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English to Portuguese: Of Treaties and Unbelievers
Source text - English Of Treaties and Unbelievers: Images of the Dutch in 17th and 18th Century Malay Historiography
by Gijs L. Koster
1. Introduction
In a previous paper about the image of the Portuguese as presented in Malay works of historiography of the 16th and 17th century (Koster, in press) - I analysed the way in which three texts – the Sejarah Melayu, the Hikayat Hang Tuah and the Hikayat Aceh - reacted to the shock of the sudden intrusion of an entirely new power into Nusantara, that of the Portuguese. This event – the sudden appearance in their midst of unbelievers (kafir) and enemies of Islam, possessing a superior military might – must have presented an unprecedented challenge to the Malay order of things – both worldly and religious.
What I found was that although these works showed themselves not insensitive – especially initially - to the exotic attraction exerted by the unusual weaponry, speech, dress and manners of these newcomers, they did their best imaginatively to give the Portuguese a ‘proper’ and acceptable place within the Malay order of things. Thus they argued that their sudden coming was a punishment from God or that it was simply part of the plot of history as fore-ordained by His unscrutable will. And they strived to reduce or prevent as much as possible any reduction in the status and prestige (daulat) of the royal patrons for whom they were written by, at least imaginatively, defeating the Portuguese, if that seemed a suitable thing to do and they could get away with it: historiography as a form of ‘damage control’.
As we shall see in this paper about the image of the Dutch in 17th and 18th century Malay historiography, which proceeds in the same manner and sets out to answer the same basic question as my previous one, historiography in those two centuries reacted in much the same way to the equally kafir Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC), that came to take the place of the Portuguese in Nusantara as the dominant foreign power, although not without showing significant differences. After Jan Huygen Van Linschoten had some 20 years before reconnoitred the way to the east in the service of the Portuguese, the actual history of the long presence of the Dutch as a power in the Indonesian Archipelago started with the two expeditions led by Cornelis De Houtman.
1. Dr. Koster obtained his Ph.D (1993) from Leiden University, the Netherlands. His thesis – on the poetics, conventions and interpretations of traditional Malay narrative – was published by the Royal Institute of Linguistics and Anthropology (see bibliography, Koster, 1997). Having previously taught at the School of Humanities of the Universiti Sains Malaysia at Pulau Pinang, Malaysia, he is since August 2000 attached to the Post-Graduate Program of the Literary Faculty of the Universitas Indonesia as an Associate Professor teaching traditional and modern Malay and comparative literature. Recent publications in English by him are “Forays into the Domain of Art: A. Samad Said’s Novel Daerah Zeni’, in: Tenggara, Journal of Southeast Asian Literature, 1997, 39: 63-99; and “A Nineteenth Century Political Lampoon: The Poem of the Cobra-King and the Frog-King”, in: Hazim Shah and Jomo K.S.(eds), Malaysia at a Cross-roads. Kuala Lumpur: MASSA, 2001, pp. 16-40.
2. This paper was presented at the International Congress on “Portuguese and Dutch Travellers in Southeast Asia, Porto, Portugal, 28-30 June 2001.
Translation - Portuguese Sobre Tratados e Infiéis: Imagens dos Holandeses na Historiografia Malaia dos séculos XVII e XVIII
Gijs L. Koster
1. Introdução
Em comunicação anterior sobre a imagem dos portugueses tal como são apresentados nos trabalhos de historiografia malaios dos séculos XVII e XVIII (Koster, texto no prelo) – analisei o modo como três textos – o Sejarah Melayu, o Hikayat Hang Tuah e o Hikayat Aceh – reagiram ao choque abrupto da intrusão de um poder completamente novo em Nusantara, o dos portugueses. Este acontecimento – a aparição súbita em seu meio de infiéis (kafir) e inimigos do Islão, possuindo um poder militar superior – deve ter representado um desafio sem precedentes à ordem malaia das coisas – quer temporal, quer religiosa.
O que descobri foi que embora estes trabalhos não se revelassem insensíveis – sobretudo no início – à atracção exótica exercida pelo armamento inusitado, o discurso, a indumentária e as maneiras destes recém-chegados, excederam-se em termos de imaginação ao atribuir aos portugueses um lugar “próprio” e aceitável dentro da ordem malaia das coisas. Por exemplo, argumentaram que a súbita chegada dos portugueses era um castigo de Deus ou simplesmente parte do plano da história tal como tinha sido anteriormente ordenado por seu desígnio inescrutável. E esforçaram-se no sentido de minimizar ou impedir tanto quanto possível qualquer perda de posição social e prestígio (daulat) dos patronos reais para quem os textos foram escritos, pelo menos imaginativamente, ao derrotar os Portugueses, se isso parecia ser a melhor coisa a fazer, podiam então escapar sem repreensão ou castigo: a historiografia como forma de ‘restrição de perdas’.
Esta comunicação sobre a imagem dos holandeses nos séculos XVII e XVIII da historiografia malaia segue a mesma linha e tenta responder à mesma questão básica apresentada na minha comunicação anterior. A historiografia nestes dois séculos, embora mostrando também diferenças significativas, teve o mesmo tipo de reacção em relação aos não muçulmanos (kafir) da Companhia Unida da Índia Oriental, (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie ou VOC), que veio ocupar o lugar dos Portugueses em Nusantara e se tornou no poder estrangeiro dominante. Logo após Jan Huygen Van Linschoten ter explorado, uns vinte anos antes, o caminho marítimo para a Índia a serviço dos portugueses, a longa história da presença dos holandeses no Arquipélago da Indonésia iniciou-se com duas expedições lideradas por Cornelis De Houtman.
1. O Professor Dr. Koster obteve o doutoramento em 1993 pela Universidade de Leiden, Holanda. A sua tese – sobre poética, convenções e interpretações da narrativa malaia tradicional – foi publicada pelo Royal Institute of Linguistics and Antropology (conferir bibliografia, Koster, 1997). Tendo dado aulas anteriormente na School of Humanities of the University Sains Malaysia em Pulau Pinang, Malásia, é desde Agosto de 2000 adido do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Literatura da Universidade da Indonésia como Professor Associado de Literatura Malaia Tradicional e Moderna e de Literatura Comparada. As suas publicações mais recentes em inglês são “Forays into the Domain of Art: A. Samad Said’s Novel Daerah Zeni’, no: Tenggara, Journal of Southeast Asian Literature, 1997, 39: 63-99; e Koster, G. L., 2003, “A 19th Century Political Lampoon: The Poem of the Cobra-King and the Frog-King”, in: Mohd. Hazim Shah (ed.), New Perspectives in Malaysian Studies. Bangi: Persatuan Sains Sosial Malaysia; Chapter 2, pp.32-55.
2. Esta comunicação foi apresentada no Congresso Internacional “Viagens e Viajantes – Portugueses e Holandeses no Sudeste Asiático”, Porto, Portugal, 28-30 Junho de 2001.
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Bachelor's degree - Faculdade de Letras do Porto
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Years of experience: 17. Registered at ProZ.com: Jan 2007.
English to Portuguese (Faculdade de Letras do Porto) Portuguese to English (Faculdade de Letras do Porto) French to Portuguese (Faculdade de Letras do Porto)
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I have a degree in Translation Studies English>Portuguese, Portuguese>English from the University of Porto. At the faculty I translated some academic papers. I also worked as a French and Portuguese teacher in S. Paulo - Brazil. Now I am a freelance translator. My recent work includes several abstracts and articles from newspapers.
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Keywords: translation english>portuguese, general language, arts, biographies, cinema, education, environment, finance, journalism, literature. See more.translation english>portuguese, general language, arts, biographies, cinema, education, environment, finance, journalism, literature, medical, nutrition, techonology, turism and travel
tradução inglês>português, linguagem geral, artes, biografias, cinema, educação, meio ambiente, finança, jornalismo, literatura, medicina (geral), nutrição, tecnologia, turismo e viagens
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