Saman (novel)

Saman is a controversial Indonesian novel by Ayu Utami published in 1998. It is Utami's first novel, and depicts the lives of four sexually-liberated female friends, and a former Catholic priest, Saman, for whom the book is named. Written in seven to eight months while Utami was unemployed, Saman sold over 100,000 copies and ignited a new literary movement known as sastra wangi (originally used pejoratively) that opened the doors to an influx of sexually-themed literary works by young Indonesian women.

Saman deals explicitly with themes of sexuality, taboo for women writers in Indonesia at that time. She also writes about the supernatural and mysticism. Utami has said the stories reflect some of her personal experiences, such as her loss of religion which mirrors that of the priest, Saman. Utami also includes passages reflecting the destructiveness of Suharto's political authoritarianism; in later interviews she said the political realities reflected in Saman are still applicable to post-Suharto Indonesia.

Saman

Saman may refer to:

Saman (dance)

Saman (or the dance of thousand hands) is one of the most popular dances in Indonesia. Its origin is from the Gayo ethnic group from Gayo Lues, Aceh province, Sumatra, and is normally performed to celebrate important occasions. The dance is characterized by its fast-paced rhythm and common harmony between dancers. These two elements are key figures of Saman, and are among the reasons Saman are widely known and practiced in Indonesia, beside being relatively easy to learn.

On November 24, 2011, UNESCO officially recognized Aceh's traditional Saman dance as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, which needs UNESCO's urgent protection.

The ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA) named Saman dance as the best ASEAN cultural preservation effort at the 25th ASEANTA Awards for Excellence 2012.

Form

The dance is done by a group of people forming a line accompanied by a music player. Originally, the group was exclusively male, but it is now more common to see female Saman dancers. The music player plays percussion instrument, such as kendang, and leads the song before it is followed by the dancers. The music contains various verses with folk and Islamic elements, both of which can be fully sung or not depending on the performer's decision. A short song (which leads to a short dance) can last for approximately 15 to 20 minutes.

Saman (deity)

Saman (also called Sumana, Samantha, Sumana Saman, Sinhalese: සුමන සමන් ‍දෙවි) is a deity, subject to local and indigenous belief and worship in Sri Lanka. The name Saman means "the rising morning sun". His character is of historical significance for the Sinhala people and veneration especially to all the Buddhists. God Maha Sumana Saman is depicted crowned, bejeweled, holding a lotus flower in his right hand and accompanied by a white elephant.

According to Mahavamsa, the early chronicle of Sri Lanka, Saman is considered as one of the guardian deities of the island and Buddhism in the country.Natha, Upulvan, Vibhishana and Kataragama are the other guardian deities. Nayakkar dynasty from South India introduced the goddess Pattini replacing god Saman, during the period of Kandyan Kingdom. Saman is the guardian (patron deity) or the presiding deity of Saparagamuva and the Sri Pada mountain. Accordingly his main shrine or devalaya is at Ratnapura, where an annual festival is held in his honor.Another major shrine dedicated to god Saman is situated at Mahiyangana in Uva Province of Sri Lanka.

Moon of Israel (novel)

Moon of Israel is a novel by Rider Haggard, first published in 1918 by John Murray. The novel narrates the events of the Biblical Exodus from Egypt told from the perspective of a scribe named Ana.

Haggard dedicated his novel to Sir Gaston Maspero, a distinguished Egyptologist and director of Cairo Museum.

Adaptation

His novel was the basis of a script by Ladislaus Vajda, for film-director Michael Curtiz in his 1924 Austrian epic known as Die Sklavenkönigin, or "Queen of the Slaves".

References

External links

Novel (disambiguation)

A novel is a long prose narrative.

Novel may also refer to:

See also

Novel (film)

Novel is a 2008 Malayalam film produced and directed by East Coast Vijayan. This is East Coast Vijayan's debut directorial film.

Plot

Sethunath (Jayaram) is a prosperous business man and also a writer. However, when his creation titled 'Swantham' becomes a best seller and bags the commonwealth awards. The writer is the least interested so much so that he is not even aware who translated his work & earned the award for the book.

Aneesa, a journalist, is determined to get a personal interview with her favorite writer Sethu and does not hesitate to get it at the expense of bribing Sethu's secretary Subramaniam Swamy and finally succeeds. Luckily for her, Sethu is impressed with her resilience and also the fact that she comes from the same orphanage that he hailed from makes him open his heart. He talks about his failed marriage and Priyanandini (Sadha) whom he encounters during the making of a lottery commercial. Gradually, Priya reaches the pinnacle of stardom with the support of Sethu.