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Editorial
Get PDFThis first issue of Volume 23 of KEMANUSIAAN the Asian Journal of Humanities (KAJH) is the first themed issue published by this journal and is dedicated to historian Abdul Rahman Haji Ismail, the founding editor of the journal. Originally titled Jurnal Kemanusiaan (Journal of Humanities), the first volume was published over two decades ago in 1994. Befitting the dedication to a historian, the current issue features five articles that examine regional as well as universal issues in history.
An Archetypal Reading of The Arabian Nights: Mythic Hero and Monomyth in Selected Stories
Get PDFThe Arabian Nights is a literary masterpiece that has captivated readers for centuries with its magical elements, mythical creatures and traditional patterns of archetypes. This study delves into the underlying similarities and differences among the types of archetypal characters depicted in two tales, “Three Apples” and “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”. The focus is on the notion of mythic hero, exploring the use of archetypal symbols, images, characters and protagonists’ quests to identify the principles of heroism central to their characterisation. The study draws upon Joseph Campbell’s theory of Monomyth, which entails a pattern for the hero’s journey that includes three rites of passage: separation, initiation and return. By examining the journeys of Ja’far and Ali Baba through this lens, we find that both possess essential qualities of a hero in accordance with the tenets of monomyth. Despite their idiosyncratic differences, they are portrayed as ordinary men without any supernatural heroic powers who are urged to reclaim their social status by embarking on an adventure where they go through rebirth, face death and triumph over evil. The findings highlight how the use of mythical elements such as magic and traditional patterns contribute to the perennial appeal of the collection
Trauma Narratives: Collective Memories as Literature by Indochinese Refugees in the United States
Get PDFIndochinese refugees in the United States are part of Asian Americans, whose narratives portray their life in their home countries, journeys to the new world and life in the United States, their new world. This study investigates three primary texts by American authors of Indochinese descent, including Lan Cao’s Monkey Bridge, Sichan Siv’s Golden Bones and Sucheng Chan’s Hmong Means Free. These three texts are highly historicised, portraying traumatic experiences of Indochinese refugees who suffer from war and communist persecution in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, respectively. These texts are considered trauma narratives serving as collective memories of those people, which help them to remember their pasts and constitute their group identity. The narratives in the three primary texts also explain how Indochinese subjects come to be Asian Americans and reveal that in fact the United States is considered an important cause of their diaspora and trauma. The authors of those narratives are unable to eradicate the traumatic memories from their psyche, so they yearn for voices to vent out those memories as a form of healing. Their trauma narratives have become part of American culture which is partially constituted by trauma suffered by different groups of people in this country
Transcriptome Profile and Gene Expression During Different Ovarian Maturation Stages of Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man, 1879)
Get PDFMacrobrachium rosenbergii, or giant river prawn, is the most economically crucial cultured freshwater crustacean. A predominant challenge in developing crustacean aquaculture is reproduction management, particularly ovary maturation, where identifying regulative mechanisms at the molecular level is critical. Ovary is the primary tissue for studying gene and protein expressions involved in crustacean growth and reproduction. Despite significant interest in M. rosenbergii, its gene discovery has been at a relatively small scale compared to other genera. In this study, comprehensive transcriptomic sequencing data for different maturation stages of the ovary of M. rosenbergii were observed. The 20 female M. rosenbergii samples evaluated were categorised into four maturation stages, 1 to 4. A total of 817,793,14, 841,670,70, 914,248,78 and 878,085,88 raw reads were obtained from stages 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. The assembled unique sequences (unigenes) post-clustering (n = 98013) was 131,093,546 bp with an average size of 1,338 bp. The BLASTX unigene search against National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), non-redundant (NR), nucleotide sequence (NT), Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes andGenomes Orthology (KO), Swiss-Prot, Protein Family (PFAM), Gene Ontology (GO), and euKaryotic Orthologous Groups (KOG) databases yielded 27,680 (28.24%), 7,449 (7.59%), 13,026 (13.29%), 22,606 (23.06%), 29,907 (30.51%), 30,025 (30.63%) and 14,368 (14.65%) significant matches, respectively, totalling to 37,338 annotated unigenes (38.09%). The differentially expressed genes (DEG) analysis conducted in this study led to identifying cyclin B, insulin receptor (IR), oestrogen sulfotransferase (ESULT) and vitellogenin (Vg), which are critical in ovarian maturation. Nevertheless, some M. rosenbergii ovarian maturation-related genes, such as small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO)-activating enzyme subunit 1, E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase RNF25, and neuroparsin, were first identified in this study. The data obtained in the present study could considerably contribute to understanding the gene expression and genome structure in M. rosenbergii ovaries throughout its developmental stage
Storytelling as a Discursive Strategy for Framing Fragile and Stable States in WHO Reports
Get PDFThe embedding of personal stories in formal reports allows for the dissemination of complex information alongside relatable narratives which are more palatable. Storytelling serves to humanize information, making it more accessible and impactful for diverse audiences. This paper examines the use of storytelling as a discursive strategy employed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to report the responsiveness of both stable and fragile states to the COVID-19 pandemic. By analyzing personal stories which were included in extensive reports published for global consumption, this paper explores how storytelling was utilized as a discursive strategy to convey stereotypical images of stable and fragile states. The analysis revealed that the personal stories consistently portrayed fragile states as incapable of managing the crisis without external support. In contrast, stable states were portrayed as being very much in control of the situation, equipped with the best people and facilities to deal with the pandemic. The paper argues that besides serving as a powerful tool to humanize a global crisis, personal stories also serve to construct separate identities for stable and fragile states. Employing a content analysis, it was found that the personal stories went beyond narratives about the pandemic also to highlight broader issues in fragile states, such as gender discrimination. In so doing, the stories were reinforcing mainstream media narratives which typically portray fragile states as being backward. The findings inform media practitioners, particularly those working in the healthcare sector, about the integration of storytelling in official reports
Cultural Discourse in African Poetry: Output by Human Translators and Machine Translation Systems
Get PDFThe article reports on how two European translators (Etienne Galle and André Bordeaux), two General machine translation (GMT) systems (DeepL and Amazon Translate) and a Custom-built Microsoft Azure translator engine render the Culture-Specific Items (CSIs) in two anthologies of an African Author, Wole Soyinka, into French. The study seeks to fill a knowledge gap, namely the question of whether and to what extent existing Neural Machine Translation systems that are trained preponderantly with texts produced in Western contexts take CSIs in texts written by authors from a non-Western cultural background into account. Following Aixelá’s (1996) model for identifying and categorising CSIs, CSIs were first noted in the corpora\u27s human, Deepl and Amazon Translate French translation versions. A Custom Translation Engine (CTE) was thereafter built and trained on Microsoft Azure with parallel data of about 14,000 English/ French African poetry sentences. CSIs were again noted after the CTE translated the anthologies. 25 CSIs were identified in the human and machine French translations of the two anthologies studied; more than two-thirds of this number are proper nouns, and the rest are common expressions. The results showed that most CSIs identified in the translation by CTE were lexically and orthographically similar to those identified in the human translation (HT). The results also indicated that CTE’s output of CSIs was less monotonous than that of GMT systems
Latar Belakang Tercetusnya Perkahwinan Sesama Jantina dalam Agama Kristian: Satu Kajian Kepustakaan
Get PDFPerkahwinan sesama jantina (PSJ) merujuk kepada pasangan yang memiliki kelamin yang sama mengikat hubungan cinta menerusi pernikahan yang dilangsungkan menurut kepercayaan agama. Mutakhir ini, PSJ semakin menjadi pilihan kepada golongan homoseksual untuk melangsungkan perkahwinan. Sehubungan dengan itu, satu kajian kepustakaan dijalankan untuk meninjau latar belakang PSJ di seluruh dunia. Hasilnya, didapati bahawa PSJ telah diiktiraf oleh 39 buah negara di dunia. Agama yang mencatatkan bilangan pasangan yang melangsungkan PSJ pula ialah daripada penganut Kristian. Sorotan kajian yang dijalankan mendapati dua faktor yang menjadi penyumbang kepada berlakunya PSJ dalam agama Kristian. Pertama, berlakunya perbezaan penafsiran terjemahan teks Bible antara homofilia dan homofobia telah menimbulkan perselisihan pendapat dalam memutuskan kedudukan homoseksual. Kedua, berlakunya perbezaan pendekatan antara gereja homoseksual dan gereja heteroseksual mengenai PSJ. Justeru, kajian lanjutan untuk menyelidiki titik pertemuan dan percanggahan mengenai PSJ wajar dilaksanakan khususnya dalam agama Kristian untuk mengesahkan sama ada PSJ sememangnya dibenarkan dalam agama Kristian atau sebaliknya
The Performance Implications of Management Control Systems and Dynamic Capabilities: Evidence from Vietnam
Get PDFDrawing on the resource-based view and dynamic-capability view, this study examines the relationship between the interactive use of management control systems, dynamic capabilities, and firm performance in the Vietnamese information and communication technology industry. The research model and hypotheses have been tested by partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) with 240 survey samples obtained from managers working in Vietnamese information and communication technology firms. The results indicate that the interactive use of management control systems has a positive effect on dynamic capabilities. Additionally, both the interactive use of management control systems and dynamic capabilities have direct positive effects on firm performance. The results reveal that dynamic capabilities complementary mediate the relationships between the interactive use of management control systems and firm performance. This study provides theoretical and managerial implications for Vietnamese information and communication technology firms that are striving to develop management control systems and dynamic capabilities for enhancing firm performance
Ornamental Patterns of Contemporary Indonesian Batik: Clothing for Strengthening the Articulation of Appearance Characteristics
Get PDFBatik is a significant aspect of Javanese and Indonesia culture, celebrated for its complex motifs, rich history, and deep cultural values. The research method used is qualitative research based on exploration and explanation supported with Iconographical Analysis and Elegant Design Theory. UNESCO’s recognition of batik as a world culture heritage, has led to a revival in interest and respect for this art form in Indonesia. Historically, batik was reserved for the nobility, but nowadays, it has evolved into national attire with contemporary significance. The focus of this study is to position batik as not only a traditional work of art that has developed into contemporary fashion, but also contains various ethical and aesthetic boundaries as a reflection of the intelligence of clothing culture. Contemporary batik is seen as a medium that can enhance the wearer’s appearance. Several characteristics of a person’s appearance that can be strengthened based on batik ornamental patterns are authoritative, openness, responsible, dynamic, and simplicity. This pattern is actualised in fashion design with a format resembling the letters or punctuation marks of Y, +, \, Z, and I
