THROUGH TRAVELLERS’ EYES: IMAGININGS AND DISAPPEARANCES AMONG THE KENSIU OF KEDAH, MALAYSIA

Abstract

This thesis juxtaposes early European travelogues about the Kensiu people with my own ethnographic experience living with the Kensiu of Kampung Orang Asli Lubuk Legong, Kedah, Malaysia. It attempts to present an imaginative cultural history of the Kensiu people by contemplating “images” formed through early European travelogues, as I encounter “shadows” of them in the present. With an emphasis on reflexivity, I question how can old travelogues enrich our understanding of the Kensiu people beyond post-colonial schemes of thoughts? What is the value in revisiting these “stories”? Along the way, I discuss issues of mysticism, spirituality and race which mimic early ethnographic reports, but with a deconstructive twist. This thesis is my take on less taken paths in appreciating early European travelogues, as they continue to “interrupt” and “haunt” my Kensiu friends and I, throughout my travel.