang suer mariah siam ndei”

:: The guy’s bedroom – “Tamâ tel duk cei ndih”

:: A path in a bush – “Rimaong daok pagrang di krâh jalan”

:: A tree – “Ala phun hara tattey rambah”

:: A forest (?) – “Ka than kau rimbah mai daok di glai”

(2) Time Setting

:: Night – “Malam ndih sa tuk min wer”

:: Afternoon – “Amâ amaik patey kau di pandiak”

Themes

:: Love and Passion between both guy and girl is the main theme.

:: Sacrifice is another theme. The girl was willing to abandon her family and against the tradition for her beloved guy.

:: Antagonism showed by the girl’s parents when her mother beat her hard when she knew the affair.

Motif

:: Love

:: Craze

:: Enthusiasm

:: Belief and tradition

Tone & Mood

:: Sad and gloomy.

Structure & Style

:: This ariya is a symbolic poem.

:: Rhyme scheme:

(1) ab, bc, cd, de, ef....

Ni ariya sa-ai ngap (a)

Panâh ba tabiak, piéh ka ra peng,, (b)

Mayut dreh yau ni aey haleng (c)

Kau ngap blaoh padeng, dom ayamân,, (d)

Anit saong ranam klaoh prân (e)

Haké hu damân mbeng saong anguei,, (f)

Kau huec kanda pacei puec suei (g)

Klak kau matuei luai pacalah,, (h)

Kau o klak nai ah (i)

Kau huec calah yua amaik amâ,, (j)

Haley tian kau praong lo ka hâ (k)

Amaik saong amâ kau ndua sa gah (l)

(2) Parallelism (?)

Ni ariya sa-ai ngap,

Panâh ba tabiak piéh ka ra peng,,

Mayut dreh yau ni aey haleng,

Kau ngap blaoh padeng dom ayamân,,

:: Poetic Devices:

(1) Antagonist characteristic showed by the girl’s family.

“Inâ pacalah kau di pacei"

(2) Dialogue

“Cei ley kau biai yau ni baik ah, than drei rambah o bik payau” – She talked to him.

“Adei ley amaik amâ ké thau, kau ciip ndua maluw gep gan ra klao” – He talked to her.

(3) Monologue

“Aey juk gila o dreh yau urang”

(4) Hyperbole

“Raiy rup dahlak yaom ndae candiéng”

(5) Object Imagery – ciéw, kajang, ba-ar, hahuei; Color Imagery – Mâriah.

(6) Anthropomorphism

“Tamia di mblang sa drei pabaiy”

(7) Metaphor

“Huak oh tamâ ndih jang oh wer”

(8) Foreshadow

“Mâyah lac mâtai, ndih sa lubang”

(9) Simile

“Pajaih nai pajaih ciim heng”

(10) Repetition

“Anit saong ranam praong lo, likau dher di Po taom sa anih” ... “Anit saong ranam praong lo, likau dhar di Po drep o salih”

(11) Symbolism

“Sang suer inâgaray kaong dar” – Huge house symbolizes wealth and riches.

(12) Assonance

“Cakaong baong kanai ba nao” …”amaik amâ batuk éw mai tanyi”

(13) Alliteration

“Dahlak daok gandeng blaoh lua tamâ” …”sa-ai sait paga blaoh nao talaih”

(14) Anaphora

“Cuh aem kanai biak ligaih"…“Cuh aem amaik amâ o laow” …”Cuh aem kanai biak ndang”

(15) Responsi

“Cakong mai pajaik nyaom aia mariak” …”Cakong mai pajaik blaoh buh limaow"

* Dahlak copy mângaok copy min ariya ni..biak dahlak hawing saong hadom abaoh panuec dalam ni wak oh sa jalan wak. Pagep : “ra”, “hâ”, “o” wak saong “balau” ngan oh hu “balau”...”ranem” ngan “dher”...mâda kanain wak hu “paoh thek”, kanain krei wek oh hu. Akhar “Mâk” “Mak” ngan..“rambah” “rimbah”....?