Pantun: The Poetry of Passion by Muhammad Haji Salleh

Studies on the pantun in English is often a rare commodity. While the passion for the verse form is exuberant, studying it has not been a popular endeavour. This book is a first full introduction to this extremely popular Southeast Asian poetic form that has found its way into many literatures of Europe and Australia and now into the cyber spaces, recreating itself within the demands of the new technology. In the Malay Archipelago itself it is the well-loved medium of love relationships, customary laws, proverbs, lullabyes and oral and written narratives. No other form has been able to execute these many functions and still retain such a freshness and flexibility. In this study Prof Muhammad introduces the various presences of the pantun, its functions, its different stages of development and spread, and not least is magical aesthetics.