The Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of the Central Highlandsprovince of Dak Lak has been enacting a series of measures to preserveand promote volumes of epics of the Ede people, which are currently indanger of disappearing from the community.
Epics have played an important cultural role in the life of the Central Highlands people for centuries.
Accordingto folklorists, the Ede ethnic group boasts nearly 80 epics, the mostfamous of which include Dam San, Dam Di, Khinh Du, Dam Do Roan, Y Prao,Mhieng, Dam Tiong, and Dam Trao-Ram Rao. The local word for “epic” is“Klei khan”, meaning a storytelling form combining music and lyrics.
Theepics describe the socio-economic process that formed and developed thecommunity of ethnic groups, tell tales of the strong and admirableheroes of their mythology, and honour the beauty found in both thephysical strength and the will power of the people.
They alsopraise love between couples and family, encourage the spirit ofsolidarity among the community, and reflect the desire to conquernature.
Most Ede epics originate from folklore and are passeddown from generation to generation orally or in writing. Some works canbe told in one or two nights, but others may last 4 or 5 nights,dictated by the whims of the tellers.
Epic performers arecalled “po khan”, known for their strong singing voices and theirability to recite a great number of epics by heart. These tellers exudecharisma and use their words and actions to transport the audience intothe stories, helping them to truly come alive.
The Ede epicperformers are highly respected members of the community, believed to beblessed with special abilities and considered “living treasures” of thenation. These talented artists also help create various versions of theEde epics, enriching the local folklore.
Yet this folklore art genre, a valuable spirit and cultural icon of the Ede people, is slowly eroding within community.
Accordingto Y Ko Nie from the provincial Department of Culture, Sports, andTourism, the erosion is attributable to strong changes in thesocio-economic and cultural habits of the local people and thediminishing options for performance spaces.
As traditionalrituals and festivals, where epics are usually performed, aresimplified, the number of talented epic artists is quickly decreasing,he noted.
He said his agency is working with institutes forfolklore research on collecting, translating and publishing the CentralHighlands’ epic treasure.
The region has been organising courses to teach the epics to broader audiences in a bid to conserve the art type, he added.
Under the same vein, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourismlaunched a campaign to collect epic songs for digitisation in 2007; thusfar 33 Ede epics have been classified. Modern festivals and concertshave also begun incorporating epic performances into their shows.
Recently, the Ministry has officially recognised the epics as anational intangible cultural heritage to Dak Lak and three other Centralhighlands provinces - Dak Nong, Gia Lai and Kon Tum.
Epicsof four ethnic groups in the region received the recognition, includingthe oral recitation of the Ede in Dak Lak, the Ot Ndrong epic of theM’Nong people in Dak Nong, the Homon epic of Banah in Gia Lai, and theHomon epic of Rongao in Kon Tum.
The epics, believed to havebeen written in the 16 th century, will be submitted to UNESCO forrecognition as a world intangible cultural heritage of humankind.-VNA
Epics have played an important cultural role in the life of the Central Highlands people for centuries.
Accordingto folklorists, the Ede ethnic group boasts nearly 80 epics, the mostfamous of which include Dam San, Dam Di, Khinh Du, Dam Do Roan, Y Prao,Mhieng, Dam Tiong, and Dam Trao-Ram Rao. The local word for “epic” is“Klei khan”, meaning a storytelling form combining music and lyrics.
Theepics describe the socio-economic process that formed and developed thecommunity of ethnic groups, tell tales of the strong and admirableheroes of their mythology, and honour the beauty found in both thephysical strength and the will power of the people.
They alsopraise love between couples and family, encourage the spirit ofsolidarity among the community, and reflect the desire to conquernature.
Most Ede epics originate from folklore and are passeddown from generation to generation orally or in writing. Some works canbe told in one or two nights, but others may last 4 or 5 nights,dictated by the whims of the tellers.
Epic performers arecalled “po khan”, known for their strong singing voices and theirability to recite a great number of epics by heart. These tellers exudecharisma and use their words and actions to transport the audience intothe stories, helping them to truly come alive.
The Ede epicperformers are highly respected members of the community, believed to beblessed with special abilities and considered “living treasures” of thenation. These talented artists also help create various versions of theEde epics, enriching the local folklore.
Yet this folklore art genre, a valuable spirit and cultural icon of the Ede people, is slowly eroding within community.
Accordingto Y Ko Nie from the provincial Department of Culture, Sports, andTourism, the erosion is attributable to strong changes in thesocio-economic and cultural habits of the local people and thediminishing options for performance spaces.
As traditionalrituals and festivals, where epics are usually performed, aresimplified, the number of talented epic artists is quickly decreasing,he noted.
He said his agency is working with institutes forfolklore research on collecting, translating and publishing the CentralHighlands’ epic treasure.
The region has been organising courses to teach the epics to broader audiences in a bid to conserve the art type, he added.
Under the same vein, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourismlaunched a campaign to collect epic songs for digitisation in 2007; thusfar 33 Ede epics have been classified. Modern festivals and concertshave also begun incorporating epic performances into their shows.
Recently, the Ministry has officially recognised the epics as anational intangible cultural heritage to Dak Lak and three other Centralhighlands provinces - Dak Nong, Gia Lai and Kon Tum.
Epicsof four ethnic groups in the region received the recognition, includingthe oral recitation of the Ede in Dak Lak, the Ot Ndrong epic of theM’Nong people in Dak Nong, the Homon epic of Banah in Gia Lai, and theHomon epic of Rongao in Kon Tum.
The epics, believed to havebeen written in the 16 th century, will be submitted to UNESCO forrecognition as a world intangible cultural heritage of humankind.-VNA
