Novel
The Headhunter
Ngayau
Amil Jaya · 1979
Synopsis
Headhunting: in a forest community of Sarawak, in times past, custom demands that the building of a new longhouse be accompanied by a human sacrifice beneath its foundations. The chief must therefore launch a headhunting expedition, although his warriors, he says, are not yet ready for combat. The novel blends dread, expectation, joy and emotion around this custom and the men it endangers.
Context
The novel appeared in 1979 and takes as its subject an ancient custom of the peoples of Borneo, headhunting. The presentation of the English edition sees in it a community seeking to replace its atrocious rites with something as charged with meaning in the twentieth century. A study in the sociology of literature places it among the novels of local colour, and the author gave it a sequel, itself studied in Malaysian journals.
Who it is for
A short novel in Malay, one hundred and fifty pages in its English version; it can also be read in French since 2009.
Prizes and reception
Translated into English and French in 2009 by Malaysia's public translation body.
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