2013.3 Journal of Literature and Art Studies

Journal of Literature and Art Studies
Volume 3, Number 3, March 2013 (Serial Number 16)
Da vid Publishing
David Publishing Company www.davidpublishing.com
Publication Information: Journal of Literature and Art Studies is published monthly in hard copy (ISSN 2159-5836) and online (ISSN 2159-5844) by David Publishing Company located at 9460 Telstar Ave Suite 5, EL Monte, CA 91731, USA. Aims and Scope: Journal of Literature and Art Studies, a monthly professional academic journal, covers all sorts of researches on literature studies, art theory, appreciation of arts, culture and history of arts and other latest findings and achievements from experts and scholars all over the world. Editorial Board Members: Eric J. Abbey, Oakland Community College, USA Andrea Greenbaum, Barry University, USA Punam Madhok, East Carolina University, USA Carolina Conte, Jacksonville University, USA H. S. Komalesha, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India Mary Harden, Western Oregon University, USA Lisa Socrates, University of London, United Kingdom Herman Jiesamfoek, City University of New York, USA Maria OConnell, Texas Tech University, USA Manuscripts and correspondence are invited for publication. You can submit your papers via Web Submission, or E-mail to literature.art@davidpublishing.org, art.literature@yahoo.com. Submission guidelines and Web Submission system are available at http://www.davidpublishing.org, www.davidpublishing.com. Editorial Office: 9460 Telstar Ave Suite 5, EL Monte, CA 91731 Tel: 1-323-984-7526, 323-410-1082 Fax: 1-323-984-7374, 323-908-0457 E-mail: literature.art@davidpublishing.org, art.literature@yahoo.com Copyright2013 by David Publishing Company and individual contributors. All rights reserved. David Publishing Company holds the exclusive copyright of all the contents of this journal. In accordance with the international convention, no part of this journal may be reproduced or transmitted by any media or publishing organs (including various websites) without the written permission of the copyright holder. Otherwise, any conduct would be considered as the violation of the copyright. The contents of this journal are available for any citation, however, all the citations should be clearly indicated with the title of this journal, serial number and the name of the author. Abstracted/Indexed in: Database of EBSCO, Massachusetts, USA Chinese Database of CEPS, Airiti Inc. & OCLC Chinese Scientific Journals Database, VIP Corporation, Chongqing, P.R.C. Ulrichs Periodicals Directory LLBA Database of ProQuest Summon Serials Solutions Subscription Information: Price (per year): Print $420 Online $300 Print and Online $560 David Publishing Company 9460 Telstar Ave Suite 5, EL Monte, CA 91731 Tel: 1-323-984-7526, 323-410-1082. Fax: 1-323-984-7374, 323-908-0457 E-mail: order@davidpublishing.com
D
DA VID PUBLISHING
David Publishing Company www.davidpublishing.com
Journal of Literature and Art Studies

Volume 3, Number 3, March 2013 (Serial Number 16)
Contents
Literature Studies
Sherwood Andersons Mother and the Evaluation of the Genre Tamar Khetsuriani Confronting Inequity in Nigerian Social Milieu: Apprehending Class Stratification in Festus Iyayis Violence Niyi Akingbe, Christopher Babatunde Ogunyemi 144 137
Art Studies
Contemporary Chinese Calligraphy Between Tradition and Innovation Adriana Iezzi 158
Special Research
Community Mediation in Malaysia: A Comparison Between Rukun Tetangga and Community Mediation in Singapore Hanna Binti Ambaras Khan 180
Journal of Literature and Art Studies, ISSN 2159-5836 March 2013, Vol. 3, No. 3, 137-143
DA VID
PUBLISHING
Sherwood Andersons Mother and the Evaluation of the Genre

Tamar Khetsuriani
Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
Sherwood Andersons Winesburg, Ohio (1919) has been the focus of numerous studies from a number of standpoints. This paper explores a short story Mother (1919) from Winesburg, Ohio and studies it from an evaluation-based perspective embracing the analysis of the artistic language and the style of the authors narration. The main focus of the study is concentrated on the genre-related issues as well as on the determining the reason why Anderson avoids the development of the given text and transforming it into the regime of a more large-scale prose. As it turns out from the analysis, Anderson elaborates a specific style of narration and creates the form that can be characterized as the mode of epic sketch. Anderson favors to use much smaller meter and scope, and that choice serves the writers purpose to describe the psychological portrait of one of the characters of the above-mentioned short story. Keywords: artistic language, narration, epic sketch, psychological portrait, psychological potential
Introduction
Andersons writing of Winesburg, Ohio became a legend in his own timeand in his own mind (Crowley, 1990, p. 10). Sherwood Andersons (1876-1941) short stories have always been subjects of keen interest for critics and scholars, particularly the evaluation of the genre-related issues. Quite often scholars and literary critics cannot reach the final decision as regards the genre reviewed material falls into. Andersons Winesburg, Ohio (1919) attracted readers attention by its unusual form: A collection of closely integrated autonomous stories taken together made something like a novel [But] Winesburg, Ohio is neither a novel nor a random set of stories. Rather it is one of the earliest examples of an important American genre, as yet unnamed by literary historians, (Crowley, 1990, p. 14). Such evaluation can be explained by the authors specific manner of writing, which can be interpreted as a style that reflects the polar nature of the short story genre. Our discussion about the genre-related issues is based on the analysis of Andersons short story Mother (1919). The brief scheme of the plot contains so many parallel themes and allusions that, according to the norms of literature, the potential of the scheme, enriched with words, needs to be renderedif not in the novel, but in a full-scope story, at least. Instead of it, the author suggests only some specifications of the motive. The purpose of our comparative analysis is to reveal these specifications: The details and moments of the short story that spoiled rather than improved the artistic side of the work, assisting in the entire exposition of its contextual, ideological, and artistic potentials. We are also planning to analyze those moments where the authors writing hardly adds anything that develops either the psychological potential or parameters of the dialoguewhich can automatically transform the text into the regime of a large-scale prose.
Tamar Khetsuriani, Ph.D. student, Department of Arts and Sciences, Ilia State University.
138
SHERWOOD ANDERSONS MOTHER AND THE EVALUATION OF THE GENRE
The Outline
The plot of Andersons short story Motheralongside the typical and banal social conflict depicted in itcreates a sharp contrast with a few characters of other tales from Winesburg, Ohio whose neurotic nature resembles their Kunstkammeror art chamber. The short story also offers us a full and extensive picture of the potential that involves the components of characters and plot. The outline of Mother is built on the history of the poor family and on the parents hopeless effort to make their sons dream come true. As for their own dreams, they are destined never to be realized. Before considering the examples we should determine the followings: (1) For what reason does Anderson avoid the development of the text?; and (2) What does the author gain by that?. As we have already mentioned, the outline of the text gives the picture of the life of the poor family with a strong distrust among its members. Before Anderson, half a century earlier, Hawthorne and later, Faulkner and Salinger would have transformed the similar situation into a novel. In order to get a better idea about the strategy of our analysis, it is necessary to conceive the whole contour and outline of the short story. This short story involves a triangular relationship of selfhoods, where the sonGeorge Willardrepresents the central determinant figure of the gravitation. His parents, with all their mights, are trying to please him. This fight is, in some way, analogous to Berthold Brechts The Caucasian Chalk Circle (1944). The sons welfare is the most important thing for the mother, and not only for her, but for the father as well: The irony of the conflict is that each of them has his/her own interpretation of welfare for their son: George Willards mother and father, each has a different story in mind for their son (Lindsay, 2009, p. 179), and neither father nor mothers notion of their sons well-being coincides with their sons desires. It follows that, the parents are trying to adjust the pattern of their ideal to their son. This wish has one covert reason: The mother, Elizabeth Willard, disappointed by her fate, tries to revenge her husband, Tom Willard, for his destructive interference into her life. The fatherwho does not perceive his wife as a personality and, blames her for his misfortune, for she did not support him sufficientlytries to adjust his pattern to his son. For him, it is a chance to take revenge on his wife. Less attention is paid to the third character, to the son, who plays the role of an object in the scenario performed by the others rather than the role of a subject who possesses his own will. Such atmosphere continues till the end of the short story, when the son rebels and announces his wish to make his way in life and direct his future life according to his own will:
In the hallway there was the sound of footsteps and George Willard came in at the door. Sitting in a chair beside his mother he began to talk: Im going to get out of here, he said. I dont know where I shall go or what I shall do but I am going away. (Anderson, 1981, p. 42)
Such explosion weakens the potential of the plot and the idea, because the phrases and the dialogue, inserted into the limited form of the short story, depreciate the artistic potential of the material, not to mention the irrelevance that exists between the material and the chosen genre. As for the rebellion, we would like to point out and add some lines by Lindsay (2009) where he wrote:
Actually, socially approved, culturally sanctioned rebellion is fairly common for men in the small midwestern town of Winesburg, Ohio, especially the rebellion of exile. Its no surprise, of course, that American culture romanticizes

rebellion, providing lots and lots of stories tacitly affirming the shucking of the old. (p. 179)
139
And, one more detail about the rebellion: When men rebel, they follow congenial, culturally approved, literarily established story lines that encourage a way of being. For men, flight from home, is part of the standard narrative of manhood (Lindsay, 2009, p. 178). When George Willard leaves the town in the final story of Winesburg, Ohio, it can be rendered as the coming-of-age ritual (Lindsay, 2009, p. 179) signaling the beginning of his manhood. In our comparative analysis we have applied to the theme of influence in the art of drama. We were inspired not by the theme of influence itself but by the role or function which Mother had on the play A Touch of the Poet (1942) by Eugene ONeill. The resemblance is seen in the comprehension of the plot and in the scheme of the psychological conflict. Tom Willard, the father of the rebellious hero, resembles ONeills hero, Major Melody: Both are victims of hard times, both are ill-fated, both consider that their wives prevent their advancement, that their wives are vivid symbols and targets of criticism, and finally, both men are trying to pursue their career in politics. Anderson, Freudian Thought, and Local Influences As we have mentioned, the relationship between the son and his mother is the leading theme of the short story. It should be pointed out that the 1920s became the apotheosis of Freud and Freudianism, and Anderson was among the earliest American writers who responded to Freuds theories. It is rather difficult for critics to define and separate the writers outlookfrom the material that can be explained by the influence of Freudian thought: There is some justification in noting the parallel courses of psychoanalysis and Andersons fiction, but there seems little evidence to prove that those two courses intersected at any vital points (Hoffman, 1966, p. 192). Hoffman discusses Sherwood Andersons indirect acquaintance with Freudian theory through his early associates in the Chicago Renaissance and the lasting effects of that knowledge on his writing. As for the influence, Hoffman (1966) pointed out that it is necessary to determine the antecedent, local influences which affected Andersons style and attitude (p. 174). These are obviously native influences, and he needed no textbook psychology to appreciate their weight or value (p. 176). These local influences, as Curry (1980) wrote, were:
Andersons own memories of his boyhood and youth in Ohio towns, especially Clyde, [which] came a live to him when he moved into the boarding house at 735 Cass Street in Chicago. Many of the boarders were men and women like himself, emigrants to the big city from small rural communities throughout the Midwest. They were confused, silent people whose drab lives stirred Andersons creative imagination In his Memoirs Anderson explains the process by which his fellow boarders stirred his memories of Clyde: It was as though I had little or nothing to do with the writing. It was as though the people of that house used me as an instrument. They had got, I felt, through me, their stories told, and not in their own persons but, in a much more real and satisfactory way, through the lives of these queer small town people of the book. (p. 246)
Epic Sketch Elizabeth Willards dramatic emotions are described skillfully, in an artistically impressive mode and with psychological convincingnessin the manner so characteristic of Anderson, in the manner of the native inarticulateness of the Middle Westerner (Hoffman, 1966, p. 186). In mothers portrait the line of descriptive, objective narration is interchanged with the authors interference style, when the author specially explains and
140
analyzes the characters conduct and speech. Such two-layered style helps the author to provide the short story with an economical and, at the same time, accelerated mode of narration. By the help of such acceleration Anderson creates the form that can be called the mode of epic sketch. Epic sketch implies not only: (1) the wide-ranging narrationinvolving time and spacethat justifies the pretension of the objective and large-scale picture of reality; but it also (2) presents the naturalistic detail of a psychological significance that helps and responds to the needs of interpreting, presenting and understanding of both: the character and the main idea of the general theme. Main Street and Its Symbolic Meaning Such is the detail concerning the mother. How hopelessly she spent hours gazing at the Main Street of the town which gained the symbolic significance not only of the future, of the idea, and of a better life but, in general, it carried the idea of hope, the desire to escape and, finally, it arose the feeling of dissatisfaction caused by the existing reality: European readers who come to Andersons Winesburg, Ohio for the first time feel the proximity of a new speech, a new country, a fresh view of the Main Street (Gregory, 1977, p. 4). The path, associated with the distance and reflecting the desire of poor people to evade their sufferings, makes the heroesof a short story and of a play toodream of far-off places and think one and the same: Hope and help are hidden beyond the horizon, the phrase which Eugene ONeill used as a title for his play Beyond the Horizon (1920) where the theme of irrelevance between a dream and a reality is interplayed: The trio of heroes become victims of their wrong choice that was done by each of them only because of overrating of their cherished dreams and building the conflict on illusions. Characters never know what to expect in their further emotional wallop, for the future can be a source of endless pessimism and conflicting impulses. In the following passage the author achieves the great dramatic tension, that is effectively crowned with the prayer uttered by the mother: she went into his room and closing the door knelt by a little desk, made of a kitchen table she went through a ceremony that was half a prayer, half a demand, addressed to the skies (Anderson, 1981, p. 37). Besides the sad, psychological mood of this scene, two impressive details are observed: a desk from a kitchen table and half a prayer, half a demand, addressed to the skies. The first phrase strikes by its social-financial motive, by the notion indicating the poverty of the heroes. As for the second detail, here in the phraseaddressed to the skiesthe strong pathetic feeling of predestination is felt. There is another detail which is similar and typologically relative to the above-mentioned theme. Smart and successful (Anderson, 1981, p. 37)The way Tom Willards wife describes the standard of her husbands dream career. But so immense is her anger toward her husband that she detests the idea of applying the same descriptive terms to her son. She sacrificed her love to her revenge and hatred which she had been keeping and kindling in the depth of her heart toward her husband for years. The Continuation of Old Themes The theme of hatred, revenge, and punishment has become classics of American literature since the period of Nathaniel Hawthorne and totally corresponds to the most dramatic periods and themes of the Puritan tradition. From this point of view, we can say that Andersons short story Mother continues old themes and motives of
SHERWOOD ANDERSONS MOTHER AND THE EVALUATION OF THE GENRE the American National Literature.
141
Devotion to these old themes is felt in Elizabeth Willards prayer, when shewith glowed eyes and clenched fists, shakingdeclares:
Even though I die, I will in some way keep defeat from you If I am dead and see him becoming a meaningless drab figure like myself, I will come back I ask God now to give me that privilege. I demand it. I will pay for it I will take any blow that may befall if but this my boy be allowed to express something for us both And do not let him become smart and successful either. (Anderson, 1981, p. 37)
Elizabeths text is very impressive by its idea and artistic mode which is intensified by laconism. But, in spite of such laconic style of expression, some interesting moments can be observed in the aforementioned passage: (1) Mothers selfless love, the pathetic side of which reminds us the pictures of unequal battles in wildlife, when mother-bird in order to save her little nestling shows resistance against beasts of prey. We have not mentioned the animal world just for a nice metaphor; if we remember Elizabeths nonentity and silent role, how silently she strolls up and down in her room, it would be clear that we have a background to look for the similarity beyond the human society; (2) Pride and self-criticism that is felt in her bitter comparison that is full of dignity: a meaningless drab figure like myself (Anderson, 1981, p. 37); and (3) A great desire of self-realization, which she fancies, lies in the unification with her son: my boy be allowed to express something for us both (Anderson, 1981, p. 37); at the same time, the meaning of this citation has another layer: As, prior to it, mother mentions her death and passing away, her wordsus bothcarry more value, for the mother wishes happiness together with her son not in this world but out of this world. Why so? The reason is simple: The existence in this world is temporary; but those who are gone to a better world are eternally unified, and the mothers wish is connected with that idea: to be inseparable from her son. The artistic language of the short story implies eclecticism. It is seen only in the opening paragraph of the story, when the authors narration is suddenly changed with the characters unexpected psychological reaction on a definite little episode, but when the mode and the pace of narration are changed again, we can conclude that we deal with the case when the author practices an elaborated method, and instead of eclecticism, it would be right to speak about a specific method and methodology. It should be pointed out that Throughout his career Anderson saw himself as an experimental writer (Stouck, 1990, p. 48). In reference to Andersons style Stouck (1990) wrote: Anderson has long been recognized as an innovator in style, influenced by the vernacular of Mark Twain and responsive to the prose experiments of Gertrude Stein (p. 45). In contrast with the scene of Elizabeths prayer, the author portrays her sons periodical visits to her room when she does not feel well. George Willard appears as an emotionally emptied hero. In relation to George Willards characterization, it is worth mentioning T. S. Eliot who influences the world culture by introducing the term hollow men and by creating their specific psycho-social type. Narrative Technique The description of the sons and his mothers boring visits to each otherthe piece which might have been organically inserted not only in Nathaniel Hawthornes novel, but in the diaries and records of the 17th century American chroniclerswas followed by a mystical scene in characterization of which it would be appropriate to use the term epiphany.
142
SHERWOOD ANDERSONS MOTHER AND THE EVALUATION OF THE GENRE The actualization of this term is usually connected with James Joycebut Franz Kafka, not to mention the
writers of a later period, such as Faulkner and other literary luminariesKafka also used it as an artistic method, and as the adroit and effective element of the artistic language. The generalization and absolutization of a routine moment to the category of allegory and symbol is the essence and the characteristic feature of epiphany. According to Joyces theory an ordinary person, event or objecta trivialityoccasion the epiphany (Curry, 1980, p. 244). Anderson used the similar narrative technique and if Joyce called the revelation of inner significance epiphany, Anderson spoke of significant moments (Curry, 1980, p. 244). In the short story, such revelation lies in the absurd struggle of a bakerwho is sick and tired of lifewith a little, hungry cat which tries to take a few bites in the bakery. The scene of fight is absurd, because the bakers misfortune is not the cats fault. But the cat is the only visible, concrete, and accessible creature that the baker can put the blame on for all his troubles. And one day, while watching the daily scene of chasing the poor, little creature and its fleeing from the bakers hands, Elizabeth realizes that her own fate bears the striking similarity to this scene and she bursts into tears. The benefit of this scene is that Anderson transforms it into a method. The indication of such silent drama is given in the very first paragraph of the short story where the author describes the businesslike promenade of Elizabeth Willards ambitious and materialist husband who, being oppressed by the reality, visions his back-dragging symbol:
As he went spruce and business-like through the streets of Winesburg, he sometimes stopped and turned quickly about as though fearing that the spirit of the hotel and of the woman would follow him even into the streets. Damn such a life, damn it!he sputtered aimlessly. (Anderson, 1981, p. 36)
This damnation fully responds to his whining wifes mood when she catches a glimpse of the stupid baker. In spite of the mothers sincere feeling and wish to establish a dialogue with her son, in reality its accomplishment is impossible; instead, she has to content herself by an imaginary dialogue and, thus, remains locked in her solitary cell. Because of this imaginary feeling, the mother believes that her son is of the same breed as she is and there is nothing paternal in him: He is grouping about, trying to find himself. He is not a dull clod, all words and smartness.1 Within him there is a secret something that is striving to grow. It is the thing I let be killed in myself (Anderson, 1981, p. 39). These last words indicate how great is the mothers belief in her sons future lifewhich is woven on her own patternand which will crown her tortured existence. Crowning Piece From that point on, the crowning piece of the short story begins. This piece is written in a different style, different in the mode of genre and it gives us basis to put forward critical remarks. First of all, it is the pace that corresponds with our idea about the epic sketch and with the notion about the epic sketch, in general. At the same time, it is a deliberate transition into the stylistics of the genre of drama that is followed by the line of blunders: First of all, it is an inconsistent and inaccurate interpretation of a character. The oppressed womans face, marked with smallpox scarspresented on the first lines of the short storydoes not fit in with the behavior of the moderately arbitrary woman, and with the indication of a tigress, the description
1
These are the fathers characteristic featuresTamar Khetsuriani.
143
that appears on the last lines: As a tigress whose cub had been threatened would she appear, coming out of the shadows, stealing noiselessly along and holding the long wicked scissors in her hand (Anderson, 1981, p. 42). On such background, the dialogue between the practical father and his son seems to provoke more convincingness among the readers, and because of it, all the remarks, which we have listed above, are called forth.
Conclusions
Anderson avoids and rejects the possibility of the traditional and approved development of the narration. Instead, he uses a laconic style of narration. It turned out that the purpose of that choice was connected with the description of the psychological portrait of one of the charactersElizabeth Willard. It goes without saying that this purpose has a full right of existence as a material for prose; besides, in this process other characters are disclosed as well. But such complex approach to the task in terms of a short prose form puts forward one twist of the thematic line, which is constructed on the fate of a single character. At the beginning of the present article we have mentioned the specific manner of writing so characteristic of Sherwood Anderson, and it should be pointed out that it is that very manner, so vividly felt in all his writings, that seems to assure him of a life beyond the horizon (Gregory, 1977, p. 31).
References
Anderson, Sh. (1981). Mother. In V. Bonar (Ed.), Selected short stories (pp. 36-43). Moscow: Progress Publishers. Brecht, B. (1973). The Caucasian chalk circle. (James & T. Stern, Trans.). London: Methuen. Crowley, J. W. (Ed.). (1990). Introduction to New Essays on Winesburg, Ohio (pp. 1-26). New York: Cambridge University Press. Curry, M. (1980). Sherwood Anderson and James Joyce. American Literature, 52(2), 236-249. Gregory, H. (Ed.). (1977). Introduction. The portable Sherwood Anderson (pp. 3-31). Middlesex: Penguin Books. Hoffman, F. J. (1966). Freudianism and the literary mind. In R. L. White (Ed.), The achievement of Sherwood Anderson: Essays in criticism (pp. 173-192). North Carolina: The University of North Carolina Press. Lindsay, C. (2009). Men are stupid critics; women are discerning artists. Such a rare thing: The art of Sherwood Andersons Winesburg, Ohio (pp. 174-196). Kent and Ohio: The Kent State University Press. ONeill, E. (1978). A touch of the poet. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ONeill, E. (Trans.). (1971). Beyond the horizon (Za gorizontom). In N. R. Voitkevich (Ed.), Plays (Pyesi) (Vol. 1, pp. 41-153). Moscow: Iskusstvo Publishers. Stouck, D. (1990). Andersons expressionist art. In J. W. Crowley (Ed.), New essays on Winesburg, Ohio (pp. 27-51). New York: Cambridge University Press.
DA VID
PUBLISHING
Confronting Inequity in Nigerian Social Milieu: Apprehending Class Stratification in Festus Iyayis Violence
Niyi Akingbe
Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa, Nigeria
Christopher Babatunde Ogunyemi

Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, Nigeria
This paper is preoccupied with the delineation of the dialectic of poverty and wealth in Festus Iyayis Violence. The unbridled struggle between the bourgeois and the proletariat in the novel constitutes the onus of the dialectical materialism which underlies an axiomatic focus of societal superstructure. An application of Kenneth Bouldings theory of protest to the Nigerian social milieu, poignantly reveals that there is a potent foregrounding of the class stratification between the rich and the poor. The paper will further examine how this dichotomy between the highly placed and the down trodden in the novel has graphically accentuated the poverty index in contemporary Nigeria. Keywords: confronting inequity, class stratification, violence, bourgeois, proletariat, social milieu, Nigeria, Festus Iyayi
Introduction
Iyayis Violence (1979), focuses on the social context of contemporary Nigerian society, is the reminiscent of Frasers analysis of Chinua Achebes The Novelist as Teacher (1975), in which an African writer cannot but get deeply rooted in the social circumstances of his immediate environment: The African writer works against a background of often awesome social and material deprivation: hunger, displacement, and human stress. All these demand instant and sustained attention of the writer in his/her writing. As such, the committed writer, must constantly react to these social upheavals as his duty in different terms. Our concern in this paper is to examine the degree of class stratification in Iyayis Violence. We shall further attempt an explication of the inherent complication in the relationship between the bourgeois and the proletariat in Nigeria, as to bring out the tension between the duo which often lead to mutual distrust.
The Protest Theory: A Societal Superstructure

Kenneth Boulding in his essay Towards a Theory of Protest (1967), identifies four movements towards the understanding of the protest theory and how the framework is applicable to societal superstructure. First, he observes that, protest arises when there is a strongly felt dissatisfaction with existing programmes and policies of government or other organizations, on the part of those who feel that they have been affected by these policies,
Niyi Akingbe, senior lecturer, English Studies Unit, Ondo State University of Science and Technology. Christopher Babatunde Ogunyemi, senior lecturer, Department of English College of Humanities, Ajayi Crowther University.
APPREHENDING CLASS STRATIFICATION IN FESTUS IYAYIS VIOLENCE
145
but who are unable to express their discontent through regular and legitimate channels, and who feel unable to exercise the weight to which they think they are entitled in the decision-making process of their social environment. Second, Boulding (1967) opined that:
Protest is most likely to be successful where it represents a view which is in fact widespread in the society, but which has somehow not been called to peoples attention. Societies, like solutions, supersaturated or super cooled; that is, they reach a situation in which their present state is intrinsically unstable, but does not change because of the absence of some kind of nucleus around which change can grow. Under these circumstances, protest is like the seed crystal or the silver iodide in the cloud. It precipitates the whole system toward a position which it really ought to be in anyway. We see this exemplified in the relative success of the protest movements in civil rights. Here we have a situation, as Myrdal saw very clearly in The American Dilemma, in which certain fundamental images of the American society were inconsistent with its practices, and where, therefore, the protesters could appeal to an ideal which was very widely held. Wherever there is hypocrisy, there is strong hope of change, for the hypocrite is terribly vulnerable to protest. On the other hand, in the absence of protest, the supersaturated society may go on for a long time without change, simply because of what physicists call the nucleation problem. (p. 50)
Third, where the society is not supersaturated, a protest movement has a much rougher time. It then has to move the society toward the new position, from which change can then crystallize out, and this is a much more difficult task than crystallizing change in a society that is ready for it. Furthermore, protest as a social form, which may be very effective and indeed necessary in crystallizing a supersaturated society, may be quite ineffective in moving a society which is not saturated for change toward a point where it is. That is, the technique for creating the pre-conditions of change may be very different from the techniques required for crystallizing it. Where a society is divided and ambivalent, a protest movement designed to push it in one direction may easily arouse movements of counter-protest designed to resist the movement or to push it in the other direction. This is something to which protesters rarely give sufficient attention. Because they are themselves emotionally aroused, they tend to think that almost everybody must be in a similar frame of mind, which may not be true at all. It is quite possible, for instance, for protest movements to arouse counter-protests much larger than the original protests, and, hence, the net result of the protest is to move the system away from the direction in which the protesters want it to move. The Goldwater campaign was a good example of this. Goldwater was nominated as a Republican candidate as a result of a protest movement among discontented conservatives. The result, however, was the arousal of a much larger movement of counter-protest among those who were frightened and dismayed by Goldwater, which resulted in a quite unprecedented defeat (Boulding, 1967, p. 55). The fourth point is that, the dynamic process of social systems is not entirely random, and this means that any particular social system is more likely to go in some directions than it is in others. Obviously, a protest movement which is trying to push the social system in a direction in which it has a high probability of going anyway is more likely to be successful than one that is trying to push the social system in a direction that has a low probability. Unfortunately, it is by no means easy to assess the various probabilities of change; nevertheless, we can surely know something about it. At least we can be pretty sure, for instance, that movements toward absolute hereditary monarchies today have a pretty slim chance of success. We can identify certain cumulative processes in the history of social systems, such as the growth of knowledge, the widening of integrative systems, and so on, which have a certain long-run irreversibility about them, even if they may have short-run setbacks, systems move, however, painfully, toward payoffs (Boulding, 1967, p. 60).
146
Class Stratification and Violence in Iyayis Violence

Iyayis identification with the condition of the working classes buttresses protest that also partly reflects his own class position as a petit-bourgeois intellectual who is able to empathize effectively with the working classes through his writing. His portrayal of Obofun, Queen, Dala, and Iriso as exploiters of the working classes offers a helpful context in which we can assess Iyayis commitment to the cause of the downtrodden. He courageously exposes the moral depravity of the Nigerian bourgeoisie, paradoxically a class to which he also belongs as a privileged individual. Iyayi decries the gluttonous attitude of the elite who assumed the leadership of their nation at the expiration of colonial rule in Africa and have since independence perpetrated the exploitation of their own people with a ruthlessness that was never seen during colonial rule. Such exploitation is seen in the rapacity of the elite: (1) sexual promiscuity as typified by the relationship between Iriso and Queen; (2) bribery and racketeering in the ministries and government establishments which Obofun was involved in before his premature dismissal; and (3) diversions of essential commodities like milk and eggs from the ministry of agriculture to Queens supermarket. The employment of Idemudia by Queen to offload bags of cement with its attendant poor remuneration provides the needed political discourse for the analysis of the economic structures of the society, prevailing norms, injustice, exploitation, conflict, and revolt, as the variables of social exchange between the elite and the working classes in the novel. The commodification of members of the working class by the elites in the novel recalls the observation of Solomon (1974):
A commodity is therefore a mysterious thing, simply because in it the social character of mens labour appears to them as an objective character stamped upon the product of that labour, because the relation of the producers to the sum total of their own labour is presented to them as a social relation, existing not between themselves, but between the products of their labour. This is the reason why the products of labour become commodities, social things whose qualities are of the same time perceptible and imperceptible by the senses. (p. 40)
Solomon (1974) further emphasised that within the capitalist system as obtainable in Nigeria, all methods for raising the social productiveness of labor are brought about at the cost of the individual laborer:
All means for the development of production transform themselves into means of domination over, and exploitation of, the producers: they mutilate the labourer into a fragment of man, degrade him to the level of an appendage of machine, destroy every remnant of charm in his work, and turn it into a hated toil; they estrange from him the intellectual potentialities of the labour-process in the same proportion as science is incorporated in it as an independent power (p. 41)
The dialectics of the relationship between the rich and the poor in Violence is aptly illustrated by Fatunde (1985):
In Festus Iyayis novel a balanced picture is given, both of the working people and of the exploiters. Neither social class is infallible. They both show a degree of human failing and human strength, although it is abundantly clear that Iyayi is on the side of the working people. As a radical writer he is not complacent towards the plight of those who have only their labour to sell. But he does not legitimize Idemudias attempt at beating his wife; neither does he approve of the (understandable) sexual methods of Adisa, who searches for money to pay off Idemudias hospital bill. (p. 114)
No doubt, the significance of labor ethos is given prominence in the novel. However, Iyayi (1979) did not hesitate to acknowledge the importance of the workers contribution to national development, even if their efforts were not adequately rewarded:
147
Not far off were the houses which sweat and labour had already erected. Life there was ablaze where labour had left its positive mark, the labour of hundreds of thousands of workers, working in the blinding rain, piling the blocks higher and higher and wiping the salt and sweat from their eyes and their foreheads with the backs of their hands and all underpaid, treated no better than slaves. (pp. 255-256)
Protest in the novel derives its power largely from the authors outrage at the injustice of a system that reduces human beings to chattel and love to a commodity measured in terms of Naira and Kobo. The commodification of Idemudia, Osaro, Patrick, and Omoifo in the offloading of the bags of cement at Freedom Motel by Queen is a signifier of this outrage. This outrage further reverberates in a scenario at the building site, when Queen had to treat some workers with indignation:
The other workers were already there and they gathered as soon as they saw Queen. Queen faced them, I understand that some of you want more money, she said quietly. Idemudia was surprised at the hardness in her voice. You there, and Queen pointed to a tall, shirtless man. You have always made trouble, ever since you came here. She drew an envelope. Here is your money. She spat at him. You will find twenty-three Naira, seventy-seven kobo inside the envelope. Not one kobo more, not one kobo less. (Iyayi, 1979, p. 234)
The rhetoric of protest in Violence is mediated by Iyayis Marxist inclinations. It is an inclination which is represented in a sustained disappointment and bitterness of the failure of Nigeria State to provide employment and basic social needs for her citizens. Iyayi in the novel posits social relationship as a continuous process of contestation inseparable from human development paradigms. Iyayis interrogation of the social inequity in the novel is anchored on Karl Marxs theories of class stratification. This is done to enable him interpret Nigerias social milieu. Iyayis narrative of class stratification in Violence foregrounds the exploration rather than amelioration of social relationship of the elite and working classes. Iyayis delineation of social classes in Violence underscores wa Thiongos examination of the typology of writers in post-colonial Africa as identified by Williams (1999):
For Ngugi, social conditions mean that there are broadly two types of writers in any given historical period. The first group consists of those who believe in the status quo The second group comprises those who have deliberately or instinctively acquired a more dialectical perspective on society, as well as belief in the possibility and necessity of change (p. 156)
Such narrative betrays a discourse of class identities as they intersect new social formations. Iyayi decries the appropriation of societal wealth and opportunities by the elite class, typified by Obofun and Queen. This class is used by Iyayi to examine certain matrices of Nigerian society, the elite class is portrayed as an economic threat to the well-being of the nation. Iyayi nevertheless, evaluates the relationship between Queen and Idemudia to shape the negotiations over identity, society, and social boundaries. Consequently, the dehumanisation Idemudia suffers articulates the high-strung categories through which the novels characters imagine themselves as part of a socially-fragmented Nigeria. The importance of money as a signification of social exchange between the elite and working classes is given prominence in the novel. Money symbolises power for the elite, while it paradoxically symbolises a means of survival to the working class. Money serves as a potent tool for the construction of identities by the individuals from both social divides in the novel. As such, money is an effective symbol through which class identities are constructed. Ultimately, what gives coherence to the social relationship
148
between the elite and the working class is embedded in social exchange signified by money. This is appropriated by Iyayi as a political discourse which he uses to create frames of understanding of contemporary Nigerian society. Money serves as potent tool of social exchange in the novel. The motif of money is used to construct Nigeria society, articulate a shared experience of oppression, and evaluate social consciousness through which Iyayi identifies himself artistically by making an emphatic case for the value of social justice in the idea of society. Through the depiction of money as a vehicle of social exchange, and especially by juxtaposing stupendous wealth with abject poverty, Iyayi evaluates the danger inherent in the misuse of money as derivations of corruption, injustice, greed, and oppression. The depredation of the working class in Violence recalls the observation of Harris (1982):
We must remember that to deny someone control of their own lives is to offer them a most profound insult, not to mention the injury which the frustration of their wishes and the setting at naught of their own plans for themselves will add. (p. 35)
Iyayi protests the oppressive labor policies which hold an individual captive and makes him a gratuitous object of commodification. He further reiterates that all methods for the production of surplus-value are at the same time methods of accumulation, and every extension of accumulation becomes again a means for the development of those methods. It follows therefore that in proportion as capital accumulates, the lot of the laborer must grow worse. This subsequently becomes accumulation of misery, with its attendant accumulation of capital. Therefore, for Idemudia and his friends, their engagement by Queen which nets them five Naira individually at the end of the task, also comes with their acquisition of misery, toil, agony, and slavery. This degradation is manifested in Idemudias illness. The existentialism of the members of the working classes is largely determined by the elite. Because the elite has the means of material production at its disposal, it also has control at the same time over the means of mental production. This privileged position of the elite allows it to ride roughshod over the collective existence of the members of the working classes. The elite in Violence through its uncontrolled desire and insatiable greed crave the acquisition of material goods. By so doing, they have become slaves of their own creations and are consequently alienated from the humanness of society. The despoliation of the societal resources by the elite renders members of the working class dehumanised. Idemudia, Adisa, Osaro, Pa Jimoh, and a host of other poverty-stricken individuals in the novel are graphically presented by Iyayi as individuals who have suffered certain degree of estrangement from the economic well-being of society. They are forever consigned to that unfathomable abyss between what they are and what they would like to be, which is the fallout of social disequilibrium orchestrated by the likes of Obofun, Queen, Iriso, and Dala of the elite class. Idemudia is a typification of a fragmented man whose social identity is ambivalent, as exemplified in the hospital play titled Violence. He is a representation of millions of individuals marooned in a cesspool of poverty, whose lives are crushed beneath the merciless and implacable wheels of economic manipulation of the elite. Idemudia is a product of the Foucauldian analysis of power play in the society:
The individual is no doubt the fictitious atoms of an ideologist representation of society: but he is also a reality fabricated by this specific technology of power that I have called discipline. We must cease once and for all to describe the effects of power in negative terms: It excludes, it represses, it censors, it abstracts, it masks, it conceals. In fact, power produces: it produces the reality: it produces domains of objects and rituals of truth. The individual and the

knowledge that may be gained of him belong to this production. (Foucault, 1995, p. 194)
149
Although the pauperisation of Idemudia, Osaro, Adisa, Pa Jimoh, and Mama Jimoh has its more remote sources in chequered post-colonial economic and political history, it was directly caused by the head-on collision of two different, indeed totally opposed circumstances: The social inequality orchestrated by the post-colonial apparatus, greed, avarice, and economic schism created and nurtured by the elite class. Subjected to this double trauma, the members of the working class in Nigeria are helplessly condemned to be the spectators of their degeneration into the state of dementia. The gap between them and the opportunistic members of the elite who enjoy the opulence and bliss of society becomes deeper at the emergence of every successive civilian and military administration in the country, and has become more and more difficult to bridge. The economic disempowerment of Idemudia and other members of the working class is thus by no means a physical one. The deprivation they experience is due to their exclusion from the economic largesse of society. They are not people crippled by physical disabilities but specific and well-defined individuals stranded in a socio-economic quagmire: poverty, hunger, disease, and loss of identity.
Poverty as a Phenomenon of Alienation in Iyayis Violence

To the members of the working class in Violence, poverty presupposes non-existence, and non-existence culminates in a deep sense of alienation. This notion is clearly demonstrated in the submission of Yetiv (1976):
Alienation presupposes identity, just as Death presupposes life. It is in the final analysis, the loss of identity, be it individual of ethnic, and the effort to recapture this lost identity which constitutes the identity crisis. Like life itself, identity is a dynamic phenomenon (p. 87)
Virtually, all the working-class characters feel themselves estranged from their society. They are haunted by a sense of alienation borne out of hunger, lack, and want. Protest is deployed in the novel to articulate the palpable emptiness in the lives of working-class people. Idemudias inability to secure a permanent job, Osaro, Omoifo, and Patricks consistent existence on the fringes of life; Adisas endless endurance of hunger, and Papa and Mama Jimohs subsistence living in a rundown apartment are significations of the emptiness aptly mediated by Iyayis dialectic of class stratification. Violence is a canvass crowded with alienated individuals and an alienated society of the wealthy and the poor. Idemudia serves as a metaphor of the alienated individuals trapped in an urban society. Idemudia, a school dropout who can not continue with his education, because his parents can not pay his fees, finds it remarkably difficult to secure a decent job and ends up as a casual laborer at the building site. The thought of his failure to complete his education, which would have provided him an adequate meal ticket often fills him with resentment and bitterness. His preoccupation with charting a path of survival for himself and his wife Adisa also led him into selling his blood intermittently: Idemudia saw himself nodding and saying:
Blood, sir! Yes. How much will you pay? Osaro asked. How much do you want? the man replied. I want as many as four pints. It is twenty-five naira a pint. Osaro said. The man laughed. Twenty-five naira! That is too expensive.
150

Then how much can you pay? Ten naira a pint, nothing more, nothing less (Iyayi, 1979, p. 155)
The overwhelming sense of economic marginality drives Idemudia to declare rue his almost existential sense of helplessness, The things an empty stomach can drive a man to he said to himself now, and shook his head. The things hunger can make a man to do! (Iyayi, 1979, p. 157). Idemudia is vehemently against the oppressive social system which arrests him in action or drives him to do the exact opposite of what he mostly desires. What troubles him is not so much existential anguish but the absence of fairness in the distribution of economic opportunities in Nigeria society. In spite of the social difficulties and economic marginality suffered by the novels working-class characters, these individuals refuse to succumb completely to the criminal existence to which they have been condemned. Idemudias courage, untarnished by the misery around, and his equally uncorrupted love for Adisa are an assertion of human dignity in struggle. This is a central assertion which is imbibed by members of the working class, and significantly buoys their determination to survive against all odds. Most of these characters are not articulate about their marginality. Aside Idemudia, Osaro, and Omoifo, who are assertive and often confrontational, Papa and Mama Jimoh, Patrick, Adisa, and the other reactionary elements at the building site seem to have internalised their collective subjugation, they are crippled by the prevailing social conditions. Their inability to take on their oppressors is rendered in terms of the physical details of their daily activities which is mediated by outright passivity and subtle compromise. This tellingly recalls the feeble personality of Adisa, who could not live out her courage, but succumbs to intense pressure from Obofun. Pa Jimoh is also culpable of passivity, as can be seen in the incident where he is mistakenly detained by his employer for allegedly taking out the official car after working hours. One would have expected him to protest his illegal detention when it had been established that he was not guilty of the offence. But despite not being compensated, he complacently accepts his dehumanisation.
Dialectic of Protest in Violence

The reactionary attitude of these individuals in the working class succinctly foregrounds the dialectic of class stratification by wa Thiongo (1981):
They would like to have a slave who not only accepts that he is a slave, but that he is a slave, because he is fated to be nothing else but a slave. Hence he must love and be grateful to the master for his magnanimity in enslaving him to a higher, nobler civilisation. (p. 12)
However, Idemudia, Osaro, and Omoifo frantically strive to restore self-worth and dignity to the image of the working class. Through hard and debilitating tasks, they are determined to assert themselves and their inalienable human identities. Their quest for social security and identity is encapsulated in the concrete and specific terms of a definite social struggle; their protest against inhuman social conditions foistered upon them by the elite in the form of poor remuneration at the building site. The workers strike provides the much-needed opportunity to confront their social marginality headlong. Their triumph over social alienation comes when they succeeded in forcing Queen to negotiate over the condition of work and remuneration. But such meeting is marked by a pervasive cynicism, because it portends for the workers fear and humiliation symptomatic of a tyranny of fear that elite oppression creates. Negotiation between the laborers at the building site, and Queen should have normally promised something positive and realistic; an increase in the wages of the workers and
151
better conditions of service. But its circumvention by Queen, through her sexual blackmail of Idemudia, underscores a sign, not of disruption or change in the relationship between the elite and the working class, but of continuity in the unchanging dialectic of oppressor and oppressed. Iyayi uses the dialectic of the elite/working class to foreground empirical realities. Violence, for instance, uses the hospitalisation of Idemudia after offloading bags of cement from a truck for Queen and his inability to pay his medical bills as a springboard to criticise extortionist gambit of the elite. Idemudias quest for employment got him a job that demeaned him and which subsequently made him sick, because he had to work in the rain amidst debilitating hunger. Consequently, he fell ill because he was cold and hungry. The point of scathing criticism against the elite class in Violence is that the elite economically emasculates the poor in order to perpetually gratify their gluttonous appetites.
Wealth as a Symbol and Disruption

Iyayi decries the unconscionable acquisition of wealth and moral decadence of the elite in the novel. Obofun is presented as a man suborned by his acquisitive wife, Queen, and his contemporaries in the ministries like Dala and Iriso. He pursues stupendous wealth through barefaced graft, and he is preoccupied with the use of his position in a government ministry to aid his crooked get-rich-quick schemes. Obofun typifies a metaphor of Nigerian urban elite which is steeped in social corruption and who craves insatiably after material possessions. His wife, Queen, is a satirical portrait of a pseudo-enterprising woman, whose business trajectory is motivated by sexual negotiations with powerful men in society as she voraciously pursues men who could facilitate her building contract bids and guarantee the supply of supplies to her hotel and supermarket. Queens pervasive sexual indulgence is robustly criticized by Iyayi. Her life comprises a world in which men intervene only as passing characters: official or transitory lovers, suppliers, and weak husband. But beyond her momentary relationship with any of these men is her repulsion to any emotional attachment to males generally. Her relationship with the men in her life is played out in terms of power and domination. She is portrayed as heartless, cold, calculating, and exploitative. This is demonstrated in her encounter with Iriso at the rendezvous on Sakponba Road:
Why do you think this will happen again? she asked. Iriso looked at the ceiling. Wont there be a next time? The bitch, he thought. As if she is not going to need any more milk, eggs and meat. If she wont need any of these, she will need other things, and if a man supplies them, she is going to use her body to pay for them. Harlot he spat out towards the other side of the bed on the wall. (Iyayi, 1979, pp. 100-101)
The matrimony of Obofun and Queen epitomizes instability and collapse of a family structure among the elite, in which a wife pursues economic freedom so as to create an individuality and a separate personhood. Queen is presented as a typical urban woman of the elite class in a post-colonial African society where most socially pre-eminent women are pre-occupied with the zeal to be economically independent of their husbands, and many often worship money above principles and values. The elite in Violence are engaged in infidelity and drunkenness. The sanctions and taboos which shaped the traditional society and gave it its seeming stability, dignity, and respectability are completely subverted, as everything takes second place to the relentless drive for wealth. Obofun, Iriso, and Dala, who are supposed to be respectable husbands and fathers, plunge into decadence and immorality. The uncontrollable subscription to corrupt practices also signifies the fragmentation of the
152
hitherto secured family units as husbands and wives are neck deep in the feverish wealth-acquision syndrome, thereby becoming vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Obofun does not care if Queen takes lovers and Queen in turn realises that Obofun has mistresses. Iyayis knack for presenting the inner character of the elite class in the novel and for describing their extra-marital activities affords him the narrative space to build up polemics for the condemnation of the egoism, irrationality, and recklessness associated with them. Obofun and Queen are marooned in a lifeless matrimony devoid of a conjugal relationship. Whatever co-habitation there is merely a product of artificiality, as most outsiders do not have a glimpse of the sterility of their marriage. Iyayi, however, in Violence, does not significantly stress the oppression of one gender by the other. He creates a balance of judgment in the relationship between men and women, especially among the elites. The portrait of men as harsh, dictatorial, and inconsiderate has its match in the portrait of women as callous, selfish, and vindictive. While Obofuns sexual predation ensnares Adisa in its web, Queen successfully seduces Iriso, with Idemudia only narrowly escaping her snare. Queen is financially independent of Obofun. She is privileged to enter into sexual relations with any man without other motives than that of emotional and sexual gratification. Adultery, for Queen, is the ultimate possibility of exploring a relation devoid of utilitarian ethos. For Obofun and other male members of the elite, adultery provides the sexual benefits of flaunting their wealth and success in society. Since wealth is relatively concentrated in the hands of men, a woman needs a financial lift in order to have a chance at a decent standard of living. But unfortunately, the elite males prey on the hapless wives of the working class, as demonstrated in the amorous affair between Obofun and Adisa, Idemudias wife. Unlike Queen, Adisa is not acting out of a sense of disillusionment with the institution of marriage, but Adisas vulnerable position essentially derives from the fact that Idemudia does not adequately provide for her. She has an affair with Obofun to raise the much-needed money for Idemudias hospital bills. Here, Iyayi sees the city as a site of corruption where sex is commodified. Material wealth is seen as a weapon effectively deployed for the benefit of prosperous men, and all women are placed in a position of powerlessness. But Iyayi does not seem to agree with the notion that women have to adapt to their subordination in order to survive. Such subordination smacks of oppressive, exploitative, and alienating arrangements that serve to further social control of the working class by the elite in its entirety. Adisa is presented as the epitome of semi-literate, vulnerable, and poverty-ravaged working class woman trapped in the throes of the cities of Nigeria, and whose social and economic survival is determined by the urban elite. The social and economic subjugation of the working class by the elite reflects a complex situation of gender oppression intertwined with the rhetoric of class oppression. This remarkably posits how different forms of exploitation are made possible within these structures of power relations in Violence. This reading further places the novel within the limitations of a system where the working class prescribed roles as laborers and mistresses constitute their entire sphere of action. Their actions, needs, and aspirations can thus be understood only in relation to complacent subordination and so paradoxically turns those who benefit most from their oppression, the elite, into their only benefactors. Iyayi appropriates the social gulf between the elite and working classes to articulate the suffocating misery which broadly pervades the milieu of the novel. The theme of misery and its effects are sharpened against the backdrop of wanton desolation as given attestation on the opening page of the novel:
153
Outside, the flood built up steadily and gradually. Owode Street, like its father, Ekenwan Road, was always over-flooded any time the rain fell. Two days before, two houses had collapsed on the street. A small child had been trapped in one of the buildings under the fallen mud walls. Fortunately, rescuers, including Idemudia, had dug the child out in time. For the people who lived in the mud houses on Owode Street, there was now another major preoccupation: which house would be the next to fall? (Iyayi, 1979, pp. 1-2)
This precarious habitation of the downtrodden in the novel is conceived as a metaphorical abyss where human lives are cheap and fragmented. In a fundamental social sense, the run-down habitation of the working class dramatises an aberration highlighted in elite opulence against working class despair and hopelessness.
Marxist Ideology and Social Consciousness in Iyayis Violence

Iyayis ideological disposition, as mediated in Marxist dialectics, is discernible in his interrogation of power structures in the post-colonial Nigerian society, with its attendant variables of dominance, control, exploitation, subjugation, and victimisation. In the view of Ngara, the ideological preoccupation of a writer will in part depend on his or her level of political consciousness. Consequently, whatever stance the writer takes constitutes his or her authorial ideology. Ngara (1990) defined further the concept of ideology:
Ideology refers to that aspect of the human condition under which people operate as conscious actors. Ideology is the medium through which human consciousness works. Our conception of religion, politics, morality, art and science is deeply influenced by our ideology. In other words, what we see and believe largely depends on our ideology, ideology being the medium through which we comprehend and interpret reality (p. 11)
The exploration of social relationship between the indigenous entrepreneurs and casual laborers in Violence foregrounds Iyayis determination to expose the ideological bias of the Nigerian elite against the perspective of the exploited majority to interrogate the class interests as significantly inscribed in the novel. The collective plight of the underprivileged in ruthlessly competitive Nigerian urban cities sharpens the social consciousness of Iyayi, and develops into truculent protest against the inhumanity of the elite. By so doing, his voice typifies the voice of the oppressed. This is inscribed in the thematic preoccupation of Violence, the social background of Idemudia, and the evocative style which is replete with ironic overtones. The novels title, Violence, articulates the callous exploitation of the surplus labor of the working class in the novel without a commensurate remuneration. This exploitation is vividly captured in the novel:
The Greek leaned back in his chair, relaxed. He says what they send him to say. That they work very hard for too little pay. Too many hours of work and too many sackings. Every day. Every hour. He says, and the Greek paused, he puts it grandly, the Greek continued: He says it is violence! Violence? Yes, violence. (Iyayi, 1979, pp. 250-251)
Iyayi protests the exploitation and inhumanity to which the workers are subjected with characteristic power and intensity of feeling. The poor pay and constant dismissal of the workers is nothing but calculated violence on their social wellbeing. The narrative of Violence is that when a worker loses his job, he suffers certain degree of social disruption and discontinuity. Such disruption is analogous to marginality. When this happens, such an individual may take to armed robbery or other social vices. This has an undercurrent in the satiric play titled Violence which is staged at the hospital. In the play, violence is used by both the elite class and the working class as narratives for the evaluation of their respective class positions. The elite class appropriates violence as
154
hegemonic narrative to examine the disruption of their social status by the activities of the working class, which if not controlled could irreparably destroy their power base. Thus, social disruptions like armed robbery, mob action, rioting, kidnapping, and assassination of members of the elite class are frowned upon. Codes in the name of laws and legislations are therefore established to curtail such working-class interrogations. The working class on its own part approves violence as a counter-narrative to decry their frustration, exploitation, and dehumanisation by the elite. It also creates its own codes of reaction through the use of tactics like armed robbery, kidnapping, drug-pedalling, and prostitution to subvert the elites hegemonic narrative. The narrative and counternarrative of violence of both classes is clearly captured by Freire (1972):
Violence is initiated by those who oppress, who exploit, who fail to recognise others as peoplenot by those who are oppressed, exploited and unrecognised. It is not the unloved who cause disaffection, but those who cannot love because they love only themselves. It is not the helpless, subject to terror, who initiate terror, but the violent, who with their power create the concrete situation which begets the rejects of life. (p. 32)
Iyayis identification with the oppressed is given prominence in the mobilisation of the laborers, led by Idemudia, for a showdown with Queen. Such mobilisation is designed to champion the cause of the oppressed members of the working class and also to project Marxist ideology as the only viable ideology which can question and challenge class inequity in contemporary Nigeria. Thus, the laborers confrontation of Queen and Mr. Clerides, the site engineer, is presented in Fanonian mode, in the form of a fearless and aggressive attitude, which represents the new determination of the laborers to liberate themselves as prescribed by Fanon (1967), At the level of individuals, violence is a cleansing force. It frees the native from his inferiority complex and from his despair and inaction; it makes him fearless and restores his self-respect (p. 74). The confrontation of Queen by the laborers strikes a chord of optimism in the trajectory of social struggle in the novel. The confrontation imbues the laborers with the zeal of social consciousness, which doggedly pursued, could signal the eventual victory of the oppressed over the oppressor. Iyayis advocacy of social change in Nigeria echoes Ebongs (1986) call for economic, political, and attitudinal change in Africa:
Africa is ripe for a revolution. It is not the promiscuous violent, bloody revolution of permissive wantonness to life and property, not is it the cultural revivalism of black humanity asserting itself in protest against the indifference of the West. The revolution for contemporary Africa presupposes the reorganisation and the restructuring of the African mind and psyche. (p. 71)
Protest as invested in the laborers confrontation of Queen, the epitome of oppression orchestrated by the elite, betrays Iyayis attempt to move beyond the ostensibly passive critical attitudes characteristic of first-generation Nigerian writers like Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Gabriel Okara, J. P. Clark, and Chris Okigbo, whose reactions to social issues in Nigeria are often perceived as reactionary by many second-generation Nigerian writers. Iyayi as a representation of second-generation Nigerian writers clearly and confidently articulates the dialectical relationship between the oppressor and the oppressed in Violence. Such articulation has its undercurrent in Nigerias social, political, and economic problems which have become more pronounced in recent years. Instead of merely portraying these inadequacies and shortcomings, Iyayi has stridently advocated radical social change as a viable alternative to the situations depicted in the novel. Iyayi is one of the few Nigerian writers who specifically extol the virtues of the working class in their works. His concern with socio-political circumstances delineates the social structure and is mediated by a class analysis
155
of post-colonial Nigeria. The trajectory of Marxist consciousness has been successfully traversed by African literary icons like Sembene Ousmane and Ngugi wa Thiongo to evaluate the social, economic, and political problems in their respective countries. While wa Thiongos depiction of the working class as a leading force in revolution is exemplified in Petals of Blood (1977), Ousmane presents the working class as a force that has the capability to enforce socialist change in Gods Bits of Wood (1960). Iyayi not only adopts a class analysis approach to Nigerian society but also indirectly advocates a complete alteration of existing social, economic, and political systems. Prima facie, Ousmane, and wa Thiongo unequivocally call for the inauguration of Marxist society in their novels, but Iyayi does not explicitly advocate the emergence of a Marxist society in Violence.
Poverty and Protest

Iyayi employs the motif of poverty to protest the desperate living conditions in which the working class is mired. Lack, want, and dire need provide the undertone for the lampoon of inequity in social distribution in the novel. The critical evaluation of the manifestation of poverty from the Marxist point of view locates the narrative of economic subjugation within the locale of dialectical materialism. It is a subjugation which could have attracted criticism from other literary tropes, be their humanist or feminist. Nevertheless, it is imperative to state that it is not the type of trope employed in the depiction of the appalling situation of poverty in the novel that matters so much as its vivid depiction, which is reminiscent of the material poverty of the downtrodden in the contemporary Nigeria. Such depiction is a reaction to the quintessential question by Spivak (1991):
What is very much a question for me at the moment is that if you are construed in one particular kind of language, what kinds of violence does it do to your subjectivity if one then has to move into another language, and suppress whatever selves or subjectivities were constructed by the first. (p. 66)
In Violence, the exploration of the living condition of the urban poor in contemporary Nigeria provides the locus of the narrative of social condition, woven around Idemudia and Adisas attempt at coming to terms with their society. The novel opens with the portrayal of the squalor and deprivation of Idemudia and Adisa which underlie the vivid detail of the deprivation and destitution of the lives of the urban poor in Benin city, an urban settlement in Nigeria. Motifs of lack and want are used as a signification to protest malignant poverty and its devastating effects on Idemudia and Adisa who cannot afford the luxury of a wall clock but have to monitor the time broadcast from the radiogram of their neighbors:
Open the window wider so that we can hear what the time it is. He and his wife, Adisa, were tenants in one of the low mud but zinced houses along Owode Street, Adisa who had been sweeping the badly cemented floor of the room, dropped the broom an stretched her hand across the table which stood against the window. The window screeched on its hinges as it went wider. Adisa bent down to pick up the broom. Then she resumed her sweeping. The broom was so short that she had to stoop substantially to sweep clean. (Iyayi, 1979, p. 1)
The desolation presented in this opening page foregrounds the semiotic of lack which permeates the lives of the working class throughout the novel. Idemudia and Adisa are too poor to afford wristwatches or a wall clock. They are quarantined in a rundown mud house that is vulnerable to flooding. The cemented floor of the dingy solitary room is cracked, the broom is decrepit and the rusty window hinges underscore their level of impoverishment. This graphic presentation of the decrepitude provides a counterpoint to the splendour of the vast opulence of the chalet in Obofuns guest house in the novel, Again Adisa looked round the room. She noticed
156
the polished floor again, then the walls and the high ceiling painted white where the air-conditioner softly blew cold air into the room (Iyayi, 1979, p. 123). This description is further complemented by the aesthetics of landscaping, which further accentuate the glamour of the elites neighborhood:
Then there was the low window with its white curtains, drawn aside to let in some of the fading light of the day. Each window had a mosquito net proofing directly attached to the wooden window frame. Outside the window the grass grew and the hibiscus flowers stood in red and green splendour. And interwoven with the flowers were the pine trees against which the wind blew, producing a whistling in their higher branches. (Iyayi, 1979, p. 122)
The comparison of the squalid habitation of Idemudia and the sumptuousness abode of Obofun encapsulate the dialectical tragedy of the social, economic and political disequilibrium of post-colonial Nigeria. Iyayi engages the motif of extreme poverty to protest the economic strangulation of the poor in the novel. The comparison of the habitations further concretizes Iyayis protest against the corrupt practices of the elite in Nigeria, who divest public funds meant to provide infrastructure for society to their own use. The juxtaposition of the two habitations constitutes a repudiation of the economic emasculation of the poor by the elite in the novel. The poor in turn are helpless and are engaged in their own struggle with an oppressive social system and a frustrating economic system. The dynamics of social relationship in the novel are dictated by elite that is unsympathetic to the condition of the poor.
Conclusions
The paper has examined class stratification in Iyayis Violence. It has been observed in the paper that the squalid living of the poor reiterates the basic problem of economic insecurity which is transformed into class struggle in the novel. For the poor whose lives are consigned to transcendental hopelessness, they are marooned in their economic deprivation. Their awareness of this deprivation leads Idemudia, Omoifo, and Osaro to protest against inhuman working conditions at the building site. The workers confrontation of Queen and the subsequent threat to embark on strike if their demands are not met urgently is strongly endorsed by Iyayi. Violence is thus a protest novel of class reconstruction, portraying and justifying the proletariats struggle for social and economic liberation. The exemplary virtues of Idemudia, who led the protest against the elite class, are also given resounding acknowledgment. His social and political consciousness make the workers aware of their exploitation and inspires them to plunge into the protest against inhuman working conditions at the building site.
References
Apparadurai, A. (1996). Modernity at large: Cultural dimensions of globalisation. Minneapolis and London: University of Minnesota Press. Bennet, A., & Royle, N. (1996). An introduction to literature, criticism and theory: Key critical concepts. London: Prentice Hall. Boulding, K. (1967). Towards a theory of protest. A Review of General Semantics, 1(34), 44-62. Ebong, I. A. (1986). Towards the revolutionary consciousness: The writer in contemporary Africa. In E. Emenyonu (Ed.), Literature and society: Selected essays on African literature (pp. 71-83). Oguta: Zim Pan-African Literature Publishers. Fanon, F. (1967). The wretched of the earth. London: Penguin Books. Fatunde, T. (1985). Images of working people in two African novels: Ouologuem and Iyayi. In G. M. Gugelberger (Ed.), Marxism and African literature. Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press. Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline and punish. (A. Sheridan Trans.). New York: Vintage Books. Fraser, R. (1980). The novels of Ayi Kwei Armah. London: Heinemann.
157
Freire, P. (1972). Pedagogy of the oppressed. London: Penguin Books. Griffiths, G. (1978). Language and action in the novels of Chinua Achebe. In C. L. Innes & B. Lindfors (Eds.), Critical perspectives on Chinua Achebe (pp. 67-83). Washington, D.C.: Three Continents Press. Griffiths, G. (2000). African literature in English: East and West. London: Pearson Education. Harris, J. (1982). Political status of children. In K. Graham (Ed.), Contemporary political philosophy (pp. 35-55). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Howe, I. (1979). Politics and the novel. New York: First Fawcett Premier Press. Iyayi, F. (1979). Violence. Harlow: Longman. Kunene, D. P. (1991). Language, literature and the struggle for liberation in South Africa. African Literature Today, 17, 37-50. Mao, T.-T. (1967a). On literature and art. Peking: Foreign Language Press. Mao, T.-T. (1967b). Talks at the Yenan Forum on literature and art. On literature and art. Peking: Foreign Language Press. Ndebele, N. S. (2007). Redefining relevance. In T. Olaniyan & A. Quayson (Eds.), African literature: An anthology of criticism and theory (pp. 126-131). Malden, M.A.: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.. Ngara, E. (1990). Ideology and form in African poetry. London: James Currey Ltd.. Ogude, S. E. (1991). African literature and the burden of history: Some reflections. In C. Ikonne, E. Oko, & P. Onwudinjo (Eds.), African literature and African historical experiences (pp. 1-9). Ibadan: Heinemann Educational Books Nigeria Plc.. Quinn, E. (1991). A dictionary of literary and thematic terms. New York: Facts On File, Inc.. Sartre, J.-P. (1974). Between existentialism and Marxism. London. Solomon, M. (1974). Marxism and art: Essays, classic and contemporary. New York: Vintage Books. Spivak, G. (1991). The postcolonial critic: Interviews, strategies, dialogues. S. Harasym (Ed.). London: Routledge. wa Thiongo, N. (1981). Writers in politics. London: Heinemann. Wake, C. (1974). The political and cultural revolution. In C. Pieterse & D. Munro (Eds.), Protest and conflict in African literature. London: Heinemann Educational Books. Wauthier, C. (1979). The literature and thought of modern Africa. Washington, D.C.: Three Continents Press, Inc.. Wellek, R., & Warren, A. (1982). A theory of literature. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. Williams, P. (1999). Ngugi wa Thiongo. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Yetiv, I. (1976). Alienation in the modern novel of French North Africa before independence. In R. Smith (Ed.), Exile and tradition: Studies in African and Caribbean literature. London: Longman.
DA VID
PUBLISHING
Contemporary Chinese Calligraphy Between Tradition and Innovation

Adriana Iezzi
Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Since the mid-1980s Chinese calligraphy art has undergone a radical change and has opened itself to experimentation. A vivid debate on CCC (Contemporary Chinese Calligraphy) (Zhongguo xiandai shufa) is involving art critics in China nowadays. WANG Dongling and the modernists think that, despite many changes and influences, we can still refer to the traditional calligraphic lexicon to describe the calligraphic production of contemporary Chinese art. They still remain deeply rooted in the signified system of Chinese writing, even if they break with the strict rules of Chinese classical aesthetic (contamination of Western elements and focus on the stylistic exploration). WANG Nanming and the Avant-garde think that contemporary calligraphy is not calligraphy yet: It is anti-calligraphy, annihilates Chinese tradition, rejects the use of legible characters, experiments with new languages and new media within the idiom of international contemporary art. The result is the creation of works of art that could be assimilated to Abstract art, Abstract expressionism, Conceptual art, Performance art, Contemporary dance, Multimedia art, and even Street art. This paper aims at showing how still valid and extremely productive are both these two theoretical and creative/practical approaches to Chinese calligraphy in China nowadays. They turned the art of calligraphy into a medium for global comprehension and communication.
Keywords: CCC (Contemporary Chinese Calligraphy), modernism, Avant-garde, WANG Dongling, WANG Nanming
Introduction
The art of Chinese calligraphy is much more than the art of producing beautiful writing decoratively arranged to embellish surface. It represents one of the most important art form that has been practice in China until now, and it is unique in a perspective of world art, because its particular features cannot be found in European or Islamic writing. Chinese calligraphy is the only major art form in the world that allows the viewer to retrace the creation on a finished work in all its consecutive phases, following with his eye the exact movements of the brush and feeling the rhythm in the writers hand. It allows the viewer to experiment the factor of time on the sensation of movement and to feel intimacy with the writer itself. It also represents a medium in which the personality of the writer is revealed, and it is valued as an immediate expression of the individuality of the calligrapher. Through the sheer calligraphic vitality of the brush, the artist expresses not only his inner world, but also his awareness of the life of things in the world.
Adriana Iezzi, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Oriental Studies, Sapienza University of Rome.
CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION
159
The shapes of world images and of its powerful forces are embodied in the brushstrokes of calligraphic artworks. In this perspective, calligraphy (shufa) not only represents the art and the discipline of writing, but also reveals the written paradigm (written shu + paradigm fa) of the cosmic patterns. It becomes a means of representation of the universal dynamism, that is of the world energy (qi) ordered by the universal principle (li), as well as, an energetic extension of the human body in its psychophysical unity (xin) and of the cosmic substance 1 . The original meaning of the word calligraphy clearly discloses this assumption: The word calligraphy (shufa) is indeed composed of the character shu that means writing, written text, and of the term fa that means law, method, and way, but whose translation also connotes aspects of the terms paradigm, model, pattern, figure, and image2. In addition to be considered as an aesthetic presentation of the Chinese script styles, as a representation of things and ideas by graphic means, and as an artistic vehicle of self-expression, a reflection of calligraphers inner being or the extension of the movement of their body3, Chinese calligraphy is also be treated as the embodied image of the universal macrocosm. Furthermore, throughout the centuries, calligraphy was not only a means of written communication, as it is in any language, but also a political instrument of social control as well as it was an instrument of social cohesion among the political and cultural elite of Chinese literati4. The art of calligraphy was intimately connected with the art of poetry and with the art of painting, and it was one of the so-called Three perfections (san jue), that are indeed poetry (shi), calligraphy (shu) and painting (hua)5. These were the three forms of art that every educated official was expected to master in the Chinas Empire and they usually were simultaneously used to shape a single work of art. Because of its strict connection with the literary tradition and the classical writings, calligraphy helped to contribute to the extraordinary cohesiveness of the Chinese artistic and cultural tradition. From the fourth century onwards, classical models were canonized, the calligraphic techniques did not changed any more, and the stability of aesthetic and stylistic standards ensured that the continuity principle of cultural identity remains intact. The Birth of Chinese Contemporary Calligraphy From the end of the 19th century, especially after the collapse of the Chinese Empire (1911) and with the advent of Communism (1949), the impressive stability and cohesiveness of the art of calligraphy began to fade. After MAO Zedongs death in 1976 and the so-called Four Modernizations brought about by DENG Xiaoping in 1978, a process of modernization started in different fields of society, a process that has opened China to the
For futher information about the relationship among the Chinese concepts of qi, li, and xin in the context of Chinese calligraphy aesthetics, see Pasqualotto, G. (2007), Figures of Thought: Works and Symbols in the Oriental Cultures (Figure di pensiero. Opere e simboli nelle culture dOriente) (pp. 105-127). 2 For more details on this ethimological interpretation, see LIU, C. Y. (2000), Embodying Cosmic Patterns: Foundation of an Art of Calligraphy in China (pp. 2-9). In this article, LIU explained that The close relationship between brushstroke, character, and text, forms an integral continuum in the creation of writing (shu), and the operative link between them is fabrush method (bifa), written paradigm (shufa), and literary rules (wenfa) (p. 2). 3 For these different approaches on calligraphy, see the articles included in the exhibition catalogue SHEN, C. Y. F. (1977), Traces of the Brush. Studies in Chinese Calligraphy. 4 See Ledderose, L. (1986), Chinese Calligraphy: Its Aesthetic Dimension and Social Function (pp. 35-50). The political and social function of calligraphy highlighted by Lothar Ledderose is not only a characteristic feature of Chinese ancient tradition, but it is also evident in modern times. See Kraus, R. C. (1991), Brushes with Power: Modern Politics and the Chinese Art of Calligraphy. 5 For more details about the relationship among poetry, painting, and calligraphy in Chinese art, see Sullivan, M. (1980), The Three Perfections: Chinese Painting, Poetry and Calligraphy.
1
160
rest of the world. As to art, in 1979 the first Chinese Avant-garde artistic movement, called the Stars group6, came into being. Calligraphy became so popular that in 1981 a CCA (Chinese Calligraphers Association) (Zhongguo shufajia xiehui), founded by the government itself, gathered thousand of calligraphers. The artistic atmosphere was very fervent and brought to the First Exhibition of Chinese Modern Calligraphy (Zhongguo xiandai shufa shouzhan), which represented the birth of CCC (Contemporary Chinese Calligraphy) (Zhongguo xiandai shufa) and of the modernist movement. The exhibition was held in October 1985 at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing. The artworks displayed in the exhibition were 72 and all of the artists involved in the exhibition were members of the Chinese Modern Painting and Calligraphy Association (Zhongguo xiandai shuhua xuehui). This association was founded in July 1985 and its major task was to successfully organize this pivotal event. The most important calligraphers who took part in the exhibition were HUANG Miaozi (1913-2012), ZHANG Ding (1917-2010), and LI Luogong (1917-1982), who belong to the old generation of Chinese calligraphy masters, together with GU Gan (b. 1942), WANG Xuezhong (b. 1925), MA Chengxiang (b. 1937), and DAI Shanqing (1944-2004), who were the promoters of the exhibition7. Their works were neither calligraphies nor paintings but they were something that participated both in calligraphy practice and painting conceptions 8 . The ideas of Expressionist calligraphy and Abstract art were linked in the increasingly pictographic shape of the characters, and in the abstract combination of dots and lines. The reinterpretation of the traditional ideas of painting and calligraphy, the influence of contemporary Japanese calligraphy, the use of new materials, and the emergence of new visions, leaded to new results in the artistic field as a reaction to the feelings of the time and to changes in Chinese society. The most representative picture of the exhibition is entitled The Mountains are Breaking up (Shan cui, see Figure 1) and its author is GU Gan, the coordinator of the exhibition and of the modernist movement. The title of the picture reflects the spirit of the time: The word breaking (cui) clearly suggests how calligraphy was symbolically rejecting old ideas and representing the birth of new ones.
Figure 1. GU Gan, The Mountains Are Breaking Up (Shan cui ) (1985), ink on paper, 93.5 cm x 87.5 cm, London, British Museum. Reproduced in Barrass (2002, p. 55). For more details about the birth and the evolution of the Stars group (Xingxing ), see HUANG, R. (Ed.), (2007), Huang Rui: The Stars Times, 1979-1984. 7 For a detailed reconstruction of the exhibition planning process and of the different phases of the exhibition, see PU, L. P. & GUO, Y. P. (2005), A Survey History from Chinese Contemporary Calligraphy to the Art of Chinese Characters (Zhongguo xiandai shufa dao hanzi yishu jianshi ) (pp. 19-24). 8 The artworks displayed in the exhibition are gathered in the exhibition catalogue: WANG, X. Z. (Ed.), (1986), A selection of works from the First Session of Chinese Modern Painting and Calligraphy Association (Xiandai shuhua xuehui shufa shoujie zuopin xuan ).
6
161
Even before the Modernist movement had fully gathered momentum, the first shoots of the Avant-garde movement were beginning to sprout. The forerunner of the movement was the calligrapher BAI Qianshen (b. 1955): In 1981, he was the first to write eight formal Chinese characters which were in fact wholly unreadable, because they were arbitrarily composed of section of different characters. In 1983, GU Wenda (b. 1955) craved his first Fake Characters Seal with two seemingly authentic Chinese characters wholly unreadable yet. This was the starting point for the artists experimentation and the beginning of his reflection upon Chinese calligraphy and language that aimed to a complete deconstruction of both of them. The results of his attempt were embodied in three important works: (1) The Mythos of Lost Dynasties (Yishi de wangchao, 1983-1987), a series of big panels where he wrote meaningless and unreadable characters, based on the seal scripts; (2) Pseudo-Characters Series (Xugou wenzi xilie, 1984-1986, see Figure 2), a series of ink paintings in which he used traditional calligraphic styles and techniques but subverted them with reversed, upside down or incorrect letters; (3) Speechless #1-2 (Wu yan #1-2, 1985), one of the first pieces of Performance art in China, which was held at the Hangzhou Academy of Art, pronouncing meaningless words in front of gigantic characters painted by the author, and completely invented9.
Figure 2. GU Wenda, Pseudo-Characters Series: Contemplation of the World (1984) (detail), ink on paper, 247.3 cm x 182.9 cm, collection of ZHEN Guo. Source: Bessire (2003, p. 198).
But was only in 1988 that the Avant-garde movement had its top with the works of three other important artists: (1) Red Humor (Hongse youmo, 1986-1987, see Figure 3) by WU Shanzhuan (b. 1960): It consists of a chamber whose walls are covered with Cultural Revolution slogans freely mixed with advertising pitches, and ancient poems; on the floor four large characters say, Nobody knows what it means. Combining and juxtaposing meaningless sentences of the mass cultural language, he creates a kind of non-sensical or
9
For more details on these three works and others GU Wendas works related to calligraphy, see Chiu M. (2002), The Crisis of Calligraphy and the New Way of Tea: An Interview with Wenda Gu (pp. 100-104).
162
multi-sensed text, by which he eliminated the illusion of any authorship (M. L. GAO, 2000, p. 169). (2) Book from the Sky (Tian Shu, 1987-1991, see Figure 4) by XU Bing (b. 1955): It consists of a huge installation composed by the papers of a book printed with more than 4,000 thousand characters completely meaningless, even if they look like Chinese characters. It represents a dramatic celebration of the universal nonsense, and a powerful negation of Chinese history, culture, literature, and language10. (3) The third work is entitled The First Four Series (Zuichu de si ge xilie, 1988-1989)11 by QIU Zhenzhong (b. 1947). It was composed of four different series: New Poems, Word Series, Signatures, and Characters to Be Deciphered (see Figure 5). For this last series, he took inspiration from characters carved on the pre-Qin Dynasty (pre-221 B.C.) coins to write beautiful lines on paper, even if those characters have not been interpreted yet in their linguistic meaning.
Figure 3. WU Shanzhuan, Red Humor (1986) (installed in Hangzhou, 1986), installation with works on paper, dimensions variable, collection of the artist. Source: M. L. GAO (1998, p. 85).
Figure 4. XU Bing, Book from the Sky (1987-1991) (installed at the North Dakota Museum of Art, 1992), installation with hand-printed books, dimensions variable, collection of the artist. Source: M. L. GAO (1998, p. 87).
For a detailed analysis of this work and others XU Bings works related to calligraphy, see Erickson, B. (2001), Words without Meaning, Meaning without Words: The Art of Xu Bing. 11 For a detailed analysis of this series, see QIU, Z. Z. (1989), The First Four Series (Guanyu zuichu de si ge xilie ji qita ) (pp. 26-29).
10
163
Figure 5. QIU Zhenzhong, Characters to Be Deciphered No. 9 (1988), ink on xuan paper, 68 cm x 68 cm, collection of the artist. Source: Z. Z. QIU (1989, p. 28).
The Four Currents of CCC From this moment onwards, as Barrass (2002) pointed out, four distinct trends became evident in the evolution of the art of calligraphy:
Initially, by far the most influential of these was the continuation of the Grand Tradition of Classical calligraphy. Then, in the middle 1980s, a Modernist movement emerged that created an entirely new genre of the art. Later, the decline in the number of truly Classical calligraphers was offset by the rise of many younger Neo-classicists, who keep the Classical idea alive by setting them within a modern context. More recently still, an Avant-garde movement has come to the fore, exploring new artistic possibilities by combining calligraphic imagery and techniques with modern forms of conceptual and Performance art. (p. 11)
According to Barrass (2002), four are the currents of CCC. The currents are Classicism, Neoclassicism, Modernism, and Avant-garde. The last two ones are particularly important for the evolution of calligraphic art, because they are based on experimentation which has brought to a radical change in the field, under the influence of Japanese contemporary calligraphy and Western art. While Classicism and Neoclassicism still reflect the traditional idea of calligraphy, Modernism and Avant-garde have modified the traditional concept of calligraphy completely, so the analysis of these last two currents becomes of the utmost importance.
The Modernist and the Avant-Garde Movements12

Because since the mid-1980s calligraphy has undergone a radical change and has gradually lost its connection with Chinese language and with the traditional concepts of calligraphic art, a vivid debate on CCC is involving art critics in China nowadays (J. S. FU, 1998, 2011; Y. G. ZHANG, 1998; Q. S. ZHU, 2004; T. M. GAO, 2004; Z. Z. QIU, 2004; D. Z. CHEN, 2005; Z. C. LIU, 2006; M. X. CHENG, 2006; A. G. ZHANG, 2008; C. M. LIU, 2010). Professor WANG Dongling (b. 1945) is the main representative of the modernists point of view, while Professor WANG Nanming (b. 1962) belongs to the Avant-garde. The two have contrastive opinions on CCC, because WANG Dongling (2005, 2011, pp. 6-11) sustained that CCC was still calligraphy, while WANG Nanming (1994, 2005, pp. 12-14) sustained that CCC was not calligraphy yet.
12
In this section, Chinese-English translations are by the author (see WANG Dongling, 2005; WANG Nanming, 2005).
164
The Modernist Movement In the details, WANG Dongling (2005) wrote that contemporary calligraphy is still calligraphy (p. 10), characterized by two main elements: firstly, the aesthetic flavour and the spiritual value or content of the traditional calligraphy; and secondly, the concepts of contemporary art (D. L. WANG, p. 6). Using the words of WANG Dongling (2005), this means that, Contemporary creative action needs the support and the comparison with the tradition (p. 7), because it is from traditional calligraphy that contemporary calligraphy was arisen (p. 10). But modernism, as intended by WANG Dongling, also includes the characteristics, the quality, and the substance of contemporary art, especially Abstract art. WANG Dongling argues that a new interpretation of the concept of Abstract art is still existing in the concept of traditional calligraphy. As early as the first century A.D., Eastern people had already revealed the power of abstraction in calligraphy and ink painting. During the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 A.D.), when the famous Chinese scholar CAI Yong (132-192) talked about calligraphy with other eminent literati, he first used the metaphor of abstract lines to describe calligraphic lines. This idea of abstract calligraphy gradually settled in the Chinese peoples minds and became a distinctive feature of Chinese aesthetic perception. Since then, sensitivity towards abstract forms of art became much deeper in Chinese people than in Western people, and, as a consequence, as WANG Dongling (2005, p. 8) aptly observed: Eastern people have recently come into contact with Western Abstract art and this contact has (re)awakened the aesthetic power of Chinese abstract line. As a whole, CCC also reflects a deep influence of the new artistic Chinese waves (Zhongguo xiandai yishu xinchao), especially of the 85 New Wave Art Movement (Bawu xinchao), as well as the influence of Japanese calligraphy Avant-garde (Riben de qianwei shufa/Riben xiandai shufa) and European and American art (Ou-Mei xiandai yishu/Nalaizhuyi) (D. L. WANG, 2005, p. 10; L. F. QU, 2008, p. 108). This is why WANG Dongling (2005, p. 11) wrote: Even if calligraphy is a very ancient and traditional art, in its modern use it is expression of contemporary reality both in the form and in the content. Thanks to his own experience as contemporary artist and calligrapher who travelled around the world and lived abroad for many years (he lived in the USA from 1989 to 1992, and in Japan from 1993 to 1994), he became conscious of the fact that in addition to being a free-spirited, independent thinker with a strong personality who possesses creativity and artistic sensitivity, a contemporary Chinese calligrapher must also have great knowledge of Chinese classical culture and have assiduously practiced the traditional arts. Moreover, besides these basic requirements, a contemporary Chinese calligrapher should have a modern way of thinking, and he should pay attention to real life and cultural trends. He should be interested in Western culture, and he should absorb the best of Western tradition. Although well-versed in every field of learning, his first purpose should be to establish a solid alliance between Chinese and Western art. At the end of his article, WANG Dongling (2005) explained that:
To be a contemporary calligrapher you firstly need to be a contemporary artist. [] To be a contemporary artist you need to absorb the best of human culture. Only by doing so can you enrich yourself and develop your own. (p. 11)
In conclusion, Professor WANG Dongling sustains that contemporariness of an art not always means the subversion of the tradition: He thinks that this is a narrow-minded way of thinking that ignores the pluralism of peoples contemporary life and the richness of peoples spiritual needs. He stresses the point that the
165
contemporariness of calligraphy finds expression in two aspects: The first, the fine taste and the spiritual value of the tradition is the source of restructuring a spiritual homeland in the contemporary time, and the eternity of calligraphy aesthetics can fill the spiritual hollowness cause by aesthetic fatigue. The second, the contemporary art concepts can be used to deconstruct and reorganize the artistic and humanistic value of the traditional calligraphy, thus providing cultural genes in the construction of the contemporary art and cultural philosophy. As WANG Dongling demonstrates, supported by other art critics (Barrass, 2002; Y. ZHANG, 2005, pp. 20-21; C. H. HU, 2005, pp. 22-25; Y. S. YANG, 2009, pp. 201-233), in the theoretical reflection of the Modernist movement, tradition and contemporary features are well-balanced and completely intermingled. This is true not only in the theoretical field but also in the practical approach and in the creative work of the modernist calligraphers. In fact, they still remain deeply rooted in the signified system of Chinese writing, even if they break with the strict rules of Chinese classical aesthetics, focusing on the stylistic exploration. In their works, they reduce the number of characters drastically and reshape them creatively, especially because they are influenced by the Japanese calligraphy current named Few Characters (shaozishu)13. As GU Gan (2000) explained, modernist calligraphers focus on the use of few essential characters imbued with high aesthetic values, because their aim is to combine aesthetic pleasure and meaningful content. Chinese characters become something similar to symbols which enlighten the viewers minds, in a way they can understand the meaning of what they are contemplating even if they do not know the linguistic meaning. Of the four script forms, they prefer the cursive and the seal scripts rather than the others. They use the cursive script (caoshu) because it is the most abstract one, and the seal script (zhuanshu) because it is the most pictographic one. For example, the Taiwanese woman calligrapher TONG Yang-tze (b. 1942) uses the cursive script, and more specifically the wild cursive script (kuangcao), inspired by the Tang calligrapher HUAI Su (737?-799?) (see Figure 6), while the Sino-Australian calligrapher HUANG Miaozi uses the seal script, combined with brilliant colors and geometric schemes inspired by native Australian art (see Figure 7).
Figure 6. TONG Yang-tze, A Perfect Square Has No Angles (Da fang wu yu ) (2007), ink on gilded paper, 137 cm x 69 cm, Goedhuis Contemporary Gallery. Source: Goedhuis Contemporary Gallery website. The influence of contemporary Japanese calligraphy on the Chinese counterpart is enormous, especially since 1972, when the diplomatic relations between the two countries were re-established. Many exhibitions on contemporary Japanese calligraphy took place in China from 1977 to 1985: (1) in 1977 and in 1982, two group exhibitions on contemporary Japanese calligraphy; (2) in 1982 an exhibition on contemporary Japanese seals; (3) in 1983, another group exhibition on the artistic and calligraphic interchanges between the two countries; and (4) finally in 1985, a solo-exhibition of the famous Japanese calligrapher Teshima Ykei (1901-1987), the leader of the Few Characters current. This current, characterized by the use of few characters or only one character for each calligraphic work, was focused on the experimentation in the use of ink effects and in the spatial arrangement of the composition. For more details on this current, see: ZHENG, L. Y. & CAO, R. C. (1986). Japanese Modern Calligraphy (Riben xiandai shufa ), pp. 125-134. The influence of Japanese calligraphy is so relevant for the Modernist movement because most of the modernist calligraphers stayed in Japan for months or years, for example, WANG Xuezong from 1982 to 1984, and WANG Dongling from 1993 to 1994.
13
166
Figure 7. HUANG Miaozi, Dream of Flowers, Plants and the Three World Ages in Suzhou (2009), ink and color on paper, 75 cm x 140 cm, private collection. Source: Photographed by the author.
The contamination of styles is another important feature of the Chinese modernist movement, which is strongly influenced by Western art, especially by the Western Abstract art. This contamination is clearly visible in all of the modernists artworks, for example, in LI Luogongs pictures, deeply influenced by Fauves artists, especially by the French painter Maurice de Vlamnick; or in WANG Donglings calligraphies, strongly influenced both by European Abstract art, particularly by the Russian painter Vassily Kandinsky, and American post-World War II art movements; and also in GU Gans paintings, admirably contaminated by the works of Paul Klee (see Figures 8-9) and Antoni Tpies.
Figure 8. Paul Klee, Embrace (1939), pastel, watercolor and oil on canvas, 232 cm x 234 cm. Hanover, Dr. B. Sprengel collection.
Figure 9. GU Gan, Opening up (Kai yi guguo zhi men ) (1995), mixed media, 99 cm x 101 cm. London: British Museum. Source: Barrass (2002, p. 189).
Finally, as Z. J. LIU (1999) noted, another important characteristic of the modernist movement is the pictorial approach to calligraphy. In this case, the modernists try to exploit the full range effects that have long been known to Chinese painters, including the use of colored ink, or flecked ink with water, in order to obtain stratified ink effects. They have also never rejected the use of the Four treasures of the study (wenfangsibao),
167
such as paper, writing brush, ink stick, and ink stone, that are the traditional tools of all Chinese calligraphers and painters, even if they sometimes make small changes in their use: Tong Yang-tze, for example, usually writes on gilded paper instead of white/plain paper (see Figure 6), GU Gan experiments with the use of acrylic paint on paper and wood (see Figure 9), and WANG Dongling is famous for his calligraphy made on newspaper collage (see Figure 10) or on magazine sheets (see Figure 11).
Figure 10. WANG Dongling, Feeling and Passion (1999), ink on newspapers, 56 cm x 81.2 cm, London: British Museum. Source: Barrass (2002, p. 168).
Figure 11. WANG Dongling, Untitled (2012), white ink on a magazine sheet of paper, 21 cm x 30 cm, artist collection. Source: Photographed by the author.
In conclusion, in the works of all Chinese modernist calligraphers, tradition and contemporary features are completely combined and intermingled, and this is true not only for their theoretical conception but also in their formal execution and artistic practice. The Avant-Garde Movement The Avant-garde movement, instead, points out that Contemporary calligraphy is not calligraphy yet (Xiandai shufa bu shi shufa), as Professor WANG Nanming wrote in his book entitled Understanding Modern Calligraphy (Lijie xiandai shufa) (1994). To this movement, contemporary calligraphy is a sort of anti-calligraphy (N. ZHANG, 1999; Q. G. QIAN, 2002; X. JIANG & D. L. WANG, 2005; L. F. QU, 2008), because it produces a kind of de-construction of traditional calligraphy, in a sense, a sort of negation of it. According to Professor N. M. WANG (2005), What links contemporary calligraphy to the traditional one is its radical opposition to it (p. 12). In contrast with WANG Donglings point of view, he sustains that contemporariness of an art always means the subversion of the tradition. In WANG Nanmings opinion, CCC is an independent Avant-garde form of art, which is particularly influenced by the Western Abstract expressionism. This means that contemporary calligraphy is not discussed with reference to the self-sufficient system of calligraphy, but is considered in terms of a modern Avant-garde form in isolation of calligraphy. N. M. WANG (2005) also believed that the function of calligraphy in contemporary calligraphy is more to meet a need of
168
hinting (anshi de xuyao, p. 12) than to prove the value of calligraphy itself. In other words, contemporary calligraphy not only has connection with their tradition but also appears as an opponent. Failure to realize this point results in the so-called inappropriate modern or Avant-garde calligraphy. To him, the concept of contemporary calligraphy is only a temporary/transitional concept (N. M. WANG, 2005, p. 12), because it mirrors only the time when it is used. Therefore, he sustains that it is necessary to overshoot this inadequate concept and explore new linguistic possibilities. To support his theory, he then analyzes the works of contemporary Chinese artists, such as CHEN Guangwu (b. 1967) and WU Wei (b. 1963), that he considers post-abstract and Conceptual art calligraphers. According to WANG Nanmings analysis (1994), the Avant-garde Art breaks with the tradition completely, aims at a radical, total transformation of calligraphic art, rejects the use of legible characters, and experiments with new languages and new media within the idiom of international contemporary art. All this, in order to challenge conventional thinking and, above all, to make people reflect upon human condition. As GAO Minglu explained (1998), in the Avant-garde Art: The most influential artistic and philosophical sources were Dada14 and traditional Chan (Zen) Buddhism. [] The influence of Chan Buddhism, which like Dada, attempts to break free from any doctrine, dogma, text, or authority (p. 159). In the details, two main currents characterize the Avant-garde movement: The first one, called with different names, such as Endgame art (Chang Tsong-zung, as cited in Sullivan, 1996, p. 279), art-and language movement (Bryson, 1998, pp. 51-58), and Conceptual art (M. L. GAO, 1998, pp. 158-166), particularly focuses on the deconstruction of the writing system and language (the artists GU Wenda, XU Bing, WU Shanzhuan, and QIU Zhijie belong to this sub-current); while the second one focuses especially on the calligraphic line, intending it as the performance in itself and as its abstract beauty as well (the artists WEI Ligang, PU Lieping, QIN Feng, ZHANG Dawo, ZHANG Qiang, etc., belong to this other sub-current). It is interesting to note that while traditional calligraphy has always been simultaneously a verbal art and an Abstract art (Y. G. ZHANG, 1998), the art of writing characters (xiezi yishu) and the art of writing lines (xiantiao yishu) (C. M. LIU, 2010), in the Avant-garde view, instead, calligraphy splits into these two parts and becomes a verbal art or an Abstract art, the art of writing (un-meaningful) characters or the art of writing (painting-like) lines. If it becomes a verbal art, its aim is the deconstruction and the annihilation of the Chinese writing system that becomes unreadable and meaningless; the aesthetic flavour and the abstract beauty of the line and of the calligraphy composition are no longer important and the artists focus on the concept behind the artwork. On the other hand, if it becomes an Abstract art, and the artists try to forget the connection between calligraphy and language. Although they give up the system of Chinese written characters, they do not shake off the structural composition and the formal pattern arranged on the calligraphic line. In this way, the aesthetic perception is similar to the structure of Chinese characters and to the structural composition of a piece of traditional calligraphy, but no characters have been written, and no texts can be read. The result is something more similar to abstract painting than to calligraphic work. In both cases, the artworks do not have written characters with meaning that could interfere with the pure visual image. This means that signs no longer belong to the code of readable written
14 The Rauschenbergs solo-exhibition which took place in Beijing in 1985 was foundamental for the Avant-garde movement. The exhibition, entitled Rauschenbergs International Traveling Exhibition (Laosenboke zuopin guoji xunhuizhan ), was held at the National Art Museum of China from November 18 to December 8, 1985.
169
language (only understandable by a Chinese audience), but in the first case to the code of rational thoughts and in the second case to the code of emotional feeling (Q. G. QIAN, 2002, p. 56) that can appeal respectively to the ability to reflect and question or to the aesthetic sense of contemporary people all over the world. In this way, from being a local form of art, calligraphy opens itself to the global comprehension. The differences between the modernist and the Avant-garde movements are also evident: For the modernists Chinese tradition is fundamental; while for the Avant-garde artists, it is only an important part of their educational training, it is the starting point of their art, but it is not involved in the creative process, except in cases of opposition to it. In the Avant-garde practice, traditional tools are usually replaced with new methods and new media, such as photography, computer technology, Performance art, video art, etc.; and the influence of Western art, especially of Western modern and contemporary art, is wide-ranging and extremely productive, and it is not only limited to Abstract art. As a result of all this, the Chinese Avant-garde movement becomes international, because it creates new works of art that cannot be assimilated to the self-sufficient system of traditional calligraphy, as WANG Nanming has aptly observed (see above). The author thinks that they should be assimilated to universally comprehensible forms of art, closely connected with Western art, such as Abstract art, Abstract expressionism, Conceptual art, Performance art, Contemporary dance, Multimedia art, and even Street art/Graffiti art (see Figure 12).
Figure 12. A schematic model of the main tendencies of the Avant-garde movement arranged by the author.
170
CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION It is important to clarify that this categorization is not completely fixed and has not rigid frame, but it is
flexible and dynamic, because it reflects the contemporariness of international Avant-garde art. This means that the above mentioned artists can simultaneously belong to more than one category, because their works can share the characteristics belonging to different categories. Because they are all-around artists, they not only create work of art that has connection with the art of calligraphy, but they have been selected by the author, because the reflection upon the art of calligraphy is the major (or one of the major) topic of their artistic fatigue. So, in the authors intention, this is only an attempt to systematize an extremely complex and vividly debated subject. As to Abstract art, it is of utmost importance to note that contemporary Chinese artists, belonging to both modernism and Avant-garde movement, are clearly influenced by Western Abstract art, even if in different ways. In modernists works, we can still recognize the shape of Chinese characters, for example in GU Gans picture, inspired to the European artist Paul Klee (see Figures 8-9), while in Avant-garde artists we can only contemplate the outstanding beauty of the line, for example in PU Liepings picture, inspired to Mirs works, or in WEI Ligangs picture, influenced by Paul Klee and Brice Mardens works (see Figures 13-15).
Figure 13. Paul Klee, Viscosity Etching III (1930 ca.), 14 cm x 11 cm, private collection.
Figure 14. Brice Marden, Vine (1992-1993), oil on flax canvas, 240 cm x 255 cm, New York: Museum of Modern Art. Source: MoMA website.
171
Figure 15. WEI Ligang, Odiferous Thornbush Near Headstream and Flying at Riverbank (detail) (2008), ink and acrylic on paper, 198 cm x 250 cm, Goedhuis Contemporary Gallery. Source: Goedhuis Contemporary Gallery website.
As to Abstract expressionism and its influence on Chinese Contemporary artists, it would be useful to read what Sullivan (1973) wrote about Abstract expressionism and CCC:
Abstract expressionism and Action Painting put the Oriental painter in a totally new relationship with Western art. Now suddenly calligraphic abstraction became respectable. [] It was the impact of the New York school after the war that drove them to discover, or rather to rediscover, the Abstract Expressionist roots of their own tradition. Art since 1945 has in any case become, and today the stimulus is likely to go from East to West as in other direction. The complaint that the work of some Oriental painters is no longer really Oriental has ceased to have any meaning. (pp. 179-180)
This is especially true for Chinese Abstract Expressionist calligraphers, like, for example, QIN Feng (b. 1961) (see Figure 17) and ZHANG Dawo (b. 1943) (see Figure 18), which styles have been visibly contaminated by the Western Abstract Expressionist artist Franz Kline (see Figure 16).
Figure 16. Franz Kline, Chief (1950), oil on canvas, 148.3 cm x 186.7 cm, New York: Museum of Modern Art. Source: MoMA website.
172
Figure 17. QIN Feng, Civilization Landscape (2004), ink on silk and fiber paper, 140 cm x 400 cm, collection of the artist. Source: QIN Feng official website.
Figure 18. ZHANG Dawo, The Star of the City, a Rock and Roll Singer (2011), ink on paper, 162 cm x 94 cm, private collection. Source: ZHANG Dawo official website.
As to Conceptual art, the main representative artists are XU Bing and GU Wenda, that have been already analyzed before as the authors of Book from the Sky and The Mythos of Lost Dynasties; QIU Zhenzhong and WU Shanzhuan, that have been already named before as the authors of The First Four Series and The Red Humor; QIU Zhijie (b. 1969), who, for example, invented the so-called light-calli-photography (S. M. GAO, 2006, p. 11) (see Figure 19), which transforms the traditional calligraphy practice through the use of flash-light (the brush) and colored photography (the ink and the paper); and eventually WANG Nanming, who shaped his Combinations of Balls of Characters (see Figure 20), composed by the balls of rejected paper that he accumulated during his calligraphy practice.
Figure 19. QIU Zhijie, Lightwriting: The Heart Sutra n. 22 (Guangxie shufa: Xin Jing n. 22 : 22) (2005), photograph, 133 cm x 100 cm, collection of the artist. Source: QIU Zhijie official website.
173
Figure 20. WANG Nanming, Combination: Ball of Characters (1992), ink on paper, 120 cm x 100 cm, Pusan Metropolitan Art Museum. Source: N. M. WANG (1994, cover of the Understanding modern calligraphy).
Reflection on calligraphy is also the starting point for many Chinese performers. For example, this is clearly visible in the works of ZHANG Qiang (b. 1962), who is the founder of the so-called traceology (Zongjixue, see more in Q. ZHANG, 2006), the method he always uses in his calligraphic performances, centred on enlisting the aid and the active collaboration of a female partner in creating his works (see Figure 21). In 2008, he also founded the Biface Group with a Belgium woman artist, Lia WEI (b. 1986) (see Figure 22); since then they create monumental site-specific installations of huge panels entirely covered by calligraphic lines (see Figure 23) (see more in Q. ZHANG & WEI, 2012). Other important performers who connect their artistic practise with calligraphy conceptions are the world-famous SONG Dong (b. 1966) and ZHANG Huan (b. 1965).
Figure 21. A calligraphic performance by ZHANG Qiang. Source: Barrass (2002, p. 256).
Figure 22. Biface Graphy at work. Source: Q. ZHANG and WEI (2012, p. 74).
174
Figure 23. Biface Graphy, Flying White (Feibai ) (2011), mixed media installation, Chengdu. Source: Q. ZHANG and WEI (2012, p. 44).
Calligraphy is also a source of inspiration for many contemporary Chinese dance companies: First of all, for the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan which staged three ballets, entitled Cursive I (2001), Cursive II (2003), and Wild Cursive (2005), totally inspired by calligraphic movements, and in particular by cursive script rhythm (see Figure 24). Other companies who take inspiration from calligraphy for their choreographies are the Guangdong Modern Dance Company in mainland China, the Shen Wei Dance Arts and the Yin Mei Dance in New York, and even the City Contemporary Dance Company in Hong Kong. It is interesting to note that these companies have their headquarters not only in mainland China but also abroad (Taiwan, Hong Kong, and United States).
Figure 24. Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, Cursive I (2001). Behind the dancer, the Tong Yang-tzes work entitled Pan (Hard Stone) is part of the backdrop. Source: Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan website.
As to Multimedia art, the most experimental artist in the field is undoubtedly FENG Mengbo (b. 1966). In his work he connects calligraphy with computer software, GPS (Global Position System) technology and even video-game. For example, in his work entitled The Invisible Words: A GPS Calligraphy Project (2006) (see Figure 25), he uses GPS technology to write Chinese characters across city maps and oceanographic charts. The artist travels the route (in kilometres long brush strokes) determined for him by the shape of an ideogram and records the result as he goes. Then, in one of his last works, entitled Not too Late (2010), he adds the element of Chinese calligraphy to a video-game. Based on the concept of Quake III Arena, he creates his
175
own MOD (modification), in which the time frame is totally slowed, so that the trajectory of the slowly movement is clearly visible on the screen. As a consequence, the scenes are not as violent and bloody as in the original game, and the trajectory of bullets and fire is largely preserved, but the scene looks like a calligraphic masterpiece (see Figure 26).
Figure 25. FENG Mengbo, The Invisible Words: A GPS Calligraphy Project (2006), mixed media (Moreton Bay, November 2006).
Figure 26. FENG Mengbo, Not too Late (Bu tai wan )Shot 0107 (2013), ink and archive grade inkjet on Hahnemhle Museum Etching Paper, 24 cm x 88 cm. Source: Chamber of Fine Art website.
The influence of Chinese calligraphy practise in the Avant-garde art is evident even in Street art/Graffiti art. The most remarkable examples in this field are the calligraphy graffiti (see Figure 27) by Tsang Tsou Choi, the so-called King of Kowloon (1921-2007) in Hong Kong: Executed using brush and ink, his graffiti have been spotted at many places on the streets of Hong Kong (lampposts, utility boxes, pillars, pavements, street furniture, and building walls), and they recorded his complaints about the supposed misappropriation of his land by the government itself. On the other hand, in mainland China, in the works of some of the most famous Chinese Street art crews, such as the KwanYin Clan in Beijing, Popil and Dezio in Shanghai, and The Kong 2 Crew in Changsha,
176
the attempt to blend the art of Western bomb-lettering and the art of Chinese calligraphy is clearly visible and extremely successful (see Figure 28).
Figure 27. King of Kowloon: One of his works on a utility box in Hong Kong.
Figure 28. KwanYin Clan-TIN, Shen gong yi jiang (New Artistic Creation) (2010), graffiti on wall, Beijing. Source: KwanYin Clan official blog.
Conclusions
As it has just been shown, the art of calligraphy is still extremely productive in China nowadays, especially through the Modernist and Avant-garde movements. Even if with different theoretical and practical/creative approaches, fully and aptly analyzed by Professor WANG Dongling (see above) and Professor WANG Nanming (see above), both the movements reflect the main aim of Chinese contemporary society at dialectically facing their past tradition and at opening to a new one as well. Because the essence of both movements lies in their variability, they stress difference, emphasize contemporariness, and try to fuse many diverse methods, types, and styles of art, thereby breaking with historical practice and opening to foreigner influences. These influences, even if of different origins (from Japanese modern calligraphy and Abstract art in the Modernist movement, and from Western conceptual and experimental art in the Avant-garde movement), encourage greater expressive freedom, thereby affording more direct artistic accessibility. The result is that all of the works presented can be appreciate quickly and world-wide: In the
177
modernists works, even if the content of words usually continues to be dependent on the artistic form, the emphasis is on the spatial elements and of the pictorial and architectural use of lines, dots, and colors, that appeal directly to everyone eyes; on the other hand, in the Avant-garde works, the outstanding beauty of the line, the conceptual idea behind the work, and the use of new methods and new media, completely independent from the linguistic content, freely open to the world-wide comprehension. In all of these works, the artists try to combine different types of calligraphy and different types of art, thus rendering calligraphy even more complex and more difficult to identify, as the art critics point out. Seeking greater variation of artistic form, the art of calligraphy changes its characteristics and becomes only a segment of the creative process, even if the most important one. In fact, for all the artists presented, Chinese calligraphy represents the starting point but not the finishing line of a creative process. Reflecting new social realities in China itself and new perspectives in global art world, their approach is closer to cotemporary aesthetics than to traditional practice, but both of the elements are essential to understand the present and unprecedented developments of this most traditional art. Theirs are, above all, an attempt to create a new artistic language that can turn the art of calligraphy into a medium for communication and global comprehension.
References
Barrass, G. (2002). The art of calligraphy in modern China. London: British Museum Press. Bessire, M. (Ed.). (2003). Gu Wenda: Art from middle kingdom to biological millennium. London: MIT Press. Bryson, N. (1998). The post-ideological avant-garde. In M. L. GAO (Ed.), Inside outNew Chinese art. Berkeley: University of California Press. CHANG, T. Z. (1993). Introduction. In V. C. Doran (Ed.), Chinas new art, post-1989, with a retrospective from 1979-1989. Hong Kong: Hanart TZ Ltd.. CHEN, D. Z. (2005). A research on contemporany Chinese calligraphy artistic groups and a categorization of their creative work (Dangdai shufa chuangzuo moshi yu pailiu yanjiu ). Beijing: Rongbaozhai Press. CHENG, M. X. (2006). A first exploration of modern calligraphy: Creative patterns and theoretical thoughts (Xiandai shufa chuangzuo siwei moshi chutan ). In B. WEN & J. C. SU (Eds.), Collection of accademic essays about modern Chinese calligraphy of the last 20 years (Zhongguo xiandai shufa 20 nian xueshu yanjiuhui lunwenji
20). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Oriental Art Centre.

Chiu, M. (2002). The crisis of calligraphy and the new way of tea: An interview with wenda gu. Orientations, 3. Erickson, B. (2001). Words without meaning, meaning without words: The art of Xu Bing. Seattle: University of Washington Press. FU, J. S. (1998). Typologies of contemporary Chinese calligraphy (Zhongguo xiandai shufa de leixing ji qiwen ). Meishu guancha, 6. FU, J. S. (2011). The shape of chinese modern calligraphy (Zhongguo xiandai shuxiang ). Beijing: Culture and Art Press. GAO, M. L. (2000). The 85 Movement: Avant-garde art in the post-Mao era. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. GAO, M. L. (Ed.). (1998). Inside outNew Chinese art. Berkeley: University of California Press. GAO, S. M. (2006). A momentary pause in anomalous and everyday lives: Comments on the work of Qiu Zhijie. In C. W. MAO (Ed.), The shape of time: The calli-photo-grapy by Qiu Zhijie. New York: Chambers Fine Arts. GAO, T. M. (2004). The meaning of Modern Calligraphy (Xiandai shufa de hanyi ). In D. L. WANG (Ed.), Florilegium of theses on contemporary Chinese calligraphy (Zhongguo Xiandaishufa lunwen xuan
). Beijing: China Fine Arts Press.

GU, G. (1990). The three steps of modern calligraphy. Beijing: China Book Publishing House. GU, G. (2000). The Art of Gu Gan (Gu Gan shufaji ). Beijing: China Cultural Press.
178
HU, C. H. (2005). Ambiguous calligraphyAbout contemporary calligraphy movements (Aimei de shufaGuanyu dangxia shufa yundong de jianming baogao ). Art China, 3. HUANG, R. (Ed.). (2007). Huang Rui: The stars times, 1979-1984. Beijing: Thinking Hands + Guanyi Contemporary Art Archive. JIANG, X., & WANG, D. L. (Eds.). (2005). The act of writing and of non-writing: The open space for Chinese calligraphy. International exhibition of modern calligraphy 2005, Hangzhou, China (Shu feishuKaifang de shufa shikong 2005 Zhongguo Hangzhou guoji xiandai shufa yishuzhan zuopinji 2005
). Hangzhou: China Academy of Art Press.

Kraus, R. C. (1991). Brushes with power: Modern politics and the Chinese art of calligraphy. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Ledderose, L. (1986). Chinese calligraphy: Its aesthetic dimension and social function. Orientations, 16. LIU, C. M. (2010). The history of modern Chinese calligraphy (Zhongguo xiandai shufa shi ). Nanjing: Nanjing University Press. LIU, C. Y. (2000), Embodying cosmic patterns: Foundation of an art of calligraphy in China. Oriental Art, 5. LIU, Z. C. (2006). An analysis on contemporary Chinese calligraphy: The new creative models (part I, part II) (Shixi dangdai shufa chuangbian moshi (shang, xia) ()). Shufa, 8, 9. LIU, Z. J. (1999). Painting: A point of view for modern calligraphy. In Y. S. YANG (Ed.), Bashu Parade: 99 Chengdu retrospective of Chinese modern calligraphy at the end of the twentieth century. Chengdu: Sichuan International Cultural Exchange Center. Pasqualotto, G. (2007). Figures of thought: Works and symbols in the Oriental cultures (Figure di pensiero. Opere e simboli nelle culture dOriente). Venezia: Marsilio editori. PU, L. P., & GUO, Y. P. (2005). A survey history from contemporary Chinese calligraphy to the art of Chinese characters (Zhongguo xiandai shufa dao hanzi yishu jianshi ). Chengdu: Sichuan Fine Arts Press. QIAN, Q. G. (2002). My opinion on the new ideas arisen from contemporary Chinese calligraphy (Zhongguo Xiandai Shufa chuanxin zhi wo jian ). Shufa yanjiu, 2. QIU, Z. Z. (1989). The first four series (Guanyu zuichu de si ge xilie ji qita ). Xin meishu, 2. QIU, Z. Z. (2004). Arising from calligraphyNaming a new artist category (Yuanzi shufaDui yilei yishu de mingming yu qita ). In D. L. WANG (Ed.), Florilegium of theses on contemporary Chinese calligraphy (Zhongguo Xiandaishufa lunwen xuan ). Beijing: China Fine Arts Press. QU, L. F. (2008). A revaluation of modern Chinese calligraphy in the late 20th century (Chonggu 20 shijimo zhongguo Xiandai shufa huodong 20). Journal of Yibin University, 5. SHEN, C. Y. F. (1977). Traces of the brush: Studies in Chinese calligraphy. New Haven: Yale University Art Gallery. Sullivan, M. (1973). The meeting of Eastern and Western art from the sixteenth century to the present day. London: Thames and Hudson. Sullivan, M. (1980). The three perfections: Chinese painting, poetry and calligraphy. New York: George Braziller. Sullivan, M. (1996). Art and artists of twentieth century China. Berkeley: University of California Press. WANG, D. L. (2005). Enjoy the wisdom of modern calligraphy (Xiangshou xiandai shufa de zhihui ). Art China, 3. WANG, D. L. (2010). Wang Dongling speaks about contemporary calligraphy (Wang Dongling tan xiandai shufa
). Beijing: Renmin University Press.

WANG, N. M. (1994). Understanding modern calligraphy (Lijie xiandai shufa: Shufa xiang xiandai he qianwei de yishu zhuanxing : ). Nanjing: Jiangsu Educational Press. WANG, N. M. (2005). Calligraphic hints in post-abstract art and conceptual art (Hou chouxiang yishu yu guannian yishu zhong de shufa anshi ). Art China, 3. WANG, X. Z. (Ed.). (1986). A selection of works from the first session of Chinese Modern Painting and Calligraphy Association (Xiandai shuhua xuehui shufa shoujie zuopin xuan ). Beijing: Beijing Sport University Press.
179
YANG, Y. S. (2009). The concept of calligraphy: The new contemporary trends (La Calligraphie et le concept: Le nouveaux courants contemporains). In D. A. FAN & Q. S. ZHU (Eds.), The Orchid Pavilion: The art of writing in China (Le Pavillon des Orchides: Lart de lcriture en Chine). Bruxelles: Fonds Mercator. ZHANG, A. G. (2008). The Blue Book of the Chinese modern calligraphy (Zhonguo Xiandai shufa lanpinshu
). Hangzhou: China Academy of Art Press.

ZHANG, N. (1999). A criticism of the complex of modern calligraphy at the end of the century. In Y. S. YANG (Ed.), Bashu parade: 99 Chengdu retrospective of Chinese modern calligraphy at the end of the twentieth century. Chengdu: Sichuan International Cultural Exchange Center. ZHANG, Q. (2006). TraceologyTranscending art (CongjixueYishu de wenhua chuanyue ). Chongqing: Chongqing Press. ZHANG, Q., & WEI, L. (2012). Biface graphy: From ink painting to abstraction (Shuimo ruhe bei chouxiang: Shuangmian shufa ). Chongqing: Chongqing Press. ZHANG, Y. (2005). Reasons for existence of modern calligraphy (Bushi yizhi ershi kongxinGuanyu xiandai shufa ). Art China, 3. ZHANG, Y. G. (1998). Brushed voices: Calligraphy in contemporary China. New York: Columbia University Press. ZHENG, L. Y., & CAO, R. C. (1986). Japanese modern calligraphy (Riben xiandai shufa ). Shanghai: Shanghai Painting and Calligraphy Press. ZHU, Q. S. (2004). Levels and tendencies of contemporary Chinese calligraphy (Zhongguo xiandai shufa de cengci yu fangxiang ). In D. L. WANG (Ed.), Florilegium of theses on contemporary Chinese calligraphy (Zhongguo Xiandaishufa lunwen xuan ). Beijing: China Fine Arts Press.
DA VID
PUBLISHING
Community Mediation in Malaysia: A Comparison Between Rukun Tetangga and Community Mediation in Singapore
Hanna Binti Ambaras Khan
International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Malaysia is a multicultural, multireligious, and multiethnic country that is located in Southeast Asia. The social background of Malaysia as a multicultural state calls for the adoption of an alternative method to resolve community dispute which would offer solution and simultaneously promote harmonization in the society. Community mediation may be one of such alternative, if not the best method for interethnic relations. The government of Malaysia has introduced community mediation in Malaysia by providing training for community mediators through a pilot program, known as Rukun Tetangga (Peaceful Neighbor). The purpose of this program is to promote unity among the multi-races and multiethnic citizens. This paper will refer to the current practice of community mediation in Malaysia as provided by the National Unity Department in Peninsula Malaysia and the practice of community mediation in Singapore. It is hoped that by comparing the practices in both countries, suggestions and recommendations could be made to improve the practice of community mediation in Malaysia. Keywords: ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution), community mediation, Rukun Tetangga, law, Malaysia, neighborhood, Singapore
Introduction
Community mediation has become a popular method of dispute resolution. It is well established in many developed countries such as the United Kingdom, United States of America, Australia, etc.. In Asian countries, this method of dispute resolution has been in practice traditionally for a long time. For example, mediation is considered as an ancient concept and is deep rooted in Indian culture whereby any dispute that arises will be resolved at the community level in a panchayat1. This concept has always been enshrined in the Indian culture2. Currently, this old system has been adopted in the modern Indian social system administration and served as the backbone of the present society3. Singapore and Malaysia shared the same history of traditional or informal mediation. Singapore, however,
Hanna Binti Ambaras Khan, Ph.D. student, Department of Legal Practice, International Islamic University Malaysia. Delhi Mediation Center, History (Online). Retrieved from http://delhimediationcenter.gov.in/introduction.htm. 2 Delhi Mediation Center, History (Online). Retrieved from http://delhimediationcenter.gov.in/introduction.htm. Panchayat means a village council, a former group of five influential older men acknowledged by the community as its governing body and an elective council of about five members organized in the republic of India as an organ of village self-government. The member of panchayat will be elected by the people yearly. The panchayat will make decision with regard to the social issue of the villagers. The council leader is called as sarpanch and the council member is the panch. 3 Panchayat System in India (Online). Retrieved from http://www.indianetzone.com/40/panchayat_system_india.htm.
1
A COMPARISON BETWEEN RUKUN TETANGGA AND COMMUNITY MEDIATION
181
has established formal or institutionalized CMC (Community Mediation Center) modeling the developed countries CMC in 1998. The center manages to settle disputes and maintain harmony among the people in the neighborhood. Community mediation is a type of mediation that is chosen as a method of dispute resolution to the neighborhood problems because of the flexibility and informality of the proceses, and it brings the disputing parties together in the presence of a community mediator, a neutral party, who assists them to work out their problems with each other, clarify the issues, discuss their opinions, and eventually reach a consensual settlement to their problems after having explored all options (Baig, 2010, p. 157). The government of Malaysia through the DNU (Department of National Unity) has introduced Community Mediation Program by providing training to grassroot leader in a pilot program, Peaceful Neighbor (Rukun Tetangga) to be a community mediator. However, the government is yet to establish a center to accommodate the mediators and sets of rules or regulation or law to govern community mediation practice. This paper will refer to the current practice of community mediation in Malaysia provided by the DNU in Peninsula Malaysia and the practice of community mediation in Singapore, and to suggest and recommend improvement if necessary. This paper involves library-based research and qualitative legal research method which involved fieldwork. The library-based research involves both primary and secondary legal sources whereby journals, articles, law reports, legislation, and historical record and the virtual library available online are referred to. Some other research resources are the database online such as LexisNexis, Law Net, and Current Law Journal online. This method helps to understand the mechanism of community mediation, mediation, and the legal framework in Singapore. The fieldwork is done by interviewing officer from the Department of Unity, the qualified community mediators and undergoing the training of the community mediator by the writer. From these, information was gathered on what are the best method to be adopted by the community mediation in Malaysia and the structure of the Malaysian CMC.
The Nature of Community Mediation

Community mediation is a mediation process adopted by the disputing parties within a community as a solution to resolve their dispute, mediation itself is one of the ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) or alternative modes of dispute settlement. ADR is an acronym popularly referred to such alternative methods of dispute settlement such as negotiation, mediation/conciliation, arbitration, mini-trial and private judging etc. (Rashid, 2000, p. 1). ADR is defined as a range of procedures that serve as alternatives to litigation through the courts for the resolution of disputes, generally involving the intercession and assistance of a neutral and impartial third party (Brown & Marriot, 1999, p. 12). According to Sourdin (2008), dispute resolution processes that are alternative to traditional court proceedings are often referred to as ADR. She further explained that ADR is also used as an acronym for assisted, additional, affirmative, or appropriate dispute resolution processes. Thus, she concluded that, it is impossible to construct a concise definition of ADR processes that is accurate in respect of the range of the processes available and the contexts in which they operate (Sourdin, 2008, p. 3). Mediation is one of the processes of the ADR (Rashid, 2000, p. 1) and is defined as a process that uses a third party (a neutral party to the conflict) to facilitate communication between the parties on their positions (Hardcastle, Powers, & Wenocur, 2011, p. 12). It is a private, facilitative, and informal form of the third party
182
assistance available to people who cannot manage their own conflicts and disputes (Baghshaw, 2009, p. 8). According to Liebmann (1998), in mediation, the impartial third party (mediator) helps two (or more) disputants work out how to resolve a conflict. If the mediation session succeeds, the disputants will decide the terms of any agreement reached. The focus of mediation is usually on the future rather than past behavior (Liebmann, 1998, p. 2). Mediation is intended to resolve dispute and maintain the good relationship between parties. The role of a mediator is to assist the disputants to arrive at an agreed resolution of their dispute. The mediator bears no authority to make any decision that is binding, but uses certain procedures, technique, and skills to help the disputants to negotiate an agreed resolution of their dispute without adjudication (Brown & Marriot, 1999, p. 127). In mediation process, the disputants have opportunity to understand and explore their differences and come into an agreement taking into account the interests of all involved. There are many types of mediation such as civil mediation, family mediation, peer mediation, etc.. Despite the variety of mediation, most scholars seem to agree that in mediation there are three defining elements: assistance, a third party, and no authority to impose outcome on the disputants (Wall, Stark, & Standier, 2001, p. 375). However, the definition of community mediation is different from one area to another. Furthermore, many authors defined community mediation differently. The reason is that the definition may be extended by including resolving disputes in a wider area instead of the community alone.
Community Mediation in Malaysia

Malaysia is a multiethnic, multicultural, multilingual, and multireligious country located in Southeast Asia. Geographically, Malaysia is divided into two regions, i.e., the Peninsula Malaysia or West Malaysia that used to be called Malaya, it extends from the Thailand border in the north to the Straits of Johor in the south and East Malaysia comprises the State of Sabah and Sarawak located on the island of Borneo. In the southern tip is the Republic of Singapore which was part of Malaysia till 1965. The main ethnic groups are Malays, Chinese, and Indian (Aun, 1999, pp. 1-2; Yaacob, 1989, p. 2). The population of Malaysia is 27 million and there are more than 60 ethnic or cultural differentiated groups which can be enumerated (Church, 2012, p. 82). The ethnic groups have full liberty to retain their identities, i.e., their fundamental beliefs, religion, traditions, and ways of life, and at the same time being assimilated. The result has caused the emergence of a unique multicultural, multiethnic, and multireligious Malaysia. The diversity is not a barrier of having a harmony and peaceful life. The differences in terms of religions, languages, codes of dressing, customs, and behavioural patterns are tolerated for the sake of maintaining harmony, unity, and understanding (Abdullah & Pedersen, 2003, pp. 16-18). Maintaining harmony and unity in the society was highly emphasized by the Malay community. Prior to the introduction of the English common law, the Malays refer their dispute to a headman (Penghulu or KetuaKampung), who acted as a third party to resolve the matter. The Indian and Chinese who have settled down in Malaya were considered as the immigrant practice their personal law and custom. They resolve their disputes through mediation by elders of the community, clans, or guild (Raman, 2005, p. 4). They tried to avoid chaos in any situation. Thus, Malaysians have been practicing traditional mediation long time ago. Therefore, community mediation is not a new method of dispute resolution in Malaysia.
183
In Malaysia, the city residents handle their conflicts as other residents of cities resident in the world do. Either they tolerate the conflict, manage it, or call the police for intervention. The situations in villages, however, are different since disputes are not usually taken to the police immediately but the matter will be brought by one of the disputants or a third party to the village administrator (KetuaKampung) or to the religious leader (the Imam). The Imam will normally preside over family disputes since it is considered as a religious issue and the KetuaKampung will preside over to other types of disputes (Wall & Callister, 1999, p. 345). This traditional or informal community mediation has later on been absorbed by the Rukun Tetangga in the cities in Malaysia. The harmony enjoyed by Malaysia today is the result of the hard work of the Malaysian government. The government of Malaysia has played a vital role in promoting and maintaining the unity and harmony in Malaysia. Promoting unity in Malaysia is an untiring effort and ongoing process that was spearheaded by the Malaysian government since the 1970s. The Malaysian government views the issue of ethnic relations as a real threat to the social stability of the country since the occurrence of an interracial clashed on May 13, 1969 (A. Othman, 2002). To avoid and prevent further problem in the future, the government has taken preventive steps for example, the Ministry of Education introduced compulsory Ethnic Relation subject in universities to replace the earlier effort, the Islamic and Asian Civilization subject that is hoped to be a foundation for a harmonious community in Malaysia (Baharuddin, n.d., pp. 7-9). Institute of Ethnic Studies (Institut Kajian Etnik/KITA) was established in Malaysia National University (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) on October 8, 20074. One Malaysia, Integration School, and National Services Program were designed for the same purpose. The most important step taken was the establishment of the DNU in 1969. The incident on May 13, 1969 led to the declaration of Emergency by the King on May 15, 1969 in pursuant to Article 150 of the Federal Constitution. Such declaration has empowered the establishment of a National Operation Council (Majlis Gerakan Negara)5. On July 1, 1969 under the command of the National Operation Council, the DNU was established to address issues related to rebuilding the social cohesion in the country at that time. The DNU has undergone many changes since 1969. The name of the department was changed few times and it has been placed under various departments such as Ministry of Unity, Culture, Arts, and Heritage. In 2009, the departments name was changed to DNU and placed under the auspices of the Department of the Prime Minister6. The department focuses on national and societal integration. Their mission is to promote unity and integration by increasing the opportunities for interaction between ethnic groups through activities such as organizing social gathering on festive occasion, for example, the celebration on Chinese New Year (for the Buddhist), Hari Raya (for the Muslims), Christmas (for the Christian), and Deepavali (for the Hindus). One of the efforts by the government of Malaysia is the establishment of Rukun Tetangga in 1975 to initially ensure the safety of the local residents. An act known as the Peaceful Neighbor Regulation 1975 (PU (A)279/75) was approved to grant certain powers to the Peaceful Neighbor Association. In 1984, the focus of this organization changed to strengthen the relations between the various races in Malaysia7. In 2001, the focus of this program once again turned to the development of the community. The priority of this Peaceful Neighbor
4 5
Institute of Ethnic Studies (Online). Retrieved from http://www.ukm.my/kita/profilekita.html/2009. MajlisKeselamatan Negara (Online). Retrieved from http://www.mkn.gov.my/mkn/default/article_m.php?mod=1&article=9. 6 Jabatan Perpaduan Negara dan Integrasi Nasional Negeri Selangor (Online). Retrieved from http://www.jpninselangor.gov.my/v2/ms/latar_belakang. 7 Malaysia: Aspirasi Perpaduan Pencapaian JPNIN 2009-2011 (p. 10). Jabatan Perpaduan Negara dan Integrasi Nasional.
184
program is to help the disputants to resolve their dispute in the neighborhood and to avoid any racial tension and subsequently create a harmony in the society. This program initially was introduced in few urban areas where crime rates and ethnic diversity are prominent. In 2012, Rukun Tetangga Act (Peaceful Neighbor Act) was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament and was gazetted on June 22, 2012. Section 8 of Rukun Tetangga Act 2012 provides function and duties of Rukun Tetangga Committee inter alia, to provide community mediation for the purpose of conciliation or otherwise settling any dispute or difference amongst the members of community (Section 8(d)). Currently, Peaceful Neighbor is placed under the auspices of Community Development Unit under the DNU. The DNU in promoting integration and harmony residential area has developed the Rukun Tetangga programin certain area to a pilot project of Community Mediation program. The main purpose is to train the Rukun Tetangga Committee to be community mediators in their residential who plays the roles as a third party in helping the disputants/residents to resolve their dispute. The idea of having this pilot project emerged from the finding of DNU that the social tensions at the community level arise from the inter-ethnic and intra-ethnic fight. The project was developed in 2007 and implemented in 2008 (Hua, 2009, pp. 2-3). Presently, community mediator is placed under the auspices of the Unity Management Unit under the DNU. As a result, the Rukun Tetangga Committee is wearing two hats. They are the community mediators under Unity Management Unit and at the same time the Rukun Tetangga Committee under the Community Development Unit. Please refer to Figure 1 attached here in illustrating the position of community mediator and Rukun Tetangga in the DNU and Integrity organization.
Figure 1. The position of community mediator and Rukun Tetangga in the DNU and Integrity organisation chart.
185
The mediators are trained by Dato Dr Wan Halim Othman, who has been appointed by the DNU. He is the only trainer since the program launched until today. The training began with the introduction of community mediation in general. This is because many of Malaysians do not have any information on ADR, mediation, or community mediation. Thus, the leaders of Rukun Tetangga or the participants need to understand the general idea of community mediation. The second part of the training focuses on the role of the participants as community mediators. There are 20 steps that need to be understood by the participants. Thus, the program is well-known or frequently referred to as KursusKemahiran Proses MediasiKomuniti 20 Langkah or Skill of Community Mediation Process 20 Steps in Malaysia. This program consists of four phases and each phase is a 4-day course. Each session has a large number of participants, for example 80 to 100 persons. The training methodologies adopted are workshop, attendee active participation, and role-playing sessions8. The term Community Mediator in Malaysia under the Community Mediation Program by the DNU is different from the term Community Mediator in Singapore. According to W. H. Othman (2009), Rukun Tetangga committee leaders are trained as a second sense of the term Community Mediator rather than as professional community mediator. He explained that the first sense of community mediator refers to a person who has undergone a specific technique in conflict resolution, trained and recognized as official mediator or professional mediators. The second sense of mediator is a third party who involved in dealing with any social situation (W. H. Othman, 2009, pp. 216-217). He distinguished the two terms of community mediator. It is understood that the terms are differentiated to show the training received by the mediators to enable them to be community mediators. They may be professional community mediators if they have undergone a professional training. Nevertheless, they act as a third party and called Community Mediator in assisting people in their neighborhood in resolving disputes. Hence, Malaysian community mediators fall under the second sense of community mediator. The program has been proven successful in defusing social and racial tension with over 200 cases resolved in 20109. The government of Malaysia was very much interested in promoting unity and integration. Therefore, the government has given full support to the effort of the DNU and has increased the budget over this matter. This has given the DNU more room in enhancing this program. The DNU has sent more Rukun Tetangga leaders to the training. As a result, on March, 2012, a number of 519 individuals were trained as community mediators. The efforts of DNU paid off. The cases involving racial issue have decreased from 1,315 cases in 2007 to 912 in 2011. The DNU has planned to train more mediators in the future to ensure that each area of Rukun Tetangga will have at least one mediator (Koon, 2012b). The effort of the DNU has been further appreciated.
Malaysia has been ranked the most peaceful country in South East Asia, the fourth safest in the Asia Pacific behind New Zealand, Japan and Australia, and the 19th safest and peaceful out of 153 countries in the world. This ranking by the Global Peace Index (GPI) 2011 is the first time that Malaysia has been placed that high since 2007, being one of the six non-European nations making the top 20 list. (Bernama, 2011)
The author has attended three training sessions for community mediation, i.e., Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3 under the DNU and Integrity. The first training was conducted at Regency International Hotel, Kuala Lumpur from March 30, 2012 to April 2, 2012. The second training session was conducted at Country Heights Resorts & Laisure Sports Living Club, Kajang from May 11, 2012 to May 14, 2012. The third training session was conducted at Hotel Excelsior, Ipoh Perak from June 29, 2012 to July 2, 2012. 9 Jumlah Mediator Komuniti di Seluruh Negara Ditambah, Utusan Online Archives (October 8, 2011) (Online). Retrieved from http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2011&dt=1008&pub=utusan_malaysia&sec=Terkini&pg=bt_23.htm&arc=hive.
186
A COMPARISON BETWEEN RUKUN TETANGGA AND COMMUNITY MEDIATION Previously, the community mediators are not governed by any rules, direction, or regulation. However,
Mediation Act 2012 (Act 749) was gazetted and came into force on August 1, 2012. The procedures provided are applicable to the community mediators and shall be their guideline in practising mediation. The mediation session handled by the mediator is free of charge. There are no charges imposed on each mediation session and the mediators are not paid. They work on voluntary basis (Koon, 2012a). It is hoped that this program will continuously benefit Malaysian society in promoting unity and integrity between the different ethnic groups and to avoid social and racial tension in future.
Community Mediation in Singapore

The Republic of Singapore comprises the main island of Singapore and some 54 small islets within its territorial waters and jurisdiction. The country has a total land area of only 699.4 square kilometers, 500 of which is taken up by the diamond-shaped main island, which is 41.8 kilometers in length and 22.5 kilometers in breath (Hock, 2007, p. 1). Mediation has been institutionalized much earlier in Singapore than Malaysia. Formal mediation in Singapore may be divided into three categories: first, court-annexed mediation; second, mediation in tribunals, government departments and agencies; and third, private mediation that has began in the middle of 1990s and now is gaining more popularity (Onn, 2009, p. 133). Mediation in this paper refers to formal mediation or institutionalized mediation, unless otherwise mentioned clearly that the word mediation refers to traditional, uninstitutionalized, or informal mediation. Community mediation is also not a new method of dispute resolution in Singapore. Malaysia and Singapore shared the same history until the separation in 1965. Prior to the introduction of English legal system that leads to the embracement of litigation in courts by the people, the concept of solving problem by a third party as has been practiced by the Malays through the headman, the Indian through panchayat and Chinese who refer a dispute to the community leaders such as leaders of Chinese clan association (How, 2002, p. 4). The current formal mediation or the institutionalized mediation center has adopted the same method.
We often compare this process with the traditional kampong style approach of resolving problems through informal channels with the aid of respected third parties. The kampong ketua, the elder in village communities of old, performed a mediatorial role between squabbling Neighbors. Such activities promoted community cohesion.10 The CMCs have also embarked on a pilot project which involves the conduct of visits by paired teams of trained CMC mediators and grassroots leaders to the residences of unwilling disputants embroiled in Neighborly conflicts to persuade them to try mediation. In many ways, this replicate the concept of a kampong ketua or Malay village elder, who historically played the role of mediator in village disputes.11
Community mediation in Singapore was established from the idea of Prof. S. Jayakumar, the Minister for Law and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore in further promoting ADR process in Singapore. In 1996, the inter-agency Committee was tasked to explore on how to further promote mediation in Singapore. In 1997, mediation was recommended by the Committee12 to be promoted to resolve social and community disputes. Particularly, mediation is an Asian tradition and culture that are worth to be preserved. Prof. S. Jayakumar
Community Mediation Center Annual Report 2002-2003, p. 5. Community Mediation Center Annual Report 2003-2004, p. 5. 12 The Committee on the ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) was chaired by associate professor Ho Peng Kee, then Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Law. See Also Community Mediation Center Annual Report 2002-2003, p. 9.
11 10
187
supported the recommendation and the Ministry of Laws was tasked to look into introducing community mediation as part of Singapores dispute resolution infrastructure13. The committee in their report dated July 4, 1997, recommended that in order to prevent Singaporeans becoming too litigious, less expensive, and non-adversarial methods or dispute resolution should be introduced, covering a wide range of social, community, and family dispute14. The government of Singapore was very serious in their effort in establishing the CMC. They have upon acceptance of the recommendation, and set up an ADR Division within the Ministry of Law to oversee and co-ordinate the operation of the CMCs15. The CMC Act (Community Mediation Centers Act) (CAP. 49A) came into force in January, 1998 providing for the establishment of the first CMC in November, 1998 (Seng, 2003, p. 159). The first center was established in Marine Parade District Hall, known as CMC (Regional East) and commenced operations in January, 1998. Over the years satellite mediation venues have also been set up. Currently, there are three main centers and seven satellite mediation venues in Singapore to provide disputing parties with the additional convenience of having their cases mediated at an alternative location close to their residence16. The first structure of the CMC is illustrated by Figure 2. The CMCs are managed by a team of Center Managers and Executives under the purview of the CMU (Community Mediation Unit) of the ADR Division of the Ministry of Law17. The center activities and daily case management function are run by full-time staffs who are civil servant employed by the Ministry of Law (G. Lim, C. Lim, & Tan, 2009, p. 2). The latest structure is illustrated by Figure 3. The structure has changed where the CMU is set up within the Ministry of Law to oversee and coordinate the CMCs work. The consultant has replaced the Deputy Manager (Operation and Training). CMC (Regional East) has moved its operation to CMC (Subordinate Court) effective since February 16, 200718. The CMC has improved its administration tremendously in ensuring the effectiveness of its services since 1998. The CMC Act provides that the minister may arrange for evaluation of the CMC at any time he thinks fit19. Subsequently, the ministry may make improvement and changes of the CMC in its operation and activities. The CMC Act is the governing law for the CMC. It covers the CMCs, mediation includes mediators and some miscellaneous issue such as the mandatory submission of the CMC annual report by the director to the minister to be laid before the parliament20. The act provides that any person is allowed to refer a dispute to the center and also the magistrate may refer any appropriate case from the Magistrate Court to the center21. The act
13 14
Community Mediation Center Annual Report 2002-2003, p. 3. Community Mediation Center Annual Report 2002-2003, p. 9. 15 Community Mediation Center Annual Report 2002-2003, p. 9. 16 Community Mediation Center Annual Report 2009-2010, p. 4. 17 Community Mediation Center Annual Report 2002-2003, p. 11. 18 Community Mediation Center, Ministry of Law, Singapore Government (Online). Retrieved from http://app2.mlaw.gov.sg/ContactInfo/tabid/312/Default.aspx. 19 See Section 16 Community Mediation Center Act (Cap. 49A) (1998). 20 See Section 21 Community Mediation Center Act (Cap. 49A) (1998). 21 Community Mediation Center Annual Report 2002-2003, p. 9. See also Section 15 Community Mediation Center Act (Cap. 49A) (1998).
188
also provides that the mediation process is voluntary22 in line with the tenet of mediation. Nobody will be forced to opt for mediation in resolving their dispute. In the event, the parties decided to withdraw from mediation session at any time, they may do so23. The fundamental character of CMC is to cater community dispute and relational issues consistent with its mission. The center resolve dispute within family, relatives, disputes between stall holders, provision for shop owners, neighbors, sometimes even land lord and tenant issues. It does not handle commercial disputes, family violence24, and any dispute that involves seizable offence under any written law25.
Figure 2. Organisation structure of community mediation in 2002-2003. Source: Adapted from CMC Annual Report 2002-2003, at 11. See Section 12(1) Community Mediation Center Act (Cap. 49A) (1998). See Section 12(2) Community Mediation Center Act (Cap. 49A) (1998). 24 Community Mediation Center Annual Report 2003-2004, p. 13. 25 Community Mediation Center Annual Report 2008-2009, p. 5. See also Section 15 Community Mediation Center Act (Cap. 49A) (1998).
23 22
189
Figure 3. Organisation structure of CMC as at July 2011. Source: Adapted from CMC Annual Report 2010-2011, at 7.
The mediation session is to be conducted with a little formality and technicality, and with as much expedition as possible26. This requirement is maintaining the original tenet of mediation, informality. The rules of evidence do not apply to mediation sessions27. The mediation services are rendered free of charge, with only a nominal administrative fee of SGD (Singaporean Dollar) 5.00 charged to the complainant at the point of registration, to deter frivolous case registration28. The CMCs mediators are volunteers who have undergone basic mediation training before they are appointed for a 2-year term. The content of the training includes understanding the objective and philosophy of mediation, the mediation process, techniques of communication, and counseling skills. During the early stages of the center, the training of mediators was provided by the center29. However, in 2004-2005, the training of mediators has been shifted to the CMU and they have focused on this task to sustain a high level of professionalism of the centers volunteer mediators30. In 2002 and onwards, mediators who had conducted a requisite number of mediations were conferred with the title of Master Mediator. The highest title accorded is one of Senior Master Mediator, where the mediator assumes the role of mentoring, training, leading, and developing fellow mediators31. The basic training comprises an intensive 2-day Basic Mediation Workshop conducted by CMU Consultant, Senior Master Mediator Dr. Lim Lan Yuan. Volunteers who are deemed suitable will then be shortlisted and
26 27
See Section 10(1) Community Mediation Center Act (Cap. 49A) (1998). See Section 10(2) Community Mediation Center Act (Cap. 49A). 28 Community Mediation Center, Ministry of Law, Singapore Government (Online). http://app2.mlaw.gov.sg/MediationServices/MediationProcedure/FeesCharges/tabid/307/Defult.aspx. 29 Community Mediation Center Annual Report, p. 18. 30 Community Mediation Center Annual Report 2004-2005, pp. 6-7. 31 Community Mediation Center Annual Report 2010-2011, p. 17.
Retrieved
from
190
nominated for appointment as mediators32 by the Minister for Law33. They are required to upgrade their skills continually. The ongoing advance training in mediation, thematic workshops and roundtable session enables them to share experiences and learn from one another34. Community Mediation Report 2003-2004 provides training structure diagram as illustrated by Figure 4 attached herein showing the stages that need to be undergone by the mediator to be appointed as mediator and thereafter to upgrade their skills. Later, in 2005 on top of undergoing the 2-day course, the volunteer selected had to undergo two co-mediation sessions with experienced CMC mediators. The appointment of the volunteer is by evaluations and recommendation of the co-mediator and the CMC Director, and subsequently by an official appointment by the Minister of Law35.
Figure 4. Training structure diagram of Singapore CMC. Source: Adapted from CMC Annual Report 2003-2004, at 22.
The latest structure of training is provided by the Community Mediation Report 2010-2011 as illustrated by Figure 5 attached herein. In 2010, the requirement of upgrading the mediators skill was made mandatory. The mediators are required to attend courses organized by CMC as part of their continuing professional development. Thus, Advance Mediation Course (see Figure 4) previously provided by CMU was changed to Continuing Professional Development. The mediator training under Continuing Professional Development comprises Internal Training and External Training. In 2011, CMC introduced a series of Master Classes which comprise of three modules: (1) Situational Management Mediation; (2) Sharpening Mediation Skills; and (3) Moving towards Settlement, which are led by CMU Consultant under Internal Training course. CMC also invites external trainer such as the Singapore Mediation Center to provide courses under the External Training to improve the mediators skills.
32 33 34 35
Community Mediation Center Annual Report 2009-2010, p. 11. See Section 8 Community Mediation Center Act (Cap. 49A) (1998). Community Mediation Center Annual Report 2004-2005, p. 17. Community Mediation Center Annual Report 2005-2006, p. 32.
191
Figure 5. Training structure diagram of Singapore CMC. Source: Adapted from CMC Annual Report 2010-2011, at 22.
The mediators are respected by members of the society from all walks of life, different age groups, and ethnic groups and professions. They comprise mainly of grassroots and other community leaders, chosen for their commitment and dedication to community service work. This made them easily recognized and respected by the resident. The reason to appoint such person by the CMC is to enforce the CMC philosophy of empowering communities to work out their own problem36. The efforts of the CMC have resulted encouraging increase in number of the cases referred to the CMC and the percentage of settlement. The CMC Annual Report 2005-2006 reported that in 1998, there were 120 cases referred to the CMC Regional East, the one and only center at that time. In April 1999, the second center, CMC Central was set up. Subsequently, the number of cases has increased to 211. In 2001, the third center, CMC Regional North was set up and the cases referred to the center were 273. Total cases referred to the center from 1998 to 2002 were 1,063 cases and the settlement rate was 75%37. The cases that have reached settlement for the five years period were 797. The CMC Annual Report 2010-2011 reported that from 1998 to 2010, there were 5,349 cases mediated and 72% have reached settlement38. That means almost 3,851 cases have been solved by the center within the duration of 13 years. It may be concluded that from 2005 to 2010 the cases solved by the center through mediation increased by 79%. The Singapore CMCs show that an efficient center will provide good services to the people. Subsequently, it will encourage the citizens to resolve their dispute by community mediation in their neighborhood.
Result, Discussion, and Recommendation

Singapore has developed community mediation as the method of resolving neighborhood dispute upon the setting up of the CMC Act, i.e., the law and thereafter developed the CMCs. The law and the center provide a good foundation for CMC. Malaysia on the other hand has started a pilot program to see the effectiveness of
36 37 38
Community Mediation Center Annual Report 2005-2006, p. 17. Community Mediation Center Annual Report 2002-2003, p. 21. Community Mediation Center Annual Report 2010-2011, p. 8.
192
community mediation in Malaysian urban society. The programwas started without a centerand regulatory laws. This is the different between the Malaysian and the Singaporean community mediation in establishing this method of dispute resolution in both countries. In Malaysia, there are two units under DNU involved in the pilot project of Community Mediation, i.e., the Unity Management Unit that deals with community mediator and the Community Development Unit that deals with the Rukun Tetangga Committee. Both are dealing with the same persons who are involved in the project. It is afraid that the instructions received from the two units might be redundant or contrary. However, the instructions in most of the times complement each other. If the instructions are contrary and redundant, the mediator cum Rukun Tetangga Committee may face confusions or problems. The only reason why the Rukun Tetangga Committees are chosen to be the community mediator in the Community Mediation pilot project is because they are the grassroots leaders. This situation may also create conflicts since the Rukun Tetangga Committees are holding two positions. It is suggested that to avoid conflict between the two positions in future, the community leader should be given choice either to be a community mediator or Rukun Tetangga Committee. The community mediators then may concentrate on mediation and Rukun Tetangga Committee may concentrate on their duties. Nonetheless, Rukun Tetangga Committee must be trained for community mediation as they supposed to mediate under Section 8 of the Rukun Tetangga Act 2012. The writer proposes that Malaysian CMC should be the institution to provide the training to the Rukun Tetangga Committee, despite that they have separate center. Thus, the DNU may utilize all the resources in CMC to provide the training. It is suggested that despite the fact the Rukun Tetangga Committee is also a community mediator, they should not mediate unless in an urgent case. They are advised to refer the cases to CMC to be handled by the community mediators. It is also suggested that with regards to the issue who may request for mediation, the CMC should adopt a method where the request may be made by the disputants or the third party. Hence, the Rukun Tetangga Committee will be the third party to request for a mediation to be conducted to the CMC. This situation will give confident to the resident in the mediation tenet of impartiality of mediator. Currently, the offer of training for community mediators is limited to the Rukun Tetangga Committee. In other words only the Rukun Tetangga Committee has the chance to be a community mediator. Many professions do not have the opportunity to join this program due to no information on how to join this program or the DNU is yet to open application for others except the departments staff. It is suggested that DNU opens the application to all professions to be community mediators with conditions that they need to be active in community service. If this takes place, the writer believes that many citizens are interested to get involved in this project. It is recommended that the training provided by DNU may also be focused on professional mediators. Thus, there will be two types of training: the first sense and the second sense as mentioned earlier in this paper. The advantages to have two types of community mediators are mediators will have a proper training that will suit their practice with the level of thinking of the residents in their neighborhood. Singapore has been providing the professionals mediators training the community mediator and it works well. Singapore CMC under the Minister of Law managed to resolve 72% out of 5,349 cases mediated in the center. Even though Singapore has shown an excellent progress, Malaysia may not follow blindly. A suitable system needs to be created to suit the people since Malaysia is a bigger country with more population.
193
The second reason to have type of training is in recent situation, many Malaysian have information about ADR and mediation especially the professional persons. Every field now is promoting mediation for example mediation in business, mediation in architecture, court-annexed mediation, mediation in company, etc.. Thus, the second sense mediation is not suitable for the professional people as they may have advance information on mediation. The writer proposes an organization structure of Malaysian CMC as illustrated by Figure 6 attached herein in the urban areas. It is proposed the CMC to be under the DNU under the Unity Management Unit. There will be a Manager who is answerable to the Unity Management Unit. The Manager will be assisted by a Deputy Manager (Development) who will handle further training for the mediator and liaise with Institute of Research and National Integration Training (IKLIN (Institut Kajian dan Latihan Integrasi Nasional)) that has been incorporated to handle all trainings for DNU. The manager will also be assisted by a Deputy Manager (Operational) who will be assisted by the Center Manager in handling CMC activities and operations. The Center Manager will be assisted by two officers: (1) the officer who manages the affairs of community mediators, the operation of mediation sessions, and any cases that have been reported directly to the center; and (2) the officer who manages the cases reported by the Rukun Tetangga and handles community mediators who are also Rukun Tetangga Committee.
Figure 6. Proposed organisation structure of Malaysian CMC.
194
A COMPARISON BETWEEN RUKUN TETANGGA AND COMMUNITY MEDIATION Malaysia needs to have a separate CMC from the Rukun Tetangga. It is important to have a different identity.
The Rukun Tetangga is a developed program with a set of laws, whereas community mediation is developing and at its initial stage. The residents who might not have time to participate in Rukun Tetangga program will have the opportunity to participate in Community Mediation Program. It is hoped that the DNU will open application for others to join this Community Mediation Program. If this pilot project is prolonged with this nature, not many residents will have the chance to participate and contribute.
Conclusions
Malaysia has taken an excellent step in introducing formal community mediation in resolving dispute between her multiethnic, multicultural, and multireligious citizens. However, Malaysia is still new in implementing the formal community mediation. There are many rooms for improvements. The most important action to be taken is to have a CMC that is separated from Rukun Tetangga together with a regulatory law. The separate entity, a center, and a set of rules will develop the community mediation better under DNU.
References
Abdullah, A. A., & Pedersen, P. B. (2003). Understanding multicultural Malaysia delights, puzzle & irritations. Petaling Jaya: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Aun, W. M. (1999). The Malaysian legal system (2nd ed.). Kuala Lumpur: Longman. Baghshaw, D. (2009). When East meets West: Developing culturally relevant models for mediation education, training and practice. In S. K. Rashid & S. A. Idid (Eds.), Mediation and arbitration in Asia-Pacific (pp. 7-16). Kuala Lumpur: IIUM Press. Baharuddin, S. A. (n.d.). Enhancing inter-ethnic relations in Malaysia: Personal observations on the inter-ethnic module in public universities. Occasional Papers Series 5, International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies. Baig, F. B. S. (2010). Community mediation. In M. N. I. Jan & A. A. A. Mohamed (Eds.), Mediation in Malaysia: The law and practice (pp. 155-170). Malaysia: LexisNexis. Bernama. (2011, July 22). Msia 19th safest country: Global peace index. The Star (Online). Retrieved from http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?sec=nation&file=/2011/7/22/nation/20110722204309#1338107249035102&if_height= 340 Brown, H. J., & Marriot, A. L. (1999). ADR: Principles and practice (2nd ed.). London : Sweet & Maxwell. Church, P. (Ed.). (2012). A short history of South-East Asia (5th ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Hardcastle, D. A., Powers, P. R., & Wenocur, S. (2011). Community practice: Theories and skills for social workers (3rd ed.). New York : Oxford University Press. Hock, S. S. (2007). The population of Singapore (2nd ed.). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. How, Y. P. (2002). Speech at the Launch of Disputemanager.com. City Hall Chamber, City Hall Building, Singapore. Hua, H. K. (2009). Talk on: Community mediation. Workshop on Empowering Communities Through Mediation in Malaysia. Vistana Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. Koon, K. T. (2012a). Speech of Y.B Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, Minister in Prime Minister Department (Speech of Y.B Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri) (Unreported speech). Presentation of Community Mediators Letter of Appointment. Seri Cempaka Service Suites, Menara PGRM. Koon, K. T. (2012b). Dialog Y.B Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, Minister in Prime Minister Department with Community Mediator (Dialog Y.B Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri Bersama Mediator Komuniti) (Unreported speech). Case Conferencing of Community Mediator. Seri Cempaka Service Suites, Menara PGRM. Liebmann, M. (Ed.). (1998). Introduction. Community and neighbor mediation. Great Britain: Cavendish Publishing Limited. Lim, G., Lim, C., & Tan, E., (2009). Promoting mediation as an alternative dispute resolution process to resolve community and social disputeA Singapore perspective. First Asian Mediation Association Conference Mediation DiversityAsia & Beyond. Marina Mandarin Singapore. Onn, L. S. (2009). Non-court annexed mediation in Singapore. In S. K. Rashid & S. A. Idid (Eds.), Mediation & arbitration in Asia Pacific (pp. 133-142). Kuala Lumpur: IIUM Press.
195
Othman, A. (2002). Introducing alternative dispute resolution in Malaysia: Prospects and challenges. Malayan Law Journal Article (Online). LexisNexis. Retrieved from http://www.lexis-nexis.com/terms/general/ Othman, W. H. (2009). Community based mediation in Malaysia: Rukun Tetangga. Workshop on Empowering Communities Through Mediation in Malaysia. Vistana Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. Raman, G. (2005). Probate and administration in Singapore and Malaysia: Law and practice. Singapore: LexisNexis. Rashid, S. K. (2000). The importance of teaching and implementing ADR in Malaysia. Industrial Law Report, 1(xviii). Seng, G. J. (2003). Mediation in Singapore: The law & practice. Workshop 4: Arbitration and Mediation in ASEAN: The Law & Practice, ASEAN Law Association 8th General Assembly, Singapore. Sourdin, T. (2008). Alternative dispute resolution (3rd ed.). Sydney: Lawbook Co.. Wall, J. A., & Callister, R. R. (1999). Malaysian community mediation. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 43. Wall, J. A., Stark, J. B., & Standier, R. L. (2001). Mediation: A current review and theory development. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 45. Yaacob, A. M. (1989). An introduction to Malaysian law. Bangi: Penerbitan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Bangi.

2013.3 Journal of Literature and Art Studies

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

2013.3 Journal of Literature and Art Studies

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Journal of Literature and Art Studies

Volume 3, Number 3, March 2013 (Serial Number 16)

David Publishing Company www.davidpublishing.com

David Publishing Company www.davidpublishing.com

Journal of Literature and Art Studies

Sherwood Andersons Mother and the Evaluation of the Genre

SHERWOOD ANDERSONS MOTHER AND THE EVALUATION OF THE GENRE

SHERWOOD ANDERSONS MOTHER AND THE EVALUATION OF THE GENRE

SHERWOOD ANDERSONS MOTHER AND THE EVALUATION OF THE GENRE

These are the fathers characteristic featuresTamar Khetsuriani.

SHERWOOD ANDERSONS MOTHER AND THE EVALUATION OF THE GENRE

Christopher Babatunde Ogunyemi

The Protest Theory: A Societal Superstructure

APPREHENDING CLASS STRATIFICATION IN FESTUS IYAYIS VIOLENCE

APPREHENDING CLASS STRATIFICATION IN FESTUS IYAYIS VIOLENCE

Class Stratification and Violence in Iyayis Violence

APPREHENDING CLASS STRATIFICATION IN FESTUS IYAYIS VIOLENCE

APPREHENDING CLASS STRATIFICATION IN FESTUS IYAYIS VIOLENCE

APPREHENDING CLASS STRATIFICATION IN FESTUS IYAYIS VIOLENCE

Poverty as a Phenomenon of Alienation in Iyayis Violence

APPREHENDING CLASS STRATIFICATION IN FESTUS IYAYIS VIOLENCE

Dialectic of Protest in Violence

APPREHENDING CLASS STRATIFICATION IN FESTUS IYAYIS VIOLENCE

Wealth as a Symbol and Disruption

APPREHENDING CLASS STRATIFICATION IN FESTUS IYAYIS VIOLENCE

APPREHENDING CLASS STRATIFICATION IN FESTUS IYAYIS VIOLENCE

Marxist Ideology and Social Consciousness in Iyayis Violence

APPREHENDING CLASS STRATIFICATION IN FESTUS IYAYIS VIOLENCE

APPREHENDING CLASS STRATIFICATION IN FESTUS IYAYIS VIOLENCE

Poverty and Protest

APPREHENDING CLASS STRATIFICATION IN FESTUS IYAYIS VIOLENCE

APPREHENDING CLASS STRATIFICATION IN FESTUS IYAYIS VIOLENCE

Contemporary Chinese Calligraphy Between Tradition and Innovation

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

The Modernist and the Avant-Garde Movements12

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

20). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Oriental Art Centre.

). Beijing: China Fine Arts Press.

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

). Hangzhou: China Academy of Art Press.

). Beijing: Renmin University Press.

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

). Hangzhou: China Academy of Art Press.

A COMPARISON BETWEEN RUKUN TETANGGA AND COMMUNITY MEDIATION

The Nature of Community Mediation

A COMPARISON BETWEEN RUKUN TETANGGA AND COMMUNITY MEDIATION

Community Mediation in Malaysia

A COMPARISON BETWEEN RUKUN TETANGGA AND COMMUNITY MEDIATION