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TRADITIONAL ARTS
Darangen Epic is one of 43 Unesco masterpieces of oral heritage
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/17 December)
The Darangen Epic of the Maranao People of Lake Lanao is among 43 new "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritages of Humanity" proclaimed recently by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).
It is the second Philippine oral tradition that has been proclaimed as a masterpiece after the Hudhud Chants of the Ifugao in 2001.
The Proclamation is an international distinction created by Unesco in 1997 as part of the Organisation's endeavours at the international level for the promotion and safeguarding of cultural heritage. The first Proclamation was done in 2001.
The Convention concerning the protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage adopted in 1972, exclusively protects tangible heritage. Unesco decided to extend protection to intangible cultural heritage, "fragile and perishable but essential for communities' cultural identity."
Unesco created the distinction "to alert the international community on the importance of taking this heritage into consideration and safeguarding it."
In its proclamation, Unesco said the Darangen (literally to narrate in song) "is an ancient epic song that encompasses a wealth of knowledge about the Maranao people who live in the Lake Lanao region of Mindanao. This southernmost island of the Philippine archipelago is the traditional homeland of the Maranao, one of the country's three main Muslim groups."
Comprising 17 cycles and a total of 72,000 lines, the Darangen "celebrates episodes from Maranao history and the tribulations of mythical heroes. In addition to offering compelling narrative content, the epic explores the underlying themes of life and death, courtship, politics, love and aesthetics through symbol, metaphor, irony and satire. The Darangen also encodes customary law, standards of social and ethical behaviour, notions of aesthetic beauty, and social values specific to the Maranao. To this day, elders refer to this time-honored text in the administration of customary law."
In his preface in the three-volume Darangen published by the Mindanao State University-University Research Center in 1986, Mamitua Saber, dean of research, said, the Darangen, a heritage from their "pre-Islamic past," may deserve "fair comparison with the Iliad and Odyssey of Greece or the Ramayana and Mahabharata of India."
The three-volume book contains the original Maranao verse with English translation.
Volume 1 includes the "First Three Books of the Maranao Epic" Paganay Kiyandato O Diwata Ndaw Gibon sa Iliyan A Bembaran (The first ruler, or
Diwata Ndaw Gibon of Iliayn a Bembaran); Kambembaran (Story of Bembaran), Kapmadali (Story of Madali).
Volume II contains the next three books-Kapaesandalan a Morog sa Iliyan a Bembaran (Story of Pasandalan a Morog in Iliyan a Bembaran); Kapagondoga (Story of Hurt Feelings) and Kaplombayawan a Lena (Story of Lombayawan a Lena).
Volume II contains Paramata Gandinganl; Alongan Pisaeyanan; So Kiyapraw'a Ko Lawanen (The Abduction of Lawanen) or Kapmabaning (Story of Mabaning).
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