Oral Literature, Gender, and Precedence in East Timor is a collection of seven papers published over the last twenty years by David Hicks, a leading authority on the anthropology of Timor. Through a systematic analysis of narratives, this volume brings to light topics specific to the eastern half of the island of Timor. Introduced and closed by two short texts (an introduction and epilogue), the papers are arranged chronologically according to their publication dates, from 1996 to 2017. They refer to materials that are sometimes more than forty years old. Each is based on a narrative analysis. In all of them, Hicks seeks to track down recurrences to understand patterns important to the various groups in Timor-Leste. The subtitle of the book is promising: Hicks announces that he is going to explore the metaphysics of oral tradition narratives. Short narratives, despite their simple appearance, reveal through structural analysis “ontological matters and themes of metaphysical significance” (p. 4).
Hicks's papers gathered in the book are as follows: “The Ema Lisan,” “Gender and the Barlaque,” “Making the King Divine: A Case Study in Ritual Regicide from Timor,” “Divine Kings and Younger Brothers,” “Younger Brothers and Fishing Hook on Timor: Re-assessing Mauss on Hierarchy and Divinity,” “Impaling Spirit: Three Categories of Ontological Domain in Eastern Indonesia,” and “Exchange, Water, and Motif in an Etic Genre of Narrative.” It is indeed a good idea to bring together thought that is ordered but scattered over time because of the demands of the scholar's life.
A short Tetun-language glossary opens the book. Without explanation, Hicks uses the Portuguese colonial spelling, Tetum, for the language and ethnic group that are now generally spelled Tetun. Bibliographical references are found at the end of each chapter. The prose of the book is clear and concise. Eight plates are published in the book, seven of them in color in the first article “The Ema Lisan.”
These narratives are called lia tuan—lia, “word, language, speech” and tuan, “ancient, venerable,” which Hicks translates as “myth.” What are the sources? Found in the offices of the Viqueque administration, the first one (p. 11), written in Portuguese, dates from 1966. It is a translation of a story delivered in 1964, but the language of enunciation is not mentioned. Another is a translation from a French text collected in the Buna’ language by Louis Berthe. Some of the narratives were collected by Hicks himself in 1973, but most of them seem to have been collected by others. Neither the original language of narration nor the language in which Hicks encountered is it specified. The formal aspect of the narratives is not described. Are they versified, as they are in many parts of eastern Indonesia? We do not know.
The book's concern is to show features shared by several ethnolinguistic groups in Timor. Mention of these groups appears throughout, but in a rather vague manner. The map (p. xvii) points to three places: Fatuberliu, Uai Mori, and Caraubalo. Are these places where Hicks did research, or are they places mentioned in the narratives? Moreover, if the location of the groups had been shown on the map, it would have been easier to figure out the extent of the study. Readers not familiar with Timor-Leste have to wait until page 56 to know that Hicks's fieldwork took place among the eastern subgroup of Tetun, though the book is not based solely on this population.
The great contribution of this book, in my opinion, lies in the grouping of the central motifs of the narratives, all of them gathered in chapter 7 (pp. 127–55): (1) The relationship of elder and younger brother. (2) The deception that generates the conflict and must be resolved. Several narratives begin with an identical mishap: an animal bites into a hook and swallows it. (3) The quest—in order to restore the imbalance caused by the animal's discomfort, the younger brother must travel through the underwater realm to another spiritual world. Hicks analyzes this transitional passage between the spirit and human worlds as the recognition of a mutual respect between the two worlds allowing for the restoration of health and prosperity. (4) The instrument of impalement, often a fishing hook but sometimes an arrow, a sword, or a fishing line, is always used in water. (5) The exchange benefit between sprits and human, between sea spirits (we na'in) and land spirits (rai na'in). (6) The motif of life and plenitude obtained by the multiplication of wealth, especially buffaloes in the corral. The younger brother travels or is transported to the spiritual world and upon his return assumes the office of king. (7) The motif of water that connects humans to spirits, water in which the divine lord of the water resides.
Even though some elements are lacking for nonspecialists of Timor-Leste, this book is a fine effort of synthesis, searching for patterns of meaning through a structural analysis. It is definitely aimed at Timor specialists and especially for anthropologists.
