Geoffrey Benjamin
2019
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Music and the cline of Malayness Book Chapter
In: pp. 87–116, NIAS Press, 2019, ISBN: 978-87-7694-262-5.
@inbook{Benjamin2019,
title = {Music and the cline of Malayness},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
isbn = {978-87-7694-262-5},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-09-01},
pages = {87–116},
publisher = {NIAS Press},
abstract = {The cline of Malayness as exhibited in Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula extends through tribal-Malay, rakyat-Malay, aristocrat-Malay and modern urban-Malay. As a consequence of the manner in which Malay states came into being, this cline exhibits an increasing elaboration of the cultural expression of transition and transitivity. This is manifested in the different manners of musical performance favoured in the various Malay populations. In turn, these differences are paralleled closely in such other areas of Malay cultural expression as: social personality, cooking & eating, dance, religion, grammar & lexicon. Fifteen illustrative audio examples are available on the Soundcloud.com website through links given in the footnotes, where links to other cited online audio examples are also provided.},
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The cline of Malayness as exhibited in Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula extends through tribal-Malay, rakyat-Malay, aristocrat-Malay and modern urban-Malay. As a consequence of the manner in which Malay states came into being, this cline exhibits an increasing elaboration of the cultural expression of transition and transitivity. This is manifested in the different manners of musical performance favoured in the various Malay populations. In turn, these differences are paralleled closely in such other areas of Malay cultural expression as: social personality, cooking & eating, dance, religion, grammar & lexicon. Fifteen illustrative audio examples are available on the Soundcloud.com website through links given in the footnotes, where links to other cited online audio examples are also provided.
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Malay art music composers and performers of Tanjungpinang and Pulau Penyengat Book Chapter
In: pp. 279–302, NIAS Press, 2019, ISBN: 978-87-7694-259-5.
@inbook{Benjamin2019b,
title = {Malay art music composers and performers of Tanjungpinang and Pulau Penyengat},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
isbn = {978-87-7694-259-5},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-08-01},
pages = {279–302},
publisher = {NIAS Press},
abstract = {This chapter was stimulated by the new music (kreasi baru) that the author heard at the 2011 Gawai/Lomba Seni in Tanjungpinang and at later performances and rehearsals on Pulau Penyengat and in Batam Centre, all in Kepulauan Riau (Kepri) province, Indonesia. Through interviews with the composers, the author has sought to uncover their specifically musical background and artistic aims against the background of the more ‘traditional’ Malay music-making still widely followed in the Bentan area. The author’s ten associated video and audio examples are available through links given in the footnotes, where links to other cited online audio examples are also provided.},
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This chapter was stimulated by the new music (kreasi baru) that the author heard at the 2011 Gawai/Lomba Seni in Tanjungpinang and at later performances and rehearsals on Pulau Penyengat and in Batam Centre, all in Kepulauan Riau (Kepri) province, Indonesia. Through interviews with the composers, the author has sought to uncover their specifically musical background and artistic aims against the background of the more ‘traditional’ Malay music-making still widely followed in the Bentan area. The author’s ten associated video and audio examples are available through links given in the footnotes, where links to other cited online audio examples are also provided.
2017
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Indigenous peoples: indigeneity, indigeny or indigenism? Book Chapter
In: Antons, Christoph (Ed.): pp. 362–377, Routledge, 2017, ISBN: 9780415659406.
@inbook{Benjamin2017,
title = {Indigenous peoples: indigeneity, indigeny or indigenism?},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
editor = {Christoph Antons},
isbn = {9780415659406},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-01-01},
pages = {362–377},
publisher = {Routledge},
abstract = {The terms ‘indigenous people(s)’ and ‘indigeneity’ are multiply ambiguous. Their use without further qualification obscures key differences between the various real-world circumstances that they are typically applied to. This leads to confusion when the label ‘indigenous’ is employed in formal deliberations over political, cultural and land rights. To achieve clarity, some further distinctions need to be observed, most importantly between ‘indigeny’ and ‘indigenism’, between ‘tribal’ and ‘indigenous’, and between ‘indigeny’ and ‘exogeny’. Indigeny (the continued habitation of the same specific places that one’s familial ancestors always lived in) differs qualitatively in its cultural, economic and psychological consequences from all other circumstances that are labelled ‘indigenous’. Most of the latter arise within the tacitly exogenous context that underpins modernity, which is made possible by not living continuously where one’s ancestors lived. These usages are examples of ‘indigenism’ in its several varieties, rather than indigeny. The exogenous framework emphasises formal rationality and codified legal systems, which makes it difficult for the ‘native-title’ concerns of truly place-linked indigenous people to be argued for and judged fairly in court. Without due care, therefore, indigenist arguments may sometimes act against the interests of true place-linked indigenes. Further confusion results from the conventional use of ‘indigenous’ as a synonym of ‘tribal’, which brings together two distinct and sometimes antithetical social circumstances under a single label, since it is also authentically applicable to many peasant populations. Treating both tribespeople and peasants in an undifferentiated manner as simply ‘indigenous’ peoples misrepresents their distinct life-circumstances, especially with regard to matters of religion, language and mode of attachment to land. Examples drawn from several different Asian countries demonstrate the varying and sometimes antithetical ways in which the idea of ‘indigenous peoples’ has been applied – or ignored – and hence the necessity to employ it with more care than has usually been the case.},
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The terms ‘indigenous people(s)’ and ‘indigeneity’ are multiply ambiguous. Their use without further qualification obscures key differences between the various real-world circumstances that they are typically applied to. This leads to confusion when the label ‘indigenous’ is employed in formal deliberations over political, cultural and land rights. To achieve clarity, some further distinctions need to be observed, most importantly between ‘indigeny’ and ‘indigenism’, between ‘tribal’ and ‘indigenous’, and between ‘indigeny’ and ‘exogeny’. Indigeny (the continued habitation of the same specific places that one’s familial ancestors always lived in) differs qualitatively in its cultural, economic and psychological consequences from all other circumstances that are labelled ‘indigenous’. Most of the latter arise within the tacitly exogenous context that underpins modernity, which is made possible by not living continuously where one’s ancestors lived. These usages are examples of ‘indigenism’ in its several varieties, rather than indigeny. The exogenous framework emphasises formal rationality and codified legal systems, which makes it difficult for the ‘native-title’ concerns of truly place-linked indigenous people to be argued for and judged fairly in court. Without due care, therefore, indigenist arguments may sometimes act against the interests of true place-linked indigenes. Further confusion results from the conventional use of ‘indigenous’ as a synonym of ‘tribal’, which brings together two distinct and sometimes antithetical social circumstances under a single label, since it is also authentically applicable to many peasant populations. Treating both tribespeople and peasants in an undifferentiated manner as simply ‘indigenous’ peoples misrepresents their distinct life-circumstances, especially with regard to matters of religion, language and mode of attachment to land. Examples drawn from several different Asian countries demonstrate the varying and sometimes antithetical ways in which the idea of ‘indigenous peoples’ has been applied – or ignored – and hence the necessity to employ it with more care than has usually been the case.
2016
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Keynote address: Music-and-Culture in the Malay World and Beyond Presentation
02.04.2016.
@misc{Benjamin2016b,
title = {Keynote address: Music-and-Culture in the Malay World and Beyond},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
doi = {10.13140/RG.2.2.24180.35201},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-04-02},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {presentation}
}
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Serendipity Island: twenty-two photographs of Pulau Seking in 1982 Presentation
10.01.2016.
@misc{Benjamin2016bb,
title = {Serendipity Island: twenty-two photographs of Pulau Seking in 1982},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
doi = {10.13140/RG.2.1.4107.7846},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-01-10},
abstract = {Pulau Seking, one of Singapore’s Southern Islands, disappeared several years ago, when it was flattened and joined to the neighbouring Pulau Semakau by a landfill made largely of refuse from the main island of Singapore. The photographs in this album were taken when the tiny island’s three villages were still inhabited by descendants of its original Orang Selat population. This document has been put together from the Island Nation Project’s website at http://islandnation.sg/story/serendipity-island. My original black-and-white medium-format photographs were scanned by Zakariah Zainal. The website was produced by Dean Loh. The primary ethnographer was Vivienne Wee.},
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Pulau Seking, one of Singapore’s Southern Islands, disappeared several years ago, when it was flattened and joined to the neighbouring Pulau Semakau by a landfill made largely of refuse from the main island of Singapore. The photographs in this album were taken when the tiny island’s three villages were still inhabited by descendants of its original Orang Selat population. This document has been put together from the Island Nation Project’s website at http://islandnation.sg/story/serendipity-island. My original black-and-white medium-format photographs were scanned by Zakariah Zainal. The website was produced by Dean Loh. The primary ethnographer was Vivienne Wee.
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Indigeny-Exogeny: The Fundamental Social Dimension? Journal Article
In: Anthropos: International Review of Anthropology and Linguistics, vol. 111, no. 2, pp. 513-531, 2016.
@article{Benjamin2016,
title = {Indigeny-Exogeny: The Fundamental Social Dimension?},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
doi = {10.5771/0257-9774-2016-2-513},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-01-01},
journal = {Anthropos: International Review of Anthropology and Linguistics},
volume = {111},
number = {2},
pages = {513-531},
abstract = {The indigeny-exogeny dimension has received little attention from sociologists and anthropologists, even though it underlies most of the problems they have been interested in. Exogeny (inherited estrangement from place) is the basis of mo-dernity and of several earlier social forms. Reciprocally, indigeny (inherited embodiment by place) is the key factor in generating the cultural attitudes and social forms that are usually charac-terised as "traditional." This claim is discussed with reference to such issues as the difference between tribality and indigeny; relations between indigenes and exogenes; the linkage between exogeny and relative economic success; ideological uses of in-digenism and exogenism; the relations between exogeny, politics and culture.},
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The indigeny-exogeny dimension has received little attention from sociologists and anthropologists, even though it underlies most of the problems they have been interested in. Exogeny (inherited estrangement from place) is the basis of mo-dernity and of several earlier social forms. Reciprocally, indigeny (inherited embodiment by place) is the key factor in generating the cultural attitudes and social forms that are usually charac-terised as "traditional." This claim is discussed with reference to such issues as the difference between tribality and indigeny; relations between indigenes and exogenes; the linkage between exogeny and relative economic success; ideological uses of in-digenism and exogenism; the relations between exogeny, politics and culture.
2015
Benjamin, Geoffrey
The unseen presence: a theory of the nation-state and its mystifications Journal Article
In: Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 548-585, 2015.
@article{Benjamin2015,
title = {The unseen presence: a theory of the nation-state and its mystifications},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
doi = {10.1080/14649373.2015.1103071},
year = {2015},
date = {2015-10-02},
journal = {Inter-Asia Cultural Studies},
volume = {16},
number = {4},
pages = {548-585},
abstract = {Primary nation-state formation took place in Europe between the 12th and 19th centuries, along with the emergence of a system of industry-based international relations. These processes kept mostly in step with changes in the cultural consciousnesses of their citizenries. The institutional pattern so produced was then imitated throughout the rest of world in more than 160 secondary nation-states. Unlike the primary nation-states, the secondary nation-states were declared into being overnight by political entrepreneurs concerned to ensure that their own territories could deal equally under international law with other such states. These rapid, externally generated processes generated a gap in consciousness between the statesmen and the rest of their populations that had to be closed before the secondary states could begin to fulfil their (mainly economic) international roles. The gap has been bridged by the deliberate engineering of concern for ethnic, gender, linguistic, class, cultural and religious “identity.” An abstract, outward-looking, gesellschaftlich mode of consciousness could now be taken for granted by the people as the unspoken terms on which they must live their lives. This process has been aided by the widespread employment of functionalist and systems-based approaches in the social sciences and humanities, which properly apply only to the nation-state. Consequently, a politically constructed institution has been made into the “natural” archetype against which all other phenomena are to be measured.},
keywords = {},
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Primary nation-state formation took place in Europe between the 12th and 19th centuries, along with the emergence of a system of industry-based international relations. These processes kept mostly in step with changes in the cultural consciousnesses of their citizenries. The institutional pattern so produced was then imitated throughout the rest of world in more than 160 secondary nation-states. Unlike the primary nation-states, the secondary nation-states were declared into being overnight by political entrepreneurs concerned to ensure that their own territories could deal equally under international law with other such states. These rapid, externally generated processes generated a gap in consciousness between the statesmen and the rest of their populations that had to be closed before the secondary states could begin to fulfil their (mainly economic) international roles. The gap has been bridged by the deliberate engineering of concern for ethnic, gender, linguistic, class, cultural and religious “identity.” An abstract, outward-looking, gesellschaftlich mode of consciousness could now be taken for granted by the people as the unspoken terms on which they must live their lives. This process has been aided by the widespread employment of functionalist and systems-based approaches in the social sciences and humanities, which properly apply only to the nation-state. Consequently, a politically constructed institution has been made into the “natural” archetype against which all other phenomena are to be measured.
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Irrealis -m- in Temiar PhD Thesis
2015.
@phdthesis{Benjamin2015b,
title = {Irrealis -m- in Temiar},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
doi = {10.13140/RG.2.1.3577.9682},
year = {2015},
date = {2015-07-06},
abstract = {Temiar, a Central Aslian (Austroasiatic) language of Peninsular Malaysia, exhibits a significant degree of phonaaesthetic iconicity in its grammar and lexicon. This includes the employment of the closed-mouth preverbal clitic m to indicate a range of ‘irrealis’ meanings – intentive, purposive, future, imperative, counterfactual, conditional, avertive, and proximative. Analysis of examples taken from dictated Temiar texts and spontaneous speech shows that these meanings all refer to situations thought of as not yet having come about, and therefore as being held subjectively in the imagination. As a speech sound, the completely closed-mouth articulation of [m] is highly suited to express directly the feelings one has when about to do something: the deliberate sonance is itself an action, but it is held back by the lips until ready to be released by opening up to the outside world. However, as a grammatical element in Temiar the ‘irrealis’ clitic m is not always attached to the participant regarded as the locus of that subjectivity, but is displaced instead onto one or more of the other participants. Extra-linguistic reasons are suggested for this. Brief discussion is also accorded to the possible sources and iconic parallels of clitic m in relation to wider Austroasiatic and Austronesian data.},
type = {Research},
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pubstate = {published},
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Temiar, a Central Aslian (Austroasiatic) language of Peninsular Malaysia, exhibits a significant degree of phonaaesthetic iconicity in its grammar and lexicon. This includes the employment of the closed-mouth preverbal clitic m to indicate a range of ‘irrealis’ meanings – intentive, purposive, future, imperative, counterfactual, conditional, avertive, and proximative. Analysis of examples taken from dictated Temiar texts and spontaneous speech shows that these meanings all refer to situations thought of as not yet having come about, and therefore as being held subjectively in the imagination. As a speech sound, the completely closed-mouth articulation of [m] is highly suited to express directly the feelings one has when about to do something: the deliberate sonance is itself an action, but it is held back by the lips until ready to be released by opening up to the outside world. However, as a grammatical element in Temiar the ‘irrealis’ clitic m is not always attached to the participant regarded as the locus of that subjectivity, but is displaced instead onto one or more of the other participants. Extra-linguistic reasons are suggested for this. Brief discussion is also accorded to the possible sources and iconic parallels of clitic m in relation to wider Austroasiatic and Austronesian data.
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Who gets to be called ‘indigenous’, and why? PhD Thesis
2015.
@phdthesis{Benjamin2015bb,
title = {Who gets to be called ‘indigenous’, and why?},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
doi = {10.13140/RG.2.1.3460.0482},
year = {2015},
date = {2015-04-14},
abstract = {Accepted for publication in a volume edited by Ramy Bulan (probably NIAS, Copenhagen), this is slightly revised text of the author's keynote address (10 April 2015) at the International Conference on Access to Justice for Indigenous Peoples, held at the Centre for Malaysian Indigenous Studies (CMIS) and Faculty of Law, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 9–11 April 2015.},
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Accepted for publication in a volume edited by Ramy Bulan (probably NIAS, Copenhagen), this is slightly revised text of the author's keynote address (10 April 2015) at the International Conference on Access to Justice for Indigenous Peoples, held at the Centre for Malaysian Indigenous Studies (CMIS) and Faculty of Law, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 9–11 April 2015.
2014
Benjamin, Geoffrey
NUS Press, 2014, ISBN: 9789971697068.
@book{Benjamin2014b,
title = {Announcing a new book: "Temiar Religion, 1964-2012: Enchantment, Disenchantment and Re-enchantment in Malaysia's Uplands"},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
doi = {10.2307/j.ctv1qv345},
isbn = {9789971697068},
year = {2014},
date = {2014-08-01},
publisher = {NUS Press},
abstract = {The Temiars, a Mon-Khmer-speaking Orang Asli society living in the uplands of northern Peninsular Malaysia, have long attracted popular attention in the West for reports that ascribed to them the special psychotherapeutic known as ‘Senoi Dreamwork’. However, the reality of Temiar religion and society, as studied and recorded by Geoffrey Benjamin over 50 years, is even more fascinating than that popular portrayal – which is shown to be based on a serious misrepresentation of Temiar practice. When Benjamin first lived in the isolated villages of the Temiars between 1964 and 1965, he encountered a people who lived by swidden farming supplemented by hunting and fishing. They practised their own unexportable, localised animistic religion in an area where the main religion of civilisation was formerly Mahayana Buddhism and is now Islam. Fifty years later, the Temiars have become much more embedded in broader Malaysian society, while retaining their distinctive way of life, including continuing involvement with their complex shamanic religion. Benjamin’s ongoing fieldwork in the 1970s, 1990s and 2000s followed the Temiars through processes of religious dis-enchantment and re-enchantment, as they reacted in various ways to the advent of Baha’i, Islam and Christianity. Some Temiars even developed a new religion of their own. In addition to its rich ethnographic reportage, the book proposes a novel theory of religion and develops a deeply insightful account of the changing intellectual framework of anthropology over the past half-century.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
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The Temiars, a Mon-Khmer-speaking Orang Asli society living in the uplands of northern Peninsular Malaysia, have long attracted popular attention in the West for reports that ascribed to them the special psychotherapeutic known as ‘Senoi Dreamwork’. However, the reality of Temiar religion and society, as studied and recorded by Geoffrey Benjamin over 50 years, is even more fascinating than that popular portrayal – which is shown to be based on a serious misrepresentation of Temiar practice. When Benjamin first lived in the isolated villages of the Temiars between 1964 and 1965, he encountered a people who lived by swidden farming supplemented by hunting and fishing. They practised their own unexportable, localised animistic religion in an area where the main religion of civilisation was formerly Mahayana Buddhism and is now Islam. Fifty years later, the Temiars have become much more embedded in broader Malaysian society, while retaining their distinctive way of life, including continuing involvement with their complex shamanic religion. Benjamin’s ongoing fieldwork in the 1970s, 1990s and 2000s followed the Temiars through processes of religious dis-enchantment and re-enchantment, as they reacted in various ways to the advent of Baha’i, Islam and Christianity. Some Temiars even developed a new religion of their own. In addition to its rich ethnographic reportage, the book proposes a novel theory of religion and develops a deeply insightful account of the changing intellectual framework of anthropology over the past half-century.
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Aesthetic elements in Temiar grammar Book Chapter
In: pp. 36–60, Cambridge University Press, 2014, ISBN: 9781107007123.
@inbook{Benjamin2014,
title = {Aesthetic elements in Temiar grammar},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
doi = {10.13140/RG.2.1.3853.2646},
isbn = {9781107007123},
year = {2014},
date = {2014-01-01},
pages = {36–60},
publisher = {Cambridge University Press},
abstract = {For non-literate people, a language consists primarily in the sounds and/or oral (articulatory) gestures of speech. A major reason for both a priori and a posteriori linguistic iconicity is economy of expression: a degree of semantic condensation is therefore an inevitable feature of all grammars. Iconicity is typically felt (a matter of aesthesis) rather than known through the intellect, and iconic meanings are held in mind as condensed notions rather than articulated concepts. Single-stranded situations predispose people to view linguistic meaning as primarily referential, but many-stranded situations (such as those typically experienced by the Temiars) predispose people to view implicational and allusive (‘poetic’) forms of expression as normal. The ‘meaning’ then pertains not solely to the ostensible referential meaning of the speakers’ utterances, but also to the cultural and psychological ‘figure’ presented by the grammatical and lexical patterns of the language. In Temiar, an Austroasiatic (Aslian) language of northern Peninsular Malaysia, a set of grammatical and lexical features display the iconic-aesthetic effects of contrasting deictic gestures made by the vocal organs: (1) opening the mouth wide, as if addressing oneself to OTHER, the rest of the world, and (2) closing the mouth in self-contemplation, as if in temporary retreat from the world. The salience accorded in Temiar grammar to the SELF–OTHER dialectic directly reflects the prominence of this dialectic as an organising principle of the Temiar cultural regime. This dialectical framework did not just ‘happen’, but was deliberately cultivated in response to the specific societal and environmental circumstances of Temiar life. The article demonstrates in detail how these principles are expressed morphologically in the following domains of Temiar grammar: reduplicative incopyfixation in the' imperfective' aspect of the verb; the infixation of -a- ‘salient other’ in deponent verbs, middle-voice nouns and ‘undergoer’ nominalisations; and expressives.},
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For non-literate people, a language consists primarily in the sounds and/or oral (articulatory) gestures of speech. A major reason for both a priori and a posteriori linguistic iconicity is economy of expression: a degree of semantic condensation is therefore an inevitable feature of all grammars. Iconicity is typically felt (a matter of aesthesis) rather than known through the intellect, and iconic meanings are held in mind as condensed notions rather than articulated concepts. Single-stranded situations predispose people to view linguistic meaning as primarily referential, but many-stranded situations (such as those typically experienced by the Temiars) predispose people to view implicational and allusive (‘poetic’) forms of expression as normal. The ‘meaning’ then pertains not solely to the ostensible referential meaning of the speakers’ utterances, but also to the cultural and psychological ‘figure’ presented by the grammatical and lexical patterns of the language. In Temiar, an Austroasiatic (Aslian) language of northern Peninsular Malaysia, a set of grammatical and lexical features display the iconic-aesthetic effects of contrasting deictic gestures made by the vocal organs: (1) opening the mouth wide, as if addressing oneself to OTHER, the rest of the world, and (2) closing the mouth in self-contemplation, as if in temporary retreat from the world. The salience accorded in Temiar grammar to the SELF–OTHER dialectic directly reflects the prominence of this dialectic as an organising principle of the Temiar cultural regime. This dialectical framework did not just ‘happen’, but was deliberately cultivated in response to the specific societal and environmental circumstances of Temiar life. The article demonstrates in detail how these principles are expressed morphologically in the following domains of Temiar grammar: reduplicative incopyfixation in the' imperfective' aspect of the verb; the infixation of -a- ‘salient other’ in deponent verbs, middle-voice nouns and ‘undergoer’ nominalisations; and expressives.
2013
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Why Have the Peninsular “Negritos” Remained Distinct? Journal Article
In: Human Biology, vol. 85, no. 1-3, pp. 445-483, 2013.
@article{Benjamin2013,
title = {Why Have the Peninsular “Negritos” Remained Distinct?},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
doi = {10.3378/027.085.0321},
year = {2013},
date = {2013-12-01},
journal = {Human Biology},
volume = {85},
number = {1-3},
pages = {445-483},
abstract = {The primary focus of this article is on the so-called negritos of Peninsular Malaysia and southern Thailand, but attention is also paid to other parts of Southeast Asia. I present a survey of current views on the "negrito" phenotype-is it single or many? If the phenotype is many (as now seems likely), it must have resulted from parallel evolution in the several different regions where it has been claimed to exist. This would suggest (contrary to certain views that have been expressed on the basis of very partial genetic data) that the phenotype originated recently and by biologically well-authenticated processes from within the neighboring populations. Whole-genome and physical-anthropological research currently support this view. Regardless of whether the negrito phenotype is ancient or recent-and to the extent that it retains any valid biological reality (which is worth questioning)-explanations are still needed for its continued distinctiveness. In the Malay Peninsula, a distinctive "Semang" societal pattern followed by most, but not all, so-called negritos may have been responsible for this by shaping familial, breeding, and demographic patterns to suit the two main modes of environmental appropriation that they have followed, probably for some millennia: nomadic foraging in the forest, and facultative dependence on exchange or labor relations with neighboring populations. The known distribution of "negritos" in the Malay Peninsula is limited to areas within relatively easy reach of archaeologically authenticated premodern transpeninsular trading and portage routes, as well as of other non-negrito, Aslian-speaking populations engaged in swidden farming. This suggests that their continued distinctiveness has resulted from a wish to maintain a complementary advantage vis-à-vis other, less specialized populations. Nevertheless, a significant degree of discordance exists between the associated linguistic, societal-tradition, and biological patterns which suggests that other factors have also been at play.},
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The primary focus of this article is on the so-called negritos of Peninsular Malaysia and southern Thailand, but attention is also paid to other parts of Southeast Asia. I present a survey of current views on the "negrito" phenotype-is it single or many? If the phenotype is many (as now seems likely), it must have resulted from parallel evolution in the several different regions where it has been claimed to exist. This would suggest (contrary to certain views that have been expressed on the basis of very partial genetic data) that the phenotype originated recently and by biologically well-authenticated processes from within the neighboring populations. Whole-genome and physical-anthropological research currently support this view. Regardless of whether the negrito phenotype is ancient or recent-and to the extent that it retains any valid biological reality (which is worth questioning)-explanations are still needed for its continued distinctiveness. In the Malay Peninsula, a distinctive "Semang" societal pattern followed by most, but not all, so-called negritos may have been responsible for this by shaping familial, breeding, and demographic patterns to suit the two main modes of environmental appropriation that they have followed, probably for some millennia: nomadic foraging in the forest, and facultative dependence on exchange or labor relations with neighboring populations. The known distribution of "negritos" in the Malay Peninsula is limited to areas within relatively easy reach of archaeologically authenticated premodern transpeninsular trading and portage routes, as well as of other non-negrito, Aslian-speaking populations engaged in swidden farming. This suggests that their continued distinctiveness has resulted from a wish to maintain a complementary advantage vis-à-vis other, less specialized populations. Nevertheless, a significant degree of discordance exists between the associated linguistic, societal-tradition, and biological patterns which suggests that other factors have also been at play.
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Indigenous migrations, Southeast Asia Book Chapter
In: Ness, Immanuel (Ed.): Wiley-Blackwell, 2013, ISBN: 9781444351071.
@inbook{Benjamin2013b,
title = {Indigenous migrations, Southeast Asia},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
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isbn = {9781444351071},
year = {2013},
date = {2013-02-04},
publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell},
abstract = {Southeast Asia – and the Malay World in particular – is often characterized as the pathway through which the Indo-Pacific region was originally populated. This idea has undoubtedly been influenced by the funnel-like shape of the Malay Peninsula, through which ancient migrants supposedly poured from a heavily populated Asian mainland into a presumptively empty archipelago. One consequence has been the repeated assertion in the popular and semi-scholarly literature since the 19th century that the region has witnessed successive racial “waves” (such as “Negrito,” “Proto-Malay,” “Deutero-Malay”) of north to south migration at intervals of several millennia. The claimed number of such waves has varied with the number of distinct “races” and “cultures” thought of as constituting the ethnically plural character of current Southeast Asian polities. On the basis of this “layer cake” approach, the present-day ethnic and “racial” differences in the region are still often regarded as the unaltered and stratified residue of differential migrations that took place in prehistoric times – a view that continues to be presented in many of the textbooks studied in the region's schools and universities.},
type = {inbook},
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pubstate = {published},
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}
Southeast Asia – and the Malay World in particular – is often characterized as the pathway through which the Indo-Pacific region was originally populated. This idea has undoubtedly been influenced by the funnel-like shape of the Malay Peninsula, through which ancient migrants supposedly poured from a heavily populated Asian mainland into a presumptively empty archipelago. One consequence has been the repeated assertion in the popular and semi-scholarly literature since the 19th century that the region has witnessed successive racial “waves” (such as “Negrito,” “Proto-Malay,” “Deutero-Malay”) of north to south migration at intervals of several millennia. The claimed number of such waves has varied with the number of distinct “races” and “cultures” thought of as constituting the ethnically plural character of current Southeast Asian polities. On the basis of this “layer cake” approach, the present-day ethnic and “racial” differences in the region are still often regarded as the unaltered and stratified residue of differential migrations that took place in prehistoric times – a view that continues to be presented in many of the textbooks studied in the region's schools and universities.
2012
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Why you should study Aslian languages Conference
Research Mosaics of Language Studies in Asia, Penang: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2012.
@conference{Benjamin2012,
title = {Why you should study Aslian languages},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
doi = {10.13140/RG.2.1.3105.0323},
year = {2012},
date = {2012-11-08},
booktitle = {Research Mosaics of Language Studies in Asia},
publisher = {Penang: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia},
abstract = {To appear in a volume edited by Salasiah Che Lah. This is a revised version of my plenary keynote address at the Second International Conference on Linguistics, Literature and Culture (ICLLIC2012) in Penang, 2012. It overlaps slightly with some of my other papers, but is written in an informal style in the hope that it might attract Malaysian students and scholars to turn their attention to these under-studied languages. The comprehensive bibliographical appendix listing linguistic studies of the Aslian languages should be more widely useful -- especially in Malaysia, where these studies are referred to rather infrequently.},
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To appear in a volume edited by Salasiah Che Lah. This is a revised version of my plenary keynote address at the Second International Conference on Linguistics, Literature and Culture (ICLLIC2012) in Penang, 2012. It overlaps slightly with some of my other papers, but is written in an informal style in the hope that it might attract Malaysian students and scholars to turn their attention to these under-studied languages. The comprehensive bibliographical appendix listing linguistic studies of the Aslian languages should be more widely useful -- especially in Malaysia, where these studies are referred to rather infrequently.
Benjamin, Geoffrey; Dentan, Robert K; MacDonald, Charles; Endicott, Kirk M; Steinmayer, Otto; Nowak, Barbara S
Violence: Finding Peace Journal Article
In: Science, vol. 338, no. 6105, pp. 327, 2012.
@article{Benjamin2012b,
title = {Violence: Finding Peace},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin and Robert K Dentan and Charles MacDonald and Kirk M Endicott and Otto Steinmayer and Barbara S Nowak},
doi = {10.1126/science.338.6105.327-a},
year = {2012},
date = {2012-10-19},
journal = {Science},
volume = {338},
number = {6105},
pages = {327},
abstract = {IN THE NEWS STORY “THE BATTLE OVER VIOLENCE”(SPECIAL SECTION on Human Conflict, A. Lawler, 18 May, p. 829), Steven Pinker asserts that peace anthropologists, whom he calls “anthropologists for peace,” inaccurately portray small groups as more peaceful than they are (1). His accusation is unfounded. The term “peace anthropologist” refers to ethnographers who try to understand how people maintain peace. Some of us are pacifists; most are not. The field did not begin by looking for peaceable peoples. The first five modern investigators to study east Semai, for example, did not look for peaceability, but found it anyway (2–6). When ethnographers say that certain types of foragers and a few swiddeners led relatively peaceful lives, the statement is empirical, not ideological. Many ethnographic surveys of peaceable peoples are available [eg,(7, 8)]. Paleoanthropologists agree that the earliest human ancestors adapted to lifestyles that stressed nonviolence, tendencies that manifested anatomically, such as in the shrinkage of male canines, which anthropoids typically use to fight over females—the main cause of violence in small acephalous human groupings (9). Computer simulation suggests that small egalitarian groups (characteristic of human ancestors and peaceable peoples today) survive if they avoid violence better than if they practice it (10). Peace anthropologists are not pushing an agenda. They are merely gathering data and drawing the best conclusions they can.},
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IN THE NEWS STORY “THE BATTLE OVER VIOLENCE”(SPECIAL SECTION on Human Conflict, A. Lawler, 18 May, p. 829), Steven Pinker asserts that peace anthropologists, whom he calls “anthropologists for peace,” inaccurately portray small groups as more peaceful than they are (1). His accusation is unfounded. The term “peace anthropologist” refers to ethnographers who try to understand how people maintain peace. Some of us are pacifists; most are not. The field did not begin by looking for peaceable peoples. The first five modern investigators to study east Semai, for example, did not look for peaceability, but found it anyway (2–6). When ethnographers say that certain types of foragers and a few swiddeners led relatively peaceful lives, the statement is empirical, not ideological. Many ethnographic surveys of peaceable peoples are available [eg,(7, 8)]. Paleoanthropologists agree that the earliest human ancestors adapted to lifestyles that stressed nonviolence, tendencies that manifested anatomically, such as in the shrinkage of male canines, which anthropoids typically use to fight over females—the main cause of violence in small acephalous human groupings (9). Computer simulation suggests that small egalitarian groups (characteristic of human ancestors and peaceable peoples today) survive if they avoid violence better than if they practice it (10). Peace anthropologists are not pushing an agenda. They are merely gathering data and drawing the best conclusions they can.
Benjamin, Geoffrey
The Peculiar History of the Ethnonym “Temiar” Journal Article
In: Sojourn Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 205-233, 2012.
@article{Benjamin2012bb,
title = {The Peculiar History of the Ethnonym “Temiar”},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
doi = {10.1355/sj27-2a},
year = {2012},
date = {2012-01-01},
journal = {Sojourn Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia},
volume = {27},
number = {2},
pages = {205-233},
abstract = {The names for the various Orang Asli populations of Peninsular Malaysia did not begin to achieve any recognizable similarity to current usage until the 1920s. Versions of the ethnonym “Temiar”, which identifies one of the largest of these populations, were first tentatively reported in the 1880s. At that time the people themselves were barely known to the outside world and were mostly referred to, if at all, by other names. The current spelling and pronunciation of the word “Temiar” were not fully established until the 1950s, replacing a surprising variety of earlier written forms and pronunciations. A close examination of the latter throws light on the premodern relations holding between the Temiars and other populations. Etymological analysis, involving both Mon-Khmer and Austronesian sources, provides evidence that the earlier linguistic situation in the Peninsula was more complex than currently recognized. The Temiar language belongs to the Mon-Khmer stock, but it has long been in contact with one or more Austronesian languages. Investigation suggests two likely etymological sources for the word “Temiar”, both meaning “edge” or “side”, and having forms similar to the Malayo-Polynesian (but non-Malay) *tambir or to Mon-Khmer *tbiar.},
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The names for the various Orang Asli populations of Peninsular Malaysia did not begin to achieve any recognizable similarity to current usage until the 1920s. Versions of the ethnonym “Temiar”, which identifies one of the largest of these populations, were first tentatively reported in the 1880s. At that time the people themselves were barely known to the outside world and were mostly referred to, if at all, by other names. The current spelling and pronunciation of the word “Temiar” were not fully established until the 1950s, replacing a surprising variety of earlier written forms and pronunciations. A close examination of the latter throws light on the premodern relations holding between the Temiars and other populations. Etymological analysis, involving both Mon-Khmer and Austronesian sources, provides evidence that the earlier linguistic situation in the Peninsula was more complex than currently recognized. The Temiar language belongs to the Mon-Khmer stock, but it has long been in contact with one or more Austronesian languages. Investigation suggests two likely etymological sources for the word “Temiar”, both meaning “edge” or “side”, and having forms similar to the Malayo-Polynesian (but non-Malay) *tambir or to Mon-Khmer *tbiar.
Benjamin, Geoffrey
The Aslian languages of Malaysia and Thailand: An assessment Journal Article
In: Language Documentation and Description, vol. 11, pp. 136-230, 2012.
@article{Benjamin2012bb,
title = {The Aslian languages of Malaysia and Thailand: An assessment},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
year = {2012},
date = {2012-01-01},
journal = {Language Documentation and Description},
volume = {11},
pages = {136-230},
abstract = {A comprehensive account of linguistic studies (up to 2012) of the endangered Aslian (Peninsular Mon-Khmer) languages. Despite some excellent studies in recent years (not yet widely known to the general public), these language remain insufficiently researched. The author proposes reasons for encouraging further study of these languages -- for their own sake, for what they can add to general linguistics, and for what they can tell us about the people who speak them, in relation to their broader Southeast Asian situation. A survey of the current sociolinguistic situation of the Aslian languages is followed by accounts of their more significant phonological, morphological and semantic features. A full bibliography is provided, listing both published and unpublished writings on the languages.},
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A comprehensive account of linguistic studies (up to 2012) of the endangered Aslian (Peninsular Mon-Khmer) languages. Despite some excellent studies in recent years (not yet widely known to the general public), these language remain insufficiently researched. The author proposes reasons for encouraging further study of these languages -- for their own sake, for what they can add to general linguistics, and for what they can tell us about the people who speak them, in relation to their broader Southeast Asian situation. A survey of the current sociolinguistic situation of the Aslian languages is followed by accounts of their more significant phonological, morphological and semantic features. A full bibliography is provided, listing both published and unpublished writings on the languages.
Benjamin, Geoffrey
The Temiar causative (and related features) Journal Article
In: Mon-Khmer Studies, vol. 41, pp. 32-45, 2012.
@article{Benjamin2012bb,
title = {The Temiar causative (and related features)},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
doi = {10.15144/MKSJ-41.32},
year = {2012},
date = {2012-01-01},
journal = {Mon-Khmer Studies},
volume = {41},
pages = {32-45},
abstract = {The productive causative inflection of the Temiar verb is formed by the affixation of -r-, either alone or as tr- and br-. This formative has no obvious Mon-Khmer source (which usually forms causatives with p-), and it may therefore be an Aslian innovation. In Temiar, r is a phonestheme with the notional meaning ‘REPLICATION (OF SELF)’, found also in the reflexive intensifier riːˀ, the relative pronoun rə- and the preposition rɛˀ- ‘like’. In the causative, r is iconic of the replicative verb’s valency-increase. The causative inflection has high productivity as a true causative with inanimate secondary subjects and as the transitivizer of intransitive verbs. However, there are syntactic and semantic limitations on its use with various kinds of animate secondary subject. In particular, cultural inhibitions against imposing one’s will on someone else suggests that Temiar ‘causatives’ are frequently better thought of as permissives. The paper also discusses a set of verbs that retain a recognizably Mon-Khmer-like ‘causative’ shape but which no longer behave productively or semantically as causatives in Temiar. },
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The productive causative inflection of the Temiar verb is formed by the affixation of -r-, either alone or as tr- and br-. This formative has no obvious Mon-Khmer source (which usually forms causatives with p-), and it may therefore be an Aslian innovation. In Temiar, r is a phonestheme with the notional meaning ‘REPLICATION (OF SELF)’, found also in the reflexive intensifier riːˀ, the relative pronoun rə- and the preposition rɛˀ- ‘like’. In the causative, r is iconic of the replicative verb’s valency-increase. The causative inflection has high productivity as a true causative with inanimate secondary subjects and as the transitivizer of intransitive verbs. However, there are syntactic and semantic limitations on its use with various kinds of animate secondary subject. In particular, cultural inhibitions against imposing one’s will on someone else suggests that Temiar ‘causatives’ are frequently better thought of as permissives. The paper also discusses a set of verbs that retain a recognizably Mon-Khmer-like ‘causative’ shape but which no longer behave productively or semantically as causatives in Temiar.
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Review article on Tan Chee-Beng (ed.), Chinese Food and Foodways in Southeast Asia and Beyond Journal Article
In: Journal of Chinese Overseas, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 294–298, 2012.
@article{Benjamin2012bb,
title = {Review article on Tan Chee-Beng (ed.), Chinese Food and Foodways in Southeast Asia and Beyond},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
year = {2012},
date = {2012-01-01},
journal = {Journal of Chinese Overseas},
volume = {8},
number = {2},
pages = {294–298},
abstract = {The text falls into three parts. The first three chapters present overviews of “diasporic” Chinese food in regions not contiguous to China. The next four chapters move closer to China, by focussing on the ethnography of Chinese food in Southeast Asia, where it has undergone considerable modification, while remaining (mostly) in ethnically Chinese hands. The final three chapters present ethnographic accounts of “Southeast Asian Chinese” food as a newly emergent cuisine in the USA, Australia and Hong Kong. Tan Chee-Beng’s editorial “Introduction” includes a useful discussion of the various classifications of regional Chinese cuisine. While seemingly typological, this helps to focus attention on the far greater variety that exists in China than is represented as “Chinese” food elsewhere. In Chapter 1, Tan introduces the ideas of a distinctive “Southeast Asian Chinese” cuisine.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
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}
The text falls into three parts. The first three chapters present overviews of “diasporic” Chinese food in regions not contiguous to China. The next four chapters move closer to China, by focussing on the ethnography of Chinese food in Southeast Asia, where it has undergone considerable modification, while remaining (mostly) in ethnically Chinese hands. The final three chapters present ethnographic accounts of “Southeast Asian Chinese” food as a newly emergent cuisine in the USA, Australia and Hong Kong. Tan Chee-Beng’s editorial “Introduction” includes a useful discussion of the various classifications of regional Chinese cuisine. While seemingly typological, this helps to focus attention on the far greater variety that exists in China than is represented as “Chinese” food elsewhere. In Chapter 1, Tan introduces the ideas of a distinctive “Southeast Asian Chinese” cuisine.
2011
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Egalitarianism and Ranking in the Malay World Book Chapter
In: Sillander, Kenneth; Gibson, Thomas (Ed.): pp. 170-201, Yale University Southeast Asia Studies, 2011, ISBN: 9780938692942.
@inbook{Benjamin2011,
title = {Egalitarianism and Ranking in the Malay World},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
editor = {Kenneth Sillander and Thomas Gibson},
doi = {10.13140/RG.2.1.2542.5441},
isbn = {9780938692942},
year = {2011},
date = {2011-01-01},
pages = {170-201},
publisher = {Yale University Southeast Asia Studies},
abstract = {The Malay World is a region of much greater indigenous socio-cultural complexity than the label would suggest. In addition to speakers of Austronesian-derived Malayic languages in the Peninsula, Sumatra and coastal Borneo, there are some fifteen ethnolinguistic groups who speak Mon-Khmer languages. Historically, these indigenous populations have followed a variety of appropriative modes, including nomadic foraging (forest, strand and maritime), farming (swidden, swamp and irrigated), lake and maritime fishing, the collecting of forest and maritime products for trade, and long-distance inter-regional trading. Their socio-political circumstances have ranged from tribal, through peasants and hereditary state-linked elites linked to long-distance trade, to citizens of modern nation-states. The influence of the various centres of civilization that were present in the region in pre-modern times was also of key importance: coastal trading states, colonial-response states, inland sacred-city (or ‘middle kingdom’) states and cultural suppletion (or mainland migration) states. While some of these were nested into mandala-like or ‘galactic’ polities, the others had quite different consequences. Egalitarianism and ranking in the region both derive in large measure from the emergence of certain structural features – concerning relative-age, unifiliative bias, preferential marriage patterns, and so on – all serving to maintain mutually distinctive societal regimes within the broader regional framework. Earlier theories explained this array as resulting from distinct migratory ‘waves’, but current evidence (from archaeology, linguistics, kinship and social organization, religion, genetics, and other disciplines) suggests that it emerged mostly indigenously through a series of deliberate mutual adjustments, both assimilatory and dissimilatory, between populations that were each seeking mutual advantages vis-à-vis each other. The paper reviews previous work on the topic, and discusses the mechanisms by which the distinctive Melayu form of social organization emerged out of a more generally Malayic one.},
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The Malay World is a region of much greater indigenous socio-cultural complexity than the label would suggest. In addition to speakers of Austronesian-derived Malayic languages in the Peninsula, Sumatra and coastal Borneo, there are some fifteen ethnolinguistic groups who speak Mon-Khmer languages. Historically, these indigenous populations have followed a variety of appropriative modes, including nomadic foraging (forest, strand and maritime), farming (swidden, swamp and irrigated), lake and maritime fishing, the collecting of forest and maritime products for trade, and long-distance inter-regional trading. Their socio-political circumstances have ranged from tribal, through peasants and hereditary state-linked elites linked to long-distance trade, to citizens of modern nation-states. The influence of the various centres of civilization that were present in the region in pre-modern times was also of key importance: coastal trading states, colonial-response states, inland sacred-city (or ‘middle kingdom’) states and cultural suppletion (or mainland migration) states. While some of these were nested into mandala-like or ‘galactic’ polities, the others had quite different consequences. Egalitarianism and ranking in the region both derive in large measure from the emergence of certain structural features – concerning relative-age, unifiliative bias, preferential marriage patterns, and so on – all serving to maintain mutually distinctive societal regimes within the broader regional framework. Earlier theories explained this array as resulting from distinct migratory ‘waves’, but current evidence (from archaeology, linguistics, kinship and social organization, religion, genetics, and other disciplines) suggests that it emerged mostly indigenously through a series of deliberate mutual adjustments, both assimilatory and dissimilatory, between populations that were each seeking mutual advantages vis-à-vis each other. The paper reviews previous work on the topic, and discusses the mechanisms by which the distinctive Melayu form of social organization emerged out of a more generally Malayic one.
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Deponent verbs and middle-voice nouns in Temiar Journal Article
In: Mon-Khmer Studies, pp. 11–37, 2011.
@article{Benjamin2011b,
title = {Deponent verbs and middle-voice nouns in Temiar},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
year = {2011},
date = {2011-01-01},
journal = {Mon-Khmer Studies},
pages = {11–37},
abstract = {The infix -a- in Temiar (Central Aslian, Peninsular Malaysia) covers a wide range of functions, both productive and non-productive. In Temiar morphology generally it serves iconically to indicate an embedded object. As a productive infix, it forms the middle voice of verbs. The main non-productive function of -a- is as a frozen infix in (1) a set of noninflecting ‘deponent’ verbs and (2) a set of disyllabic (‘middle-voice’) nouns. The same semantic dimension underlies both, namely that the verbs and nouns in question indicate that the subject or entity is thought of as being simultaneously its own agent and patient. Culturally, the special attention paid to ‘middle-voice’ processes relates to a central Temiar interest in the specifically dialectical character of Self–Other relations.},
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The infix -a- in Temiar (Central Aslian, Peninsular Malaysia) covers a wide range of functions, both productive and non-productive. In Temiar morphology generally it serves iconically to indicate an embedded object. As a productive infix, it forms the middle voice of verbs. The main non-productive function of -a- is as a frozen infix in (1) a set of noninflecting ‘deponent’ verbs and (2) a set of disyllabic (‘middle-voice’) nouns. The same semantic dimension underlies both, namely that the verbs and nouns in question indicate that the subject or entity is thought of as being simultaneously its own agent and patient. Culturally, the special attention paid to ‘middle-voice’ processes relates to a central Temiar interest in the specifically dialectical character of Self–Other relations.
Benjamin, Geoffrey; Hassan, Riaz
Ethnic Outmarriage Rates in Singapore: The Influence of Traditional Sociocultural Organization Book Chapter
In: pp. 111-126, National Council on Family Relations, 2011, ISBN: 9783110809930.
@inbook{Benjamin2011bb,
title = {Ethnic Outmarriage Rates in Singapore: The Influence of Traditional Sociocultural Organization},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin and Riaz Hassan},
doi = {10.1515/9783110809930.111},
isbn = {9783110809930},
year = {2011},
date = {2011-01-01},
pages = {111-126},
publisher = {National Council on Family Relations},
abstract = {A recent study of ethnic intermarriage in Singapore (Hassan 1971) found that intermarriage between members of the major ethnic groups takes place far more frequently than previous studies had indicated. In the present follow-up study, we report the extent to which members of the various ethnic groups marry out, and attempt to explain the different outmarriage rates of these groups in terms of their sociocultural characteristics.},
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A recent study of ethnic intermarriage in Singapore (Hassan 1971) found that intermarriage between members of the major ethnic groups takes place far more frequently than previous studies had indicated. In the present follow-up study, we report the extent to which members of the various ethnic groups marry out, and attempt to explain the different outmarriage rates of these groups in terms of their sociocultural characteristics.
2010
Benjamin, Geoffrey; Wee, Vivienne
Pulau Seking: A bygone link to the Riau Sultanate Journal Article
In: 2010.
@article{Benjamin2010,
title = {Pulau Seking: A bygone link to the Riau Sultanate},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin and Vivienne Wee},
year = {2010},
date = {2010-01-01},
abstract = {Unpublished paper. To be incorporated into: Vivienne Wee, Normala Manap, Ivan Kwek & Geoffrey Benjamin, In preparation. "Lost Singapore: The Pulau Seking Story" [provisional title]. Singapore: Singapore Heritage Society.},
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Unpublished paper. To be incorporated into: Vivienne Wee, Normala Manap, Ivan Kwek & Geoffrey Benjamin, In preparation. "Lost Singapore: The Pulau Seking Story" [provisional title]. Singapore: Singapore Heritage Society.
2009
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Affixes, Austronesian and iconicity in Malay Journal Article
In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, vol. 165, no. 2 & 3, pp. 291-323, 2009.
@article{Benjamin2009,
title = {Affixes, Austronesian and iconicity in Malay},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
doi = {10.1163/22134379-90003637},
year = {2009},
date = {2009-10-13},
journal = {Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde},
volume = {165},
number = {2 & 3},
pages = {291-323},
abstract = {Explanations are offered for the puzzling differences between the forms and meanings of the Malay affixes and those of the broader Austronesian affixal system from which they derive. Oral-gesture iconicity is involved in the encoding of meanings that have both language-internal and social significance. The various verbal prefixes can be analysed both historically and iconically as different combinations of (1) a labial series (m , b , p ) indicating ‘source orientation’ with (2) r ‘iterative’ and (3) ( )N ‘process marker’. The full range of forms becomes apparent only if a sufficiently wide range of Malay and Malayic speech-varieties, both ancient and modern, are brought to bear on the discussion. The different meanings and functions associated with the various prefixes are motivated by the different semantic concerns engendered by the social and cultural circumstances peculiar to each of the speech-varieties.},
keywords = {},
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Explanations are offered for the puzzling differences between the forms and meanings of the Malay affixes and those of the broader Austronesian affixal system from which they derive. Oral-gesture iconicity is involved in the encoding of meanings that have both language-internal and social significance. The various verbal prefixes can be analysed both historically and iconically as different combinations of (1) a labial series (m , b , p ) indicating ‘source orientation’ with (2) r ‘iterative’ and (3) ( )N ‘process marker’. The full range of forms becomes apparent only if a sufficiently wide range of Malay and Malayic speech-varieties, both ancient and modern, are brought to bear on the discussion. The different meanings and functions associated with the various prefixes are motivated by the different semantic concerns engendered by the social and cultural circumstances peculiar to each of the speech-varieties.
2008
Benjamin, Geoffrey; Wawrinec, Christian
An Interview with Geoffrey Benjamin Journal Article
In: ASEAS, Austrian journal of South-East Asian studies (Österreichische Zeitschrift für Südostasienwissenschaften), vol. 1, pp. 187–193, 2008.
@article{Benjamin2008,
title = {An Interview with Geoffrey Benjamin},
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year = {2008},
date = {2008-01-01},
journal = {ASEAS, Austrian journal of South-East Asian studies (Österreichische Zeitschrift für Südostasienwissenschaften)},
volume = {1},
pages = {187–193},
keywords = {},
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2005
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Consciousness and Polity in Southeast Asia: The Long View Book Chapter
In: Hassan, Riaz (Ed.): pp. 261–289, Brill, 2005, ISBN: 9789004141582.
@inbook{Benjamin2005,
title = {Consciousness and Polity in Southeast Asia: The Long View},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
editor = {Riaz Hassan},
doi = {10.13140/RG.2.1.4115.4084},
isbn = {9789004141582},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-01-01},
pages = {261–289},
publisher = {Brill},
abstract = {The different types of socio-religious patterns followed in Southeast Asia relate directly to certain institutionalised ways of orientating people’s apperceptions and ways of talking about the world. However, and despite what much of the culturological literature seems to imply, the different modes of orientation are not simply givens, emerging out of nothing. Rather, they have historical and social contexts – in particular, those set by the processes through which the pre-modern states were brought into being, which have had a continuing influence on these patterns right into modern times. At least four kinds of early state are recognisable in Southeast Asia: coastal trading states, colonial-response states, inland sacred-city (or ‘middle kingdom’) states, and cultural suppletion (or mainland migration) states. The modern nation-state also has a profound bearing on these issues. The chapter indicates how various domains of culture and society in Southeast Asia – such as language structure, social organisation, modal personality, religious patterns, ecological types – may be interrelated, even though they have usually been treated separately. The argument is not a cultural-determinist one. Rather, it is concerned with the contextual placing of the different modes of orientation and the ways in which those modes have been used by people in attempting to change or regulate their society.},
type = {inbook},
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}
The different types of socio-religious patterns followed in Southeast Asia relate directly to certain institutionalised ways of orientating people’s apperceptions and ways of talking about the world. However, and despite what much of the culturological literature seems to imply, the different modes of orientation are not simply givens, emerging out of nothing. Rather, they have historical and social contexts – in particular, those set by the processes through which the pre-modern states were brought into being, which have had a continuing influence on these patterns right into modern times. At least four kinds of early state are recognisable in Southeast Asia: coastal trading states, colonial-response states, inland sacred-city (or ‘middle kingdom’) states, and cultural suppletion (or mainland migration) states. The modern nation-state also has a profound bearing on these issues. The chapter indicates how various domains of culture and society in Southeast Asia – such as language structure, social organisation, modal personality, religious patterns, ecological types – may be interrelated, even though they have usually been treated separately. The argument is not a cultural-determinist one. Rather, it is concerned with the contextual placing of the different modes of orientation and the ways in which those modes have been used by people in attempting to change or regulate their society.
2004
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Orang Asli Book Chapter
In: Gin, Ooi Keat (Ed.): pp. 997–1000, Santa Barbara CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004, ISBN: 9781576077702.
@inbook{Benjamin2004,
title = {Orang Asli},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
editor = {Ooi Keat Gin},
isbn = {9781576077702},
year = {2004},
date = {2004-01-01},
pages = {997–1000},
publisher = {Santa Barbara CA: ABC-CLIO},
type = {inbook},
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2002
Benjamin, Geoffrey; Chou, Cynthia
Introduction: Historical, Cultural and Social Perspectives Book Chapter
In: pp. 1-6, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore; International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden, 2002, ISBN: 9789812306104.
@inbook{Benjamin2002,
title = {Introduction: Historical, Cultural and Social Perspectives},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin and Cynthia Chou},
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isbn = {9789812306104},
year = {2002},
date = {2002-12-31},
pages = {1-6},
publisher = {Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore; International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden},
abstract = {The Malay World (Alam Melayu), spanning the Malay Peninsula, much of Sumatra, and parts of Borneo, has long contained within it a variety of populations. Most of the Malays have been organized into the different kingdoms (kerajaan Melayu) from which they have derived their identity. But the territories of those kingdoms have also included tribal peoples—both Malay and non-Malay—who have held themselves apart from those kingdoms in varying degrees. In the last three decades, research on these tribal societies has aroused increasing interest. This book explores the ways in which the character of these societies relates to the Malay kingdoms that have held power in the region for many centuries past, as well as to the modern nation-states of the region. It brings together researchers committed to comparative analysis of the tribal groups living on either side of the Malacca Straits—in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore. New theoretical and descriptive approaches are presented for the study of the social and cultural continuities and discontinuities manifested by tribal life in the region.},
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The Malay World (Alam Melayu), spanning the Malay Peninsula, much of Sumatra, and parts of Borneo, has long contained within it a variety of populations. Most of the Malays have been organized into the different kingdoms (kerajaan Melayu) from which they have derived their identity. But the territories of those kingdoms have also included tribal peoples—both Malay and non-Malay—who have held themselves apart from those kingdoms in varying degrees. In the last three decades, research on these tribal societies has aroused increasing interest. This book explores the ways in which the character of these societies relates to the Malay kingdoms that have held power in the region for many centuries past, as well as to the modern nation-states of the region. It brings together researchers committed to comparative analysis of the tribal groups living on either side of the Malacca Straits—in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore. New theoretical and descriptive approaches are presented for the study of the social and cultural continuities and discontinuities manifested by tribal life in the region.
Benjamin, Geoffrey
On Being Tribal in the Malay World: Historical, Cultural and Social Perspectives Book Chapter
In: pp. 7-76, IIAS Leiden, ISEAS Singapore, 2002, ISBN: 9789812306104.
@inbook{Benjamin2002b,
title = {On Being Tribal in the Malay World: Historical, Cultural and Social Perspectives},
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publisher = {IIAS Leiden, ISEAS Singapore},
abstract = {The “Malay World” is here defined narrowly, and in an historically responsive manner, to refer to the areas currently or formerly falling under kerajaan Melayu, the rule of a Malay king (Milner 1982). It does not refer to insular Southeast Asia at large, and certainly not to the Austronesian-speaking world as a whole–both of which are usages of “Malay World” that have crept into scholarly discourse in the last decade. 2 In this sense, the Malay World (Alam Melayu) refers to the various Malay kingdoms and their attendant hinterlands that have existed or still exist along the coasts of Borneo, the east coast of Sumatra, and on the Malay Peninsula. My title has three components:“being”,“tribal”, and “Malay World”, each of which needs further discussion.},
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The “Malay World” is here defined narrowly, and in an historically responsive manner, to refer to the areas currently or formerly falling under kerajaan Melayu, the rule of a Malay king (Milner 1982). It does not refer to insular Southeast Asia at large, and certainly not to the Austronesian-speaking world as a whole–both of which are usages of “Malay World” that have crept into scholarly discourse in the last decade. 2 In this sense, the Malay World (Alam Melayu) refers to the various Malay kingdoms and their attendant hinterlands that have existed or still exist along the coasts of Borneo, the east coast of Sumatra, and on the Malay Peninsula. My title has three components:“being”,“tribal”, and “Malay World”, each of which needs further discussion.
2001
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Process and Structure in Temiar Social Organisation Book Chapter
In: Rashid, Razha; Karim, Wazir Jahan (Ed.): pp. 125–149, Malaysian Academy of Social Sciences, 2001, ISBN: 9789839700770.
@inbook{Benjamin2001,
title = {Process and Structure in Temiar Social Organisation},
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doi = {10.13140/RG.2.1.3115.9846},
isbn = {9789839700770},
year = {2001},
date = {2001-01-01},
pages = {125–149},
publisher = {Malaysian Academy of Social Sciences},
abstract = {An historically orientated overview of Temiar social organisation and its study, concentrating on the period before their recent shift from tribal to more peasant-like or proletarian circumstances. An ethnographic sketch of the Temiar people (a Mon-Khmer-speaking population of upland northern Peninsular Malaysia) is followed by a processual, ecological and political analysis of the cognatic-descent-group based organisation of their local residential groups. The organisation of their geographically wide-ranging, kinship-based, ego-centred relations is also discussed, along with a brief account of the political ranking that emerged historically out of their relations with wider Malayan society. Explanations are then proffered for the peculiarities of the Temiar societal pattern in comparison with those of the Semang and the Malays},
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An historically orientated overview of Temiar social organisation and its study, concentrating on the period before their recent shift from tribal to more peasant-like or proletarian circumstances. An ethnographic sketch of the Temiar people (a Mon-Khmer-speaking population of upland northern Peninsular Malaysia) is followed by a processual, ecological and political analysis of the cognatic-descent-group based organisation of their local residential groups. The organisation of their geographically wide-ranging, kinship-based, ego-centred relations is also discussed, along with a brief account of the political ranking that emerged historically out of their relations with wider Malayan society. Explanations are then proffered for the peculiarities of the Temiar societal pattern in comparison with those of the Semang and the Malays
1999
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Temiar Kinship Terminology: A Linguistic and Formal Analysis Journal Article
In: AKASS Heritage Paper Series, vol. 1, 1999.
@article{Benjamin1999,
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year = {1999},
date = {1999-01-01},
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1997
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Issues in the Ethnohistory of Pahang Book Chapter
In: bin Nik Abdul Rahman, Nik Hassan Shuhaimi (Ed.): pp. 82–121, Muzium Pahang, 1997.
@inbook{Benjamin1997,
title = {Issues in the Ethnohistory of Pahang},
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doi = {10.13140/RG.2.1.1543.1201},
year = {1997},
date = {1997-01-01},
pages = {82–121},
publisher = {Muzium Pahang},
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1996
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Singapore Sociology [Sociologie Singapurská] Book Chapter
In: Maríková, H.; Petrušek, M.; Vodáková, A. (Ed.): vol. 2, pp. 1140–1142, Prague: Karolinum, 1996, ISBN: 9788071841647.
@inbook{Benjamin1996,
title = {Singapore Sociology [Sociologie Singapurská]},
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doi = {10.13140/RG.2.1.4164.5601},
isbn = {9788071841647},
year = {1996},
date = {1996-01-01},
volume = {2},
pages = {1140–1142},
publisher = {Prague: Karolinum},
type = {inbook},
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1993
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Grammar and Polity: The Cultural and Political Background to Standard Malay Book Chapter
In: Foley, W. A. (Ed.): pp. 341–392, Mouton De Gruyter, 1993, ISBN: 9783110135169.
@inbook{Benjamin1993,
title = {Grammar and Polity: The Cultural and Political Background to Standard Malay},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
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isbn = {9783110135169},
year = {1993},
date = {1993-01-31},
pages = {341–392},
publisher = {Mouton De Gruyter},
abstract = {Languages provide taken-for-granted encoding of sociopolitically ‘appropriate’ values, but different linguistic registers encode different values. Colloquial Malay, marked by condensed, insider-orientated and event-salient modes of expression, exerts less control over speakers than formal Malay, marked by articulated, outsider-orientated and participant-salient modes. The Malay verbal affixes are optional elements that demand different grammatical analyses according to the speech-register under study. In colloquial Malay, the affixes indicate Aktionsart-like meanings; in Standard Malaysian and Indonesian they have been reshaped into a set of contrastive Voice-like meanings concerned with the marking of transitivity. The affixes are thus inherently socio-linguistic features, which relate the development of socio-cultural Malayness to that of the Malay language.},
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Languages provide taken-for-granted encoding of sociopolitically ‘appropriate’ values, but different linguistic registers encode different values. Colloquial Malay, marked by condensed, insider-orientated and event-salient modes of expression, exerts less control over speakers than formal Malay, marked by articulated, outsider-orientated and participant-salient modes. The Malay verbal affixes are optional elements that demand different grammatical analyses according to the speech-register under study. In colloquial Malay, the affixes indicate Aktionsart-like meanings; in Standard Malaysian and Indonesian they have been reshaped into a set of contrastive Voice-like meanings concerned with the marking of transitivity. The affixes are thus inherently socio-linguistic features, which relate the development of socio-cultural Malayness to that of the Malay language.
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Temiar (Encyclopedia of World Cultures) Book Chapter
In: Hockings, Paul (Ed.): pp. 265–273, Boston: G. K. Hall / New York: Macmillan, 1993, ISBN: 9780816118144.
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1987
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Ethnohistorical Perspectives on Kelantan’s Prehistory Book Chapter
In: bin Nik Abdul Rahman, Nik Hassan Shuhaimi (Ed.): pp. 108–153, Perpaduan Muzium Negeri Kelantan, 1987.
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title = {Ethnohistorical Perspectives on Kelantan’s Prehistory},
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year = {1987},
date = {1987-01-01},
pages = {108–153},
publisher = {Perpaduan Muzium Negeri Kelantan},
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Benjamin, Geoffrey
Notes on the deep sociology of religion Journal Article
In: 1987.
@article{Benjamin1987b,
title = {Notes on the deep sociology of religion},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
year = {1987},
date = {1987-01-01},
abstract = {As a contribution to the study of religion, the paper discusses two different sets of questions: (1) Why do religions differ, and how do religions function? (2) Why are people religious, and what are people up to when they engage in religious actions? More generally, the paper presents a semi-formal account of a theory of modes of coherence that links the structuring of Self/Other relations at the personal level to the character of politically maintained cultural regimes at the societal level. Four basic modes of coherence are recognised (the Transcendental, the Immanent, the Dialectical and the 'Zen'), and the political consequences of each are explored in relation to the history, theology, mythology and social-interactional setting of a variety of religious traditions.},
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As a contribution to the study of religion, the paper discusses two different sets of questions: (1) Why do religions differ, and how do religions function? (2) Why are people religious, and what are people up to when they engage in religious actions? More generally, the paper presents a semi-formal account of a theory of modes of coherence that links the structuring of Self/Other relations at the personal level to the character of politically maintained cultural regimes at the societal level. Four basic modes of coherence are recognised (the Transcendental, the Immanent, the Dialectical and the 'Zen'), and the political consequences of each are explored in relation to the history, theology, mythology and social-interactional setting of a variety of religious traditions.
1985
Benjamin, Geoffrey
In the Long Term: Three Themes in Malayan Cultural Ecology Book Chapter
In: Hutterer, Karl L.; Rambo, A. Terry; Lovelace, George (Ed.): pp. 219-278, Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Michigan, 1985, ISBN: 9780891480402.
@inbook{Benjamin1985,
title = {In the Long Term: Three Themes in Malayan Cultural Ecology},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
editor = {Karl L. Hutterer and A. Terry Rambo and George Lovelace},
doi = {10.13140/RG.2.1.3378.1285},
isbn = {9780891480402},
year = {1985},
date = {1985-01-01},
pages = {219-278},
publisher = {Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Michigan},
abstract = {My title is not as vague as it may sound: there are indeed identifiable and distinct, value-laden, organizational themes embedded in the materials of Malayan prehistory and ethnography. The available prehistoric data are still very thin (cf. Peacock 1979), but enough is known for me to draw some conclusions as to the kinds of choices between different modes of environmental exploitation that have been made in the past. The ethnographic data on the recent indigenous cultures—by which is meant both the Orang Asli (" Aboriginal") and Malay (Melayu) cultures—are, on the other hand, now quite rich. We possess a growing body of data on at least two of the domains of culture that are everywhere crucial to the organizing of environmental (or any!) values, namely, kinship and religion.(The data on the third such cultural domain—language—are regrettably not so rich as yet.) For some years I have been working to pull this material together, in the attempt both to understand and to explain the rather subtle patterns of social and cultural variation present in the Malay Peninsula. In this essay I have taken the opportunity to look again at the same material—the kinship material in particular—and re-examine it in the light of culture-borne ecological and environmental values. Before proceeding with the Malayan materials, let me first say something about the general theoretical issues involved in the study of values and of ecology. In particular I want to urge, in opposition to what appears to be the current received opinion,(1) that cultural" values" have more to do with power and politics than with morality or aesthetics; and (2) that the study of human ecology.},
type = {inbook},
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My title is not as vague as it may sound: there are indeed identifiable and distinct, value-laden, organizational themes embedded in the materials of Malayan prehistory and ethnography. The available prehistoric data are still very thin (cf. Peacock 1979), but enough is known for me to draw some conclusions as to the kinds of choices between different modes of environmental exploitation that have been made in the past. The ethnographic data on the recent indigenous cultures—by which is meant both the Orang Asli (" Aboriginal") and Malay (Melayu) cultures—are, on the other hand, now quite rich. We possess a growing body of data on at least two of the domains of culture that are everywhere crucial to the organizing of environmental (or any!) values, namely, kinship and religion.(The data on the third such cultural domain—language—are regrettably not so rich as yet.) For some years I have been working to pull this material together, in the attempt both to understand and to explain the rather subtle patterns of social and cultural variation present in the Malay Peninsula. In this essay I have taken the opportunity to look again at the same material—the kinship material in particular—and re-examine it in the light of culture-borne ecological and environmental values. Before proceeding with the Malayan materials, let me first say something about the general theoretical issues involved in the study of values and of ecology. In particular I want to urge, in opposition to what appears to be the current received opinion,(1) that cultural" values" have more to do with power and politics than with morality or aesthetics; and (2) that the study of human ecology.
Benjamin, Geoffrey
On Pronouncing and Writing Orang Asli Languages: A Guide for the Perplexed Journal Article
In: Orang Asli Studies Newsletter, vol. 4, 5, pp. 4–16, 4–29, 1985.
@article{Benjamin1985b,
title = {On Pronouncing and Writing Orang Asli Languages: A Guide for the Perplexed},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
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journal = {Orang Asli Studies Newsletter},
volume = {4, 5},
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abstract = {This paper was written in the typewriter era, before the availability of computer-based typography. It is therefore somewhat out of date in regard to the advice on typesetting. Nowadays, all the necessary symbols are available from within fully Unicode-compliant fonts, such as Times New Roman. Moreover, in the past decade, there has been further research on the phonetics and phonemics of the Aslian languages. As a result, there are newly discovered features that are not taken account of in this version of the paper.},
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This paper was written in the typewriter era, before the availability of computer-based typography. It is therefore somewhat out of date in regard to the advice on typesetting. Nowadays, all the necessary symbols are available from within fully Unicode-compliant fonts, such as Times New Roman. Moreover, in the past decade, there has been further research on the phonetics and phonemics of the Aslian languages. As a result, there are newly discovered features that are not taken account of in this version of the paper.
1984
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Blinding with Science: Genetic Argumentation in Singapore's 'Great Marriage Debate' Journal Article
In: 1984.
@article{Benjamin1984,
title = {Blinding with Science: Genetic Argumentation in Singapore's 'Great Marriage Debate'},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
year = {1984},
date = {1984-01-01},
abstract = {The following notes summarise a seminar I presented in closed session at the Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore on 2 October 1984, at the height of Singapore's 'Great Marriage Debate'. (In truth, despite some clear disagreement, there was remarkably little debate at the time or later.) For weeks, this overtly eugenicist programme was pushed hard in newspapers, on television and in a specially published book (Wong 1984), in support of the sudden reversal of the government's population policy from generalised anti-natalism to a highly selective pro-natalism. Having myself moved into social science from an undergraduate degree in biology, I was dismayed at the serious misunderstanding of elementary population genetics displayed by the various 'experts' who had been called upon to provide a scientific rationale for the new population policy. My seminar was aimed at correcting this, by mounting a biology-based critique of the biologism that underlay the policy. For years, these notes have borne the warning NOT FOR CIRCULATION WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR. I present them now (with the warning removed, but still in the 'ethnographic present') for whatever historical relevance they may have to social-science studies of Singapore. However, I claim no significant original contribution: the text simply reports what qualified researchers had already been saying. Their findings could – and should – have been more widely circulated in Singapore at the time. In several respects, of course, the notes are now out of date. First, much more is known about human genetics than in 1984 (although the genetics of human intelligence remains obscure). No account is taken of this important new material in the References, but I have added a few more recent references in the footnotes. Second, the eugenic underpinning of Singapore's continuing pronatalist policies has mostly been quietly dropped. Third, those policies have had no significant long-term effect on the demographic 'problems' they were intended to remedy. Fourth – and this is hardly a surprise! – the population of Singapore has shown no sign of suffering the feared loss of intelligence. (At the time of the Great Marriage Debate, it was seriously suggested that if the breeding pattern did not change for the better, the local university would run out of bright-enough students, and might have to close down.) For authoritative sociological analyses of the background to Singapore's eugenicist policies, the following later studies by Singaporean scholars are especially valuable: Heng, Geraldine & Janadas Devan. 1995. 'State fatherhood: The politics of nationalism, sexuality, and race in Singapore.},
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The following notes summarise a seminar I presented in closed session at the Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore on 2 October 1984, at the height of Singapore's 'Great Marriage Debate'. (In truth, despite some clear disagreement, there was remarkably little debate at the time or later.) For weeks, this overtly eugenicist programme was pushed hard in newspapers, on television and in a specially published book (Wong 1984), in support of the sudden reversal of the government's population policy from generalised anti-natalism to a highly selective pro-natalism. Having myself moved into social science from an undergraduate degree in biology, I was dismayed at the serious misunderstanding of elementary population genetics displayed by the various 'experts' who had been called upon to provide a scientific rationale for the new population policy. My seminar was aimed at correcting this, by mounting a biology-based critique of the biologism that underlay the policy. For years, these notes have borne the warning NOT FOR CIRCULATION WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR. I present them now (with the warning removed, but still in the 'ethnographic present') for whatever historical relevance they may have to social-science studies of Singapore. However, I claim no significant original contribution: the text simply reports what qualified researchers had already been saying. Their findings could – and should – have been more widely circulated in Singapore at the time. In several respects, of course, the notes are now out of date. First, much more is known about human genetics than in 1984 (although the genetics of human intelligence remains obscure). No account is taken of this important new material in the References, but I have added a few more recent references in the footnotes. Second, the eugenic underpinning of Singapore's continuing pronatalist policies has mostly been quietly dropped. Third, those policies have had no significant long-term effect on the demographic 'problems' they were intended to remedy. Fourth – and this is hardly a surprise! – the population of Singapore has shown no sign of suffering the feared loss of intelligence. (At the time of the Great Marriage Debate, it was seriously suggested that if the breeding pattern did not change for the better, the local university would run out of bright-enough students, and might have to close down.) For authoritative sociological analyses of the background to Singapore's eugenicist policies, the following later studies by Singaporean scholars are especially valuable: Heng, Geraldine & Janadas Devan. 1995. 'State fatherhood: The politics of nationalism, sexuality, and race in Singapore.
1983
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Malay Peninsula: Language Map and Notes Book Chapter
In: Wurm, Stephen A.; Hattôri, Shiro (Ed.): vol. 2, Chapter 37, Pacific Linguistics, 1983, ISBN: 9780858832404.
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isbn = {9780858832404},
year = {1983},
date = {1983-01-01},
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1973
Benjamin, Geoffrey; Hassan, Riaz
Ethnic Outmarriage Rates in Singapore: The Influence of Traditional Socio-Cultural Organization Journal Article
In: Journal of Marriage and Family, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 731-738, 1973.
@article{Benjamin1973,
title = {Ethnic Outmarriage Rates in Singapore: The Influence of Traditional Socio-Cultural Organization},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin and Riaz Hassan},
doi = {10.2307/350886},
year = {1973},
date = {1973-11-01},
journal = {Journal of Marriage and Family},
volume = {35},
number = {4},
pages = {731-738},
abstract = {Variations in interethnic marriage rates in Singapore demonstrate that the influence of ethnicity and religion on family organization is far stronger than the influence of class or education. In particular the striking variations in the proportions of men and women marrying out of each of the major ethnic groups in the Republic appear to result from the continuing operation of traditional ideals of family and local-group organization in a contemporary situation that is otherwise rapidly changing.},
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Variations in interethnic marriage rates in Singapore demonstrate that the influence of ethnicity and religion on family organization is far stronger than the influence of class or education. In particular the striking variations in the proportions of men and women marrying out of each of the major ethnic groups in the Republic appear to result from the continuing operation of traditional ideals of family and local-group organization in a contemporary situation that is otherwise rapidly changing.
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Introduction to Schebesta's "Forest Dwarfs" Book Chapter
In: pp. v–xii, Oxford University Press, 1973, ISBN: 0196382661 T1.
@inbook{Benjamin1973b,
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isbn = {0196382661 T1},
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1970
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Review of "The Semai: A Nonviolent People of Malaya" by Robert Knox Dentan Journal Article
In: American Anthropologist, vol. 72, no. 3, pp. 658-660, 1970.
@article{Benjamin1970,
title = {Review of "The Semai: A Nonviolent People of Malaya" by Robert Knox Dentan},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
doi = {10.1525/aa.1970.72.3.02a00500},
year = {1970},
date = {1970-06-01},
journal = {American Anthropologist},
volume = {72},
number = {3},
pages = {658-660},
abstract = {This book is primarily an undergraduate-level textbook. But unlike most other books in this excellent series, Dentan's volume also breaks new ethnographic ground, and until some more detailed account of Semai soci-ety is published, its ethnological importance will surely outweigh its educational aims. It is astonishing that we have had to wait so long for an integrated description of just one of the Aboriginal peoples of Malaya. Apart from some immensely readable popular accounts, the older literature on the" Sakai" and" Semang"(which is extensive enough to fill a whole bookshelf) contains a great deal of scrappily assembled ethnographic notes on most of the Malayan Aborigines, notably in the works of Skeat, Blagden, Evans, Schebesta, and Noone.(Why, incidentally, has Dentan not listed Evans and Schebesta in his" Recommended Reading"?-both authors wrote about the Semai.) Any anthropologist who relies},
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This book is primarily an undergraduate-level textbook. But unlike most other books in this excellent series, Dentan's volume also breaks new ethnographic ground, and until some more detailed account of Semai soci-ety is published, its ethnological importance will surely outweigh its educational aims. It is astonishing that we have had to wait so long for an integrated description of just one of the Aboriginal peoples of Malaya. Apart from some immensely readable popular accounts, the older literature on the" Sakai" and" Semang"(which is extensive enough to fill a whole bookshelf) contains a great deal of scrappily assembled ethnographic notes on most of the Malayan Aborigines, notably in the works of Skeat, Blagden, Evans, Schebesta, and Noone.(Why, incidentally, has Dentan not listed Evans and Schebesta in his" Recommended Reading"?-both authors wrote about the Semai.) Any anthropologist who relies
1968
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Headmanship and Leadership in Temiar Society Journal Article
In: Federation Museums Journal (New Series), vol. 13, pp. 1-43, 1968.
@article{Benjamin1968,
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date = {1968-01-01},
journal = {Federation Museums Journal (New Series)},
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pages = {1-43},
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Benjamin, Geoffrey
Temiar Personal Names Journal Article
In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia and Oceania, vol. 124, pp. 99-134, 1968, ISBN: 978-94-015-2400-1.
@article{Benjamin1968b,
title = {Temiar Personal Names},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
doi = {10.1163/22134379-90002886},
isbn = {978-94-015-2400-1},
year = {1968},
date = {1968-01-01},
journal = {Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia and Oceania},
volume = {124},
pages = {99-134},
abstract = {Starting with the ethnographic problems of why the Temiars so frequently change their names and why they have so many kinds of names, the paper develops into a detailed exposition and analysis of this very complicated naming system. It is shown that their names provide them with one means of expressing the various mechanical conscious models that they hold of their own social structure. Comparative data are adduced and discussed, especially from similar societies elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Certain general conclusions are drawn: (a) that naming systems have yet to receive analytical attention from anthropologists such as they usually devote to the equally important kin-terminological systems; (b) that this sort of analysis in depth of a small fragment of culture provides a valuable means of characterising the relationship between society and culture.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Starting with the ethnographic problems of why the Temiars so frequently change their names and why they have so many kinds of names, the paper develops into a detailed exposition and analysis of this very complicated naming system. It is shown that their names provide them with one means of expressing the various mechanical conscious models that they hold of their own social structure. Comparative data are adduced and discussed, especially from similar societies elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Certain general conclusions are drawn: (a) that naming systems have yet to receive analytical attention from anthropologists such as they usually devote to the equally important kin-terminological systems; (b) that this sort of analysis in depth of a small fragment of culture provides a valuable means of characterising the relationship between society and culture.
1967
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Lévi-Strauss and Anthropology Journal Article
In: The Cambridge Review, vol. 89, pp. 122–123, 149–151, 1967.
@article{Benjamin1967,
title = { Lévi-Strauss and Anthropology},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
year = {1967},
date = {1967-01-01},
journal = {The Cambridge Review},
volume = {89},
pages = {122–123, 149–151},
abstract = {This article from 1967 was re-edited slightly by the magazine's editors without consulting the author: the intended title was simply "Lévi-Strauss and Anthropology", and some passages were removed. The article was written long ago, when the author was one of the few anthropologists outside France who had yet read Lévi-Strauss's books. Much has been written since, both by and about Lévi-Strauss, but this article may be of historical interest by indicating something of his emerging influence a half-century ago.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This article from 1967 was re-edited slightly by the magazine's editors without consulting the author: the intended title was simply "Lévi-Strauss and Anthropology", and some passages were removed. The article was written long ago, when the author was one of the few anthropologists outside France who had yet read Lévi-Strauss's books. Much has been written since, both by and about Lévi-Strauss, but this article may be of historical interest by indicating something of his emerging influence a half-century ago.
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Temiar Kinship Journal Article
In: Federation Museums Journal, vol. 12, pp. 1-25, 1967.
@article{Benjamin1967b,
title = {Temiar Kinship},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
year = {1967},
date = {1967-01-01},
journal = {Federation Museums Journal},
volume = {12},
pages = {1-25},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
1966
Benjamin, Geoffrey
Temiar Social Groupings Journal Article
In: Federation Museums Journal, vol. 11, pp. 1-25, 1966.
@article{Benjamin1966,
title = {Temiar Social Groupings},
author = {Geoffrey Benjamin},
year = {1966},
date = {1966-01-01},
journal = {Federation Museums Journal},
volume = {11},
pages = {1-25},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}