4th SEARCH International Conference Proceedings
Taylor’s University, Subang Jaya,
May 28-29, 2015
Mohd Muzhafar Idrus, Ruzy Suliza Hashim, Raihanah, M.M.
Title: Contemporary Risks and Opportunities: Re-localizing
Malayness in Popular TV Fiction
Contemporary Risks and Opportunities: Re-localizing Malayness
in Popular TV Fiction
Mohd Muzhafar Idrus
[email protected]
Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia
Ruzy Suliza Hashim
[email protected]
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Raihanah M. M.
[email protected]
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
The escalation of Malay television fiction (TV fiction, hereafter) series in recent
years can be partly explained by TV producers tailoring their products to match the
patterns of audience’s pleasure. Themes of love dominate the plots, and almost
always the good is pitted against evil, rich against poor, where ultimately the good
always wins. The formula may be clichéd, but in a world where news of war,
terrorism, diseases, and conflicts often make the headlines, respite from harsh
realities of life can often be found in TV fiction. This paper focuses on three TV
series, Julia, On Dhia, and Adam & Hawa which draw over 11 million viewers in
2013 to study how these series highlight the return to the imaginary ‘good old days’
that reiterates Malay cultural identities. Specifically, despite their constant
engagement with Western imposed modernization, the TV fiction set against the
backdrop of globalization can encourage TV viewers to regress, re-routing their
ways to rediscover their ‘local’ that is often dismissed, neglected, or forgotten.
Premised on this postcolonial perspective, selected TV fiction’s narrative
exchanges are analyzed using conversation analysis (Hutchby & Wooffitt, 2008).
Drawing from theory of cultural hybridity, it is highlighted that these series show
reversion to Malay adat (customs) in Julia, On Dhia, and Adam & Hawa, useful for
understanding of the (re)making of Malayness. This regress to Malay adat through
precepts of forgiveness and repentance governs the Malay Muslim worldviews;
although the TV fiction set in modern settings can potentially disrupt and risk local
sensitivities and norms, re-localization of Malayness holds that Malay subjects will
remain allegiant to the receptacle of recognizable, local Malay tradition.
Keywords: Malayness; postcolonial literature; conversation analysis; cultural hybridity;
popular TV fiction
About the authors
Mohd Muzhafar Idrus is an ESL instructor at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia. He majored in
TESOL while pursuing his MA at West Virginia University. His research interests include
postcolonial literature, sociology, and popular culture.
Ruzy Suliza Hashim (Ph.D) is Professor of Literature at the School of Language Studies &
Linguistics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. She obtained her BA with Honors from University
of Otago, MA in Sociology of Literature from Essex University, and PhD (Literature) from
University of Otago.
Raihanah M. M. (Ph.D) is Associate Professor at the School of Language Studies & Linguistics,
National University of Malaysia. Her research areas include minority fiction, Muslim diaspora,
and SOTL.
Introduction
Recent contemporary risks concerning violence, wars, and conflicts in the world might have led
to the questioning of the vulnerability of risks both at the individual and collective interactions.
Not too long ago, series of racially-motivated attacks and confrontations between South Asian
immigrants and Whites in United Kingdom, for instance, have motivated scholars to examine
such perils from historical and cultural lenses (Kraidy, 2002; Shim, 2006; Shome and Hegde,
2002). In Malaysia, 4.5 million adolescence aged 15 to 25 years old are at-risk, with at least 500,
000 individuals admitted to have been involved in violence and crimes (Johan, 2014; Samsudin
2010, p. 24), while Malaysians at work and schools have each reported a jump from 542 cases in
2013 to 2,011 reports in 2014, whose delinquency includes, but are not limited to homicides, rape,
theft, felony, and (aggravated) battery (Johan, 2014; Government Transformation Program,
2014). In sum, school students are increasingly exposed to crimes as staggering 1,632 cases are
filed in 2014 as opposed to 1,042 in 2013 (Johan, 2014; Government Transformation Program,
2014). Statistics, while not unanimous, generally supported a concern. Nationally, these were
interspersed with fragments of institutions and government who seek top-down approaches for
interventions and strategies. Early detection, prison improvement programs, intensified arrests,
increased court trials, and improved psychological centers (Care and Cure Clinics) have resulted
in the decline of street-related crimes (39.7% drop) and reduced public perception on crimes
(52.8% public satisfaction) (Samsudin, 2010; Government Transformation Program, 2014;
Ministry of Home Affairs, 2015).
Despite the nuanced reading of these intervention strategies, what is missing from these issues
was and is a discussion of the ways in which individuals exploit and seek respite from harsh
realities of life, frequently captured in non-instutionalized, everyday experiences. One particularly
feasible way of doing so is through examining television fiction (hereafter, TV fiction). This
article aims at addressing this issue pertaining to popular Malay TV fiction, with the objective of
studying the ways in which familiar themes such as nation and cultural identity in relation to
particular social and cultural relationships and interactions are interrogated. The key to examining
this aspect, as we argue, lies in an investigation on TV fiction’s narrative exchange to determine
the ways in which these narratives suggest localization and navigation to Malay contexts using
cultural hybridity. The term “cultural hybridity” is often used to speak of globalization and most
importantly, postcolonial contexts. We wish to draw on this term and recontextualize and expand
its employment to incorporate the cleavages of re-localization of Malay cultural identity
potentially existing in the TV fiction’s narrative exchange. On one level, one can undeniably
surmise and react to issues that transgress borders of culture and religion through distinct
controversial, taboo, and sin-related issues manifested in TV fiction. On another level, however,
one identifies the TV series with the familiar, localized markers and indexes with reference to
Malayness and its associated conceptions.
Premised on globalization, we will firstly discuss how cultural hybridity is relevant to our
discussion in TV fiction’s narrative exchanges, pushing the boundaries of global and Malay local.
It takes attention to examining how Malayness interacts with global and modern TV fiction,
considering previous insights on the involvement of the TV series and Malay cultural identities. It
then shifts its trajectory to elaborate on two issues – forgiveness and repentance that encapsulate
the localities of Malayness. The motivation to examine these two notions is firstly because our
analysis have orchestrated the preponderance and emerging microcosms of forgiveness and
repentance as constantly recurring, circulating, and dominant (Mohd Muzhafar Idrus, 2015a,
2015b). Because of these refigurations and dominance, we press these issues further to support
our contention in bringing readings describing TV series that potentially connect with Malay local
‘pasts.’ Secondly, although recent readings by Chong (2005), Dahlia (2010, 2012), Hussin (1993),
Liow (2009), Martinez (2004), Maznah (2008, 2011), Norman (2013), Peletz (2005), Rosya
(2011), Rosya and Morris (2014), Ruzy and Shahizah (2010), Syed (2011a, 2011b, 2011c), Syed
and Hamzah (2012), Syed and Runnel (2013), and Weiss (2004) have examined broadly on
Malay ‘local,’ aspects of forgiveness and repentance from the perspectives of TV fiction are
neglected. We examine, in addition, whether TV fiction functions as a space that offers a voice to
alternative narratives that depart from the elite constructions of the Malay selves. In the final part
of the paper, we reflect on the broad implications of our findings, specifically from the point of
view of the cultural frames which is continually adjusted by globalized and localized spaces.
Examining the extent to which these verbal exchanges in Julia, On Dhia, and Adam & Hawa
provide an alternative space for finding respite from contemporary social and cultural, global
risks is the key implication of the study. By doing so, realignments are made cementing TV
fiction and re-localization of Malayness in the form of TV’s narrative exchanges as the ensuing
discussion will show.
Globalization, Cultural Hybridity, and TV Fiction
Before we get into discussion of cultural hybridity, we would first like to dwell on the notion of
“globalization,” which is often used in three ways. The first approach signifies globalization as
an entity on which cultural imperialism has developed (Shim, 2006). While this strand may have
probably evolved from America, this approach denies and de-emphasizes national and (local)
cultural identities. This approach, while being used variably throughout wide political settings, is
considered a one-way direction of a Western idea resulting in the increased plurality of the local
that leads to the proliferation of “cultural proximity” (Straubhaar, 2007). In the second vein,
globalization lends credence to the outcome of modernity projects (Giddens, 1991). Centered on
the integration and accentuation of modernities, this idea pushes the boundaries of the local and
global because “the increasing traffic between cultures that the globalization process brings
suggests that the dissolution of the link between culture and place is accompanied by an
intermingling of these disembedded cultural practice, producing new complex hybrid forms of
culture” (Tomlinson, 1999, p.141).
Thirdly and what is argued as the thrust of this study is cultural hybridity of globalization that
signifies power distribution between the periphery and center from the viewpoint of
postcoloniality (Featherstone, 1995; Kraidy, 2002; Kusno, 1998; Shome and Hegde, 2002;
Srivastava, 1996; Shim, 2006; Yeoh, 2001). In this sense, it maintains that the complex relations
between being local and global may result in one way or another, forms of re-localization,
resisting the global forces. Specifically, although TV series embrace liberal, modern, and
western elements (Cho, 2010; Eswari, 2014; Maznah, 2008, 2011; Mohd Muzhafar, Ruzy, and
Raihanah, 2014a, 2014b, 2014c, 2015a, 2015b; Samsudin and Latiffah, 2011; Siti Zanariah,
2011), globalization, to a certain extent, encourages youth to rediscover their local “that they
have forgotten in their drive towards Western-imposed modernization during the past decades”
(Shim, 2006, p. 27). In Asia, examples of re-localization include individuals in China, India,
Talibans in Afghanistan or youth involved in the recent North Sulu Borneo dispute over (home)
(host) land that exist in the boundaries of the Phillippines and Malaysia (Campbell, 2013; Heng,
2013; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2015) who actively recall the return to the imaginary good old
days, revisiting and strengthening their cultural roots. In the local Malay scene, the scholarship
of, among many others, Hussin (1993), Liow (2009), Peletz (2005), and Weiss (2004) offers
insights into broader economic and political contexts within which Malayness are elaborated.
However, how has cultural hybridity as seen in TV fiction intensified from the burgeoning
industry of popular TV fiction given the recent economic, political, and social perils?
Our article argues that, as the narratives exchanges of Julia, On Dhia, and Adam & Hawa exist
within the spaces of modernity, these TV fiction also invariably entails a regress to local customs
and culture in particular to Malay adat (customs). From issues that preserve, contest, integrate,
diffuse, blur, and alternate Malayness, this notion of re-localization, based on our intuition, is
also applicable to the context of TV fiction that intertweave shifting, interchangeable, and
overlapping notions of globalization and postcoloniality. In this sense, postcoloniality functions
as a rhetorical device that not only pushes the boundary of knowledge, but also unlocks the
convergence of nation, modernity, and cultural identity. In exploring the TV series’ verbal
exchanges, the richness of these TV texts provide a “source of cultural knowledge” that “can be
quite usefully utilized to excavate the plurality of voices in ways that can tell us how the
‘encasement’ of Malay” (Maznah, 2008, p. 297) has constructed ‘routes’ to re-localizing Malay
cultural identity. In turn, we do not only acknowledge the Malay imaginary of modernity, we
have also sought to bridge a gap between what we understand about Malay cultural subjectivities
and what is shown in Julia, On Dhia, and Adam & Hawa, staging “a representation in which a
postcolonial nation forms a dialogue with its colonial past” (Kusno, 1998, p.551). The
endorsement of such postcoloniality made evident in TV’s narrative exchanges reflects the
“enterprise” of promoting local pride while “finding a balance” within spaces of “modernity”
(Yeoh, 2001, p. 458) that seek to reframe and rethink hybridity.
However, critics like McLeod (2000) avers that the limitation with hybridity is mostly concerned
with “Does the agency for resistance derive from the acts of representation by those from the
nation’s margin, or is it found mystically within the nation itself?” (McLeod, 2000, p.120).
Putting it differently, the critiques against the use of hybridity to study TV fiction are related to
the failure to underscore whether the source of resistance to modernity derives from private or
public constructs. Other critics argue that there is “no clear historical and political influence”
when theory of hybridity is employed (Kraidy, 2005, p. 6). But there is a difference between
understanding hybridity as an influence and as a point of elaboration. As Drichel (2008) puts it,
it is used to interrogate forgotten spaces “through continuous reiterations” (605). In our study,
we aim to reveal that although popular TV fiction evokes issues that are decidedly modern and
liberal, the TV series’ narrative exchange reclaim Malayness. Or in other words, by using
hybridity to study TV series’ texts, we argue that these texts are able to capture local,
unconscious Malay pasts, forming a respite from contemporary cultural risks.
Re-localization of Malay ‘Local’ and TV Fiction
Many see such adjustments of re-focusing to localities in TV fiction as largely due to the
dialogue between the local and global. The Malay local, with reference to Malay adat (customs),
suggests an interaction which can be viewed from the perspectives of cognitive, religion, and
cultural tradition. Taib (1974), for example, has suggested that Malay adat beliefs and values
situate between Islamic tradition and traditional beliefs and scientific inquiry. Although he
cautions that the readings of these three nexus do not suggest easy understanding, a number of
pointers can be accentuated concerning Malayness. Malay subjects, firstly, want to live in
harmony (Provencher, 1972). This harmonious conduct which is connected to the notion of
Malay’s akal/budi (emotion-reason relationships) is grounded in the ideas of compromise,
respect, cooperation, tolerance, modesty, patience, forgiveness, and repentance (Bakri, 2013;
Hasan, 2009; Khoo, 2007; Norman, 2011, 2013; Ruzy and Shahizah, 2010; Wan Norhasniah,
2010). This politeness translates into a Malay maxim, biar mati anak jangan mati adat (let the
child die but not the custom) (AB Sulaiman 2013; Bakri, 2013; Norman, 2013) which has been
used throughout, suggesting the longevity of Malay adat through normalization.
Secondly, Malay local embraces religiosity (AB Sulaiman, 2013; Bakri, 2013; Hussain, 2010;
Mahathir, 1970; Maznah, 2011; Milner, 2008; Taib, 1974; Wan Norhasniah, 2010). While
religiosity foregrounds readings on Malayness, two specific concepts, forgiveness and
repentance, which are intertwined in the greater circle of Malay adat values, are central to this
study. Firstly, while forming one aspect of budi-Islam, forgiveness is integrated into the MalayMuslims’ beliefs, directed towards the concept of Oneness-of-God (Hussain, 2010; Niewkerk,
2008; Wan Norhasniah, 2010). Forgiveness is largely inherent in discussions pertaining to Malay
local perhaps because “the upmost aim is to uphold peace and harmony in their relationship”
(Zainal, 1995, p. 15) that intensifies the need to be “sensitive human beings that are gentle in
nature” (Zainal, 1995, p.4) and evolves to minimize involvement of youth in war or violence
(Milner, 2008).
Secondly, repentance, which derives from Islamic principles, holds that Malay subjects who
stand below God irrespective of their statuses, roles, and gender are equal (Hussain, 2010; Izutsu,
2002: Niewkerk, 2008; Ryan, 2014). Premised on the observation that almost everyone can relate
to the notions of sinfulness and forgetfulness, repentance is the ultimate forgiveness asked from
God. Ethics, in Islam, furnishes the Malay individuals to hold accountable for their actions,
positioned within two spectrums. On the one hand, God’s infinite goodness posits mercy,
forgiveness, and benevolence, and on the other hand, His wrath and severe, strict, and
unrelenting justice stand in binary (Jones, 1999; Niewkerk, 2008; Pieri, Woodward, Yahya,
Hassan, and Rohmaniyah, 2014; Winstedt, 1938). In Malay historical texts, illustrations of
repentance can be seen. The extract below, from Hikayat Pasai (Chronicle of Pasai) can
demonstrate the centrality of repentance in Malay adat: Maka dilihat oleh Sultan Mahmud Shah
seperti berita orang itu tiada sunggoh: maka baginda pun terlalu mashghul dan menyesal oleh
membunoh Bendahara Seri Maharaja tiada dengan pereksa (He prostrated with grief and
repented bitterly that he had put Bendahara Sri Maharaja to death without due inquiry)
(Winstedt, 1938, p.187). This extract documents the repentance of Sultan Mahmud Shah, (who
ruled Sultanate of Malacca from 1948 through 1511 [Jones, 1999]) after he realizes that he
wrongfully puts Bendahara Seri Maharaja (equivalent to a European’s vizier) and his family
members to death, inviting a reading that, to a certain extent, allows a Malay subject to
rediscover his or her local and cultural fragments.
However, the above are merely a fraction of examples of how forgiveness and repentance evolve
to signify Malay spaces; one would certainly discover similar trajectory of the re-localization of
Malay youth as they engage with modern TV series and rework it to reflect their (almost always)
forgotten, local pasts. Yet, one needs to be conscious of the fact that although many TV fiction
shown in the Malaysian context are modern, diverse, multilingual, multicultural, and to a certain
degree, liberal, some of the TV fiction’s narratives still navigate towards strengthening their
cultural and local identities. Another key factor to examining this issue is to explore Malaysia’s
mediascape. How are TV fiction and their narratives positioned with regard to modernity in their
recall to frequently forgotten, Malay local pasts? The following discussion attempts to engage
these issues by using mediascape in Malaysia as an example and focusing specifically on the
ways in which modernity and re-discovery of Malay ‘local’ intersect with TV fiction.
“Strategizing” the Re-localizing of Malay ‘Local’: Locating TV Fiction in Malaysia’s
Mediascape
The growth of modern TV works may provide insights into the transplantation of modernity and
Malay locals through which different values and elements are subsequently meshed and
embedded within the Malaysia mediascape broadcast primarily for TV viewers. In Malaysia,
1Malaysia, one of the “sociopolitical arrangement” vehicles (Kraidy, 2002, p. 317) upon which
cultural globalization is premised renders it possible to delineate why TV fiction in Malaysia
encompasses modernity. Modernity as displayed in TV fiction can be defined in many ways, but
the most consistent thread commonly found linking modernity to TV fiction is that it expands
viewers’ “imagination beyond the constraints of personal lives, physical locales and cultural
boundaries” (Syed, 2011a, p. 83), orchestrating sense of freedom of choice, “upward mobility,
and unhindered interaction” (Syed, 2011a, p. 85). The basic tenet foregrounding modernity is
consumer culture, encouraging viewers to change their lives, often progressed through TV’s
direct advertising in addition to “showing urban lifestyles, setting, and modern cityscape”
(Mattelart, 1990, p. 47). When studied in relation to TV fiction, modernity exposes viewers to
urban lifestyle and fashion, drawing attention to “ideal fashion and glamour” enhancing “urban
life and consumption” (Matsuda and Higashi, 2006, p.19). Most importantly, luxurious lifestyles
serve as a backdrop against which TV is made available for viewers to “indulge in the consumer
culture freely available in the market” (Syed 2011a, p. 85) that offers “spectacular images of
foreign and glamorous settings” (Geraghty, 1991, p. 127). By virtue of modernity, issues
manifested in TV fiction are topical and figure as “repertoires of images and social discourses
that influence popular perception of larger issues to be current and contemporary” (Syed, 2011a,
p. 95), probably leading viewers to feel connected with the larger, global society they live in.
In turn, the resulting increase in more visible TV fiction of Western and modern-Asian themes
has already begun to surround TV series’ viwers. One of the changes that harmonize viewers’
daily TV consumption experience is the predominance of nativized or adapted TV fiction. Kim
(2010) maps out the broad TV stations and concludes that at least 65, 872 minutes have been
accommodated for the broadcast of these nativized TV fiction, making up 53 percent of the total
broadcast hours (Kim, 2010, p. 26). 13.8% of urbanized, imported TV content has also been
reported to help establish TV series as the second highest TV programs aired subsequently in
2012 (Juliana, Kim, and Sharifah, 2013), while viewers aged 15 to 25 are described as “loyal”
TV fiction audience who accept the “inflow of foreign programs on local TV stations”
(Samsudin and Latiffah, 2011, p. 9). For instance, critically acclaimed TV fiction, Ugly Betty and
Yo Soy Betty La Fea are adapted as Manjalara in Malaysia, drawing over 1.8 million audience
each episode (Budiey, 2010) in addition to Cinderella and Mayang Mengurai that furnish young
Malay viewers with its Malay adaptation of Rapunzel (Raja Intan, 2010), strengthening the
position of the melting of “other” TV fiction. Even more so, RM200 million have been invested
in TV fiction content (Media Prima, 2012), often serving as a means to centralize issues that
present antithesis to Malay cultural traditions. From scenes that show infidelity to poor
professional morality, directness, exorcism, alcoholism, cohabitation, binge drinking,
fornication, and lewdness, these issues have led to diverse manifestations of issues, in one sense
a global dramatization of modernity.
However, also existing side-by side with the many TV programs that have encountered and
embraced modernity as a result of liberalization of mediascape is the increased observance by a
number of ‘gatekeepers.’ This mandate, which encompasses regulation, promotion, and
legalization (Mohd Muzhafar, Ruzy, and Raihanah, 2014a, 2014b, 2014c, 2015b) harkens to TV
series that focus more on the agency of Malayness that, according to these scholars, politicians,
and directors, give purpose and direction to viewers’ local, cultural identity. Specifically, they
call attention to the ways in which content in TV series are to re-focus to reflect more issues that
engage “Malay (ethnic) agenda” (Barr and Govindasamy, 2010, p. 294), that simultaneously
signify “Islamic Arabian glorious past” (Hoffstaedter, 2011, p. 106). The mandate, under the
microscopic guidance and patronage of local leaders and media senior officials accompanied by
the hands of lawmakers, set up a number of ‘gatekeepers’ to meet the requirements of this
mission of re-calling youth’s attention to their cultural routes. Siti Zanariah (2011) references the
gatekeepers to five layers of forces at work: the King, ministers, mass media laws, governmental
agencies, and council for media-screening. The tasks, among others, are to enable local TV
industries to orient themselves to “30 percent participation” of Malays in the proliferation “of
world, commercial, and industrial practices” (Foo, 2004, p. 29) while at the same time adhering
to the framework of Rukunegara (National Ideology), which is oriented towards fostering
national and racial unity and harmony, deeply rooted in the beliefs of a united and democratic
nation (Foo, 2004; Malaysia Merdeka, 2013). It has also been noted that as this re-call to Malay
‘local-ness’ grows strong, many TV industries are also compelled to realign viewers with various
local, familiar values and identity so that viewers’ integration of local aspects are balanced,
rather than only on elements of liberal, foreign, Western culture. The re-enactment of cultural
TV stations and proliferation of Asian popular programs, including Korean, Taiwanese, and
Japanese TV series have interwoven viewers into the receptacle of recognizable, local discourse.
Our reading above, which is only one among the many that can be told concerning Malaysia’s
mediascape’s project of modernity, enables us to highlight a fraction of examples of viewers’ reengagement to their own, local platform. One can undeniably find similar conditions of media
priorities in media industries that transfer their priorities and values to a more familiar, local,
intertwined in other countries and nation-states, ‘doing’ their identities (Blackman, 2005). At the
same time, however, one needs to be informed of the fact that although media in the world is
becoming more diverse and de-territorialized, media also provides strong avenues for viewers to
re-integrate themselves to their local, often forgotten cultural values. It is through these symbolic
interactions where issues of modernity and locality intersect in TV fiction are brought to the fore.
But does this alternative way of looking at TV fiction’s texts that exist in liberal, global platform
and the re-discovery to familiar, often neglected Malay past upset our culturally diverse
understanding of viewers in Malaysia? Will the concept of Malay values as demonstrated by TV
series’ narrative exchanges become fossilized one day? Perhaps not, as the following pages will
show that they will mutually work to reinforce and reify Malayness. The ensuing discussion shall
attempt to engage this line of inquiry by using TV series as a platform and examining
specifically on the ways in which TV fiction’s narrative exchanges imagine the re-localizing of
Malayness.
Methodology
This section provides information pertaining to methods used in our study concerning how TV
fiction is employed as a means to seek respite from cultural, social and modern, contemporary
ambivalence. We begin by describing general characteristics of TV fiction selected for our study.
Subsequently, we will link these characteristics to Julia, On Dhia, and Adam & Hawa as well as
describe conversation analysis employed for this study. A synopsis of these three TV fiction will
also be given. By addressing the background of each methods of analyzing narrative exchanges,
we reveal how culture, discourse, and TV overlap.
TV Fiction
In the context of the current study, TV fiction has been linked to its themes, episodic forms, and
narrative structure. Issues in stories are narrated in many episodes, leaving the viewers grapple
with continuation and contemplation of subsequent stories, resulting in series of episodes. For
instance, the use of superstitious elements by Azwan’s mother in Julia in order to oust Julia from
Azwan’s house stirs another level of Malay belief system resulting in a newspaper forum
established and dedicated to discussing such issue (Julia Forum, 2013). On another note, themes
of love dominate the plots, and almost always the good is pitted against evil, rich against poor,
and ultimately the good always wins. In TV3’s TV fiction, for instance, elements of wealth
surrounding middle-class Malays are staged against the backdrop of luxury cars, subserviant
housekeepers, immaculate security, and big houses, with protagonists demarcate themselves
between being rich and greedy, poor and generous, or authorial bosses and obedient staff. Most
locally-produced TV fiction are shown in the evenings as families gather from work (Media
Prima, 2012). Commercials are regular during breaks.
But most importantly, the choice of TV fiction selected for this study is due to its popularity and
recency. Specifically, the periods of 2009 though 2013 see increasing number of viewers of TV
fiction in TV3’s Lestary, Zehra, and Akasia with each ranked 2nd, 9th, and 20th respectively in
the top 20 programs across all TV channels in Malaysia (Media Prima, 2012). TV fiction in
Lestary is reported to have drawn 2.96 million viewers, Zehra with 2.08 million, and Akasia with
staggering 1.67 million viewers respectively (Media Prima, 2012). Today, the sheer popularity of
Julia and On Dhia is reflected by over 11 million viewers (Media Prima, 2013), constituting one
of the most watched segments on Media Prima. Adam & Hawa, a TV adaptation of the novel of
similar title has more than 600,000 readers (Wahba, 2013), bringing Adam & Hawa’s popularity
to a whole new level. Such recency and popularity ultimately lead to online reruns (Tonton,
2013), where viewers pay for one or whole episodes simultaneously, luring over 120 million
online TV viewers (Tonton, 2014). Considering these praises and accolades, we now draw our
attention to how issues of re-discovery of Malay ‘local’ in TV fiction are signified using
conversation analysis I have alluded earlier.
Conversation Analysis
Firstly, narrative exchanges in Julia, On Dhia, and Adam & Hawa were transcribed following
conversation analysis (CA) framework (Hutchby and Wooffitt, 2008). Complete focus on the
power of these narratives was firstly practiced. This means that in the process of transcribing, no
analysis of any aspects was conducted. Such ways of capturing textual corpus rendered it
possible to exhibit Malay cultural identity issues (Dersley and Wootton, 2000; Wong and
Hansun-Warring, 2010). Another reason for keeping analysis separate from transcription was to
allow detailed scrutiny on the kinds of intonation, registers, and the whole convention of talk in
everyday narrative exchanges. But the question remains- why CA?
This study may be characteristic to applied CA, given its focus on specific talk, conversation
units, and turn-takings. The conversation episodes were transcribed in its entirety after which
they were reviewed, with dominant themes identified and isolated. Consistent with the CA
methodology, we sought to let the corpus ‘speak’ for the findings and interpretation. Putting it
differently, we retained the contents or general conversational structure, departing from any
reworking of the content or units for semantic purposes. CA was chosen for this analysis of
narrative exchange because one can see the sequences as the interaction unfolds immediately.
Goodwin (1986, 1997), on CA, has succinctly summarized that CA provides a framework in a
narrative exchange that can form a structure through two ways- the recipients and the recipients’
interpretations. DeFina & Georgakopolou (2012) have underscored that CA allows us to work on
narrative structure as part of "social practices" while drawing from methods of empirical studies
"through specific coding categories that allow analysts to analyze narrative as an organized set of
resources" (50 & 51). Putting it differently, in this study, we wanted to show that sequences,
turn-takings, overlaps, and interruptions display ways of how Malay ‘local’ fragments are relocalized in the TV fiction’s narrative exchanges.
The use of CA in studying protagonists’ everyday experiences in TV fiction has been used to
show two areas. Firstly, CA is used to glamorize images of everyday scenarios. From personal
dilemmas, relationships, to images of hospitals, office, police stations, CA as a tool to analyze
TV fiction can exploit our shared knowledge about the different types of people (Wang, 2012).
Wang (2012) succinctly argues that using CA to study TV represents “real conversation. It’s
about ordinary people and their everyday life” (341). Secondly, CA is used to highlight lexical
and grammatical features, reflecting everyday realities. Grant and Starks (2001), for instance, has
argued that the authenticity of TV fiction has been validated, consistent with the literature on
conversation analysis. Al-Surmi (2012) compares the result of lexical and grammatical feature
study to unscripted American conversation and finds that TV fiction reflects everyday, naturallyoccurring talk. Convinced by the use of CA, Brennan (2012), for instance, has recently examined
cultural, social, and nation’s identities on Brazilian TV fiction, concluding that values
transcending community and society are all conflicting in TV fiction and that the identity of
Brazilian culture is intricate that warrants no-single explanation as they are fluid and not static
(Brennan, 2012). All of these readings suggest CA can be used to scrutinize TV fiction as it
exemplifies the different kinds of narration, exploiting our shared cultural knowledge (From,
2006). Moving on from these studies, we believe a similar application of CA can be made to
illustrate the behavior of everyday discourse as exemplified in selected exchanges in Julia, On
Dhia, and Adam & Hawa. From cultural identity preservations and conflicts to cultural
confusions and struggles over Malay traditions and modernity, CA may delineate protagonists’
experiences.
However, critics aver that CA has several limitations. They maintain that there is no way to
systematize generalization in narrative exchange that can be gained from fine-grained analysis.
Other critics argue that the extent to which participant structures and individual strategies can
reflect discourse is unknown. Our argument is that the work in narrative structure can present a
more specific study that forms the larger part of cultural practices. In our study, this is the kind of
analysis that uncovers issues concerning the unconscious, everyday Malay social practices.
Although they argue that there is no “yardstick” to measure participant structures and individual
strategies in interactions, typically, CA’s specific coding categories can be used as a systematic
set of discourse elements to uncover the discourses used to establish re-localization of Malay
cultural identities as seen in TV fiction. Appendix A lists CA’s transcription symbols.
Adam & Hawa
Adam & Hawa introduces us to the main protagonists- Ain and Adam. After completing her
secondary school examination, Ain works part-time for a kindergarten. While working at the
kindergarten, Ain becomes acquainted with Adam Mukhriz but Ain does not take part in seeking
Adam’s attention after seeing Adam’s wild encounters with multiple women in local bars; Ain
continues to work instead. In one of the nights, Ain is unfortunate; Ain is caught in bed with
Adam by the authorities and local towners. Shortly after, Ain is arrested for charges on close
proximity and later forced to marry Adam. Ain further develops a sense of revenge for Adam,
questioning Adam’s silence the night she is taken to police. Years later, Ain still despises Adam
and has difficult time accepting Adam as her husband and in the months that follow, Ain decides
to pursue higher education, a dream she has kept for a long time. Separated by thousands of
miles from Adam, Ain, however, starts to lose her affection towards Adam and distances herself
afterwards. When Ain leaves, Adam repeatedly finds ways to look for Ain in Australia.
Eventually, when Ain later goes for pilgrimage in Mecca, she accidentally meets Adam. After
series of repentance, apologies, confrontations, and unpleasant verbal exchanges, Ain relents to
Adam’s wish of having his wife back.
On Dhia
On Dhia introduces viewers to a tragic love entanglement involving Zikir, Rafie, Azmi, Melli,
and Dhia. While Rafie secretly falls in love with Dhia, Dhia ignores Rafie and accepts Azmi’s
marriage proposal instead. Brokenhearted, Rafie deals with this rejection very poorly. Rafie
starts socializing with the girls he meets at a bar at a local town nearby, a bar that Melli
frequents. As Melli is envious of Dhia, Melli sets up a plan to tackle all the men Melli dates,
including Rafe. Rafie begin dancing, and later, Melli and Rafie get home and sleep in the same
bed. After successfully capturing Rafie’s attention, Melli furthers her second plan- to retain
Azmi. This time she plans on having Azmi sleep with her, resulting in Azmi and Melli getting
caught in bed unlawfully by the authorities and local town leaders. As Dhia’s days of marriage
with Azmi are approaching, Dhia discovers the news but forgives Azmi for his conduct. Melli
who gets pregnant months afterword, becomes more aggressive; she gate crashes Dhia’s
wedding and demands that Azmi be responsible for the baby she carries. After hours of verbal
altercation and unpleasant encounters with Melli, Dhia gives up and asks that Melli be married
off to Azmi instead. While having to give up her future with Azmi, Dhia is introduced to Zikir.
Zikir quickly turns his attention and affection towards Dhia and immediately ties the knot with
Dhia. However, months later, the relationship turns sour. Dhia’s mother-in-law who regards Dhia
as foolish and ignorant influences Zikir to either oust Dhia from his house or have Dhia enter
into an agreement to a polygamous relationship with Zikir. Dhia ultimately chooses to enter into
such agreement and Dhia’s world, as expected, breaks into pieces. Later, after Zikir learns that
his mother has resolved to using witchery to possess him into ill-treating Dhia, he leaves his
mother and seeks Dhia for forgiveness. Shortly after, however, Dhia falls ill, diagnosed of an
untreatable cancer. Before she dies and before On Dhia ends, Dhia blesses Zikir’s future
marriage engagement.
Julia
In Julia, we are introduced to two central characters, Julia and Amir who gain admission to a
university. After commencement, returning home poses more problems ending in discord and
frustrations for both Amir and Julia. Tensions arise when Julia reunites with her parents, having
to confront issues concerning marriage and career. While her parents insist on marrying Julia to a
prospective suitor they admire, Julia follows through with her decision to work and advance her
career as an engineer. Amir, on the other hand, after not seeing Julia for months, decides to
initiate conversations with and later marries Nurain who happens to be a flower seller at the
place where he works. Upon hearing Azmir’s marriage, Julia is left between returning to live
with her parents and living alone. She chooses the latter and months later befriends and marries
Azwan. But her marriage to Azwan does not last long. Her mother in-law, however, despises
Julia and decides to use black magic against Julia. Azwan also physically abuses Julia, leading
Julia to file for divorce. Acting as an accomplice to Julia’s shattered marriage, Azwan’s mother
plays the role of a culprit, forcing Julia to move out of Kuala Lumpur to a place where Amir,
Azwan, and her parents has no knowledge of. Eventually, Azwan and his mother regret their
wrongdoings and apologizes, and after forgiving Azwan and his mother, Julia leaves, packs her
bag, and rides in a car to an unknown place.
Analysis
Previously, we encounter Adam in Adam & Hawa as a party-goer and an alcoholic over the
course of the start of his career. While forming the belief that a man is to live with a woman and
while convincing Ain to be his bride proves to be difficult, the final scenes of Adam & Hawa
display the return to the fragments of Malay adat. In what follows, Adam accidentally meets Ain
while finishing their prayers at the entrance of a mosque, in Mecca, where both happen to be
performing umrah (a pilgrimage that can be taken at any time of the year by Muslims). After
repeatedly refusing to see Adam, Ain eventually agrees to have a conversation. Table 1 expands
on their conversations.
TABLE 1 Adam & Hawa
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
Adam:
((follows through behind Ain))
Mama kata sejak jumpa Ain kat Australia tu, dia selalu
paksa Am CONTACT Ain (0.0) AM je tak nak. Sebab tak
nak ganggu Ain kan. Dan Am redha dengan kemahuan Ain
la::Am tak nak jadi penghalang kepada Ain. Demi mengejar
cita-cita Ain(1.1) I WANT YOU TO SUCCEED.
{Mommy said since she saw you in Australia, she
repeatedly forced me to contact Ain. I don’t want to bother
Ain. And I accept your decision:: I don’t want to be
the reason you fail, Ain. I did not contact you so you can
pursue your dream. I want you to succeed.}
Ain
Kenapa baru Am nak cerita sekarang? Am tau tak apa Am
dah buat kat diri Ain? Ain hampir putus asa kerana Am
berdiam diri macam tu. Am buat Ain macam tak de harga
diri langsung.
{Why do you tell me now? Do you even know what you
have done to me? I have almost given up because you were
went quiet.You treated me as if I have no self-worth.}
Am:
Am mintak maaf, Am takde niat pun nak buat Ain macam
tu. Dee yang nak sangat kahwin dengan Am.
{I am truly sorry, I don’t have the intention to do that to you
you. Dee was the one who was dying to get married to me.}
This scene describes how Adam surrenders to fate, having been separated from Ain for a few
years before accidentally meeting her in Mecca. While stating the cause of action by his mother,
Adam responds by informing that Ain’s education is his priority (lines 1-12). In response to this,
Ain quickly retaliates by asking the recency of the information and stating her feelings about the
whole situation, leading her to feel stepsided (lines 14-20). But because Adam has consented to
fate (redha; as he says in the exchange), he asks for forgiveness (lines 22-25).
While Adam, or Am, relegates his mistakes and seeks redemption before the eyes of Ain, the
narrative exchange above can signify two interrelated areas. Firstly, the use of capitalization
(read: CONTACT and I WANT YOU TO SUCCEED) and the use of such code-switching is
reflective and suggestive of Adam wanting to negotiate (Myers-Scotton, 2002; Myers-Scotton &
Bolonyai, 2001) the potential for Ain to reconsider Adam, who is seen as yearning to have Ain
as his life partner. Secondly, and on the level of positioning, Adam is seen as an apologizer,
negotiator, and coordinator, whose turn-takings can reflect this point. In the first turn, he thinks
aloud and approaches the topic, pushing his two agendas to firstly have Ain forgive him (read: I
am truly sorry) and secondly to have Ain re-examine the possibility of reclaiming their pasts
(read: CONTACT Ain). While he seeks for redemption, he also negotiates against the prospect
for reminiscing their ‘good old’ memories. Ain, on the other hand, is signified as an actor,
unveiling her agency by having her voice heard (read: Why do you tell me now? Do you even
know what you have done to me?). By having her voice heard, Ain further supplies the schemata
(Brown & Yule, 1984; Mandler, 1984) for Am to further re-apologize and tell the truth behind
his silence (read: berdiam diri). Seeing it this way, the schemata helps to prompt for Adam’s
apologetic reactions towards his own atrocities. Thus, we can identify instances of Adam’s
divergence from and convergence with Ain’s voice through understanding these positioning and
linguistic units.
This change and interaction to Malay local values are subsequently followed through by Azwan
and Azwan’s mother in Julia. Previously, while Azwan is depicted as cruel, insane, and
irresponsible, her mother is described as a villain and an accomplice - a planner to Azwan’s
divorce with Julia. In the following scene, both Azwan and his mother seek forgiveness from
Julia. We can refer to table 2 for the narrative exchange.
TABLE 2 Julia
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Julia:
YOU tau kan YOU tak sepatutnya datang sini. Apatah lagi YOU
dan mak YOU.
{You know you’re not supposed to be here. You and your
mom.}
Azwan:
Ju:: I tau I memang tak sepatutnya datang sini. Kalau YOU nak
panggil polis sekali pun, I tak boleh buat apa-apa. Tapi I nak
mintak satu je Jue, tolong lah izinkan I jumpa dengan anak I.
{Ju, I know I’m not supposed to be here. If you want to call the
cops, I can’t do anything. But all I’m asking is Jue, please let
me see my baby.}
Azwan’s
mother:
MAMA tau, MAMA banyak buat Ju menderita. MAMA banyak
berdosa MAMA datang dengan satu niat, Ju. MAMA nak minta
Ju. Mintak ampun dan kalau MAMA nak sujud pada Ju, MAMA
boleh buat, MAMA boleh sujud ampun dari Ju.
{Mommy knows, Mommy has made your life difficult.
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
Mommy’s committed a lot of sins, I’m here for one thing, Ju.
I want to say sorry, Ju. I’m really sorry and if you want, I can go
on my knees, Ju. I can do that. I can bow down asking for your
forgiveness.}
Julia:
Jangan la cakap macam tu. Semua manusia tak boleh lari dari
kesilapan.
{Don’t say that. As humans, we can’t run away from
mistakes.}
Azwan’s
mother:
Disebabkan mak lah, Ju tak boleh hidup bersama dengan Azwan.
{Because of me, you can’t be with Azwan.}
Azwan:
MAMA mintak maaf banyak-banyak dengan Ju.
{Mama’s really sorry, Ju.}
Julia:
<Dah memang jodoh kami memang setakat tu je:: Wan, I Cuma
nak cakap dengan YOU. Apa-apa yang berlaku antara kita::
Semua telah ditetapkan oleh tuhan. I nak YOU belajar dari
kesilapan. Tolong la:: jangan buat benda yang sama pada
Catrina.
{That’s as far as our marriage is to last. Wan, I’ve something to
tell you.Whatever that has happened between us, are all fated. I
want you to learn from your mistakes. Please don’t do the same
thing to Catrina.}
Julia:
((carries her baby))
Azwan:
Siapa nama dia?
{What’s her name?}
Julia:
Risa Erina Binti Azwan.
Azwan’s:
mother
Boleh MAMA pegang BABY? ((cries hard))
Muka dia mirip Azwan. Ampunkan nenek ya, sayang. Nenek
jahat.
{Can Mommy hold her? She looks like Azwan. Please forgive
me, love, Grandma’s the evil one.}
Azwan:
Andai I boleh undurkan masa, Ju. I takkan sia-siakan peluang.
{If I can turn the hands of time, Ju. I won’t let you down. }
Julia:
Setiap yang berlaku tu ada hikmahnya, Wan. Walaupun kita tak
dapat bersama da::h, YOU tetap ayah kepada Nisa. Dunia dan
akhirat. I harap sangat dengan apa yang berlaku ni akan
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
mematangkan you, dan I harap you akan bahagia dengan
Caterina selepas ini.
{Everything happens for a reason, Wan. Even though we are not
together, you are still Nisa’s father. For this world and next, I
do hope that above all things that have happened, you’ll be
mature enough, and I hope you’ll be happy with Caterina after
this.}
Azwan:
Baiklah Ju, nanti I datang sini lagi, kalau YOU izinkan. I pergi
dulu.
{Ok, Ju. If you let me too, I’ll be here again. Till then.}
In an overview, the narrative exchange reflects equal turn-taking, displayed in a manner where
no overlaps are seen. While the scene takes place at Julia’s front house, Amir and his mother
arrive with an intention to visit Julia; Amir and his mother arrive for his child’s (Risa) frequent
visitation.
When studying the narrative exchange above in relation to conversational structure, two surmises
can be made. Firstly, with respect to turn-takings, Julia seems to have dominated the scene,
shown through seven turns as opposed to Azwan’s and his mother, with each operating around
five and three turns respectively. The predominance of Julia in the turn-takings in this exchange
constructs Julia as the agent who controls the situation (Hutchby, 2006; Hutchby & Wooffitt,
2008; DeFina & Georgakopolou, 2012; Wong & Zhang-Waring, 2010). Another way of showing
her agency can be demonstrated by the salient feature- stress on the clauses (read: underlined
clauses) (Hutchby and Wooffitt, 2008). This agency lies in Julia’s assertive and demanding style
in speaking about her personal space and her representative of her own residence (read: You
know you are not supposed to be here. You and your mom) and, thus, when she takes control of
the situation by having more chances to speak, her agency perhaps is not surprising. Secondly,
the employment of apologies (four times) in different turn exchanges such as maaf (sorry)
reflects the preoccupation of forgiveness, while the repeated words of silap (wrongdoings) (three
times) and dosa (sins) (2 times) further enhance this notion. Reading these repetitions reveals the
kinds of ways and the many possibilities the Malay protagonists’ experience the moment-bymoment and turn-by-turn of the inherent discourse of reconstructing their routes to re-localize
themselves with the Malay masses as the above narrative exchange shows.
That being said, two levels of positioning can further be delineated. Azwan perhaps wants to be
understood as a redemption seeker and a negotiator. While he seeks to remind Julia of his
wrongdoings in the past, he also plays around with the concept of negotiation principles in order
to convince Julia for a reconsideration (read: Andai I boleh undurkan masa, Ju. I takkan siasiakan peluang). Azwan’s mother, whose conduct we previously encounter as despicable
towards Julia, now apologizes to Julia for such behavior. Not only is she positioned as
apologetic, she further confesses to Julia’s baby girl for her outrageous behavior, simultaneously
seeking for apologies from her as well (read: Ampunkan nenek ya, sayang. Nenek jahat). By
informing of her wrongdoings, she submits to Julia her entire forgiveness to which Julia
recognizes (read: Jangan la cakap macam tu. Semua manusia tak boleh lari dari kesilapan).
Julia, on the other hand, shows herself as an advocator, reminder, and forgiver. Not only does
she inexplicitly forgive the two, but she also reminds them of the adat-Islamic values (read:
Setiap yang berlaku tu ada hikmahnya, Wan. Dunia dan akhirat), generating the rhetorics of fard
al-kifaya (Hooker, 2000; Mustapha, 2005; Kurzman, 2005) and gesturing towards “the
communal duty of all Muslims to bring the community forward by “enjoining good and
forbidding evil” (Schottmann, 2011, p. 359). Furthermore, her referencing towards reminding
both Azwan and his mother the concept of repentance (read: forbidding evil and enjoining good)
can be linked to the following opening speech by Mahathir (1984):
Let us provide our service to society, and let us make a success of the effort to improve
the conditions of Muslims (memperbaiki nasib umat). Remember, in Islam, even though
we have carried out our fardhu ain, (individual religious obligations) we are not free from
sin until fardhu kifayah has been taken care of by any one member of society. But fardhu
kifayah is not for other people alone to carry out. If everyone waits for someone else,
nobody will perform it. And then all of us will be in sin (Mahathir, 1984).
Thus, on the one hand, while a Malay subject is prone to divergence away from religious
fragments, any Malay subject, on the other hand, can function as a responsible Malay by doing
good deeds and spreading acts of kindness. Through these readings, we are open to the many
ways the Malay protagonists accentuate the multiple ways of forgiveness and repentance that
benefit their social and cultural relations. These two ways of re-discovery the Malay local and
cultural fragments apply to the TV fiction’s narrative exchanges above.
Conclusion
This paper provides several examples of the return to adat-Islamic values by the Malay subjects
that reveal the extent to which Malayness diverges and converges. This essay, however, shows
that the TV fiction’s narrative exchange ultimately land themselves with the discourses of
forgiveness and repentance, two notions that almost always intersect with Malay subjects as seen
in Adam & Hawa, On Dhia, and Julia. Analyzed within the theory of cultural hybridity, TV
fiction’s exchanges reveal that they showcase a clear desire of Malay project with a regress
towards adat-Malay values. Centered on the notions of forgiveness and repentance, the TV
fiction’s texts demonstrate the importance of god, its conceptions on religion, and the
vulnerability of human beings towards sins, taboo, and mistakes in the protagonists’ everyday,
unconscious experience. As an implication, the greater notion of Malayness and its cultural
subjectivities, as illustrated in the narrative exchanges above, place them against a map that
sketches a territory that is most often forgotten, dismissed, and neglected in their encounter with
global, modern, and, therefore, liberal issues. Thus, while the TV series depict Malay culture at
risk due to global influences and trends precipitated by commercialization, the closures in each
of the TV fiction, specifically underscoring the tenets of repentance and forgiveness, illustrate
the agenda of bringing back the viewers to overarching Malay/Muslim precepts. The TV fiction
themselves show various Malay worlds in chaos, but the TV fiction’s narratives demonstrate
negotiation between risky behavior and acceptance of traditional Malay norms.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Malaysia under Research Acculturation
Collaborative Effort (RACE) Grant, RACE/F3/SSI2/USIM/5. We thank two anonymous
reviewers. Errors are our own.
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Appendix A
Conversation analysis transcription symbols
.
?
,
::
wo:rd
wo:rd
word
word
WORD
CAP ITALLICS
◦word◦
word
word
>word<
<word>
<
Hh
.hh
[]
{}
=
(2.4)
(.)
()
((writing))
(try 1)/(try 2)
$word$
(period) Falling intonation.
(question mark) Rising intonation.
(comma) Continuing intonation.
(hyphen) Marks an abrupt cut-off.
(colon(s)) Prolonging of sound.
(colon after underlined letter) Falling intonation on word.
(underlined colon) Rising intonation on word.
(underlining)
The more underlying, the greater the stress.
(all caps) Loud speech.
Utterance in subject’s L1.
(degree symbols) Quiet speech.
(upward arrow) raised pitch.
(downward arrow) lowered pitch
(more than and less than) Quicker speech.
(less than & more than) Slowed speech.
(less than) Talk is jump-started—starting with a rush.
(series of h’s) Aspiration or laughter.
(h’s preceded by dot) Inhalation.
(brackets) simultaneous or overlapping speech.
(curved brackets) translation of L1 utterance.
(equal sign) Latch or contiguous utterances of the same
(number in parentheses) Length of a silence in 10ths of a second.
(period in parentheses) Micro-pause, 0.2 second or less.
empty parentheses) Non-transcribable segment of talk.
(double parentheses) Description of non-speech activity.
(two parentheses separated by a slash) Alternative hearings.
(dollar signs) Smiley voice.